X3 Resizing Problem

janem1212 · Post by **janem1212** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 4:11 am

When I use the Adjust - Resize feature on PhotoImpact X3 the image does not resize to the selected size.

For example, my starting image is 2272x1704. I select Adjust - Resize and type in a Height of 324 Pixels - leaving the "Keep aspect ratio" box selected (so Width is automatically changed to 432). The Resample method used in this particular instance was Bilinear (I've used Bicubic before as well w/the same resultant problem)- Resolution of 72 Pixels/Inch. I did not change the "Document size". I select OK and my resultant image resize is 243x182 - NOT what I selected. I hit the Undo button and I select Adjust - Resize again - the settings are 243x182 - it doesn't show the selection I made.

I have to go through Adjust - Resize several times before the image will size the way I select it.

Another time this evening when I was playing with X3 I tried to again adjust the height of my image to 324 (Keep aspect ratio button was selected), but would not change to 324 until I fiddled around with it a lot (changed height to 324 - height changed to 323. Changed height to 325, height changed to 325. Changed height to 323 - height changed to 324. Also when I was resizing my image to 300 pixels wide - the resultant image was 299. The program is not doing what I ask it to do.

For the past hour, I have searched through Corel's KB and this BB and have not located complaints about similar issues. I have to resize sometimes two or three times or even more times on some photos, but the odd thing is that this issue doesn't always happen. Sometimes my photos are resized correctly.

Lastly - this is X3 upgrade box version. I am running XP with 2.5 GB of RAM. I don't have this problem with PI10.

Thanks for reading my long-winded post and for any suggestions.

Cheers,
Jane

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:23 am

Your selection of "Keep Aspect Ratio" forces the program to a size where it can display both dimensions in a full pixel. It is not possible to have an image with a fraction of a pixel on one side. Hence, it will alter the requested pixel size to be able to do that and maintain aspect ratio.

Take your intended image size and work out the aspect ratio of that target size. Crop your image to that aspect ratio first, you may only lose a small amount of your image that way, and then resize to your intended size. That should work.

sisom · Post by **sisom** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 3:49 pm

I've had the same problem as the original poster - Heinz, I don't think your answer is correct. I often use a Quick Command Panel task to resize photos to 800 pixels wide, and sometimes it makes them less than 800 pixels wide - sometimes 600ish, etc. completely at random.
The Keep Aspect Ratio isn't the cause of the problem - you choose either the width or the height that you want, and PI should automatically create the other dimension for you. Your answer is quite strange, to be honest!

janem1212 · Post by **janem1212** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 4:34 pm

Thank you for your replies Heinz and Sisom.

Sisom --- did you report that issue to Corel? I'm curious what they said if you did. I'm awaiting a response from a support request I submitted last night. Are you using X3 as well?

Maybe I didn't explain the problem I was having well enough in my original post. I don't think this is an issue due to the way I have chosen to resize my images - it seems like it is an erratic a bug or perhaps some esoteric internal PI setting.

Selecting a HEIGHT of 324 and getting a resultant HEIGHT of 243 doesn't make any sense. I don't see how I could be doing anything wrong. I've not had this problem in PI10.

By selecting "Keep aspect ratio" I am allowing PI X3 to choose the width ratio that goes with my selected height - BUT the height should still be what I select - 324 - and not some other height. Sometimes the image will properly resize and other times I'll get some random height.

I just resized 5 images to a height of 324 - and 4 of the 5 resized correctly (original image size was again 2272x1704). The resultant image size for 4 of the 5 that resized correctly was 324 (height) by 432 (width) - which is what it should be and what I have always gotten when I resize images in PI 10.

But 4th image did NOT resize correctly. I selected 324 for the height and what I got was a HEIGHT of 183 and a width of 243.

Thanks again. I look forward to your replies.

Jane

sisom · Post by **sisom** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:13 pm

Janem, I use PI12, but I haven't reported the bug to Corel, I presume there's nothing they would do about PI12 problems.
Your experience is exactly the same as mine - most of the time the resize function works perfectly, but at random, it picks its own size and uses that instead of the one I chose. Often I hadn't even noticed it until I used the images in a webpage and found that one of them was a bit smaller than the rest! It's normally about 10 - 15% smaller, I have no idea why it chooses that amount, but it's always like that when the error occurs, never bigger, and never more than 15% smaller.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:03 am

sisom wrote:I've had the same problem as the original poster - Heinz, I don't think your answer is correct. I often use a Quick Command Panel task to resize photos to 800 pixels wide, and sometimes it makes them less than 800 pixels wide - sometimes 600ish, etc. completely at random.
The Keep Aspect Ratio isn't the cause of the problem - you choose either the width or the height that you want, and PI should automatically create the other dimension for you. Your answer is quite strange, to be honest!

Your assertion shows your ignorance of the underlying complexity. It will resize the width to what you require but only if the other dimension is also a full pixel. Making that a full pixel will force the other dimension to be a fraction again. It will have to come up with a width x height dimension which results in full pixels on both sides and still maintain the aspect ratio.

Just divide the width of your source by the intended width and see what the reduction factor is going to be. Divide the height by the same factor and you will find that the result is not an integer value. It will have some fraction behind the decimal. Your image can only be resized to a certain aspect ratio but not exactly to a certain size and aspect.

If you want a certain width exactly, you need to calculate the reduction factor manually for one of the dimensions and then use the same factor to calculate the other dimension. This second dimension you need to round up/down to a full pixel and use both pixel dimensions for the resize but have "Keep Aspect Ratio" unchecked.

This will, of course, slightly distort your image but it will be virtually undetectable.

janem1212 · Post by **janem1212** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:23 am

Heinz,

Does one really need to understand the underlying complexity in order to perform a simple task like resizing an image? If I want an image to be 324 pixels high - I should be able to specify that parameter and have the image resize properly. What's the point of purchasing a program if I have to perform computations simply to resize my image? I'd save my money and write my own program.

How does selecting a height of 324 pixels jive with a result of 183 pixels high? Partial pixels or not - that is nonsensical. I do a lot of image resizing and I need the height to be exactly what I specify and not 141 pixels smaller.

Furthermore, why is it that with ALL other image programs -- including PI 10 and OCCASIONALLY PI X3-- if I choose to resize my image to 324 pixels high, the image will resize to 324 pixels high (and the width to 432 pixels)?

Thinking that somehow the image height of 324 was an improper height to request, I just tried resizing 6 photos using the height of 300 pixels with PI X3. Again, 5 of the 6 photos resized to 300 pixels high, but my last image did not resize correctly. Instead it resized to a height of 533 pixels. What's up with that?

So, I tried another test. Height requested 300 pixels. The first 5 (or so) resized correctly to 300 pixels high, but with the last one the result was 169 pixels high.

Since this appears to be an INTERMITTENT problem and the program sometimes will perform the task correctly it leads me to believe that it is a bug. I was hoping that someone else in this forum had experienced this issue and that Corel had provided a patch.

I just noticed that I have a typo in one of my previous posts - I wrote width when I really meant height (Sorry!). Maybe that was causing confusion. I'll do an edit and see if it makes more sense.

I'll report here when I hear back from Corel to see if this is a known issue and if they have done anything to correct it.

Thanks again for your time.

Jane

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:27 am

Were all your source files the same pixel size?

Before I start to talk more nonsense, I'll leave it at that.

sisom · Post by **sisom** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:31 am

Heinz, I think you've got hold of the wrong end of the stick here...

If I take ANY image, no matter what its dimensions, and use the CTRL-G resize function, tick 'Keep aspect ratio', and then adjust either the width or the height value, the other value, whether it be width or height, adjusts accordingly, to maintain the same aspect ratio. It doesn't matter that most of the time one of the values is going to have a virtual fraction of a pixel, PI just ignores it (obviously) and rounds it up or down.

I really don't understand what you are talking about here, this is a really simple function, but it appears to have a bug in it, whereby SOMETIMES it randomly changes the size of the final image to rather less than you told it to. As I said, I have some Quick Commands set up to resize photos to 800 and also to 580px wide, and often they come out about 20% smaller than they should after running the Quick Command.

I am really having a hard time understanding where you are coming from on this problem - it's a very simple one and doesn't require anybody to manually measure anything - that's what PI is for!

sisom · Post by **sisom** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:16 pm

I just read the OPs message again,

Another time this evening when I was playing with X3 I tried to again adjust the height of my image to 324 (Keep aspect ratio button was selected), but would not change to 324 until I fiddled around with it a lot (changed height to 324 - height changed to 323. Changed height to 325, height changed to 325. Changed height to 323 - height changed to 324. Also when I was resizing my image to 300 pixels wide - the resultant image was 299. The program is not doing what I ask it to do.

This is clearly a bug in PI. Whichever value you change, whether you choose to set the height, or the width, PI should obviously leave that at whatever YOU decide you want it to be, and round up or down the other value to a whole pixel, not adjust the value you're trying to set accurately.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:12 am

With my previous posts I tried to explain something I had never encountered, without even testing it

I admit I have egg on my face here.

I just run a number of tests in PI X3, resizing a 3456 x 2304 px image to a number of different sizes between 500 and 300 px wide with "Keep Aspect Ratio" selected.

Every time the resized image is exactly as I selected.

If this is a "Bug", it clearly doesn't affect any of my machines. A bug is not a bug if you can't reproduce it, sorry.

There must be something in the way you do this resizing, which causes the effect.

sisom · Post by **sisom** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:56 am

Hi Heinz, perhaps you can try running a Quick Command to resize an image, that might show the bug up. But it only happens some of the time for me, probably about 10%, and it's only been doing it since I started using the Quick Command. So maybe there's something that PI stores once you've used the resizing option in a Quick Command, and that causes the bug to appear. Or maybe it's the other functions in the Quick Commands that I created (sharpening, and saving) that cause it to go wrong.

janem1212 · Post by **janem1212** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:41 pm

I still haven't received a reply from Corel support, so I decided to call their general toll free number. I was transferred to their help desk and they informed me that I am entitled to unlimited free email support and that their may be a charge for this call. I informed them that it had been several days since I emailed my request and had not received a response and that I don't need tech support, but rather would like to know if there is a patch for the issue I was having.

I told them about the resizing problems I was having and they insisted if there was a bug of this nature that they would have heard about the problem in droves. He suggested since this is an intermittent problem that there is a problem with the CONFIGURATION of my system. I informed him that I do not have the problem with PI 10, but he still INSISTED that it is a problem with my system. He requested that I do a "dxdiag" from the Run prompt, and requested the version of DirectX, as well as my Display Adapter. I don't remember which version of DirectX I had installed when I called, but I just downloaded/installed the latest version so I now have version 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) per his request.

Also, under the display tab of the DirectX Diagnostic Tool he asked me to read the tabs under DirectX Features.

* DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
* Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
* AGP Texture Acceleration: Not available

He said that the resizing problem I am having is due to the fact that AGP Texture Acceleration is not enabled...however, the option to enable it is not available (grayed out). He also said that I also need to ensure I have the latest Display drivers for my Intel 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family. So, I just downloaded/installed the latest display adapter from Intel.

So my problem now -- at least according to the support phone person -- is that AGP Texture Acceleration is not enabled.

Before I go down the path of figuring out how to enable AGP Texture Acceleration, I wanted to see if that option is enabled for both of you. Would you mind checking your dxdiag info to see if AGP Texture Acceleration is enabled? Also do either of you know how enable it? I Googled "AGP Texture Acceleration" and found various answers, most point to messing around with my BIOS - something with which I am fairly unfamiliar and uncertain if it will remedy my problem. Before I try to change that setting I wanted to check to see if your AGP settings are the same or different than mine.

Also, Heinz, I don't seem to have the problem of the image resizing problems UNLESS I resize a number of photos in a row. Up until just recently I've only done my tests with HEIGHT. I just did a test using WIDTH (see below) and my images resized correctly. After I downloaded the latest DirectX driver and Display adapter driver I am still having the resizing problems.

Test 1 - right after DirectX and Display Adapter update
* 7 photos -- (same aspect ratio)- HEIGHT requested - 300 pixels
RESULTS
- 6 of the 7 photos resized correctly to a height of 300 pixels.
- 7th photo resized to a smaller height (I forgot write it down that time, but it was less than 300 pixels, in the 250 high pixel range.

Test 2
* 15 photos -- (same aspect ratio)- requested resize of 300 pixels HIGH
RESULTS
- 14 of the 15 photos resized correctly.
- 15th photo resized to a height of 267.

Test 3
- 4 photos -- (same aspect ratio)- requested resize of 300 pixels HIGH
RESULTS
- 3 of the 4 photos resized correctly.
- 15th photo resized to a height of 338.

Test 4
- 25 photos -- (same aspect ratio)- requested resize of 300 pixels WIDE
RESULTS
- 25 of the 25 photos resized correctly!

Maybe we're on to something now. Seems the issue I am having may be related to requesting a certain HEIGHT. Is that the same for you, Sisom? If I didn't need a specific height, I'd forget about this problem, but I do need to get images resized to a certain height to fit on web pages.

I think I may have incorrectly used the term INTERMITTENT to the support person, because the problem seems to occur regularly. Sometimes the image resizes incorrectly after 3 photos, 5 photos, sometimes 7, sometimes more.

Is anyone else out there on the BB willing to participate? ... If so, would you try resizing multiple photos (at least 10) with a specific pixel HEIGHT then WIDTH to see if you have the same issue I'm having?

Thanks for reading my long-winded post. I appreciate your assistance and input!

Jane

John Moran_2 · Post by **John Moran_2** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:48 pm

janem1212 wrote: He said that the resizing problem I am having is due to the fact that AGP Texture Acceleration is not enabled...however, the option to enable it is not available (grayed out). He also said that I also need to ensure I have the latest Display drivers for my Intel 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family. So, I just downloaded/installed the latest display adapter from Intel.

So my problem now -- at least according to the support phone person -- is that AGP Texture Acceleration is not enabled.

Before I go down the path of figuring out how . . .
Jane

That particular Chipset Family "just ain't cutting it" on Vista WDDM. As a result many software developers are developing Vista workarounds to salvage functionality on new Vista laptops sold with this hardware. It may be that older, lower memory equipped, XP computers have been caught in the backdraft of the Vista debacle when they installed "Vista compatible" software upgrades. . . . Or not. . . Good luck.

Post by **Ron P.** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:18 pm

I just tried to replicate the problem. I used 24 images, batch resized them using the Height setting, and PI X3 resized each one of the images to the correct sizes.

I also resized manually, and PI again resized correctly..

This was done on an XP machine...