fotoxx quick guide
Use this quick guide to get started with fotoxx. More detailed information follows afterwards.

File menu	File management and other administrative functions.
Open	File open dialog - open an image file to view or edit.
Save	File save dialog - save the current (edited) image to a file.
Trash	Move the current image into the fotoxx trash folder.
Print	Arrange images and text in a layout for printing (see sister application printoxx).
Quit	Exit from fotoxx.
Edit Parameters	Edit parameters affecting how fotoxx does panorama and HDR images. Normally you need only to set "pano lens mm" to match your camera lens (35mm equivalent).
Create Thumbnails	Create thumbnail images to make thumbnail pages display faster. Input topmost image directory containing all image files. Do this when fotoxx is installed or when image files are reorganized outside of fotoxx.
Check Monitor	Display a color palette for tuning your monitor. Adjust so that gradations in brightness can be seen for all colors at both ends of the image.
Slide Show	Use the entire monitor to show images (no menu or toolbar). Use the keyboard to navigate. (more) Use the Esc key to leave slide show mode.
Clone	Start another instance of fotoxx with the current image (to compare two images or monitor impact of edits).
Tags menu	Manage image tags (keywords for searching), star ratings, dates.
Edit Tags	Add or change the photo date, star rating, and tags (keywords) for an image.
Search Tags	Search all images for desired tags and / or star ratings and / or date range.
Build Tags Index	Build an index of photo dates and tags for all images. Input topmost image directory containing all image files. Do this when fotoxx is installed or when images files are reorganized outside of fotoxx.
View EXIF Data	View EXIF data for the current image, including date, exposure data, and any tags that have been added to the image.
Edit menu	These functions modify image files. (more)
Select Area	Outline an area for subsequent editing using mouse clicks and drags. If no such area is active, editing functions use the entire image.  Invert: replace the selected area with the entire image except the selected area. (more)
Brightness Distribution	Flatten the brightness distribution. Enhances low-contrast areas of the image. Sometimes a fast and easy method to make significant improvements. (more)
Brightness/ Contrast/Color	Change brightness and color intensity independently for image areas with different brightness, e.g. brighten dark areas while not affecting bright areas.
Color Depth	Reduce color depth (number of colors displayed). Makes a poster or painting effect.
Color Intensity	Increase or decrease the color intensity on a scale from zero (gray) to maximum color.
RGB Spread	Intensify or reduce the main color for each image location, e.g. gray <> pink <> red.
Sharpen	Sharpen a blurred image.
Blur	Blur an image (make skin look smoother, or soften hard edges).
Reduce Noise	Reduce noise (speckles) in low-light images.
Red Eye	Remove red-eyes from electronic flash photos. Normally just click the red-eye 1-3 times. For hard cases, drag a circle around the red-eye and click to darken in steps.
Crop	Cut out a rectangular portion of an image.
Rotate	Rotate an image (level a tilted image or turn in 90° steps).
Resize	Change the pixel dimensions, typically used to reduce the size of a large image.
Unbend	Fix image perspective problems: curved walls or slanting buildings.
Warp	Distort an image by pulling on a location with the mouse. For funny effects.
HDR	Combine an underexposed and overexposed image to make an image that shows better detail in both bright and dark areas. HDR = high dynamic range.
Panorama	Combine two or more overlapping images to make an ultra-wide image.
Help menu	User guide, README notes, list of changes.
Toolbar Buttons
index	Show a window of thumbnail images, starting with the current image. The thumbnail window can be paged and navigated to other locations. Clicking on a thumbnail will display that image in the main window.
open	Same as File menu Open.
save	Same as File menu Save.
trash	Same as File menu Trash.
prev	Go to previous image in the current directory, if any.
next	Go to the next image in the current directory, if any.
undo	Undo (reverse) the results of the previous edit function. Up to the last 20 edits can be reversed.
redo	Redo the previous undo. Can be repeated to redo each undo made on the current image.
zoom+	Magnify the image. A left mouse click also magnifies, with the clicked position moving to center.
zoom-	Reduce the image. A right mouse click also reduces the image.
kill	Stop the current long-running function (HDR, Panorama). Do this if you see that the wrong images are being combined.
quit	Exit from fotoxx.

License and Warranty
Fotoxx is licensed under the GNU General Public License V2 (Free Software Foundation).
Fotoxx is not warranted for any purpose, but if you find a bug, I will try to fix it.

Origin and Contact
Fotoxx originates from the author's web site: http://kornelix.squarespace.com/fotoxx
Other web sites may offer it for download. Modifications may have been made.
If you have questions, suggestions, or a bug to report, contact kornelix@yahoo.de

Keyboard Shortcuts

main window
left / right arrow keys	previous / next image
plus(+) / minus(-)  keys	zoom bigger / smaller
Z  key	zoom to 100% / fit to window
R / L  keys	rotate 90° right / left
T or X  key	open thumbnail index window
Delete key	move image to fotoxx trash
Escape key	leave slide show mode
thumbnail window
up / down arrow keys	move up / down by one row of thumbnails
left / right arrow keys	move to previous / next page of thumbnails
plus(+) / minus(-)  keys	bigger / smaller thumbnail image size
Escape key	close thumbnail window

General Editing Procedure
The image in the main window can be operated on with the edit menu functions. You can use these functions in any order, and the changes are accumulated for the current image and shown in the main window. The [undo] and [redo] buttons can be used to review the before/after results for the last 20 edits of the current image. These buttons do not work during an image edit function, but some of these functions have their own method to undo and redo changes during the edit. When finished with an image, use [save] to replace the original file or save to a new file.

Select an Area to Edit
It is possible to modify part of an image while leaving the rest unchanged. If no image area has been selected, edit functions apply to the entire image. If an area has been selected and is still active (has not been deleted), then the following edit functions will be carried out within the selected area: brightness and color edits, warp, sharpen, blur, reduce noise. The warp function works only within a selected area (but the whole image can be selected). Other functions (crop, red-eye, rotate, resize, HDR, panorama, unbend) will ignore a selected area.

An area may be selected before starting an edit function, or while an edit function is active. The selected area is immediately active, and edits done on a prior area or the whole image are retained. If another edit function is started, the selected area remains active, so it is possible to carry out a series of edits on one area, or one edit function on a series of areas.

Press the [select] button to begin selecting an area. Use the mouse to outline the target area. Hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse to draw a dotted line. Release the button and press again to fix the end of the line and start a new connecting line from that point. Continue around the target area until it is surrounded with connected dotted lines (an arbitrary polygon). You can use the right mouse button to undo the last line(s). Alternatively, just click the left mouse button to define each new point of the surrounding polygon. When the polygon is nearly closed, click the [finish] button to close the last gap. The selected area is now active and subsequent edit functions will operate within the area. The [delete] button deletes the area (all edits are retained). A new area can now be started if desired. The [blend width] sliding control defines the width of blending into the surrounding image. Edits made within a selected area are blended with the surrounding image over this width. The leftmost slider position gives a hard edge (zero blending), and the rightmost position blends the changes over a width of 200 pixels. This control can be adjusted interactively while editing an area, with instant visual feedback. The select area dialog can be exited and started again later (with the [select] button). The blend width can then be revised, affecting current and future edits.

Determining which pixels are inside a selected area, and how far they are from from the nearest edge (for the blending calculation) is very processor intensive. If you have enclosed a large area using hundreds of separate lines, 10 or more seconds may be needed. This calculation is done only once, when finishing a selected area. Subsequent movements of the blend width slider are processed very fast.

The button [invert] inverts an existing selected area: the entire image is selected except for the existing selected area. Using [invert] two times returns the original selected area. Inverting a selected area can take a long time for the new calculations to complete, because there are usually many more pixels for calculating the edge distance.

Brightness Distribution
This is a fast and easy way to compensate for a common limitation in photos: there is not enough range in the brightness to show good detail in all areas. This function finds where there are too many pixels with nearly the same brightness and spreads them apart, compressing other areas to make room. Technically, the brightness distribution is made more uniform. Move the slider and watch the image, which may lag a few seconds. Some images will show good results, others not.