What is Helicon Filter? Helicon Filter is a set of unique and easy-to-use tools for enhancing images from digital cameras. Helicon Filter is designed for amateurs and advanced photographers who want to obtain high quality images without spending too much time. Helicon Filter includes the most popular operations from professional workflow: - noise reduction - red eye suppression - chromatic aberration suppression - geometric distortion and vignetting correction - sharpening - brightness management and levels - color adjustment and advanced black and white conversion - crop with rotation and resize - text and frames - full set of retouching brushes

Versions

Helicon Filter is released in two versions: Home and Pro. After thirty (30) days of evaluation period both editions switch to Free mode.
Please see the comparison table below:

Licensing

Helicon Filter in Free mode can be used without limitation.

Helicon Filter Home and Pro are shareware programs.  After thirty (30) days of evaluation period both versions switch to Free mode. More details at home page (http://www.heliconfilter.com/).

The updates for registered users are free.

You can buy a license online by following the instructions on the product home page.

Please see the detailed instructions here: http://www.heliconsoft.com/filter_help.html

Download

Open program home page http://www.heliconfilter.com and follow the link to the download page

System requirements

The recommended system configuration to process a 4-5-megapixel images is:

• Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Vista x64
• 3000 Mhz or higher
• 1024 MB RAM or higher
• True color display, resolution 1280x1024 or more

Minimum system requirements are:

• Pentium-III class machine
• 256 MB RAM
• Hi-color display, resolution 800x600

Installation

Start installation program and follow instructions.

Registration

On 30th day of evaluation period all features of Helicon Filter are activated in all versions (Home, Pro, Free).
 

• To use advanced features after evaluation period, one should purchase a license from our web site  (http://www.heliconfilter.com/).
• After that you will receive an activation code.
• Press Registration button in the toolbar and enter activation code to unlock the program. More information you will find here: http://www.heliconsoft.com/registration_help.html
  

Recommended workflow:

1. Open an image

2. Set up filters

3. Save the result

The tabs represent the usual workflow of a digital photographer. 

1. You are now on the Source tab. Open the image by clicking it in the list on the right.
2. Switch to the next tab and adjust image with the tools of the selected filter (see sliders on the right).
3. When you are satisfied with the result, switch to the next filter by clicking on the appropriate tab (e.g. Colors, Frame).
4. Switch to Save tab. The program will apply all filters that you set up. From the Save tab you will be able to save, print, email the final image.

When processing the file in the Helicon Filter, you always see the set of tabs with filters that can be applied to the source image to get the image that will be saved.

Тhere are two special tabs with the bold names. The Source tab let you see the original image and other files in the same folder .
Switching to Save tab makes the program apply all the filters to the source image and show the final result.

From the  Save tab you can switch back to filters to adjust settings and apply them anew. If you are satisfied with the result, you can save image to disk, send by email and so on. For more options please read about the Save tab.

Customizing the set of filters

The program has an advanced set of filters that solve typical problems of digital photographer.  By default all filters are enabled.

To show or hide some of the filters please use menu item "Filters\Personal workflow settings\". For example you can exclude "Distortion" filter if your camera or shooting conditions allow to make photos without geometrical distortions and vignetting.

Applying individual filters

You can apply any filter in any sequence calling them through the "Filters" menu item. For example you may resize the image and then apply the sharpening. Or you can apply Frame filter to add two different texts on the same image.

To call the second filter please go to the Save tab first. Otherwise the current filter will be ignored.

When you call the filter from the menu, the program is not sure which image should be processed - the original or the result of the previous operation. So the program asks you to choose the image. Normally it should be the result.

Opening another image

If you finish to process the image and you want to process the other one, you can do it in three ways.

1. If image is in the same folder: Switch to the Source tab and click the file from the thumbnails of the navigation panel (on the right).

2. If image is in the recently used folder: Switch to the Source tab and open one of the recently used folders () there.

3. If image is in some other folder:  Switch to the Source tab, open folder tree ()  and browse the folders there.

You can always use   "File\Open..." menu command.  If the file contains EXIF information, then it will be shown just below the image preview.

Helicon Filter Home and Pro edition support JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PSD and various RAW formats with 8 and 16 bits per channel.

Helicon Filter Free opens the same types of files but can write only JPEG and BMP files.

It is also possible to paste an image from the windows clipboard. This is not available in Free mode.

Adding voice and text comments to the image

Press on the comments icon () in the toolbar or use menu\Edit command to open Voice and text comments dialog.

You can record, play and delete existing voice comments by appropriate buttons.

Additional parameters such as sound quality or volume level can be set in the Preferences.

You can also add text comments which will be save in IPTC field. You cannot add text comments to files which format does not support IPTC (BMP, RAW, GIF, PNG).

Text comments are shown as tooltips when you place mouse pointer over the image in navigation panel  on the  Source tab.

Batch processing of multiple images 

Helicon Filter let you apply the same settings to all or only selected images in the folder. Please see more information here.

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Navigation Panel

The Navigation panel shows the thumbnails of images in the current folder. You can activate the navigation panel using View->Navigation panel menu command. You can perform the following operations in the navigation panel by right clicking the image or by pressing on a menu icon (): Select all command marks all images in the folder. Unselect all command clears all marks, none of images becomes selected. Invert selected command changes a state of the image to the opposite (selected->unselected, unselected->selected).  Command Add selected to queue images adds marked images to the queue with the current settings. Rename selected command  lets you rename one or a group of files using template. For example, you can rename all your files this way: "2005.06.25-The Beach (13)", so that your files are always shown sorted by date. Copy selected command copies the marked files to the selected folder. Move selected command moves the marked files to the selected folder. Delete selected command moves the marked files to the trash-bin. Lossless rotate commands rotate the image and save it with the original date and time. The operation is lossless so JPEG quality does not deteriorates. RAW files cannot be rotated by this function. Auto rotate (lossless) command analyzes the image and tries to define its orientation. The command  assumes that the upper part of the image should be brighter than the bottom part. The program checks only images in original "landscape" orientation and ignores already rotated images. Refresh list command updates the thumbnails and can be useful if you delete or rename files outside of the program manually. Recent folders  command (available from a navigation panel toolbar ) remembers the list of last folders from which the image was open. Folder tree  command (available from a navigation panel toolbar ) opens a list with a folder tree so you can see where you are located now and choose another folder. Parent folder  command (available from a navigation panel toolbar ) lets you jump to the parent folder. All marks in the current folder will be lost.

Noise Reduction Tab

Please note that the noise reduction filter is not applied on the tabs where downsized  images are used for faster preview (Brightness, Color, Distortions, Frames tabs). 

To apply all filters and see the final result please switch to the Save tab. If you like the result, you can save it and process the next image. If you don't, you can always switch back to the filter, fine tune the settings and get an updated result.

The program remembers the settings for each file you processed. So when you open the file again, the program recalls the most recent settings for this file. You can also save the file settings manually (Menu->Settings->File Settings).

Pop up menu

Pop up (or local) menu is available by left clicking on the image.

Adjust noise sliders:  The noise level under a cursor will be measured and the appropriate slider (highlights, general noise level or shadows) will be adjusted. You can use small, medium or large area for measurements. Use small area unless you need a very precise noise estimations to compare a noise level of several images. Increase (Decrease) noise reduction for this color range commands let you change noise reduction for a given (i.e. clicked) color  by 50%. You can use this feature to make noise reduction more selective. For example, you can increase noise reduction for the sky to clear all noise, and decrease noise reduction for the forest to keep it from smoothing. Use the Noise Map button to analyze the results more precisely. The same commands can be accessed through the "Tools" toolbar on the tab. Instead of a right clicking the image and selecting the command you can choose a tool (e.g. "Adjust noise sliders") and then click the image to apply the command.

Please have a look at the example below. The water and trees have almost the same level of details, so the program cannot find where the noise and the texture are. For the image on the right, noise reduction was decreased for the color range of the trees.

Original image (coastline of a lake)

Denoised image (the trees are blurred)

Selectively denoised

To open noise reduction equalizer use appropriate button on the noise tab. Equalizer lets you define a noise reduction level for every hue in your image. Usually higher noise reduction levels are set for skin tones and the sky with lower levels set for green. Sample print screen on the right illustrates this case. Use Noise Map button to analyze the changes more precisely. To change the equalizer curve simply click on the equalizer at the point that the line is to be raised to and the line will “jump” up to the cursor, then drag left or right to widen the affected color range. Right Click anywhere on the Equalizer is to reset the line to “straight”. White vertical line shows you a hue of the area under the mouse cursor. Black line shows the hue under the last click.

Defects and artifacts

The Add or change map files button opens an appropriate tab in the Preferences of the program. There you can define dust/dead pixels maps for every image resolutions.

Please note that sometimes RAW files and JPEG files have difference resolutions. In this case you will need to create maps for RAW and JPEG images separately.

The Filter hot/dead pixels  checkbox makes the program use earlier defined map to mask dead pixels.  This option is available only if you previously defined a map for resolution of the current image. To create the map of dead pixels please close an objective and make a shot. Normally dead pixels will look like bright points on the black background.

The Filter sensor dust  checkbox makes the program use earlier defined map to mask sensor dust.  This option is available only if you previously defined a map for resolution of the current image.

To create dust map please follow through the steps:

1. Set your camera to a manual mode.
2. Set aperture to 8. The dust is practically not noticeable at low apertures (2.8-4)
3. Point your camera at a white sheet of paper or at the sky. The image should not contain dark areas.
4. Unfocus the camera. Otherwise dots on the paper or  birds in the sky will be interpreted by the program as dust points.
5. Make a shot. Repeat for each resolution your usually use. Make a shot in RAW if your RAW files have different resolution from JPEG files.
6. Add dust maps with     button.

Here is an example of the dust map usage (crops, courtesy of Peter Borschberg):
 

Original image

Dust map

Filtered image

Tip: you can apply dust filtering to all your images in a batch mode. To do so, please do the following:

1. Reset all using button on the toolbar. All tabs will have gray points on them, which mean that no filter is applied.
2. Go to Noise tab and enable it.
3. Set Noise level slider to 0 to disable noise removal.
4. Set Filter sensor dust checkbox to activate dust filtering. Make sure that you have already loaded dust maps for all image resolutions.
5. Call menu command "Queue/Add current folder"
6. In the appeared Queue dialog set up parameters (folders, formats, quality) and start processing.

Tip for advanced users: you can also save the settings above with a menu command "Settings/File settings" and then apply them to selected images on the Source tab (Right click the image and select  "Apply preset and add to queue" command).

Simple mode

If you prefer an easier method – switch to Simple Mode. Click on View, then Simple preview mode. Or Click on the button on the toolbar.

Hints and Tips

• Noise looks worse on a monitor screen than it does when printed.
• Noise is noticeable on homogeneous areas (i.e. sky), and is hardly visible on textures (i.e. foliage).
• Images with too much noise reduction look unnatural (plastic).
• Do not spend too much time on a fine tuning - nobody will notice the marginal improvements.

Recommended workflow

General workflow

• Press a reset () button to set all options to defaults
• Shift-right-click on the remaining noise to adjust automatically the sliders (or right-click> popup menu> Adjust noise sliders). Repeat for each color that needs additional noise reduction.
• If noise is too strong, click on High noise (next to Method) and increase the Radius value.

Selective noise reduction.  If you want to change a noise reduction level for specific objects/areas (i.e. skin, sky, green), use Noise reduction equalizer and Color ranges tool.

• Click on the Noise Map button to see a noise reduction level in the areas you are interested in.
• Equalizer: position mouse cursor over the target object and remember the position of this color on the equalizer by right clicking. Drag the curve up to increase noise reduction or down  to decrease noise reduction for the given color/hue.

Using Color ranges:

• If the equalizer is not selective enough (i.e. affects not only target object), use Color ranges instead.
• Color ranges: right-click the object and select "Increase (Decrease) noise reduction for this color range" command. You can apply this command several times to the same color to increase effect.
• To undo all color range changes Click the Reset Ranges button under the Equalizer button. To undo only the last change, click the “arrow” to the right of the Reset Ranges button

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Brightness Tab

This tab offers you a full set of controls to adjust the colors of your image.  Please note that most sliders produce non-linear effects.  That enables you to apply very strong effects without visual degradation of the image.

Please note that  some slow filters are ignored on this tab for faster preview (Noise reduction, Sharpening, Chromatic aberration, Retouching). 

To apply all filters and see the final result please switch to the Save tab. If you like the result, you can save it and process the next image. If you don't, you can always switch back to the filter, fine tune the settings and get updated result.

The program remembers the settings for each file you processed. So when you open the file again, the program recalls the most recent settings for this file. You can also save the file settings manually (Menu->Settings->File Settings).

About histograms:  For better understanding how each control works, please look at the histogram on the brightness equalizer. Histogram shows distribution of pixels by luminosity. The histogram can be represented by 256 columns. For example, column #0 on the left shows the number of pixels with luminosity 0. Column #255 on the right shows the number of pixels with luminosity 255. If you see a "hill" on the left edge of the histogram, it means that there are a lot of pixels with low luminosity and the image is underexposed.

A well balanced image usually takes the full dynamic range (i.e. the histogram is stretched to limits) and the histogram is fairly symmetric.

Underexposed (dark) image	Overexposed (bright) image	Balanced (normal) image

Controls The Load settings select box lets you choose one of the predefined settings for this tab. You can also save your current settings for future use. The Contrast  moves pixels  from the center (>0) or to the center(<0) of the dynamic range. Original image Contrast (+50) applied The histogram for the original (upper) and the resulting (lower) images. The S-curve on the histogram means that the central part is stretched and the corners (highlights and shadows) are compressed. Please note that unlike contrast control behavior in other programs, no information is lost by pushing pixel values beyond the dynamic range (0-255). The Gamma "stretches" the histogram in the shadows which makes dark pixels brighter, and compresses the highlights. Or vice versa. Original image Gamma (+20) applied The histogram for the original (upper) and the resulting (lower) images The curve on the histogram shows that the left (dark) part is stretched to the right  and the highlights are compressed. Please note that no information is lost by pushing pixel values beyond the dynamic range (0-255). The Exposure makes all pixels brighter or darker by the same degree. The effect is similar to changing the ISO, exposure time or aperture on your camera. The histogram for the original (upper) and the resulting (lower) images.   The Auto contrast check box enhances the image by optimizing the dynamic range. It is done by "stretching" the histogram so that no "unused" space is left near the edges. The Black point  slider defines a color in the original image that should appear as black on the resulting image. The White point slider defines the color in the original image that should appear as white on the resulting image. These sliders define the "left" (black point) and the "right" (white point) limits for original histogram (note red lines on the image below).   Original image Autocontrast applied The histogram for the original (upper) and the resulting (lower) images. As you see, Autocontrast function "crops" the histogram: it takes only a part of the dynamic range (e.g. 20-230) and stretches it to the full dynamic range (0-255). The Local Contrast acts similarly to Auto contrast, but it is more subtle. It is very useful when there are only highlights (i.e. sky), shadows (i.e. earth) and almost without midtones. In this case you can see two big hills on the histogram . Applying local contrast will compress midtones and pull more details from the shadows and the highlights by stretching them. Original image Local contrast applied The histogram for the original (upper) and the resulting (lower) images. The Highlights  acts like Brightness or Gamma but only for light pixels. Use this control if you want to change the brightness of highlights but keep midtones and shadows unchanged. The Shadows  acts like Brightness or Gamma but only for dark pixels. Use this control if you want to change the brightness of shadows but keep midtones and highlights unchanged. Original image Shadows control applied The histogram for the original (upper) and the resulting (lower) images. On the example above the brightness of the cliff has changed but the sky stayed the same. This control does not produce halo effects. The Haze compensation can be used to minimize the haze effect. These sliders add some contrast and saturation mostly to midtones. The haze usually adds some blue color to the image and the program tries to compensate this too.  Please tune a white balance with the Color tab if you are using this function. You can also apply a similar effect locally by using the Change brightness brush with Anti-Haze effect on. Original image Resulting image The Haze/Gradient slider lets you apply a haze compensation only to a part of the image. For example,  value of +30 means that only the top 1/3 of the image will be affected. This feature is very effective for enhancing the cloudy sky. Original image Resulting image   The Exposure warnings option shows overexposed and underexposed pixels.Too bright pixels are marked with red, too dark pixels - with blue.  This option is also present with the Brightness tab. Original image Exposure warnings enabled The Brightness equalizer shows the final curve which is used by the program to modify pixel luminosity. The curve is formed by the controls above and can be additionally modified by the user. To modify the curve simply click on the equalizer or drag the curve. To reset your changes, make a right click on the equalizer. The curve can be shown as "curve" or "equalizer". You can change this option in the preferences. The "Curve" mode is an analogy of the curves in Adobe PhotoShop, it shows the function y=f(x), where x (horizontal coordinate) - luminosity of the original pixel, y (vertical coordinate)  - luminosity of the resulting pixel. If no modification is applied y = x and curve looks like a straight line. In the "Equalizer" mode the curve shows by what value the luminosity of the pixel will be changed. If the curve is a horizontal line in the middle, it means that no changes will be applied. "Equalizer" mode PS compatible "Curve" mode Brightness equalizer also shows two histograms on the background. The upper histogram shows pixel distribution of the original image, the lower - distribution of the resulting image. The Zone size slider defines if the effect of other sliders is based on the brightness of each individual pixel (slider set to 0) or it is based on some average brightness. The slider defines the size of the zone to use for such averaging. Please note, that this slider itself does not affect the image but it changes the effect of other sliders such as Gamma or Shadows. Tip: Use high values if you have only several large dark and light areas (e.g. bright sky and dark field). Use low values, if you have many small high-contrast areas (e.g. leaves on the bright sky). Set the slider to zero, if you want the changes to be applied to each pixel individually. The Autodetect slider allows the program to analyze the image and to change some controls accordingly. The slider allows you to define how strong the program may modify the image. If you apply Auto contrast the program will "stretch" the "hill" to fill the entire dynamic range and the detail level will rise. In general, you can increase the detail level by stretching the "hills" (that is to say, the concentration of pixels with similar brightness) and compressing the flat areas of the histogram. That is exactly how  Local Contrast works. Please remember that increasing the level of details also makes noise more noticeable.

Simple mode

If you prefer easy and straightforward interface, you can switch to simple mode. Go to the main menu of Helicon Filter and select "View\Simple preview mode" command. Or press button on the toolbar. 

Hints and Tips

• Try to use a full dynamic range by using Auto contrast and Exposure controls
• Use Gamma to make the histogram fairly symmetric

Recommended workflow

General workflow

• Press the reset button to set all options to defaults
• Adjust general contrast and brightness. Use Auto contrast, Gamma , Contrast and Local contrast to set optimal use of the dynamic range. In most cases the histogram should take all of the scale (i.e. dynamic range)

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Colors Tab

This tab offers you a full set of controls to adjust the colors of your image.

Please note that  some slow filters are ignored on this tab for faster preview (Noise reduction, Sharpening, Chromatic aberration, Retouching). 

To apply all filters and see a final result please switch to the Save tab. If you like the result, you can save it and process the next image. If not, you can always switch back to the filter, fine tune the settings and get an updated result.

The program remembers the settings for each file you processed. So when you open the file again, the program recalls the most recent settings for this file. You can also save the file settings manually (Menu->Settings->File Settings).

Controls The Load Settings select box lets you choose one of the predefined settings for this tab. You can also save your current settings for the future use. The R, G, B controls let you compensate for the white balance by editing red, green and blue channels respectively. Please note that a white balance compensation can also be done using the White balance button below. The Color map is an efficient tool to choose a white balance with one mouse click. You can also drag the black circle with the mouse and watch the effect at the same time.  Right click on the color map to reset it. The Saturation of the dull colors changes the intensity of dull, not saturated colors but does not effect  already saturated ones. For selective change of saturation use the Saturation equalizer. The  Saturation of the bright colors changes the intensity of the already saturated colors. Use this slider to prevent saturated areas from oversaturation. For selective change of saturation use the Saturation equalizer. The Exposure warnings option shows overexposed and underexposed pixels. Too bright pixels are marked with a red color, too dark pixels - with a blue color.  This option is also avaliable with the Brightness tab. Exposure warnings are off Exposure warnings are on The Convert to black&white option makes image monochrome and enables sliders described below to fine tune the conversion process. In this mode use RGB sliders and memory colors to define image tone (sepia, etc.). Use RGB Sensitivity sliders and an equalizer to make the image more impressive. The Load Settings select box at the top allows you to choose settings for many black and white films such as Agfa APX 100, Ilford Delta 100, etc. The Red, Green, Blue Sensitivity sliders define luminance of different colors of the spectrum. You can achieve the same effect as using special professional monochrome films by changing the sensitivity profile with these sliders and equalizer. Original image Resulting image (blue sensitivity decreased)   The Memory color  () button opens a list of predefined memory colors. You can choose sepia or other filters. Original file Black and white Sepia Blue filter The Reset button sets all controls to their default values (0). The Reset ranges ()  button removes all selected color ranges. This button is present on the tab only if you already added at least one color range. Pop up menu Pop up (or local) menu is available by left clicking on the image. When you make a left click, the program saves a color of the area beneath the mouse cursor. Let us call it the selected area. The Set white balance ()command tries to change the RGB sliders to make the selected area white/gray. To obtain better results select white, but not overexposed areas.

Memory colors

The Memory colors command opens a window with a list of predefined colors. The are called memory colors because people have a good memory for such colors as skin, foliage and water and remember other colors not very precisely.

If you select one of the memory colors by clicking on its name or its image, the program will adjust RGB sliders so that the selected area has the same color as selected memory color. If Ignore brightness checkbox is checked, the brightness of the selected area is preserved, only the tint is changed. Otherwise, the RGB sliders will be changed so that the selected area has the same color and brightness as the selected memory color. Small triangles after the color name can be used to change position of the color in the list. Delete button removes color from the list.

You can also add your own color to this list using Add this color button. For instance, you can add a natural color of your skin from your favorite photo with a good color balance. And then you can apply this color to other photos to make sure your skin has natural appearance. That means you can set a white balance by your skin when white color is not available on the image.

Color ranges

The Change color range command opens the window where you can define parameters of the selection base on color and brightness. This tool can be used to change the color of one object while keeping other colors intact.

Two squares with gradient fill correspond to the source and the target colors respectively. Memory color select lets you choose one of the predefined colors as a target color. Under the Memory color select the Color map and the Brightness map are located. The Color map in its center has a tint of the source color and a brightness of the target color. White points show the limits of the color range. Black points show a position of the target color. Click on the Color map to change a tint of the target color. The Brightness map in its center has a tint of the target color and a brightness of the source color. White points show the limits of the color range (i.e. the brightest and the darkest points). Black points show the position of the target color. Click on the Brightness map to change brightness of the target color. Zoom buttons let you change the range of colors on the Color and Brightness maps. Show selection button should be used to fine tune selection and make sure that the object is completely included into selection. Reset button makes a target color to be equal to source color. You can also define several rectangular and elliptic areas to form a selection. To create such a mask, make a left click on the image when color range dialog is open and choose "Add rectangle/ellipse to the mask" command. If Invert mask button is pressed, only pixels within defined areas will be processed.  Use Clear mask button to delete all the defined areas. Color tolerance slider defines which colors are included into selection. You can see the size of the current selection on the Color map. Press Save button to save color range and close the window. Press Cancel button to quit without saving. The List button opens another window with a list  of all color ranges. The active color ranges are marked with a white background. You can delete some of them or all at once.

When the Color range window is opened, a left click on the image will open a specific pop up menu. Use these commands to make your color range more precise and selective. Include this color into selection - adjusts selection settings (including Color tolerance slider) so that the selection also includes this color. Exclude this color from selection - adjusts selection settings (including Color tolerance slider) to exclude the color from selection. Add rectangle to the mask, Add ellipse to the mask - these commands let  you form the mask for the selection. Use the mask to protect some areas from being changed during color range transformations.

The recommended workflow to create a color range selection:

• Left click on the color on the image to be changed  and choose the Change color range command. The Color range dialog will appear. Press the Show selection button is pressed by default so you can see if the object was completely selected.
• Use Include this color into selection and  Exclude this color from selection commands only to select the target area entirely.
• If the selection includes areas you don't want to be included, use Add rectangle to the mask, Add ellipse to the mask commands to exclude undesirable areas from selection (the excluded areas will be marked with a green color)

Equalizers

To open equalizers use buttons on the colors tab.

Saturation equalizer lets you define saturation level for every hue in your image. A common task is to increase the saturation of the green tones but to keep the skin from reddening. To change the equalizer curve simply click on the equalizer or drag the curve. To reset the equalizer make a right click on it. White vertical line shows you the hue of the area beneath the mouse cursor. To set black mark on equalizer simply click on the area of interest.

Simple mode

If you prefer easy and straightforward interface, you can switch to a simple mode. Go to the main menu of Helicon Filter and select "View\Simple preview mode" command. Or press button on the toolbar. 

Hints and Tips

• Define your own memory colors (i.e. skin) and set white balance using these colors.

Recommended workflow

General workflow

• Adjust a white balance. Left click on a white/grey area and select Set white balance command. Or left click on the skin and select Memory colors command, then select appropriate skin tone.

Selective color correction

• Use the Saturation Equalizer to make green more vivid and fresh  or to desaturate reddish face. See print screen for the Saturation Equalizer as an example.
• Create the Color range selection and change the color only in the selection. See the Color ranges description for tips and hints.

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Chromatic aberration Tab

Please note that this filter is not applied on the tabs where downsized  images are used for faster preview (Brightness, Color, Distortions, Frames tabs). 

To apply all filters and see the final result please switch to the Save tab. If you like the result, you can save it and process the next image. If you don't, you can always switch back to the filter, fine tune the settings and get updated result.

The program remembers the settings for each file you processed. So when you open a file again, the program recalls the most recent settings for this file. You can also save the file settings manually (Menu->Settings->File Settings).

Chromatic aberration (CA) is a complex phenomenon caused by optical effects and processes on camera sensor.

There are two major types of chromatic aberration that appear in digital cameras: first is purple fringing and the second is lateral CA. Helicon Filter fixes both types of CA.

To get better understanding, please read the following articles:
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=chromatic+aberration

Example of purple/blue fringing (blooming):

To fix this kind of CA the program does the following.
At the first step, it defines the areas with the brightness higher than the threshold.  These overexposed areas can cause blooming effect.
At the second step, the filter desaturates the pixels which are within radius from the bright areas.
 

 Use Lateral CA slider to distort red and blue planes of the image and compensate faults of the lens. Example of lateral CA:  

The Load Settings select box lets you choose one of the predefined settings for this tab. You can also save your current settings for future use.

The Enable CA reduction check box lets you turn the filter on or off.

The Radius slider defines the distance from the overexposed areas which will be desaturated. Try to find the minimum radius, which is sufficient to remove all CA artifacts.

The Brightness threshold  slider sets minimum level of brightness for definition of overexposed areas. The filter assumes that overexposed areas (>=threshold) cause a blooming effect, normal areas (<threshold) cannot cause CA. Try to find the highest suitable threshold value to minimize artifacts in other parts of the image.

The Color tolerance  slider defines precision of the color match for chromatic aberration. The zero level of color tolerance means that only an exact color will be removed (desaturated). Very high color tolerance (100) will include all color in the processing.

The Current CA color image and The Change button let you define the exact color of the CA artifacts by clicking with the mouse pointer on the image. Based on Color tolerance level, the program will look for similar colors and desaturate them.

The Reset button turns CA filter off and sets all sliders to their default values.

The CA Map button lets you switch to special mode, where intensity of blue color corresponds to the degree of desaturation. In this mode you can check where your image is affected.

Recommended workflow

• Reset to default values and turn CA filter on.
• Find the minimum level of radius which removes the most evident CA artifacts.
• Starting from a low threshold, find the maximum threshold, sufficient for removing all CA artifacts.
• Use CA map to check if other parts of the image were not affected.

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Sharpening Tab

Sharpening is a useful feature which can make your images look much better. The basic mechanism is to find edges and make these edges more noticeable.  This effect is achieved by making brighter edge even brighter (white halo) and darker edge even darker (black halo).

Please note that the sharpening filter is not applied on the tabs where downsized  images are used for faster preview (Brightness, Color, Distortions, Frames tabs). 

To apply all filters and see the final result please switch to the Save tab. If you like the result, you can save it and process the next image. If you don't, you can always switch back to the filter, fine tune the settings and get updated result.

The program remembers the settings for each file you processed. So when you open a file again, the program recalls the most recent settings for this file. You can also save the file settings manually (Menu->Settings->File Settings).

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Controls The Load Settings select box lets you choose one of the predefined settings for this tab. You can also save your current settings for future use. Sharpen fine details - detects thin lines and fine details and amplifies them. Wider and smoother edges are not affected. Please note that such sharpening will be noticeable only on larger prints. If you plan to print 5 megapixels image on 10x15cm (4x6") paper or downsize the image to 25%, a fine sharpening will not be noticeable. Sharpen edges - increases the contrast  on the edges. Noise and fine details will not be affected.   Extreme sharpening (intensity = +100) Original image   The Edge width slider – the analog of the radius in Photoshop Unsharp mask filter. Use small values if you want to emphasize small details, use high values to stress outlines of objects. Edge width =2 Edge width =6 Edge width =10 The Threshold - sets the threshold to keep low contrast details from sharpening. Value of 100% corresponds to the detected level of noise. Original image Threshold = 0%, Intensity = 100 Threshold = 100%, Intensity = 100 Please have a closer look at the noise on the sky and low contrast details on the stones on the second and the third images. The threshold helps to prevent the sharpening of the noise. The White halo slider defines the intensity of sharpening of the white edges as a percentage of the black edge sharpening. In most cases a white halo is much more noticeable than a black halo. That is why a default value of this slider is set to 50%. Original image White halo = 50%, intensity = +50 White halo = 100%, intensity = +50 As you see, 100% white halo produces "snow" effect on the roof (image on the right).  The central image (white halo = 50%) looks more natural. The Suppress halos option makes blurred edges sharper but does not introduce white or black halos. If you already have sharp image the effect will be minimal. The Sharpening Map button lets you switch to special mode, where intensity of red color corresponds to the degree of sharpening. The green color means that these will be blurred. It is a good tool to see effects of the sharpening equalizer and the Threshold control. The original image The image after selective sharpening The sharpening map In the above example the sharpening equalizer was used to selectively smooth green background and sharpen blue object on the foreground. The sharpening map shows how different parts of the image are affected.

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The Sharpening Equalizer

To open the Sharpening equalizer use the appropriate button on the sharpening tab. Equalizer lets you define sharpening level for every hue on the image. A common task is to keep softer skin details while sharpening the rest of the image. Sample print screen on the left illustrates the above case with blue figures (see Sharpening map). Use Sharpening Map button to analyze the effects more precisely. To change the equalizer curve simply click on the equalizer or drag the curve. To reset the equalizer right click on it. White vertical line shows you the hue of the area beneath a mouse cursor. Black line shows the hue under the last click.

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Simple mode

If you prefer easy and straightforward interface, you can switch to simple mode. Go to main menu of Helicon Filter and select "View\Simple preview mode" command. Or press button on the toolbar. 

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Hints and Tips

• Do not overdo with sharpening, the image will look too "digital".
• To keep noise from being emphasized, set higher value of Threshold slider.
• To soften skin or sky use Equalizer.
• Do not set high values of Edge width without good reason, it produces halos.

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Recommended workflow

• Press reset button to set all options to defaults
• Set zoom to 100% or 50% to see image closer to real size
• Play with the Sharpen slider to sharpen outlines of objects
• If noise is emphasized, then increase value of the Threshold slider watching Sharpening Map at the same time
• Check if Suppress halos button helps to make image look better
• Use Equalizer to adjust sharpening level for specific color ranges (i.e. skin, sky)

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Distortions Tab

This tab offers you a full set of controls to compensate for radial and perspective distortions as well as vignetting.

Please note that  some slow filters are ignored on this tab for faster preview (Noise reduction, Sharpening, Chromatic aberration, Retouching). 

To apply all filters and see the final result please switch to the Save tab. If you like the result, you can save it and process the next image. If you don't, you can always switch back to the filter, fine tune the settings and get updated result.

The program remembers the settings for each file you processed. So when you open a file again, the program recalls the most recent settings for this file. You can also save the file settings manually (Menu->Settings->File Settings).

Controls The Load Settings select box lets you choose one of the predefined settings for this tab. You can also save your current settings for future use. The Enable distortions checkbox turns the whole tab on or off. The Barrel/pincushion  slider compensates radial/spherical distortions by stretching the corners. The Horizontal perspective slider squeezes left or right side of the image. The Vertical perspective slider squeezes a top or a bottom of the image. The Squeeze/stretch slider squeezes or stretches the image. The Auto crop checkbox stretches the image proportionally so that the whole image is filled. If you do not like how this function works you can define an area on the Crop&Resize tab later. The Grid checkbox adds a grid to the image to facilitate a proper alignment of the image, especially barrel and perspective distortions.  The Rotate slider lets you turn the image clockwise or counterclockwise. The Skew  slider defines the shift of the upper part of the image. The Bend slider lets you straighten the horizon by lifting/sinking  image sides relatively to the its center. The Vignetting slider defines a brightness compensation in the image's corners. The Curve steepness slider defines a brightness compensation degree along the radius.  High values result in correction only in the corners, low values let you also correct other parts of the image. The Compare mode checkbox emphasizes the vignetting effect by adding mirror images from each side of the image. You can find the optimal parameters in this mode easier. Original image, usual mode Original image, compare mode

Simple mode

If you prefer an easy and straightforward interface, you can switch to simple mode. Go to main menu of Helicon Filter and select "View\Simple preview mode" command. Or press button on the toolbar. 

Hints and Tips

• The less you change the image, the better
• Switch on the Grid for distortion correction.
• Switch on the Compare mode for vignetting correction.

Recommended workflow

General workflow

• Switch on the Grid and check if the image has distortions.  Correct distortions if needed.
• Switch on the Compare mode to check if the image has vignetting. Correct vignetting if needed.

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Resize Tab

This tab has a full set of tools to prepare the final image for printing or publishing on the web. You can crop, rotate and resize the image to the target size.

Please note that  some slow filters are ignored on this tab for faster preview (Noise reduction, Sharpening, Chromatic aberration, Retouching). 

To apply all filters and see a final result please switch to the Save tab. If you like the result, you can save it and process the next image. If you don't, you can always switch back to the filter, fine tune the settings and get an updated result.

The program remembers the settings for each file you processed. So when you open the file again, the program recalls the most recent settings for this file. You can also save the file settings manually (Menu->Settings->File Settings).

The Load Settings select box lets you choose one of the predefined settings for this tab. You can also save your current settings for the future use.

The Enable Cropping check box lets you turn the whole tab on or off.

The Landscape ()/Portrait () switch lets you rotate selection by 90 degrees keeping the aspect ratio intact.

The Paper radio button shows the list of the Load Settings for printing on paper.
The New size  list lets you define the resulting size and the proportions (aspect ratio) of the selection. If "no resize" option is chosen, then the aspect ratio is set to 2:3.
Please note, that the program uses the standard value of 300 dpi (dots per inch) to obtain a final resolution of the image in pixels.

The Web radio button shows the list of the Load Settings for publishing on the web.
The New size  list lets you choose the resulting size and the proportions (aspect ratio) of the selection.

If the Crop only option is chosen the program just crops the image and it does not resize it to some target size.

The Mobile radio button shows the list of the Load Settings for mobile devices grouped by the leading producers.

The User defined radio button shows additional fields to set directly resulting width and height in inches, centimeters, pixels or percents. 

If the  Keep aspect ratio checkbox is checked, the program automatically updates the size of other size of the image to keep proportions of the selection .

The  Limit longer size checkbox is very useful if you would like to resize images in a batch mode. The images may have different aspect ratio and orientation. But still you can specify a maximum size to fit in. Aspect ratio of the original image is always preserved in this mode.

The New size  check box lets you apply user-defined size and fix the proportions (aspect ratio) of the selection. If  the check box is off, the aspect ration of the selection is not fixed and no resize would be performed.

The Reset  button sets almost all controls to default values but preserves orientation of the selection (portrait/landscape) and target type (paper/web/user defined).

The Real size  button shows the image in a full screen mode with the size the image would have on the target device (paper, monitor). For example, if you choose resize to 4x6" (10x15cm), the image on your screen will be of approximately of the same size.

You can rotate the selection using a mouse wheel , a right mouse button or the buttons and . You can reset rotation with button.

The Reset selection  button tries to stretch selection to fit the image. The double click by the mouse has the same effect has.

Recommended workflow

• Choose the target type (paper/web/user defined).
• Choose orientation of selection (portrait/landscape).
• Change selection size by dragging the frame.
• Move selection by dragging the image within the frame.
• Rotate selection by dragging the image outside the frame or by using a mouse wheel.

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Frame Tab -  Overview

This tab lets you add to the image a text of your own, current date, time or additional info from EXIF information .

Please note that  some slow filters are ignored on this tab for faster preview (Noise reduction, Sharpening, Chromatic aberration, Retouching). 

To apply all filters and see the final result please switch to the Save tab. If you like the result, you can save it and process the next image. If you don't, you can always switch back to the filter, fine tune the settings and get updated result.

The program remembers the settings for each file you processed. So when you open a file again, the program recalls the most recent settings for this file. You can also save the file settings manually (Menu->Settings->File Settings).

Simple mode

In the Simple mode some buttons will are hidden.  To select Simple mode, go to the main menu of Helicon Filter and select "View\Simple preview mode" command. Or press button on the toolbar. 

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Retouching tab

This tab offers full set of brushes to fix artifacts on the image manually.

Shortcuts:

Use Right mouse button to switch to the source image and to drag the image.

Use Mouse wheel to change brush size.

+ Use Shift+Mouse wheel to change an active slider. For example, you can click Intensity slider and then change it with the mouse.

+ Use Shift+Left click to draw line between two points.

Common parameters:

Brush size slider defines the size of a brush in pixels.

Brush hardness  slider defines the form of a brush edge.

Intensity slider defines the strength of a brush effect.

Edge sensitivity  slider makes the brush smarter: the mouse pointer is changed to double circle (), the effect to external circle is applied only if the color is similar to those in the internal circle. On the following image  the left point was made with this option, the right one without edge detection.

The Fill contour button () lets you fill the outlined area with the same brush. You can use this command to apply all brushes except Delete scratches and Distort brush.

The Undo/Redo slider and the buttons let you easily undo and redo your actions on this tab. The number on the slider indicates the quantity of points. The percentage in brackets shows the share of the points that are currently visible on the screen. If you set the slider to 0%, it means that all your actions are canceled.

Undo button cancels the last stroke. A stroke is a set of points in one continuous line.  Redo button brings back the next point.  So you are able to make a big step backwards (cancel the whole line) and then proceed point by point.

or  +Z.  The keyboard shortcuts for Undo are Left arrow and Ctlr-Z

or  +Y.  The keyboard shortcuts for Redo are Right arrow and Ctlr-Y

The Reset button undoes all the operations on the Retouching tab. But you can apply all of them again by moving the undo/redo slider to 100%.

Clone brush A clone brush lets you copy a part of the image from "source" to "target" area.  After you have chosen the clone brush, you will see the mouse pointer as a green cross in a green circle (). Simply click the image to select the source area. Once you've selected the source area, the mouse pointer changes to its usual circle form () to select the target area and apply the brush. If Do not move source option is checked, the source area does not move together with a mouse pointer. The target is filled with the pattern from the source area. If the above option is not checked (default state), the source area moves parallel to the mouse pointer.

or +   Use Right click or Ctrl+Left click  to set a new source area.

The intensity slider defines the opacity of the area to copy.

Delete scratches brush This is a smart brush which automatically fills the area under the brush with neighboring pixels. This brush is optimized to fix small artifacts such as wrinkles, scratches, pimples, etc.

Original image The brush ready to apply Resulting image

Normally the brush changes its orientation according to the mouse movements. Such mode is sufficient for areas with fine or no texture.

If the scratch is crossing some edges, lines or coarse texture, it is better to use a manual orientation so that the brush is perpendicular to the lines it is crossing.

  + or  Use Ctrl+Mouse wheel or Up/Down keys  to change orientation of the brush.
Keep Ctrl key pressed to fix orientation of the brush

The area between short lines and a circle is used to fill the area inside of a brush circle.  For example, you can also easily "erase" wires on the image below by dragging the brush.

Using autooriented brush	Using manually oriented brush to minimize artifacts

The brush clones the texture from its sides, so the texture is preserved.

Original image	Resulting image after only one click

Change brightness brush This brush is designed to brighten or darken selected areas. If the Intensity slider has a positive level, the brush increases a brightness of pixels. If the intensity is negative, the brightness decreases. If the Remove haze option is set, the brush decreases the brightness, adds some saturation and compensates bluish effect produced by a haze. Please note, that you can apply also Haze Compensation slider to the whole image on the Brightnesss tab. Original image Resulting image

Change color brush You can use this brush to paint with the selected color or to change a hue keeping the brightness and saturation intact. You can select a brush color in tree ways: The Color picker button () lets you select a color from the current image simply by clicking an appropriate area. The selected color will then be shown in the rectangle under the sliders. The Color dialog button () opens a standard dialog to choose a color from the palette.  The Memory colors list () contains some predefined colors such as skin or sky colors and lets you add your own colors to this list. If the Keep the brightness option is checked the brush changes  the tint (hue). The Intensity sliders changes to Saturation slider. It lets you change the saturation of the applied color. To keep an original saturation, set slider to 0.

Original image Resulting image

TIP: This brush enables you to fix a reddish skin  very easily.  Select natural skin color from the same person with Color picker, then turn on Keep the brightness option and paint with the brush over a reddish face.  Fine tune the Saturation slider is to get a natural look.

Selecting natural skin color from original image	Applying the brush

Change saturation brush This brush increases or decreases a saturation of affected pixels. If the Intensity is positive, the colors become more vivid. Use Intensity of -100% to make the selection monochrome (grayscale).

Original image The internal part is saturated The internal part is desaturated

Blur/Sharpen brush The blur brush (negative intensity) can be used to smooth noise or artifacts in the selected areas. You can also blur background to emphasize the foreground (often in portrait photos). The sharpen brush (positive intensity) can be used to selectively sharpen some areas (e.g. trees) but keep other areas (e.g. skin, sky ) intact. On the example below the background was slightly blurred and the foreground sharpened to emphasize the depth of field.

Original image Partially blurred and sharpened

Reduce noise brush This brush uses Aggressive algorithm to reduce noise only in the given areas. A default value of the Intensity slider is set to detected noise level in the same way as it is done on the Noise tab. Higher values of the Intensity slider mean that more details will be considered noise and removed.

Original image  Noise selectively removed

Fix red eye brush This brush desaturates a pupil of the eye and makes it darker. The brush tries to define edges of the pupil so it can be used when the pupil is not round. The Pupil darkening slider defines  brightness of the desaturated pupil. The value of 50 means that the brightness is reduced by 50%.

Distort brush This brush lets you locally distort the image. You can fix such problems as face expression, thin lips, protruding ears, etc. The Both directions checkbox lets you stretch or squeeze the image area symmetrically relatively to a brush center. Use this option to make  prolonged objects  like lips or legs thicker of thinner. One directional distortion Squeezing in both directions Stretching in both directions

Before After

+ or  Use Ctrl+Mouse wheel or Up/Down keys  to change orientation of the brush.
Keep Ctrl key pressed to fix orientation of the brush

Replace sky brush This brush lets you clone the sky from external image. The primary goal of the brush is to replace an overexposed sky with more appropriate one. Please do not forget that using completely different sky type will make the image look unnatural due to differences in lightening, shadow directions, etc. Please note that Intensity slider changes the opacity of the whole sky image. If you want to make only a part of the sky semi-transparent, please use Erase changes brush later on. Tip: when painting near the horizon, set  Edge sensitivity to maximum value and paint with single clicks. The Open sky library button opens a folder with the sky images supplied with the program. You can copy your own image to this folder. The Open user's sky  button opens previously used folder to load user's image with the sky. The Horizon level  slider lets you squeeze the sky image so that the final image looks more natural.

Erase changes brush

This brush is designed to erase selectively the effect of the previous brushes.  You can restore the pixels to the state they were before retouching or even to the their original state.

If the Restore to original  option is checked then the program will restore the pixels from the very original image as it was loaded from the disk. If the option is not checked, the program will restore pixels to the state before retouching. This option makes a difference only if you have applied some filters (brightness, colors, etc.) before calling the retouching filter.

To show or  hide Help panel of Helicon Filter use button from the toolbar or View->Help panel command in the main menu.

Save tab

Switching to Save tab makes the program apply all the filters to the source image and show a final result. From the Save tab you can switch back to filters to adjust settings and apply them anew.

On the top of this tab you can select the next action which you want to be performed with the result image. Please see the detailed description of each action below.

  Save to disk action

The File name edit box contains a name of the file to be saved on the disk. By default the result name is formed by source image name and suffix (HF) to not accidentally overwrite the original image.

The File type select box lets you choose among JPEG, TIFF and other file types.

The Quality  select defines the quality level for JPEG and JPEG2000 file types ("lossy" formats).  Please note, that TIFF, BMP provide lossless storage of the information. If you plan further processing of the image, it is recommended to store it in lossless format (TIFF) or at least in 100% JPEG. If you plan to print the image, 10 (80%) quality is usually sufficient.

The Calculate size  button shows the size of the file for the selected file type and quality level. If the file is too large, try to lower JPEG quality. If this does not help, switch to Resize filter and downsize the image to lower resolution. If you plan to email this image, it is recommended to keep the file size at 50-200KB and downsize it to 800-1280 pixels on greater side.

You can define the target folder where the image should be saved:

Select   source folder  option to save the file near the source image, in the same folder.

Select   subfolder in the source folder option and define subfolder name to save the filtered image in the subfolder. You can use this option if you do not like to change the name of the original image.

Select defined user folder option and select a folder with the open button where the file should be saved.

Send by email action

Choose this action to send the result image by email. The program will try to use your default mail client to send this email.

The Change image size select box lets you change a resolution of the image to reduce its size. To check new file size use "Calculate file size" button.