PLv6 Bug: Distortion / Constrain to image ... Incorrectly set by partial preset

[platypus (Canon & Mac (Intel and M1))]

Tested all presets included in DPL6 on macOS and only the following changed crop and distortion settings:

• 1 - DxO Standard
• 2 - DxO Optical Corrections only
• 3 - No correction

The attached preset of yours is really quite simple and should not change crop and distortion settings:

Preset = {
Settings = {
Base = {
ColorRenderingActive = true,
ColorRenderingType = "DxOONE",
}
,
Overrides = {
}
,
Version = "17.0",
}
,
Version = "11.0",
}

But you suspect the “DxO One” color rendering to be the cause of the change. Let’s see:
I applied a few different color renderings and none of them changed crop and distortion settings…
BUT: Saving the settings as a new preset did and I had to edit the preset to make it behave.
You can test the whole lot with these presets, they worked on my Mac.

Absolute preset to start with:
A1 - preset.preset (10.2 KB)

Partial preset that sets rendering to DxO One
P0 - preset.preset (1.3 KB)
Looking into this preset reveals a completely different bunch of lines
Note that @John-M’s preset has two distinctly different version numbers. I suppose that the preset has to be reworked in DPL6. Dragging along presets from older DPLs can have adverse effects.

Imo, the bug is in the creation of a new preset from current settings. Somehow, crop and distortion settings are changed to their default settings…which is NOT what we want.

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@John-M your preset certainly set ‘Constrain to image’ when applied but

@platypus when I applied your presets to one image with A1 and another with P0 then nothing untoward happens.

When I applied them one after another to an image where I had turned off all edits and had modified that preset such that ‘Constrain’ had been deselected before the preset was created then ‘Constrain’ remained unset!?

When I used the one that sets ‘Constrain’ and applied A0 then the field was reset and applying P1 still left it unset!?

[John-M (Melbourne, Australia - Win10)]

@platypus

But you suspect the “DxO One” color rendering to be the cause of the change. Let’s see:

No, I didn’t intend to suggest that this setting for Color Rendering is causing the fault - - only that a preset as simple as that example is capable of causing an unexpected setting to be applied to the image.

@platypus

Imo, the bug is in the creation of a new preset from current settings. Somehow, crop and distortion settings are changed to their default settings…which is NOT what we want.

Yes, I reckon it’s something along those lines; - whereby, if an explicit setting is not applied by the partial-preset for Distortion / Constrain to Image then the default setting is applied instead … which is precisely the case for my simple example partial-preset … but is certainly NOT what we want.

---

There have been a few confusions related to this new ability to apply a setting for Distortion / Constrain to Image - including its original default being the opposite to that which was applied before this setting was exposed for user selection … and I strongly suspect these confusions are due to the “contrary nature” of the setting as it appears in the UI versus how its stored in a preset file.

That is,

• For, (False),
  – False = True
• And, (True),
  – True = False

[platypus (Canon & Mac (Intel and M1))]

A1 set distortion (and crop) to unconstrained and P0 is built to leave these alone.

@John-M

There have been a few confusions related to this new ability to apply a setting for Distortion / Constrain to Image

Yes, but the new setting can bring parts of the original image content back into a crop, specially if the capture was very tightly taken. A few actions revert settings to their default and we have to watch carefully what is happening when we use the perspective, distortion and crop tools.

I’d prefer an unconstrained crop ratio, but DPL often pushes that setting back.

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@platypus and that is what happens with a new directory with No DOPs

1. After discovery by PL6.7.0
   

   

2. After A1
   

   

3. After P0
   

   

Something else is needed

4. After my Normal(1) which doesn’t set ‘Constrain …’ but resets all other edits
5. After A1
6. After P0
   
   

[John-M (Melbourne, Australia - Win10)]

To avoid any & all confusion related to contents of user-created partial presets (including mine, as reported above) - this bug/fault can be confirmed using DxO-supplied presets.

Set-up an image with Distortion / Constrain to Image set as; (Unconstrained )

• and then apply either one of DxO’s 3 - Neutral Colors OR 4 - Black & White presets

• the result for Distortion / Constrain to Image will become (Constrained)
  – despite neither of those presets containing any setting whatsoever for Constrain to Image … which, internally, within the sidecar/.dop file, is defined via: DistortionAnamorphosisKeepEntireImage

Note: Testing by Platypus confirms that this same (faulty) behaviour does NOT exist for the Mac version - It seems to be an issue specific to the Win-version.

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@John-M Yes if you do the test you identified then ‘Constrain…’ is set.

Possibly even more interesting is if you use 5 - No correction for which I can find no physical representation in the presets it will turn off ‘Distortion’ but set ‘Constrain …’ on!

Hence, it appears that there is some inbuilt settings which are being applied and could well upset users presets!

[platypus (Canon & Mac (Intel and M1))]

For the technically interested: This is what the presets (DxO Standard and No Correction) look like on Mac regarding crop and distortion settings. Some of the values differ (check line 92) - even though they could be the same…which means that applying a different preset could possibly change a setting, even if it is meant to not do it.

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@platypus I have never been able to find ‘5 - No correction’!?

@John-M I suspect, as I believe you do, that, either deliberately or accidentally, there are hidden settings within DxPL!

Only DxO know what and why?

In the meantime I developed some (P)artial presets for ‘Distortion’ to add to my collection

which are here if anyone wants to use any of them

D - Distortion.zip (2.4 KB)

[platypus (Canon & Mac (Intel and M1))]

@BHAYT

I have never been able to find ‘5 - No correction’!?

@BHAYT, macOS applications are folders with the extension “.app”, which makes macOS display that folder as an application. Looking into the DPL6 app/folder, we can get to all the built-in presets:

The supplementary DNG preset is not shown in DPL either. Secret presets on Mac too

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@platypus on Windows the DxO supplied presets are held as “.preset” files just like user and DxO presets in the standard directory C:\Users\Bryan Thomas\AppData\Local\DxO\DxO PhotoLab 6\Presets and in my case in a backup directory where I can develop new Partial presets by “hacking” old/earlier presets and then importing them back into a running PL6.

Backing up presets is as important as backing up the database, or more important if you are just using the database as DxPL temporary work files.

However, there is no such entry for 5 and I had trouble with “5 - No Correction” in the past but never pursued it in detail!

@platypus

Secret presets on Mac too

Hmm - thanks for the update.

[platypus (Canon & Mac (Intel and M1))]

@BHAYT

Backing up presets is as important as backing up the database…

Indeed, and macOS provides the handy “Time Machine” backup feature.

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@platypus

Indeed, and macOS provides the handy “Time Machine” backup feature.

@platypus a useful facility that has no direct counterpart on Windows.

Although I did install a product (PowerQuest Drive Image) way back that captured all changes on my Father-in-Law’s machine because with his “lazy” mouse movements he moved (dragged) files inadvertently, couldn’t find them and then started again!?

Every change was captured in Zip files and I was able to “recover” what he had “lost”!

My own backup uses Beyond Compare and does not back up continually. The resulting backup is a copy rather than a history of changes so no “rolling back” to a given point in time.

[John-M (Melbourne, Australia - Win10)]

@BHAYT

@John-M I suspect, as I believe you do, that, either deliberately or accidentally, there are hidden settings within DxPL!

Not quite that, Bryan - - I reckon it’s related to a “logic fault” (aka, a ) in the translation from the state of “Constrain to Image” = False to the corresponding sidecar/.dop setting - which should be DistortionAnamorphosisKeepEntireImage = True … and vice versa.

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@John-M

Not quite that, Bryan - - I reckon it’s related to a “logic fault” (aka, a ) in the translation from the state of “Constrain to Image” = False

@John-M I haven’t fully tested the whole story that you paint but I ran a test and was convinced that nothing was right until I discovered …

1. Set up a new directory of 4 images, no DOPS with a ‘Preferences’ of

Which was wrong because I wanted to use ‘5 - …’ for RAW!!

2. Set ‘Constrain to image’ to “OFF” for the first two images and left the other two alone and was convinced that DistortionAnamorphosisKeepEntireImage = False was set for all 4 images which it was

but I missed the Overrides = addition to the end of the DOP for the first two images

Now I will test with ‘5 - …’!

[John-M (Melbourne, Australia - Win10)]

I think you’re over-complicating things, Bryan … Just do this.

John

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@BHAYT

@John-M Yes if you do the test you identified then ‘Constrain…’ is set.

@John-M I made the above statement some posts ago, i.e. that I can reproduce the issue, which I just repeated with an empty database, a new folder of images, after a PL6 restart and it still gets the ‘Constrain to image’ set in spite of the fact that there is nothing in the preset that should cause that.

So no prior actions to cause values to be left behind and PL6.7.0 sets that item ON using …?

My other tests are to explore an issue that I had (or thought I had) with the “invisible” option 5 some time ago when I was using it as my default option for RAW images!

[jorismak]

The default for exactly that setting changed one or two times during the PL 6.x release cycle.

I think there is some state left in your preset file, or things just get messy with the changing defaults.

Anyway , recreating your partial preset should probably fix it I guess. Did you try that already ?

[BHAYT (Bryan [WIN10, PL7, VP4, FP7, G9 & EM1 Mkii, RTX 3060])]

@jorismak

I think there is some state left in your preset file, or things just get messy with the changing defaults.

Anyway , recreating your partial preset should probably fix it I guess. Did you try that already ?

@jorismak as I stated in the last post to @John-M I repeated the test before making the post.

So

1. I ‘Restored’ an empty database and navigated to directory where I had been testing presets. That was the only directory that I opened.

2. All four images had ‘Distortion’ = OFF but ‘Constrain’ = ON. So I used my preset and set ‘Constrain’ = OFF for all four images and that is all that preset does.

3. I selected the first image and executed ‘3 - Neutral colors’ and ‘Constrain’ = ON.

4. I repeated the test at 3 on the second image and captured the snapshots

Before:-

after

5. I then set all to OFF, navigated to an empty directory and ‘Restored’ an empty database.

6. I repeated the navigation and the test and it happens every time, i.e. it is a “feature” of PL6.8.0 in this case!

In fact all the DxO presets cause the ‘Constrain’ to be set but 1, 2 and 3 do that at the same time as setting ‘Distortion’ = ON. But 3, 4 and 5 do it without activating ‘Distortion’ at all.

My ‘(P) Constrain to Image(OFF)’ will “rectify” the situation if anyone feels it needs rectifying and that is all that Partial preset does

Personally I feel that I want ‘Distortion’=ON, ‘Constrain to Image’=ON and Keep Ratio’=ON or all settings = OFF

BUT the ‘(P)__Distortion(OFF)’ and (ON) only toggle the ‘Distortion’ setting and do nothing to the ‘Constrain’ etc…

Plus if ‘Constrain …’ is toggled OFF then ‘Keep Ratio’ is cleared as well but toggling ‘Constrain …’ back ON leaves ‘Keep Ratio’ = OFF, i.e. there is no memory of its previous setting so it cannot be restored!?

For completeness there should be a ‘(P) Constrain to Image(ON), KR(ON)’ added to my ‘Distortion’ Partial presets

that contains

Preset = {
Settings = {
Base = {
DistortionAnamorphosisKeepEntireImage = false,
DistortionKeepRatio = true,
}
,
Overrides = {
}
,
Version = "17.3",
}
,
Version = "11.0",
}

@jorismak

I think there is some state left in your preset file,

The presets for 4 and 5 contain no mention of “Distortion” whatsoever and 5 doesn’t even seem to have a physical embodiment in the presets files, they are “figments” of DxPL’s “imagination” not mine or my presets.

[John-M (Melbourne, Australia - Win10)]

@jorismak

The default for exactly that setting changed one or two times during the PL 6.x release cycle.

Yes - that’s correct … but;

@jorismak

I think there is some state left in your preset file, or things just get messy with the changing defaults.

Anyway , recreating your partial preset should probably fix it I guess.

No - that’s not the case.

The issue can be readily replicated using DxO-issued presets … as explained here.