Fotoxx

Fotoxx is an all-in-one complex image editor and collection manage open source graphical software. It provides users with powerful tools for manipulating image files made with a digital camera.

Features at a glance

The application features brightness and contrast functionality, allowing users to change bright and dark image areas independently, the ability to reduce haze and intensify colors, as well as HDR support, so you can merge underexposed and overexposed images, while improving detail in both bright and dark areas.

It can also create panorama images, allowing users to stitch multiple images together, as well as the usual crop, rotate, flip, resize, red-eye removal, sharpen fuzzy edges, reduce noise in low-light photos, stretch, and distort functionality.

Another interesting feature is the ability to use 24 bits per color in internal edit calculations. It removes color castes, reduces sharpen and blur, expands or flattens brightness distribution, fixes brightness uniformity issues, and removes dark spots on scanned slides.

Supports viewing of RAW camera images

The program supports viewing of RAW camera images (NEF, CR2, etc.), as well as all other image formats, including JPG, PNG, DNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, etc. in both 8 and 16 bits color. Users can also use the application to make calibrated color adjustments, repair dark or hot pixels in photos, removes chromatic aberration, edit individual pixels, convert between different color profiles, convert colors images to black & white, add watermark text to images, as well as to fix straighten curves, perspective or any other special effects.

Create photos with a greater focus depth

Besides the HDR (High-Dynamic-Range) functionality, Fotoxx can create photos with a greater focus depth by combining close and far focus images, a function called HDF. Other functions include the ability to reduce the color depth of a photo, to convert images to drawings, add embossing effects, create tiles of any size, create Roy Lichtenstein effects, simulate paintings, convert photos to cartoon-like drawings or mosaic.

Bottom line

All in all, Fotoxx is a great photo editor for the enthusiast photographer. It can be used to do so many tasks that it may become overwhelming at some point. But it does a very good job!

What is new in this release:

• Bugfix: Image Rotate was producing a slightly pixelated output.

What is new in version :

• Bug Fix:
• Crash in metadata related functions if the default tag category 'nocatg' has been deleted. This is now replaced automatically.

What is new in version 17.04.3:

• Bug Fixes:
• Manage Albums, Choose Album: [cancel] left all album menus disabled.
• Slide Show, zoom image function: fix memory leak.
• Select Area, Find Gap: crash if gap search killed before complete.
• EXIF data update: poss. crash if input keyword data is null.
• Color Profile: liblcms2 can produce RGB values < 0. Replaced these with 0.
• File index process sometimes omitted a few files. This was self-repairing.
• Metadata Report: leafpad fails to display report file - replaced it.

What is new in version 17.04.2:

• Bugfix: memory management bug resulting in possible crash.
• Translation updates: French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian.

What is new in version 17.04.1:

• Bugfix: memory management bug resulting in possible crash.
• Translation updates: French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian.

What is new in version 16.10.1:

• Bugfix: memory management bug resulting in possible crash.
• Translation updates: French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian.

What is new in version 16.09:

• Image Index:
• Fotoxx startup is much faster when there are few new image files to index.
• Huge galleries also display faster. The image index file is converted to a new format. The old file is kept for safety, and can be deleted later.
• Indexing can be completely bypassed if Fotoxx is started from a file manager
• (e.g. Nautilus) to open a selected file, which displays instantly. Image edits
• work normally. Search and map functions are disabled because they require
• the image index. The index can be updated on demand or the next time
• Fotoxx starts normally. Set options using Tools > User Options.
• Gallery View:
• Galleries with images from multiple directories (from a search function, recent
• images query, timeline report, etc.) now include the lowest level directory name
• in addition to file name, photo date and thumbnail image.
• User Options:
• view last file version only:
• This option now affect both image file view and gallery view. If set, only
• the latest version of each image file is shown, also in gallery pages.
• Albums and results from search functions are not affected.
• Maps:
• A user can optionally use the Mapbox map source by acquiring an access key.
• These are free for moderate map usage (50,000 tiles per month). See the
• User Guide for a description of the differences and how to obtain a key.
• Batch Convert:
• Inserting plugin text in the output file names was simplified. Photo dates
• (from EXIF metadata) can be inserted into the output file names.
• Main:
• The user data in /home//.fotoxx can now be located wherever wanted.
• This also enables multiple image collections, managed separately.
• Search:
• The report by location and date-group and the timeline report were made
• more elegant with non-scrolling table headers. Click on a table position to
• get a corresponding thumbnail gallery of images.
• Gallery sort by photo date:
• Multiple edit versions of the same photo had accidental order because they
• all have the same photo date. Resolved by using file mod date as tie breaker.
• Bugfix:
• User Options: If a font was selected that had no monospace implementation,
• some report formats looked horrible. A generic monospace font is now used.
• Gallery sort by photo date was incorrect after editing any photo dates
• (self-corrected after displaying some other gallery and then coming back).
• When saving a modified image as a new file or version, some obscure
• ITPC metadata was not being copied to the new file.
• Trim/Rotate: the [+90] and [-90] buttons failed if pressed multiple times.

What is new in version 16.08.1:

• Translation updates for Portuguese and Italian.
• Bugfix: Crash in Edit Bookmarks if list is empty and blanks are selected.

What is new in version 16.08:

• Albums:
• Remove multiple images by clicking thumbnails.
• Drag thumbnails from a file manager or gallery to an album and position.
• Slide Show:
• The last image remains displayed until Escape is pressed
• Transition preferences: fix large dialog that can overflow a small monitor.
• Select Hairy:
• Show the tones currently being selected or deselected.
• Select and deselect thresholds were adjusted for finer selectivity.
• Select Area:
• Area edit: edge blending appearance was made smoother.
• Area copy and paste: smoother edges via variable pixel transparency.
• Gallery:
• Use two parallel sessions to drag and drop thumbnails across galleries.
• Metadata:
• Report by location, new option: sequence by date-group and location.
• Timeline report: create a table of image counts by year and month.
• Click on a year/month to produce a corresponding thumbnail gallery.
• Color Mode:
• Sepia coloring was improved.
• A new slider was added to adjust effect from zero to 100%.
• User Options:
• Add an option to set the gallery background color.
• Main:
• The Favorites popup menu is initialized with defaults, if empty.
• The mouse selection circle remains visible in transparent image areas.
• Bugs fixed:
• Images by date-range and location: too many images were being selected.
• Paste Area: brightness and edge blend adjustments reset each-other.

What is new in version 16.07:

• Libraw is used in place of Dcraw. Dcraw is no longer required for Fotoxx.
• Search Images: there is more flexibility to search for metadata matching
• one or more values, one or more substrings, or a range of numeric values.
• The denoise method "flatten" was made faster and more effective.
• New: Select Area Copy: select a hairy or ragged edge with fine control.
• New: Select Area Find Gap: find the gap in a hand-drawn area outline.
• Manage Albums: copy and paste from any gallery into an Album gallery
• using parallel Fotoxx sessions (album creation and editing made easier).
• New user option: set the main window background color.
• Bugfix: crash when saving a select area that includes image bottom edge.

What is new in version 16.06.1:

• Portuguese language updated.
• Bugfix: crash if Trim/Rotate is initiated from the image popup menu.

What is new in version 16.04.1:

• Bugfix: Saving an unmodified file with a new file type (e.g. tif to jpg) could produce a duplicate of the input file with the wrong file type (e.g. a tif file with a .jpg extension).

What is new in version 16.04:

• Initial file indexing was made faster by running metadata extraction and thumbnail creation in parallel. Speedup: 11% for 7200 rpm disk and 60% for SSD.
• New image sharpen method: median difference: like unsharp mask, with less halos.
• New slide show transitions: spiral, french door.
• Bugfix: crash in panorama "flatten" function if image is too large.
• Bugfix: failure of Add Lines function in rare cases (arcsin(1.000000x)).
• Workaround: If an image file that is used in albums is renamed or moved, the album image goes missing. There is no way to fix this, but now a report of the missing files is shown before they are purged from the album. If files are renamed or moved using the Batch Convert tool, then albums are correctly updated.

What is new in version 16.03.1:

• Translation updates for Spanish, Catalan, Italian, and Portuguese.

What is new in version 15.12:

• Adjust HSL: improved control of the color range to select and adjust.
• Fix Perspective: new option to automatically trim using the corner markers.
• Trim/Rotate: level a slanted image using EXIF RollAngle (if present).
• Keyboard Shortcuts: initially lists all existing shortcuts in a popup window.
• A button is available to start the dialog to add or revise shortcuts.
• Metadata short report: you can specify extra items to include in the report.
• New: Metadata batch report - list selected metadata for selected image files.
• File Save (New Version): this function can now have a keyboard shortcut.
• Maps: red-dot locations are consolidated for separations < 100 meters.
• Previously location names were used, but this was often too broad.
• Maps: custom user maps are now separated from standard maps.
• This prevents losing them if the fotoxx-maps package is re-installed.
• TIFF files are now saved without compression. The resulting file size may
• be slightly greater or less, but the processing time is reduced by 90%.
• Slide Show new transition: image turns like a book page to reveal the next image.
• Bugfix: the Upright function could not step to the next image.
• Bugfix: PT Panorama was broken due to an interface change in Panorama Tools.
• Bugfix: possible crash when levelling an image by dragging the edge.
• Bugfix: possible crash if a select area is abandoned with nothing selected.

What is new in version 15.09.2:

• Infinite loop when saving RAW file to JPG/TIF/PNG.
• TIF file with 8 bits/color shows 0 or 16 bits in top panel file info.

What is new in version 15.07:

• Menus were reorganized and the user guide was revised to match.
• Many minor errors were corrected in the user guide.
• Index Image Files: the user interface and messages were rationalized.
• Undo/Redo button: the middle mouse button produces a popup list of edits done to the current image. Go back to any done or undone edit step.
• Edit Metadata and Search Images: working with thousands of unorganized image tags was made more practical: you can type-in tags or use the pick-list.
• New batch tool: convert tags for all image files using a from-to list.
• New batch tool: select images (click thumbnails) to trash or delete.
• New batch tool: find and upright all image files rotated 90 degrees.
• Gallery navigation panel: parent directories are buttons instead of text.
• Effects > Pencil Sketch: set any desired foreground or background color.
• RAW image noise measure was improved (gives slightly lower values).
• Select Area: new buttons to quickly change line color while drawing.
• Slide Show: zoom-out from a chosen image spot (compliment of zoom-in).
• User Options: initial view = last gallery now works for albums.
• 4 minor bug fixes and 10 user interface improvements.

What is new in version 15.06:

• New: HSL Color: change the color of selected image areas using an HSL color chooser. Blend with original image to preserve existing variation.
• Threshold Denoise algorithm was improved.
• The Noise measurement tool was made less sensitive to RGB levels having a small gradient over the measured spot.
• Cycle Desktop (background image): Runs in the background. Add to the startup list to get a new desktop image each logon or time period.
• New: Set Desktop Image: Set the desktop background image from Fotoxx.
• New slide show transition: Image falls over to reveal the next image.
• Mashup: UI improved for adding text and lines/arrows to a layout.
• Trim/Rotate now includes an [auto] button to remove the black image margins left by composite or warp functions. The Auto-Trim menu was removed.
• KB shortcuts includes a button to report all the standard shortcuts.
• Multiple UI and help text improvements.
• Three minor bug fixes.

What is new in version 15.05:

• New: Smart Denoise: measure and reduce noise with minimal loss of detail.
• Also measure camera sensor noise using a RAW image.
• The function Newest Images was revised to show a gallery of the newest 1000 image files, based on either EXIF photo date or file modification date.
• Zonal Flatten: algorithm improvement and stronger deband controls.
• New: Cycle Background: cycle Desktop background image via Fotoxx album.
• Bugfix: Possible crash in some edit functions if the [done] button or Return key
• is pressed very quickly after adjusting a dialog control or edit curve.
• Bugfix: Edit Metadata: tags with special characters were sometimes getting split into two tags.
• Bugfix: Color Mode: color negative: it was sometimes possible to create invalid RGB colors which affected later color functions.

What is new in version 15.04.1:

• Plugin interface was broken. If a plugin function was used for the initial edit of an image file, a crash resulted.

What is new in version 15.02:

• The indexing process for newly added image files was made faster: speedup is about 1.2x for a 7200 rpm disk and 1.9x for an SSD.
• A multi-row panorama capability was added by integrating the Panorama Tools utilities into the Fotoxx menus. Very easy to use.
• Slide Show: the maximum zoom-in speed was increased by 2x. (significant for a large or high DPI monitor or a slow computer).
• Slide Show: the option to show captions/comments can be configured per image, and these can be made to vanish after a specified interval.
• User Settings: Thumbnail file size can be set to 128/256/512 pixels (default 256). 512 is a bit slower but better for a large or high DPI monitor, or when viewing gallery pages with the thumbnail size set to maximum.
• Mashup: mouse-painted image transparencies are easier to control.
• Mashup: transparency blends can be set separately for all 4 image edges.
• Cosmetic improvements for gallery view and metadata short report.
• Startup parameter -nosync was replaced with the more correct -noindex.
• Bugfix: quick rotate 90 degrees: metadata was not being copied.
• Bugfix: crash if switch to gallery view during a slide show transition.
• Bugfix: HDR/HDF/Stack: crash if [cancel] pressed twice rapidly.

What is new in version 15.01.1:

• The French translation was updated and two minor bugs were fixed.

What is new in version 15.01:

• Panorama: better image projection math for more precise stitching.
• Several slider controls were given a log scale for easier and more precise
• control of small changes near the neutral value.
• Reduce Noise: new option: selectively apply to darker image areas.
• Adding and editing plugins was made easier.
• The Plugins menu was moved into the Edit menu.
• Gallery view has a small layout change for improved appearance.
• Gallery popup windows: F11 toggles full screen view, Escape terminates.
• Magnify function: user interface was made more flexible.
• Slide Show: zoom-in limit raised to 3x. Image retains native sharpness.
• Map View: red dots are sized for good visibility at any map scale.
• Bugfix: Printing an edited but unsaved image file printed the original file.

What is new in version 14.12:

• Tools > Magnify Image: New function - analogous to viewing a printed image through a magnifying glass that can be moved freely over the image.
• Tools > User Settings: When stepping through image files with the prev/next button or KB arrow keys, there is a new option to show only the last edited
• version (or the original file if never edited).
• Retouch Combo: The slider to emphasize darker...brighter pixels for color adjustments was made more effective.
• New command parameter "nosync": Allows a faster startup, but search and map functions are disabled because of the risk of incorrect results. More information is in the Technical Notes section of the User Guide.
• Select Area: The Finish dialog has a new option to extend the selection automatically to designated image corners - a time saver.
• Bugfix: Edit Metadata was not being canceled if a conflicting function was started.
• Bugfix: Adding geotags by clicking on a map sometimes failed.
• Bugfix: Copy text from a dialog widget with Ctrl+C was not working.

What is new in version 14.11:

• A world map and several larger-scale continental maps are provided in a separate package: fotoxx-maps. These maps show locations of photos having geotags. Clicking a map location shows a gallery of thumbnail images that can be selected in turn for viewing full size or editing. A user may add more maps, and these will work the same way.
• Gallery thumbnail popup: expanded speed and functionality for zooming thumbnails and comparing images side by side.
• Gallery scrolling is smoother and easier to control with the mouse: scrolls faster as mouse is dragged closer to top or bottom of window.
• Sync Gallery can now have a KB shortcut (default 'S' for new installs).
• Bugfix: Edit Geotags: If the dialog inputs were cleared to blanks, the image geotag data was not being erased.

What is new in version 14.10.2:

• Bugfix: If an unmodified image was saved with a different file type, the wrong extension was used, e.g. a jpeg file could be saved as filename.png.

What is new in version 14.10.1:

• Bugfix: Upgrade from an older version of Fotoxx may make the window menus invisible. Workaround: delete the line "menu style" in the file /home//.fotoxx/parameters.
• Translation updates for Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese.

What is new in version 14.10:

• Make Waves effect: Horizontal and vertical wavelength, magnitude and variance can be set independently. More realistic appearance.
• Drawing lines and arrows on an image or mashup montage was made easier:
• create a line or arrow and then drag the end-points into final position.
• Gallery popup image improvements: window fits image without margins, window and image can be scaled up or down with the mouse wheel.
• New setting: Monitor scale: adjust panel scale for high DPI monitor.
• Bugfix: Image date and size in the search index were not always updated when changed (this error fixed itself at the next Fotoxx startup).
• Bugfix: The Print Image function with grid lines enabled did not print the horizontal grid lines clearly (adjacent black and white lines).
• Bugfix: The Shift Colors function [reset] button reset the dialog controls but failed to reset the image edits.
• Bugfix: Mashup crash when deleting and adding text in a mixed sequence.

What is new in version 14.09:

• Dialogs set focus back to the main window after use of the [apply] or [next] button, so subsequent KB shortcuts will work without extra mouse action.
• File Save: both unsaved metadata edits and image edits are now saved.
• (Using [apply] in a metadata dialog saves only the metadata changes.)
• Display "no more images" after deleting the last image in the current gallery (otherwise the window goes inexplicably blank).
• Additional dialogs now restore previous inputs, also across sessions.
• Search Images: if time is omitted in a date/time search range, then 00:00 or 23:59 is defaulted for the start or end time respectively.
• Search Images: new option: include only the latest version of each image.
• Batch Convert: If image files are renamed or moved and the originals are deleted, collections containing the images are updated automatically. The problematic Move Collections function was removed.
• Gallery popup images: new option: use the same window or open another window when a thumbnail is clicked. The one window option is effectively a combined image and gallery view, with adjustable allocation of screen space between the two views, and two-click selection of each image to view.
• Area Select: select by matching colors was made a little smarter.
• Gallery Selection: the selection list is scrolled to keep new insertions in view.
• There is a new utility function to find and display all duplicate images.
• Slide Show: new option to auto-replay after reaching the end.
• Bugfix: Manage Collections: dragging a thumbnail to the bottom of the gallery window would not scroll up if the window was maximized.

What is new in version 14.08:

• The user interface for creating or replacing a collection was improved.
• Images within a collection can now be rearranged by dragging thumbnails.
• New effect: Make Waves: add random waviness to an image or selected areas.
• The Undo/Redo button combined with the 'A' key becomes Undo/Redo all edits.
• Editing metadata in RAW images is now allowed (restriction removed).
• A few non-obvious dialog controls now have popup tips when moused-over.
• Open Previous File retains zoom size and position to facilitate fast comparison
• of two zoomed image versions.
• The menu icon size is now adjustable in Tools > User Settings.

What is new in version 14.07.1:

• Translations were updated for Spanish and Catalan.
• Bugfix: eliminate redundant menu entry for non-English locales.

What is new in version 14.07:

• An image with selected areas can be saved to a PNG file with unselected parts transparent. This can be useful in other image editors, e.g. Gimp.
• The main menu was made smaller to save space. Some menu-icons now use left/right mouse clicks for two functions, e.g. edit undo/redo.
• Mashup: draw lines and arrows on an image, similarly to writing text.
• Mashup: control of overlapping and transparent images was made easier.
• A batch upright tool was added - find and upright images turned 90
  22 Jun 18