Two more things...

[paul.s...@telenet.be]

The many responses clearly demonstrate once again that FM is no longer relevant for creating (commercial) plugins. Was that ever the intention? I don't want to deny the light of the sun, but - there is a but - and that's the relative simplicity of quickly trying and testing something out. Like making a sketch. And sometimes the sketch can be enough.

I am completely open to learning a better programming language. The question is whether the investment of time will yield significant gains, because programming in image editing is for me primarily about demonstrating concepts. Like solving a mathematical puzzle, the fun is converting a desired image operation into mathematical algorithms. And that runs very smoothly in FM!

FM can't compete with GPU parallel processing, but in many cases, FM can work faster than initially thought. I've created a tool that compares functions and core operations in time with no operation, with an empty loop. This allows for a very precise and device independent - what I've called the "Ti" delay factor - to be assigned to everything. This has counterintuitively yielded quite a few surprising results! For example, division is much slower than multiplication. And constant divisions can easily be converted into multiplication, which means a significant speed gain.

Finally, two more things:

- It would be great to exchange links, examples, and tutorials from other forms of programming. Let's continue the enthusiasm for image editing with the group!

- The latest version of AfhFM109h_x64.8bf and AfhFM109h.8bf returns the error message "Unexpected NULL outData" after the second click. This also happens with an empty editor. It's surprising that this wasn't reported before. Can this be fixed yet? Anyone, Kohan, Martijn, Harry?...



Kind regards,
Paul

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moens

[Roberto Muscia]

Hi Paul,

As far as I know FilterMeister initially was created out of interest for Filter Factory and not particularly for creating commercial quality plugins.

Usually volunteer work start out of interest and joy: if it goes well it might get clear that some income could be created with it.

Filter Factory was a (first?) plugin created for creating Adobe Photoshop compatible plugins.

Enthusiastic about the concept, eventually disappointed by its limitations and convinced it could be done much better Alex Hunter went for it and created FilterMeister.

When it grew it gained interest, bugs were fixed and later even feature requests were added. At a certain point FM got good enough to ask money for it. Especially when Alex got volunteer co-developers.

The more FM matured the more it got clear to some power users it could be used to create commercial-quality filters. The intentions were there but destiny decided otherwise: Alex got health issues and had to cut back on development input.

Co-developers did it as volunteer work in their spare time so spending time on FM was not their main priority. Slower development rate on top of more feature requests regarding moving-on technology the development of FM could not keep up. When it got too much behind frustration kicked in and co-developers started to go their own way. In the end co-developer Harald Heim in a way was the main developer: he used FM to create his own commercial filters but while doing so he improved FM for his own use to get additional development functionality and every now and then he made time to create a new FM version with features added he initially created for his own work. This way FM still got more useful with each release. At some point Alex was able to release a version which supported 64-bit: one of the big feature requests. Yet, new big feature requests started piling up and the nagging about this and complaints about outdated docs by new users resulted in more frustration and everybody giving up on FM and going their own way.

Along the way Alex was asked to deal with his inability to keep up with FM development like hiring programmers, selling FM or releasing source code but he postponed that for a long time, after all, FM was his baby he wanted to pick up again some day when he would have more time and be more fit again. Eventually giving up on that hope the source code was released but only when too much damage was caused by lack of FM development for too long.

Commercially FilterMeister is not viable anymore these days: even with some dedicated minds updating it to todays standards it likely won't be received with open arms by the general public anymore due to changes of interests.

Still, just like you do, I can imagine a dedicated soul who sees the potential of this basically all-round relatively simple to code tool to create or manipulate images for aesthetic or technical purposes could find joy in using the -as far as I know now  available for free- FM sourcecode as a basis for a more up-to-date version. I am convinced there are geeks out there who would appreciate it and helped with it big time...but not the ordinary guy anymore. FM is a tool; a versatile tool.

Roberto

Op Mon, 25 Aug 2025 13:42:40 +0200 schreef paul.simoens via FilterMeister Mailing List (FMML) <filter...@googlegroups.com>:

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[Martijn van der Lee]

Hi all,

As a practical matter, I understand PhotoShop now supports a very powerful JavaScript engine which, IMHO, pretty much completely replaces what FilterMeister was intended for. As a commercial field, Photoshop plugins as we knew them are pretty much entirely dead. If you look at current "best PhotoShop plugins" you'll find a completely different landscape. No longer effects and cool filters, but very practical and productivity tools integrated in the Photoshop UI or support tools hosted outside Photoshop entirely. I don't think there is any place for a true FilterMeister replacement outside us old hobby folks being nostalgic for one. It's been an incredibly awesome part of my life and I still like reading up on it, but I'm fully aware that the age of Photoshop filters is over.

As for myself, I'm still developing code as a job (though slowly moving into lead roles with less time on actual code). Hobby mostly shifted to playing and developing boardgames, which scratches a LOT of my itches, including programming (digital prototypes, components, statistical analysis, AI). I personally rarely use Photoshop anymore, partly because I have a license to the Affinity suite, partly because I don't really do much image editing any more and can't even recall the last time I used any plugin for them, including my own.

It's been a while since I last touched FM. I think the most recent version I used was a hacky custom build, as the very latest version publicly available had some issues with scripting I think. I don't think the latest download is stable or really usable. The FM Wiki is broken as well. My best guess is that the stale PHP codebase for it got outdated with modern PHP releases.

Regards,

Martijn

Op ma 25 aug 2025 om 21:08 schreef Roberto Muscia <gro...@muscia.nl>:

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[Roberto Muscia]

Hi there Martijn,

Does the JavaScript engine of PS also feature a custom filter dialog or is it simply a form of writing macro's?

Can results be compiled to filters or is the JavaScript code simply to be imported into an other copy of Photoshop?

Sounds like Photoshop-only at this point.

The nicest thing of FilterMeister or FilterFactory is the low threshold for non-power users: that the dialog part and customization and pixel access is pretty much taken care off with additional related commands while the user can focus on filter code itself. At least for the most part; otherwise creating everything from scratch would be much, much more work and de-motivating.

Yes, I guess it applies for most of the ex- list members or beta-testers the use of image editors has dropped significantly; maybe the pro photographers still use them on a regular basis.

Back then photo enthusiasts, scrapbookers, web designers, programmers as well as beta-testers loved the new possibility of creating or modifying images. I remember I spent a lot of time on creating (data) CD-labels, special occasion cards, binder covers, front panels of devices, etc. 

Roberto

Op Mon, 25 Aug 2025 22:49:57 +0200 schreef 'Martijn van der Lee' via FilterMeister Mailing List (FMML) <filter...@googlegroups.com>:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/filtermeister/CAO8rGx5wxAhq_Oyy12nHCpyoVyV7C%2BU2ELJ_1to3_SNc_VFEYQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Lorraine H]

I use Mura Copies all the time.

Lorraine 

Sent from my Bell Samsung device over Canada’s largest network.

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Sent: Monday, August 25, 2025 6:28:16 PM
To: filter...@googlegroups.com <filter...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [FMML2] Two more things...

 

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[Lance Otis]

As one of those old hands still using 32 bit FM 8bf filters, I dont need PS. I use Irfanview to tweek images that I build using Corel PaintShop or Affinity Photo, thus being unencumbered by subscription dues.  Using FM's 32 bit image space for my larger artworks can be overcome by using upscale software such as Upscayl. Here is a 40 x 60 inch piece that used my ChuckClose mosaic FM filter: 

respectfully, Lance Otis

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/filtermeister/CH3PR05MB1049280F5A8ABC03834DDD4BAA4E3A%40CH3PR05MB10492.namprd05.prod.outlook.com.