Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

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jeffst2
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Joined: 21.06.2014 01:58

Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by jeffst2 »

I just downloaded this version 6.1, and tried importing a stack. The images are portrait orientation, but when I import them, they all turn sideways-landscape orientation. How can I fix this? Thanks
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

We need to test your files in our environment. Can you please upload them to our ftp server as described at http://www.heliconsoft.com/ftp-server/
jeffst2
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Joined: 21.06.2014 01:58

Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by jeffst2 »

Thanks, I uploaded them to server see attached.

Jeff
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Thanks for your images. We were able to reproduce it. We will try to fix it asap.
jbis
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Joined: 29.07.2014 18:48

Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by jbis »

I’m a new user, so apologies in advance if I have overlooked something simple, but I appear to have a similar problem. I want to create composite images from series taken with a camera (Sony Nex 5N) facing straight downwards while mounted on a microscope. When opened in Helicon Focus 6 (on 30-day trial) for stacking, some of these series of images appear in two or more different orientations, which prevents the stacking operation. The rotation of each image correlates with the value of its EXIF orientation tag, and it appears that the camera is ‘guessing’ the tag value (because the camera is facing straight down?), and often guesses differently even between images taken in rapid succession. So I have checked the box for ‘Ignore EXIF information’ under Edit ... Preferences, but the problem remains – exactly the same sequence of orientations is still seen.

I had already taken a lot of series before discovering this problem, and want to find a way of being able to use them.

With thanks for any suggestion you can make.
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Yes, we fixed the bug with orientation detection in recent version. But in your case it looks like the camera writes wrong information into EXIF. We plan to add an option to ignore orientation in the next versions. The only workaround now is to convert to TIFFs and rotate files manually.
jbis
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by jbis »

Thanks for the reply, Stas.

So does the existing command in Helicon 6 to ignore EXIF information not apply to the EXIF orientation tag? (I had assumed it would silence the tag.)

Converting the JPEGS to TIFFS gives files which do not need manual rotation -- they all line up fine when imported into Helicon just as they are, so that does help. (I presume the conversion is one way to definitely get rid of the EXIF information?)
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Please upload (as described at http://www.heliconsoft.com/ftp-server/) couple of tiff and jpeg files. They should behave identically, rotation flag should not be lost during conversion. We thought we already fixed the bug with TIFF rotation, but it looks that not completely.
jbis
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by jbis »

Sorry, Stas, I stopped looking at the forum and missed the fact that you had replied. Just looked again after some months!

In the folder 'John Bishop' on your FTP site I have uploaded two jpeg files taken one after the other that come out in different orientations when imported into in Helicon focus and two corresponding TIFF files (converted using Photoshop) that have the same orientation in HF.
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

The orientation is different it these jpeg files. So Helicon Focus, Windows Explorer and Photoshop show these files rotated differently. It looks like you converted jpeg files to tiffs ignoring orientation flag.
jbis
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by jbis »

Yes, the jpegs have different values in their orientation tags. As explained earlier in this interrupted strand, I have shot a lot of intended stacks with a camera mounted facing straight down on a microscope, and the camera has been putting inconsistent orientation tag values on the images. So when the jpegs are imported into HF the images are often in a variety of orientations and can not be processed. I thought that the 'Ignore EXIF information' option in HF should make the software disregard the orientation tag, but it does not. I am still not clear from this conversation whether the tag should be ignored but there is a bug, or whether the orientation information is not supposed to be included in 'Ignore EXIF information'. Converting everything to TIFF seems more a work-around than a solution.
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: Files change orientation when imported into Helicon Pro

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Yes, you are right. We already have several request to add "Ignore orientation" flag to the Preferences. But currently it is not available and you need to use some workaround to overcome this issue.
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