What is FilterFormula

Please do not mix the FilterFormula by ATS/Graphics to the simple FilterFactory (by Adobe) that ships with Photoshop. FilterFormula is a very powerful yet affordable filter creation tool.

Example FilterFormula User Interface

Using FilterFormula Efficiently

The below table shows the most important accelerators for FilterFormula. It also lists some issues in FiFo that are very important to know.

Sliders These shot-cuts are available when a slider is selected. Slider is selected when the border rectangle is shown.	*Operation*	Keyboard action
	increase by 1	Press the Arrow-Right keyboard key.
	Decrease by 1	Press the Arrow-Left keyboard key.
	Increase more	Press the PageDown keyboard key.
	Decrease more	Press the PageUp keyboard key.
	Set to max value	Press the End keyboard key.
	Set to min value	Press the Home keyboard key.
*Dropdown combo box* These shot-cuts are available when the dropdown is selected.	Select previous entry from the list	Press the UpArrow keyboard key.
	Select next entry from the list	Press the DownArrow keyboard key.
Zooming	*Operation*	Keyboard action
	Zoom up	Press the + key from the numpad.
	Zoom down	Press the - key from the numpad.
		*Mouse action*
	Set the zoom to 1:1	Shift-click the "+" preview button
	Set the zoom to minimum	Shift-click the "-" preview button
Changing the Previewed location	*Operation*	*Mouse action*
Changing the Previewed location	Change displayed location of the image.	drag the image using the mouse. Dragging is not* limited to the preview-box boundaries, just drag until it shows the area that you want to see there).*
*Color Samplers*	*Operation*	*Mouse action*
	Place a sampler	Right-Click the location in the preview-box using the mouse.
	Move a sampler	Simply re-place the sampler.
	Remove a sampler	Ctrl+Right-Click the location of the sampler in the preview-box using the mouse.
*Using Color Samplers*	There is a somewhat troublesome issue in the Fifo, the color samplers are only accurate when they are visible in the Preview box. So, in order to use functions that take the advantage of the samplers one has to: zoom up. Place the sampler(s). zoom down if needed. And never drag the image so that a sampler gets out of the preview box. It is a limitation surely but does not completely hinder the usage of the samplers, one just has to remember this issue.
*Using Color Samplers when there are two or more of them*	FiFo filter can have up to 6 color samplers. The number of the active sampler is shown in the option boxes below the preview-box. Now, the Option boxes of the samplers will auto increment when new samplers are inserted. In case one has e.g. two samplers (say sampler n:o 1 as the Black-point sampler and sampler n:o2 as then White-point sampler) then the first right-click will drop the sampler number 1... and the second right-click will drop the sampler number 2. And then the next right-click will drop the sampler number 1 again (so changes it's location) and so on. Therefore, in order to move (re-place) or remove a sampler, first select the option button of that sampler, then right-click.
*Buttons*	Note that the Reset-button only resets the sliders. It does not: remove color-samplers reset the check-boxes reset selection dropdown. Fifo remembers it's settings so therefore, when you re-enter into the filter dialog, things may not be as expected even after hitting the Reset button. Depending on the function that e.g. the check-boxes are controlling the Preview may appear very strangely. So, check the three settings.

FilterFormula homepage: ATS/Graphics

Accurate Image Manipulation for Desktop Publishing