Latest info on OM Workspace

 OM Workspace is the rebranded software formerly known as Olympus Workspace (Viewer). OMDS have added new features to support the new OMDS OM-1 camera. The Instruction Manual in PDF format does not seem to be ready so I retrieved the old Olympus Workspace manual. This and previous info is here:
https://sites.google.com/site/olycameras/olympus-om-d/adobe-lightroom-and-photoshop/olympus-workspace

Enjoy!

Microsoft Photos (for Windows)

What is Microsoft Photos? 

Microsoft Photos is the free, built-into-Windows program that you can use to view and manage your photos. Microsoft Photos is either pre-installed in Windows 10 and 11 or can be downloaded from the Windows Store.

Who is it for?

If you

• can't install another photo organising program (sometimes referred to, with the lofty term Digital Asset Manager).
• want a DAM for free
• prefer not to use third party software
• have grown used to Windows File Explorer and want a few more features
• want to use it because "it's there"
• don't shoot raw image files or have a camera that is supported by the free available raw codecs
• are not bothered by missing features
• do minimal editing to your photos

It is also inevitable to discover and try out what comes in the box with Microsoft Windows before thirsting for more or better tools.

What's What

The top menu is displayed in a way that explains how Microsoft Photos thinks.

The Collection Tab

Collection presents your photos in a timeline view, Microsoft Photos automatically looks at all the folders you have nominated, at the files and shows them in groups according to Month-Year. 

You can choose to View by Date Taken or Recently Added. Date Taken would be from the EXIF metadata (?)

The Collection is automatically populated by Microsoft Photos

Along the top of the Collection screen are tiles representing actions you can take.

• Recent photos
• Protect your memories - Back Up to OneDrive
• On This Day
• Happy Days - it appears to AI identify the "Smile"
• Most Popular Tag - it appears to AI identify recognised subjects
• On This Day - specific date
• You're the director - click on the tile to switch to Video Editor Mode
  
  

The Albums Tab

You can create a virtual album by nominating photos into an album that you name yourself. The photos are not moved from their original folders, this is virtual. This means that a photo can be displayed in more than one Album. Certain albums are automatically created and named for you.

Where is the Albums metadata stored? In an SQLite database in

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\MediaDb.v1.sqlite

This database contains details of all your albums, as well as metadata from images (date taken, camera models, etc.) as well as information extracted using the AI engine (such as recognising faces, types of scenes, etc.).

The People Tab

Microsoft Photos uses face recognition to show candidates for you to name. You can click on the person to dive down to all relevant photos.

The Folders Tab

The Folders Tab is surprisingly not a Windows Explorer like tree of folders. It is a set of Tiles, (including Recent) which you can click on to dive into to show the photos. Photos in those Folders will be displayed in the Collections Tab timeline

The first Tile is Add a folder. When you click on this tile you will see the suggested folders to add to the Windows Library - Pictures. Windows Photos relies on this library concept to populate its Collections

To remove folders from the Folders Tab, Click on the thee dots symbol (elipsis) on the top right of the Photos window and look at the Sources section.

The Video Tab

The Video Tab takes you to the Video Editor and shows your Video Projects

Integrates with Paint 3D

Editing Features of Microsoft Photos

Microsoft Photos has rudimentary editing features.

• Rotate
• Flip
• Crop
• Auto Enhance
• Adjust Brightness (Light)
• Colour (Saturation)
• Clarity
• Apply a Vignette
• Remove Red Eye
• Spot Fix
• Apply fixed set of colour grading filters
• Draw
• Resize
• Add 3D effects
• Add animated text

This program can also

• Edit Metadata on
• Filename
• Description
• Data and Time Photo Taken
• Tags can't be edited manually. You can use Windows File Explorer to edit Tags. Additionally, Microsoft OneDrive uses AI to autotag photos
• Set Favourite
• Save As
• Print
• Copy
• Set As
• Desktop Background
• Lock Screen Background
• Share
• Slideshow
• launch other Photo apps with Open With
• launch Microsoft Store for more editing Apps

File Type Support

• jpeg
• tiff ?
• bmp ?
• raw (given that relevant raw codecs are installed
• HEIC / HEVC - there is a codeC available for a small price from the Microsoft Store

Why you might not want to use Microsoft Photos

• You feel that there are many features you want, missing.
• You don't have faith that Microsoft will continue this line of software in future versions of Windows.

Migrating my Google Sheets table of Photo Editing Software to Notion

 Come and have a look: Photo Software

 

 

Figuring out ready made Noise Reduction

(Revised after I noticed a purple colour cast). 

It's an interesting time in image processing technology. There are genuine improvements in easy to use (read: hands free, almost) digital noise reduction features of consumer, off the shelf, software. I purchased Topaz Labs Denoise AI, like it a lot, use it a lot, for my photos.There are two algorithms - the standard and the Low Noise option. There are adjustment sliders for them. I've an affiliate link here if you want to buy it and also reward me.

DxO has just released version 4 of their PhotoLab - this has been a well known, well regarded general purpose raw processing program - the Elite Edition has an enhanced noise reduction feature named Prime Noise Reduction. Now there's Deep Prime. 

I'm just testing at the moment. Below are crops of .tiff files from an Olympus E-PM2 raw file, shot at, ahem, ISO 25,000 - yes rubbish ISO, pretty much only useful for a snapshot rather than a polished professional photo. The full .TIFF files are downloadable via links.

When I first made the Topaz Denoise AI images, I ran Topaz Denoise as standalone, loading the Olympus .ORF raw file directly, then saved as .TIFF - for some reason there's a purple cast in the images, I didn't see any Colorspace option.  Then I ran Topaz Denoise as an Adobe Photoshop plugin, loading the raw first through Adobe Camera Raw. This time there was no colour cast. 

Hope this is useful.

Olympus Workspace - Standard Noise Filter - .tiff file

Olympus Workspace - Noise Filter Off - .tiff file

Topaz Denoise AI (Low Light Mode) directly loading the raw .orf file - .tiff file

Topaz Denoise AI directly loading the raw .orf file - .tiff file

DxO PhotoLab 4.0 HQ - .tiff file

DxO PhotoLab 4.0 Prime - .tiff file

DxO PhotoLab 4.0 Deep Prime - .tiff file

Topaz Denoise AI through ACR / Photoshop - tiff file

Topaz Denoise (Low Light mode) through ACR / Photoshop - tiff file

Topaz Denoise (AI Clear mode) through ACR / Photoshop - tiff file

Quick Insight: Olympus Workspace - Raw Editing

Unlike third party software product like Adobe Lightroom and others, Olympus Workspace often suffers from a lack of detailed explanation of how it works, what it does and how do you know what is happening on screen. Here's a quick tip on what Olympus Workspace displays on the screen when you start to edit a raw file.

When choose the thumbnail, the in-camera settings like Picture Mode are already pre-selected and the thumbnail of the raw shows the look straight out of camera (this could be read from the embedded jpeg inside each raw file). Note that Picture Mode is not ticked which means I have not yet made any edit choices on the computer

The thumbnail shows the text RAW on the top right. Olympus Workspace can stack the same numbered raw and jpeg to avoid clutter of the screen. In that case if there are two files, the text will be R+J

This thumbnail shows the Pencil icon on the top left corner - this means I have chosen to adjust something on the computer. My adjustments are stored as metadata in the central Olympus Workspace database on this computer. If I take the raw file to another computer, my adjustments will not be carried with it.

If I right click on the thumbnail, I am given the choice to "Revert To Original" - this is because adjustments to the raw file are not merged into the file, they remain separate as metadata and can be further adjusted or removed completely

The Misconception about SOOC Raw

Recently I saw a question posed about which camera (or camera brand) had the better colour. I explained that each camera will likely have a different colour profile and it should not be viewed as a technical superiority, the merit is most often subjective and affected by artistic interpretations. In short, it's a matter of taste.

There is also a misconception that if one takes a raw file from the camera and displays it the preferred editing program of choice, without touching any adjustment sliders, that it is SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) raw. This is not correct. In order for the editing program to create a display on screen for you to asses, it has to demosaic, apply colour profiles, tonal curves, sharpening, noise reduction and even lens corrections. It's a bit like the old Australian ad phrase - "Clayton's - its the drink you have when you are not having a drink". Every editing program has to apply "factory defaults" as determined by the program maker (as opposed to the camera maker). In most programs, you can replace the factory default with your preferred "look", either on a one by one image, or in batch with a Develop Preset or save that "look" to the default.  In the last case, that means whenever you bring in a raw file, this camera calibration will be applied.

As Lightroom is one of the most popular raw editing programs, here are some screenshots of where you go to set up your personalised import defaults.

Edit > Preferences in Lightroom

Import Dialog in Lightroom showing Import Presets and Develop Settings

Preferences Dialog in Adobe Camera Raw

Develop Presets Panel in Adobe Camera Raw

Here's a video explaining this:

And here is a video by Mark Wallace about how to use the Xrite Color Checker Passport with Lightroom to set reference profiles and switch and also to offset the neutral colour to a wamer or cooler white balance:

Learnt something?