Main Window

Categories and Filters

This area contains the list of pre-installed filters and filters downloaded from the Filter Library. The filters are combined into categories which fall into three main groups: Texture filters which generate textures and don't need a source image, Effect filters which modify an existing source image, and finally Favorites and the My Filters category which stores filters made by you. Here's what you need to know about Categories and Filters:

To quickly select a filter by name, switch to the filter list and repeatedly press the key corresponding to the first letter of the filter name.
To add a filter to Favorites, choose Filter > Add to Favorites from the menu.
If you have no Favorites or haven't made any filters yet, Favorites and My Filters are not visible in the list of categories.
To delete a filter or a Favorite, press the Del key.
Deleting pre-installed and downloaded filters can be rolled back – you can always download them again.
Deleting a filter from My Filters is not reversible – the filter will be deleted permanently.
Deleting a filter from Favorites deletes the shortcut only and does not delete the filter itself.

Filter Controls

Filter Controls is a tabbed area allowing users to adjust filter settings, save or restore presets of these settings, adjust the lighting and view the information about the filter.

The Presets tab allows you to save and apply presets ('snapshots' of filter settings).
The Settings tab lets you adjust and randomize filter settings.
The Lighting tab controls the lighting (it is available only for filters that support it).
The About tab shows filter information, author, popularity data and a link to the filter's web page.

Preview

This area lets you preview the image generated by a filter. Here's what you need to know about the Preview area:

To pan the preview, hold and drag the right mouse button; or, when the preview cursor is in the Hand mode , hold and drag the left mouse button.
To zoom the Preview in and out, use the mouse wheel.
You can also switch to the Zoom cursor . In this mode, click to zoom in and Alt-click to zoom out.
Clicking the Actual Pixels button sets the zoom level to 1:1 so that the image pixels correspond to screen pixels directly.
If you want a particular image region to be rendered faster, zoom in on that region – the renderer will put a higher priority on it.
The preview is rendered progressively, in two passes: the first pass produces a non-anti-aliased image, the second pass applies anti-aliasing.
The Show Border checkbox allows you to see the image border on a seamlessly tiled filter.
The Show Original checkbox is useful for comparing the filter result to the original unmodified image.
The preview size can be reduced to make the rendering faster – choose View > Preview Size > Reduced from the menu.
The preview is automatically reduced for large images. This can be turned off in Interface Options.

Apply / Save Image As Button

The Apply / Save Image As... button saves the result produced by a filter. When Filter Forge is running as a plugin, the Apply button sends the resulting image to the host application. In the standalone mode, the Apply button is replaced by the Save Image As... button which saves the rendered image as a graphic file. On some systems, the Apply / Save Image As... button may be hidden under the system taskbar. To fix this, resize the window so that the button becomes visible.

Download Link

The download link above the preview lets you download filters from the Filter Library, an online repository of user-created filters to which anyone can contribute. All filters in the Library are free to download and use. For more info on downloading filters, see Filter Library.

Filter Editor

The Filter Editor button opens the Filter Editor, a visual node-based environment where you can build custom filters by connecting components into a network. All filters in Filter Forge were made in the Filter Editor and are fully editable.

To edit an existing filter in the Filter Editor, press Ctrl+E, or click the Filter Editor... button and choose Edit this filter.
To create a new filter from scratch, press Ctrl+N, or click the Filter Editor... button and choose Create a new filter.
All user-created filters are saved to the My Filters category.
Downloaded and pre-installed filters cannot be modified directly. When you edit them, the Filter Editor creates a copy in My Filters.

Other Tasks

You can configure Filter Forge to show elapsed rendering time. See Show elapsed rendering time in Rendering Options.
To locate the filter file (.ffxml), select the filter and press Ctrl+L or choose Filter > Locate File from the menu.
To enter your License Key or change your licensing information, choose Help > Enter License Key from the menu.
To check for the availability of updates to the Filter Forge software, choose Tools > Updates from the menu.
To adjust anti-aliasing settings for the currently selected filter, use the Anti-Aliasing Menu.
To render normal, diffuse, bump and other maps, use the Render Maps Menu.
To download updates for Filter Library filters, use the Filter Updates dialog.
To submit filters you created to the Filter Library, use the Submit Wizard.
For more information about the Main Window interface, see Main Window Menu and Hotkeys.