Please be patient....very graphic intensive

AutoEye 2 – Auto FX

www.autofx.com

Maureen Shannon, NJPCUG

AutoEye 2 is the latest release of Auto FX's photo restoration software. I reviewed version 1 of AutoEye a while back and was quite pleased with the results I obtained when I used it. (see review section of the Graphics SIG.) The new version has been improved with new features and updated with the new user interface that is being used by everything in their new product line and is great. It’s fast, easy to work with, and produces excellent results without going through a series of independent corrections to improve the quality of a photo. You make all your adjustments in one place and at one time.

AutoEye is not a photo repair tool. I want to make that clear before I go any further. It can’t be used to repair damage to a photo. You need to use other tools to do that. What it does is restore or rebuild the color, the detail, sharpen the image, and give it new life. An exact quote from Auto FX regarding how it work is:

  “AutoEye uses a totally different set of adjustment methods
than Photoshop or other image editing applications. AutoEye
does not use standard curves and histograms to adjust
 images on a global basis within the RGB or CMYK color space. AutoEye's unique methods result in image enhancements that are easier to attain and yield a higher quality result.”

AutoEye uses I.V.I.T., a patented Intelligent Visual Image Technology, to reclaim much of the detail and color that is lost when an image is converted from analog to digital. This unique process improves the overall appearance of the image. There are many examples of this included here in the web site review. You have to see the difference to really appreciate what it can do.

You will see several examples of images in this review and 
many more examples will follow at the end of the review. 
Click here to view photos that are original images of mine that range from very old family photos taken with a variety of cameras to newer photos taken with a digital camera.  By using many images, I hope you will see the range of changes that can be made and that the results are consistent. Not every photo will need dramatic restoration to give it a 
new or improved look. Sometimes a good quality photo with a few enhancements added to it can convey a whole new feeling. Try AutoEye 2 to restore photos and see what a difference it can make!

Stock photo examples: The first photo will be the original

 AutoEye 2 can be used in an automatic mode which will apply changes that can be accepted and used or adjusted manually to add more detail, color, blur effect, lighting change, tonal change, etc. When you select AutoEye from the “Filters” or “Effects” options in you image editing software, it will launch AutoEye and an automatic change will be applied to the image. You can click OK and accept what the automatic feature has done or you can begin to work with the photo adjustment options and add your own changes to the image. The image above went through three changes. The first image is the original it has a blurry appearance with a dull overcast, appearance. The second image has just the automatic adjustments, the difference is like night and day. The color is more vibrant and the elephant is sharp and clear and the detail is much easier to see. In the third image, I used the “Enhance” feature at 1X. Zero is the normal setting in the automatic adjustments and I stepped it up one setting. You can see the color of the elephant has change to a lighter gray and the entire photo is lighter in color. The detail of the elephant’s skin was easier to see but I wasn’t sure if I liked the  setting on this one. I saved it at this point. I decided to take the “enhanced image” I had just saved and apply the automatic setting once more. This time the color of the elephant deepened to a nicer shade of gray and the background colors also deepened and became better. By experimentation, I took a dull photo and made it look like a completely different one.

I used both Adobe Photoshop Elements and Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7 with the AutoEye 2 plugged into them. In Photoshop Elements the plug-in can be found under the “Filters” menu and in Paint Shop Pro 7, they are found under the “Effects” menu. The terminology varies from application to application but filters and effects are the same thing. They take an image and apply a change to it through various sets of adjustments or automatic features. You can do everything from adjust the sharpness (blur or sharpen) to change it into an image with the look of an oil painting or sketch and much, much more by applying effects and filters to images. AutoEye adds another feature to the filters, it gives you the ability to rebuild the lost detail and color of an image and it will also sharpen the image all within one plug-in. You can also apply changes to photo’s by using an applications photo editing menu’s or color change features but the results will not be the same because the processes involved are different.

The basic tool selection and the user interface are the same as the other new Auto FX products. In the last two reviews I have included a complete set of the tool photos on the web site, the tools that are basic features don’t need to be shown again in photos but are listed in the "other features" below. The Tools that are native to photo enhancement fall into three categories: Enhancement Controls, Color Controls, and Creative Controls. I will add images of the Control Tools at the bottom of the page so that you can see what the actual control tool looks like.

The enhancement controls include (used on the elephant above), color correction, contrast, rebuilding the detail, saturation, brightness, tonal range, anti-moire, and moré. With the creative tools tone can be enhanced, blur effects added, and film graininess can be added. All of the options can be applied while working in the same place. You don’t have to go from place to place on a menu to locate a tool and then make a change. You work within one area, seeing each change as it is applied to the image. By selecting a memory dot when you are working, you can return to specific point and not lose that change. You can also click a button on the top of the interface that  allows you to view the original image. This enables you to compare the changes you have made to the original image. You can also mask an area of the image and apply changes just to that spot. I also tried that. I used a stock photo of a water lily that had good color on the lily but I wanted to lighten up the background. I masked off the lily and applied the changes just to the background area. In a larger photo, you would be able to see the fine hairs on the stem – they became more prominent once I had applied AutoEye to the photo and used the enhancement control. The third image has a preset effect applied to it. I used the “blue – green” preset . It seem to give a  more dreamy quality to the photo and then after applying the preset and saving it, I took a very small blur brush from Photoshop Elements and ran it along a few of the petal edges to soften them a bit more.  

Other features include: saving to native Photoshop files, the Control Interrupts (automatically updates the image as you are making adjustments), Advanced Preview System (featuring a 1600% Marquee Zoom with panning support), Save and Replay settings (presets), File Open and Save Support (psd, tif, bmp, jpg, gif, png file formats), the Help on Demand (tools tips appear over the tool when highlighted), and Customizing the Interface.  

Enhancement Controls:

Color Controls:

Creative Controls:

New to AutoEye 2 is the presets feature. The presets offer a variety of effects to change the look of an image. The range from a color cast to grain or blur effect. You can also save an images settings you have added creative changes to in the preset area so that the effect you made will be available for future projects. The presets are “Resolution Independent”. You can save a setting on a large image and apply it to a small image or apply it to an even larger image and you will get the same results.

With AutoEye 2 you can:

·         Enhance your digital photos

·         Enhance photos that are under or overexposed

·         Enhance the quality of scanned photos

·         Improve the quality of the photos before printing them

·         Sharpen an image that has been resized

·         Restore the detail, color, vibrancy, clarity, to a photo

AutoEye lets you restore a photo easily with a minimal amount of steps. Once again, Auto FX, has created a product that can be used by both a novice and professional. Each level of user can obtain outstanding results. As you experiment with the various controls you will learn what effect each has on the image and how to make adjustments that create the perfect photo for your projects. Used alone or in combination with other Auto FX products, your photos will look better than the originals. You will have the best photo enhancements to add to all your creative projects, whether from home or professional use. Auto FX makes outstanding line of visual imaging enhancements are reasonably priced and sold as individual products and in suites (bundles). Please visit their web site, www.autofx.com, for complete details on each product along with galleries of photos showing how the products can be applied to images. AutoEye 2 sells for $129 for the full version and $79 for an upgrade from version 1. It is available in both electronic download and physical CD shipment.

The system requirements for AutoEye 2 are (Windows version) Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP, 128 megs of RAM, and 15 megs of hard drive space. I am using it with Windows XP Professional. Included in each purchase is a Photoshop 3-6 + compatible plug-in, a stand alone version, Windows and Mac versions included on the CD purchase (either one on the downloadable version), easy to follow quick start manuals (manuals available on their web site for download – Eval guide and manual), and free technical support. I must comment on their technical support – it’s excellent! I had a problem with adding something to the suite of products, spoke to their technical support person – Wendie – and she gave me the solution in about 30 seconds. I have never had a technical support call to any software company resolved so quickly and without a lengthy wait to reach someone live. She knew exactly what I needed to do and had my problem fixed in a heartbeat. You can also find a demo version available on their web site.

Once again, I am highly recommending another Auto FX product for you to try. If you aren’t interested in the effects and the edges and frames available from Auto FX, you will find that if you do any kind of work with digital photos, this is a must have tool. But be careful, it’s highly addictive. I started working with a bunch of stock photos that I had and before I knew it, a couple of hours had passed and I had restored dozens of photos. I couldn’t believe how much of an improvement I had made to a collection of professional photos. If it weren’t for the ease of use this product offers, I probably never would have tried to make any kind of improvements to the collection!

*Here’s one more example: in the enhanced photo the droplets of water look as if you could reach out and touch them. They are much more pronounced than in the original photo, the color also was brightened – the  picture was improved by just using the automatic setting.

Stock Photos From A Collection

Before & After Enhancements

(AutoEye was applied to right side of the image by applying a mask)

More Photos: Old family photos (damaged, faded, yellowed, etc.) and photos taken with my digital camera. The photos used above came from a stock photo collection click the link to compare stock photo restoration to personal photos that I was able to improve with AutoEye 2.

Control Tools: