Is there a way to add a specific size mat and frame (in inches) with in the Digital Frame Adjustment. I have a large number of framed and matted prints that I want to show a client prior to installation of the project. As an example: one of the sizes is a 13 x 19 print before framing. The mat is 2.5" and the frame is 2".
It would sure save a lot of PS time if Digital Frame could produce accurate scale. Can it?
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
It is very doubtful that it can at this point but it would be a very useful concept if it could be done. A good suggestion.
This would be possible, but quite tricky without improved document sizing options in Studio.
Basically, print will be determined exclusively by your PPI value, but since weâre not too concerned about printing, per se, Iâll focus on enabling you to deliver the âpreviewâ you seem to be looking for.
When you add a Digital Frame adjustment, it will occupy the existing canvas, and scale your image down a bit. This means that you can simply add the Mat and Frame dimensions to the dimensions of your image, and make that the ratio your images are cropped at. Hereâs what Iâd do, using your numbers:
Now that you have the ratio youâll need, youâll want to do the following:
This will set the mat and frame width so that it is as close as we can possibly come to something that resembles the dimensions youâll be working with:
Horizontal Values
1/11 | 5/44 | 13/22 | 5/44 | 1/11
9% | 11.3% | 59.1% | 11.3% | 9%
2in | 2.5in | <13in> | 2.5in | 2in
Frame| Mat | Image | Mat | Frame
Vertical Values
1/14 | 5/56 | 13/28 | 5/56 | 1/14
7.1% | 8.9% | 46.4% | 8.9% | 7.1%
2in | 2.5in | <19in> | 2.5in | 2in
Frame| Mat | Image | Mat | Frame
This may be tough to read, but the first and second row show the ratios of what the frame, mat, and image will contribute to the âend resultâ.
The values I provided attempt to get this ratio as close as possible. Of course, as I mentioned, this isnât really workable or scalable. But, where thereâs a will, thereâs a way!
We have received requests to add a unit of measure other than sliders and cropping ratios, to Digital Frame. This feature request will take some time to implement, but weâre already working on improving document and saving controls, which will work very nicely with Digital Frameâs need to have those elements visible to the user (inches, PPI, document size, etc.).
I just purchased the Digital Frame Pro package and for the first time Iâm very disappointed with a Topaz product. This is simply not ready for sale. A standard mat has a larger bottom measurement. The only thing I can get are larger side measurements. There is no way (that I can figure) to correct this error. And applying color and/or texture to either the frame or mat is VERY problematic. The textures should be greyscale so that the color you choose remains and only the texture changes. And things change for no apparent reason, no clicks. This simply is not ready yet. When do you think it will be truly ready for prime time? If not soon, Iâd like a refund, please. It is not truly usable in its present state.
This is somewhat helpful in that I got a better sense of limitations. As a result, I was able to get somewhat closer to a realistic rendering of a finished product. Although, proportions are still off to my eye. Then I tried to replicate what I had done (with the 13 x 19) with a 16 x 42 panno print. The top and bottom of mat worked but sides stayed much larger. One thing that seemed to make the most difference in all my trial and errors was resizing images much smaller than they actual are. So, I went to 10" in height and the mat size slider clearly kept up better so the mat was a more evenly distributed on all 4 sides. Not sure why that matters.
Either way, I appreciate your detailed response and look forward to seeing improvements because I think there is a lot of potential use for this program where often times we are installing a large number of images for one client. Typically, we first take measurements and pictures of each wall within a space then go back to the gallery and put a proposal together. In the past I would have to do quite a bit of work to show a rendering of how images would look in the space. With unframed canvases it is pretty easy. But showing framed work is really challenging.
Finally, as noted in another post âAnd applying color and/or texture to either the frame or mat is VERY problematic. The textures should be greyscale so that the color you choose remains and only the texture changes.â
Thanks so much! Mark
Marsha,
Extend the canvas size in your graphics editor to reposition the frame. Experiment adding more to the top/bottom or right/left until you get what you want.
When applying texture to either the frame or mat there are a series of sliders below the swatches. Select the âFrameâ or âMatâ Saturation slider and move it all the way to the left to desaturate (greyscale) the texture. Move the Extra Color Strength to the right and an Extra Color Hue slider appears below it. Adjust these two to taste to get the exact colored texture youâre after.
Hovering over the swatches gives you a quick preview of the texture as it would be applied to the mat/frame. This gives you a fast way to determine the texture you want, a really cool feature.
You always get a free 30 day trial of all the adjustments, so why would you need a refund?
HTH
Thanks for your timely reply. Iâll try your suggestions. Where is the âHow to Use Thisâ document? Where is the video tutorial that tells you how to use this? I couldnât find one on the Topaz site. Or YouTube. The refund would be because I BOUGHT it, didnât download the free trial. Iâll let you know if thatâs what I decide.
Marsha
You should remove your email address from your post.
Thanks Larry, doneâŠ
Feedback is always appreciated, as weâre constantly improving our products!
All of our texture assets are RGB, and display in a wide range of colors. If you want grayscale textures, you can always turn the Saturation in the Digital Frame adjustment to -1.0. Hereâs where youâd do that, beneath the textures:
As for this:
It sounds like youâre hovering over the texture browser, causing the different textures you hover to show up on your image. Just avoid hovering those items, if you donât want to preview them.
This product went through a long test period. We donât see many errors reported to us, but your feature requests are always welcome (add ability to make a larger top/bottom mat). If the feature youâre looking for is not there, you can certainly request a refund through support:
My advice was specific to the 13x19, and hopefully illustrates how tough itâll be to do this without improved document control, which weâre currently working on. However, it sounds like you need to reduce the Mat Width slider a bit, to get a more even mat.
Thanks, I get the hover problem and the desaturation problem. A strength (opacity) slider would be good here. What is really needed is a size slider for mat sides width, mat top height and mat bottom height. This business of having to go out to another program to fiddle (experiment!) with sizes is just crazy in todayâs app world. Give us sliders in Digital Frames, please, please, please. Also, can you access your own textures for frame and mat?
A slider to control Mat width already exists:
Mat â Mat Width
However, it has been made clear that users expect to be able to adjust the mat width in both directions.
It should be reiterated that Topaz Studio does not allow an increase in canvas size, which is required to prevent cropping of the image. This is a limitation of the way images are processed inside Topaz Studio, so adding this feature requires a major change to the software. In essence, this means that such a feature will take some time to implement. We do not take engine processing changes very lightly, so we must be extremely careful and deliberate in this change. Digital Frame is the first Adjustment that has effectively commanded this kind of control, though we did our best to work around that limitation, for now. We have noted feature requests for Digital Frame, and will be discussing a plan of action for this adjustment, going forward.
Yes, you can. However, you must currently import them through the Texture Adjustment. The option to use your own texture assets was added late into development, so the import feature is not there, currently. Weâre in the process of reworking how that bit of the software works (asset import), to improve it significantly, so we did not move forward on adding the Texture Adjustment asset manager into Digital Frame. We will be improving the import functionality significantly, so it is likely that Digital Frame will add this feature in a more appropriate way, soon. For now, there are some limitations to custom assets in Digital Frame. For one, weâve noticed that several users report a purplish tint to their assets, as well as color changes to the assets themselves. Also, you must import assets into an existing category, as new categories are not detected by Digital Frame. As it stands, the asset browser (textures) inside Digital Frame does not have sorting or organization options, either. These features will be added in a future update to Topaz Studio.
I hope this response helps!
Joe,
I appreciate the time and effort youâve put into your replies. I think now I will just wait a while for your programmers to catch up with needed additions and corrections to get this Adjustment up to the standard Iâve always, in the past, experienced with Topaz software.
Thanks again,
Marsha
Hi Joe,
The way Digital Frame currently works is by cutting into the existing image. This occurs by reducing the image size to make room for the Mat/Frame and/or cutting into the sides of the image.
Iâm using Topaz Studio and Digital Frame for art. I make an image in a painting or drawing or photo or 3D graphic program and make adjustments/enhancements in TS. I really donât want this image cropped or otherwise distorted/changed/resized by Digital Frame.
Could you perhaps include a switch that would place the Mat/Frame outside of the image and extend the canvas? It would retain the original image size for making changes to the frame. And then commit the extended canvas size when saving or exporting or using the Apply or Duplicate commands, with a different name like: âFilename.extâ to âFilename (framed).extâ
Thanks for your consideration Joe.
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