2022-10-24 MUGOO Zoom iMeeting

[AdminMan]

We are still discussing resuming in-person meetings at the library, so the following Zoom details may apply.

Date: Monday October 24, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM ET  You can join the Zoom meeting starting at 7:20.
Venue: A Zoom meeting that you can join on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

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Although Zoom works in many browsers we STRONGLY recommend using the dedicated app on your device with the largest screen for the best experience.
You do NOT need a Zoom account to join a meeting!
If you need instructions, go here: https://mugoo.com/index.php/Main/UsingZOOM

Agenda:

0 - Group chin-wag during log on                                        7:20 - 7:30                                                                                         

1 - ON1 photo editor
    lots of new features                       - with Ross Slade        7:35 - 8:30
                                     

2 - New Google search features        - with Wally Kuzmicz    8:30 - 8:45                     
         
3 - Presidential Sign Off                    -with Wally Kuzmicz      0.5 minutes


Unfortunately, no after meeting wings or desserts at the Royal Oak, but feel free to prepare your own snacks and share them with us on screen!

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Don't forget the Ottawa Public Library!
Even though we are unable to meet in person at the library, the OPL still offers a wealth of services you can access online. Go to https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en

[DavidR]

0 - Group chin-wag during log on
The pre-meeting chit chat included some of the challenges with Australian visas, recent election results and climate change.

1 - ON1 photo editor 2023 update - with Ross Slade
In January of this year, Ross provided a comprehensive overview of ON1 Photo Raw, "the ultimate photo editor."  It is essentially a combination of Photoshop and Lightroom, by a skilled developer other than Adobe.  ON1 is regularly improved and version 2023 just came out, a major update.

This release includes significant enhancements to the program's Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, greatly improving its ease of use.  For example, Super Select AI allows the user to tap on an area of an image and the shape is automatically recognized.  This sophisticated masking tool then allows you to make adjustments, apply filters to that part, without impacting the rest of the image. 

As an illustration, Ross applied a lightened mask to just the "flora" component of his image. It's also easy to modify the automatically created mask and then apply this to another similar image.

In another example, a person had been backlit which initially came across as a silhouette.  Ross was able to select the face and brighten, and then select the background and darken.  This could then be saved as a one step process for similar images.  At any time you can press Preview to see the before and after impact of your changes.

The Bird and Wildlife button can automatically find any birds in an image for selective editing.  After these enhancements have been implemented, you can then with a single click make enhancements to everything else except the birds.

Tack Sharp AI includes a single solution for removing noise, motion blur and help compensate for any slight lack of focus.  The changes are often subtle but can really make an image "pop."

Content-Aware Crop allows you to overcrop your image and use AI to fill in the added part to be consistent with the rest.  This is helpful in restoring lost edges that sometimes arise with keystoning (when the initial image appears to lean away from the viewer).

Keyword AI automatically suggests keywords for your image based on scans for hundreds of similar objects and locations.  These keywords are searchable and can help you find your photos faster.

Sky Swap AI has been improved.  There are more options for adjusting the angle of the sky and inclusion of more sky choices, either ON1 presets or your own creations.  Note that such modifications are typically not allowed in photo competitions.

ON1 Photo Raw can also automatically correct for colour aberrations and is good for resizing photos say to add space for text, which may be required for commercial brochures.  Everything you do in the program is non-destructive, so you can always revert back to your original image.

Question: With all of such automatic AI changes at what point is your photo no longer your photo, say for a competition? 

Discussion:  Photo editing has become a whole new art form in itself.  Some people just like to play with the editing process.  Others use such programs to compensate for limitations in their camera.  Ross uses his iPhone for most of his photography. Most "photo purists" do all their work in camera.  There is also the question of honesty in photography, which gained some notoriety when certain National Geographic images were disputed as being real or not.  In some cases, it has even become a legal issue.

Most of the ON1 pricing options are less than $100 US and Ross highly recommends this particular release.

You can view his presentation deck at  https://mugoo.com/bigfiles/2022-10-25-ON1-2023.pdf and view the screen share recording at  https://mugoo.com/bigfiles/2022-10-25-ON1-2023-Video.mp4
                                   
2 - New Google search features - with Wally Kuzmicz
Some of us have been using the Google Lens feature, first introduced in 2017.  This allows you to click and drag an image to the Google search bar which will then list similar images and associated links.

Wally gave a presentation on Multisearch, a further enhancement which came out in April of this year. Google Lens allows you to point at an image but not ask.  With Multisearch, you can now point and ask.  While not perfect, adding a few context words to an image search can really improve the relevance of your results.

Later this fall, we can expect to see Multisearch Near Me, for people wanting to shop close by.

Wally demonstrated Multisearch using several examples.  The first was a photo of a garlic press taken from different angles.  With the press screen facing up, it worked well.  With the press screen facing down not so much.  The second was an oil change nipple from a jet ski; Wally has found Multisearch to be very helpful in identifying "mystery parts".  The third was an office chair with the text bar allowing a change to the colour.  An image from his church last Sunday took him to the website for his church and a video recording of that particular service.  Ross has used this search capability to find a specific high resolution version of a low res image.

All and all, quite impressive!

You can view Wally's presentation deck below.