HiLite Curve v3 does not seem to work

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi Mike,
I have a problem with this -
I select 2 points and move them.
Then the 1st time I select the View>HiLite Curve button it changes colour, but nought happens in the image view, Subsequent presses have no feed back at all

I'm running PS 7 on W2K (have also tried it on CS2 - dont often use it as it is so slow on my ancient PC - and it does not seem to work on that either).

My menu display is a bit different from the manual - show a grey blob, mask,HiLite Curve as the options.

PS - I think the show mask option is great.

I guess you are probably a bit busy at the moment - but let me know what else I can tell you to enable this feature.

Also (not that it matters), the Help goes online instead of to the installed help.

I've managed to locked CM up a few time (but only when doing daft things) - is there anyway out of it other than killing PS?

Thanks
Chris

[-default]

Hi Chris,

I'm considering changing the way curve highlighting works.  The button resets itself if you click on something other than a curve window with selected points in it.  What this means for now is that you'll need to go back and click on the curve hilite button again when it de-activates. 

The change I'm considering is to make the button stay selected, even if you click on other windows.  Then when you select a curve point again, the highlighting will reappear.

Does this address what you're seeing?

I'm interested in the hangs and in how to reproduce them.  Pressing ESC at that point may bring it back again.  I've seen a situation where pressing the alt key can cause curvemeister to get into a mode where it's waiting for additional input.  I haven't been able to make this happen in a repeatable fashion, and suspect it has something to do with a special language mode, inputting diacritical marks, etc.

[mikemeister_admin]

Ah I didnt make myself clear Mike - I can not get green (or any other colour) mask indication in the image window at all when I have points selected on a curve.  It doesnt matter if the points are stationary or if I move them around.  I can now get the HiLiteCurve button to respond, by going in/out of the curve window, but that is all.  I am just clicking on the curve to set points (I tried Cntl+click on image, but it makes no difference).
I think I have tried all combinations to enable this feature, but have failed - help!
Chris

[mikemeister_admin]

If it is any help (might show something about the state of CM), I can not set Settings>Sample Size using the new menu (everything is disabled) - I can with the old fashioned menu.

[-default]

Hi Chris,

This could certainly be a new bug, or just a poor explanation on my part.  Here's a procedure to try.

Make an image with a gradient from white to black.  Start Curvemeister and go to Lab mode.  Try clicking once near the middle of the Lightness curve.  This will create a new sample point with a "marching ants" selection pattern around it in the curve window.  Then click on the Curve HiLite button.  A green stripe should show up near the middle of the gradient.

If this does not work, please let me know and we'll get this sorted out.  It's either an incomplete explanation on my part, or a genuine bug.  Either way I want to change the program or the documentation to make this more clear for other people who will be trying the same thing.

Re the sample settings.  The settings>Sample size menu item actually controls the sample size of any already existing sample points, and does not change the defaults.  The defaults may be accessed by clicking on the embossed arrow icon in the lower corner of the ribbon group.  This is on the list of things to fix.

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi Mike,
I uninstalled & reinstalled (just to be safe) and tried what you suggested, but no green stripe appeared.
The HiliteCurve button only changes colour while I am pressing it (is that any help?)
Chris

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I'm stuck on this one for now.  I'll be doing a new release in the next couple of days that I think will improve the usefulness of curve HiLiting - keeping the button selected even when the focus changes away from the curve.  That, plus perhaps a video demonstrating the procedure may solve the problem.

[mikemeister_admin]

Okay - I wonder if the following observations may help
I still have v2 demo installed
My Curves window is showing in the V2 format, not as shown in the manual for v3
Show Background layers doesnt seem to do anything (when starting CM with multiple PS layers)
Chris

[mikemeister_admin]

I didnt think of video - so I've made a silent one (as I have no sound), which upsets the speed a bit.
have a look at
http://www.broadhurst-family.co.uk/Photos/CM2a.avi
-  it is only 780KBs but shows how I think I should be setting points & viewing the mask!

[-default]

The video did the trick - very nice. 

There is a bug: HiLite Curve only works when the curve window is docked.  To dock the curve window, drag it to the edge of the main window, and drop it when you see a grayed out area where you want the window to dock.