ACDsee Photo Studio for Mac crop issues, develop slow, frequent lockup

[DIPPOLDS]

Source files are Nikon NEF. Macbook Air with MacOS High Sierra

1. Crop - have to check and uncheck Crop several times for cropping handles to appear. Grid lines often don't appear.
2. Crop (Enter) then Tone Curve change black point says Loading then gets spinning ball of death. The software required a Force quit 4 times editing 8 pictures (only crop and changing curve). Activity Monitor shows 99% CPU to ACDSee when this occurs.
3. Any action under Develop takes 9-10 seconds. Scrolling to next picture also takes 9 seconds in Develop mode with no changes.

[Tahunga]

I tried some cropping as well. In my tests:

1. Grid lines appeared immediately as soon as I went to the "Geometry>Crop" tool.
2. Crop handles immediately appeared when I outlined my crop area.
3. Minor problem: I saved the cropped image using "Save As" to create a separate image. The icon of the cropped image did NOT appear. The icon only showed the grey ACDSee logo. The actual icon finally got updated after I moved a couple of times to "Develop" then to "Manage" then back to View.

My environment is: MacBook Air with MacOS High Sierra running ACDSee Photo Studio, Version 4.0.588

[DIPPOLDS]

I suspect we are having different results because I am using NEF RAW files while you are using JPG. I tried the same actions using JPG files and it works fine for me. No delays in Grid lines or Cropping.

With RAW, when going to Develop-Geometry, the gridlines won't appear unless I toggle them off then on. If I jump to View then back to develop, the gridlines come back but maybe after 5 seconds. I notice when I am in View, CPU usage is 10%. When I change to Develop, it jumps to 150%-200% for over a minute even though I am not doing anything. I suspect View works fine on RAW files as it is using the embedded preview image.

[Tahunga]

Interesting observation. Well I had to try this with my version of RAW pictures. Specifically I use images in the PEF format, which is the Pentax RAW format. As I was playing with some pictures I noticed the following:

1. I selected a picture and then went to the "Develop" tab and from there to the "Geometry" tool tab. Once there I clicked on the first white square to select "Crop", and nothing happened. No grid or "crop handles".
2. On the other hand, when I simply clicked on the general "Crop Tool" area (which turns that area light grey) without selecting the "Crop" square as in my point above, both the grid and the "Crop handles" immediately appeared.
3. Once the grid and crop handles appear, they will appear all the time when I go to the "Tune", "Detail", or "Repair" tools and then back to "Geometry". This is true, even if I do not select the "Crop" section but one of the other tools in Geometry. It's also true even if I select a different picture.

Bottom Line: there is something a little goofy about the crop tool.

[miksons]

Bottom Line: there is something a little goofy about the crop tool.

I agree, and I have to say that the workings of the Crop tool do not make much sense to me. I can make it do what I want, but how it works seems a bit wonky to me.

I do a fair amount of birding so much of my cropping revolves around zooming an image first to determine the maximum crop I can safely do, and then cropping at that zoom level. This works well for my other workflow tools (Dxo PhotoLab, CaptureOne), but is a problem with Pro 4, and the way the controls seem to work is a puzzle.

1) If I select a raw image in Manage, go to Develop, then Geometry, and then click on the Crop checkbox (Constrain proportion is unchecked) and zoom to how I want the image to be cropped, I can not crop it because the edges are no longer visible. The cursor is the hand tool and it will not allow me to crop.

2) Clicking the Constrain proportion checkbox does me no good as the edges are still no longer visible.

3) If at step 1, instead of clicking on the Crop checkbox, I click on Constrain proportions the software automatically clicks on Crop and, after zooming, I still can not crop.

It appears that if I am trying to crop an image as it is zoomed I only have two choices. One, I can uncheck the Crop checkbox or, two, I can fill in the width/height values. Doing the first allows me to use the cursor and doing the second creates a crop based on the width and height values. But checking the crop checkbox, which seems like the logical thing to do, prevents me from cropping a zoomed image. And, just to make it a bit more confusing (at least to me) if I uncheck the Crop checkbox so I can crop the image and then crop it, the software automatically checks the Crop checkbox, the very thing that prevented me from cropping before.

There also seems to be a disconnect between a panel being selected (the color has changed to show that it is in use) and the associated checkbox being checked. I am sure the developers had something specific in mind when they coded it the way they did, but I do not know what that would be. Checking a checkbox (in general in Pro 4) does not activate the panel, and activating the panel does not check the checkbox, so presumably they imply different things, but I do not know what that difference is.

[matt]

Source files are Nikon NEF. Macbook Air with MacOS High Sierra

1. Crop - have to check and uncheck Crop several times for cropping handles to appear. Grid lines often don't appear.
2. Crop (Enter) then Tone Curve change black point says Loading then gets spinning ball of death. The software required a Force quit 4 times editing 8 pictures (only crop and changing curve). Activity Monitor shows 99% CPU to ACDSee when this occurs.
3. Any action under Develop takes 9-10 seconds. Scrolling to next picture also takes 9 seconds in Develop mode with no changes.

Hi DIPPOLDS,

I was unable to reproduce points 2 and 3 during my testing. Would you be able to tell me the specs of the computer you are currently using?

Regarding the issues pointed out about the crop tool, I have investigated each of the points brought up and have concluded that the issue is an issue with usability. I have logged a ticket internally to further investigate how we can change the crop tool and other develop mode tools to avoid further confusion. For now, I will try to explain how many of the crop issue mentioned can be solved:

- To crop an image while zoomed do not select the "Crop" checkbox in Geometry mode, instead, with the "Crop" checkbox unchecked click and drag where you want to perform a crop anywhere on the image. This will automatically enable the "Crop" checkbox with the area you selected.
- The reason that it appears that the image can't be cropped while zoomed is because if the "Crop" checkbox is enabled while zoomed then the crop tool will automatically select a crop pane around the whole image, meaning that the crop handle bars will be out of view while zoomed in.

Hope this helps,
Matt

[miksons]

- To crop an image while zoomed do not select the "Crop" checkbox in Geometry mode, instead, with the "Crop" checkbox unchecked click and drag where you want to perform a crop anywhere on the image. This will automatically enable the "Crop" checkbox with the area you selected.
- The reason that it appears that the image can't be cropped while zoomed is because if the "Crop" checkbox is enabled while zoomed then the crop tool will automatically select a crop pane around the whole image, meaning that the crop handle bars will be out of view while zoomed in.

I understand why an image can not be cropped while zoomed if the Crop checkbox is checked, and that was the point of my post. The logical thing for a user to think he or she should do to use cropping is check the Crop checkbox. But doing that disables the ability to crop a zoomed image.

As I commented I understand that I must uncheck the Crop checkbox to crop a zoomed image, but that just does not seem logical when first using that functionality. At the very least perhaps the developers might display some help text to explain how to use it.

Now, after using it multiple times, I know what I must do. But new users do not yet have the experience with this functionality to automatically know what to do.

[Bruce Whittington]

When I try to crop a NEF image in Develop, I get a rapid-fire string of dozens of "Do You Want to Save Changes . . . " windows, no option except to Force Quit, iMac, Sierra.

[david@acd]

When I try to crop a NEF image in Develop, I get a rapid-fire string of dozens of "Do You Want to Save Changes . . . " windows, no option except to Force Quit, iMac, Sierra.

Hi Bruce,

Thank you for your report. I'm able to reproduce your findings in the case where I have an unsaved image open in Develop mode, the "Auto-Save" preference is Off (which is the default), and I two-finger swipe on a Trackpad or Magic Mouse.
I've logged this issue in our internal bug tracking system.

I cannot reproduce the issue if Auto-Save is enabled, or if I step to the next/previous image via the GUI buttons, keyboard arrow keys, or via selecting an image in the filmstrip.

Can you please confirm if my findings agree with your observations.

Best regards,
David

[DIPPOLDS]

Hi DIPPOLDS,

I was unable to reproduce points 2 and 3 during my testing. Would you be able to tell me the specs of the computer you are currently using?

Regarding the issues pointed out about the crop tool, I have investigated each of the points brought up and have concluded that the issue is an issue with usability. I have logged a ticket internally to further investigate how we can change the crop tool and other develop mode tools to avoid further confusion. For now, I will try to explain how many of the crop issue mentioned can be solved:

- To crop an image while zoomed do not select the "Crop" checkbox in Geometry mode, instead, with the "Crop" checkbox unchecked click and drag where you want to perform a crop anywhere on the image. This will automatically enable the "Crop" checkbox with the area you selected.
- The reason that it appears that the image can't be cropped while zoomed is because if the "Crop" checkbox is enabled while zoomed then the crop tool will automatically select a crop pane around the whole image, meaning that the crop handle bars will be out of view while zoomed in.

Hope this helps,
Matt

Specs are MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011) 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB
I tried on a different set of Nikon NEF raw photos with the same result. I am unclear what you mean by zoomed cropping as I am just using the default view in Develop (i.e. I am not zoomed in to a portion of the photo). https://youtu.be/yx9Kpchrlvo is a 2 minute video that I did the following;
1. in Develop, click on the next picture (note Loading time) - these are Nikon NEF
2. Clicked and Un-clicked Gridlines (never appeared)
3. Clicked Crop - (never got handles)

I will delete the unlisted video in a few days.

[matt]

Specs are MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2011) 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB
I tried on a different set of Nikon NEF raw photos with the same result. I am unclear what you mean by zoomed cropping as I am just using the default view in Develop (i.e. I am not zoomed in to a portion of the photo). https://youtu.be/yx9Kpchrlvo is a 2 minute video that I did the following;
1. in Develop, click on the next picture (note Loading time) - these are Nikon NEF
2. Clicked and Un-clicked Gridlines (never appeared)
3. Clicked Crop - (never got handles)

I will delete the unlisted video in a few days.

Thanks for the video DIPPOLDS, it illustrates the issue you are having very well.

The issue you are having with crop is caused by switching to the Geometry Tab before the image has finished loading, I have logged this issue into our internal bug tracker and it will be fixed in a future update.

I was unable to reproduce the issue you are having with your NEF images loading slowly in develop mode, can you tell me exactly what camera model you are using?

Matt

[DIPPOLDS]

Thanks for the video DIPPOLDS, it illustrates the issue you are having very well.

The issue you are having with crop is caused by switching to the Geometry Tab before the image has finished loading, I have logged this issue into our internal bug tracker and it will be fixed in a future update.

I was unable to reproduce the issue you are having with your NEF images loading slowly in develop mode, can you tell me exactly what camera model you are using?

Matt

Nikon D7000 I would upload an example NEF but the forum isn't letting me.

[Bruce Whittington]

Hi Bruce,

Thank you for your report. I'm able to reproduce your findings in the case where I have an unsaved image open in Develop mode, the "Auto-Save" preference is Off (which is the default), and I two-finger swipe on a Trackpad or Magic Mouse.
I've logged this issue in our internal bug tracking system.

I cannot reproduce the issue if Auto-Save is enabled, or if I step to the next/previous image via the GUI buttons, keyboard arrow keys, or via selecting an image in the filmstrip.

Can you please confirm if my findings agree with your observations.

Best regards,
David

David - I am back at this to address your questions. When the string of error windows appears, it is not possible to do anything with any keys or buttons or icons - the whole app is frozen and has to be force quit. When Auto Save is engaged, the string of error windows does not appear, but, as I gather others have learned, the crop function does not work properly, goes through a series of reloads. When I try as you suggest cropping without clicking the "crop" button, it does the same thing (more or less - it's difficult to track.)

[david@acd]

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for getting back to me.
The Crop issue you describe will also be fixed in the next update.

Best regards,
David

[dougalt]

When I try to crop a NEF image in Develop, I get a rapid-fire string of dozens of "Do You Want to Save Changes . . . " windows, no option except to Force Quit, iMac, Sierra.

As a new user (all of about 1 hour of learning/playing the program - I think I have spent more time on this forum searching for the bug report) I have had this freezing up issue twice. I am using it to process RAW images from Nikon D850. Cannot specifically say what the workflow was, but think it did involve the crop tool both times. Running High Sierra on a 2013 iMac (3.1 GHz Intel Core i7 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3). Will try to enable Autosave and see if it still happens. Very annoying having finally taken the plunge to purchase new software to "replace" Capture NX2.