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Thread: George DeWolfe's Perceptool

  1. #1

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    George DeWolfe

    Has anyone tried George DeWolfe's new Photoshop Plugin 'PercepTool' ? The results shown on his website look interesting.

    http://www.georgedewolfe.com/perceptool.html

    Just from looking at the examples it seems to enhance local contrast which I assume could be done without a plugin.


    Also has anyone purchased his new book,
    'The Digital Master Print' ?

    Don Bryant

  2. #2

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    Re: George DeWolfe

    Some people need help with contrast, so perhaps this plug-in is made for them.

    I see nothing here that I can't do in a traditional approach to interpreting an image. That doesn't make me special, but perhaps this plug-in streamlines the process?
    When I grow up, I want to be a photographer.

    http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Photography/index.html

  3. #3
    Kirk Gittings's Avatar
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    Re: George DeWolfe

    I just bought the book and intend to review it on my blog. I have not tried the Perceptool as yet. Personally I have respected and used George's approach since I started digital printing. Rooted in his experiences with Minor White, George emphasizes printing as an aesthetic process, and tries to get students to see throughout the printing process. I am looking forward to spending some time with his latest methods. He is a master printer and IMO any suggestion he makes deserves a look.
    Thanks,
    Kirk

    at age 73:
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep"

  4. #4

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    Re: George DeWolfe

    I agree with Kirk however there are a number of different tools that aren't discussed often. Among those is luminosity and contrast masking as advocated by Tony Kuyper. I would think that those two types of masks would be more selectively applied than a general plug in.

    On the subject of general plug ins. One that isn't mentioned much around here is Lucis which does have some application in both color and black and white printing...especially when one gets into blending these effects with the original image. The earlier Lucis was much more affordable than the new pro release. Lucis does work on luminosity...so this is not something entirely new

  5. #5
    Kirk Gittings's Avatar
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    Re: George DeWolfe

    Donald, yes, I too use Tony Kuypers Luminosity Mask actions, http://www.goodlight.us/writing/lumi...tymasks-1.html probably on about 2/3 of my prints, mainly to isolate the midtones and perk them up a bit, a result I like better than what I can do with a simple curves adjustment.

    I am not familiar with Lucis. There was also a product mentioned by the the guy who does custom printing in Australia? His name escapes me right now. He often contributed on any topic that involved Imacon scanners.
    Thanks,
    Kirk

    at age 73:
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep"

  6. #6

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    Re: George DeWolfe

    George's b&w printing workshop was great and have a very high regard for him. But I don't understand what he means when he says the tool does something that can't be done in Photoshop. When I look at the two examples he posted, the egg and the landscape, the changes seem easily doable in Photoshop in any number of different ways. Maybe it's a case of the computer monitor not showing up subtleties that would be seen in the print.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  7. #7
    Founder QT Luong's Avatar
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    George DeWolfe's Perceptool

    Has anyone tried George DeWolfe's Perceptool Photoshop plug-in/script (download a 30-day trial at http://www.georgedewolfe.com/) ?

    I have downloaded it and tried it a bit, and while it does makes the image "pop" a bit, I am not sure the effect couldn't be obtained by a simple curve, possibly in conjunction with a luminosity mask (http://www.goodlight.us/writing/lumi...ymasks-1.html).

    DeWolfe refers to the problem of separating the luminance values into what is due to the light source and shading (illumination) and what is due to the surface properties (reflection), but of course in general, there is no un-ambiguous solution from a single image, even though many very clever perception/artificial intelligence researchers have tried to attack the problem.

  8. #8

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    Re: George DeWolfe's Perceptool

    Found 2 threads in Luminous Landscape under George DeWolfe.

  9. #9

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    Re: George DeWolfe's Perceptool

    I also downloaded it. I tried it but didn't have much patience for it. It runs terribly slow and I have a fast Mac Pro with 16gb ram.

    I've been using Tony Kuyper's luminosity masks for quite a while and find them extremely useful.

    For example run the basic mid-tone action then load the selection created. Apply a steep curve and you'll see the mid tone contrast increase nicely. For some images the expanded mid tones will work with a stronger effect though generally the basic mid tone mask is sufficient. This generally causes an increase in saturation, but if it isn't wanted just change the blending mode from luminosity (default) to normal.

    Another good use is to bring down blown highlights. Just run the super lights mask, load it, then create a curve but pull down the top highlight end. Fine tune with opacity.

    Frankly Mr. DeWolfe's plug in looks like a good way to make money for him, but I didn't like it. If I hadn't already been using Tony's luminosity masks I might have given it more of a chance, but don't see much reason too.

  10. #10

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    Re: George DeWolfe's Perceptool

    I began testing the filter but my first impression was it's too slow to even consider with large format. The first attempt crashed after 15 minutes. Second attempt was aborted again after 15 minute with the progress bar only half way across. I was working with a 5x7 negative scanned at 1200 dpi so it was a sizable file.

    I'm using an 8 core mac pro with 8 GB so processing power is rarely an issue.

    Maybe it's fine with small files from digital cameras but its too slow for me to mess with.

    Besides I'm very pleased with the look of my output. No sure what it brings to the party.

    I will experiment further with smaller files to see the impact, but it still needs work for me to consider using it..

    bob

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