I have some how lost a couple of tools from the Geometry Pallet, they are the Focus Distance tool and the Focal Length tool in PL 4.1.1 Build 4479. I’m not quite sure how to restore them. I tried a repair of PL but came up with the same tools in the Geometry Pallet. The tools that are in the pallet are Horizon, Crop and Distortion. Has anybody else had this problem?
As stated above my PL version is 4.4.1 Build 4479 and I’m using Win 10 Pro 64 version 1909 Build 18363. 1316.
When I went to a saved download of PL I noticed that Build 4479 was approx 1,200 KB smaller than build 4467.
@larrymc
Also on Win 10 (20H2) / PL 4.1.1.4479, I have been wondering as if I’ve seen these tools before. Now with your question, I checked the online help and found some explanation ( see extract )
Focal length and focusing distance
The lens focal length and focusing distance of a photo are recorded in the EXIF data of your images.
… you can provide more accurate values in one (or both) of the rollups that appear in the Geometry palette:
Focal length : …
Focusing distance : …
The Focal Distance and Distance focusing sliders are permanently displayed in the Mac version, and appear automatically in the PC version.
The appearance of these sliders in the Windows version may be lens specific. I don’t recall seeing them for any of my lenses, but I have seen them recently when editing images taken with a Canon 24-105.
I read the info you forwarded but it still never said what criteria is used to trigger the sliders in Win 10 versions. There is no explanation at all in how I can provide more accurate values in the rollups that appear in the Geometry palette.
As far as I remember from earlier OpticsPro and PhotoLab Mac releases, the sliders can only be manipulated if metadata cannot tell DPL what settings the shot was taken with. It mostly happened when I used new lenses on old Canon bodies.
Moreover, some workspace settings hide the focal distance and -length tools - again on Mac.
That’s not the case with my Pentax K-3, after checking through a bunch of my images I find that almost all of them show focus distance in the Geometry section. I have maybe three of my twelve lens that the focus distance registers in PL.
Focal Length and Focusing distance are not the permanent sub-palettes and appear only if there is a need in them (when they can’t be sufficiently defined):
I realise this thread is in the Windows section but I would just like to point out that both tools are permanently visible, if unusable, in the Mac version…
@StevenL this looks like something to add to your list of Win/Mac differences
What criteria would trigger the activation of the sub-pallets?
One of my more recent Lens is one that was recently profiled by DXO, the HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE. A strange thing happens when I select an image shot with that lens. For a split second after I select that lens the Focus Distance sub-pallet appears in the geometry pallet then it disappears. Is there a reason for that happening?
In words: when the program thinks it has the info needed, then no focus slider is used. You can’t over rule it then.
It seems the program builds first a catch all screen and then disables/correct the not wanted functions.
