PSP X5 resizing

[smc]

Has anyone experienced problems with the resize facility? The program does not allow resizing on some photographs but it does on others, even those taken on similar settings (same ISO) within minutes of each other. Pressing the resize option or the new button on some photos brings up the resize widow at top left of the screen with no data and only the word 'Static' where the original data should be shown and nothing in any of the other various boxes. Inputting data in any of the boxes does not work and the OK button does not work either. On other photos the usual resize window comes up in the middle of the screen with original photo data shown and all the usual options displayed for the required resize.

The same photographs which will not resize in X5 resize normally in my X3 version and I get the message "Requested parameter not found in the repository" when attempting to resize the photos on my laptop copy of X5.

[MarkZ]

I tried resizing a jpg and RAW and both worked. Have never had a problem with this function, usually use the menu selection rather than button. New is not relevant to the resizing.

[teknisyan]

It appears that you are in the wrong area when you are resizing an image. You need to go to IMAGE menu then RESIZE.

This is the screen that you should see.

If that's not the screen that you are getting, please place a screenshot that screen, so at least we know what resize screen you are referring.

[smc]

Thank you for your response Abiel.

I have been using the Image/Resize route (for as long as its been available!) but my first attachment

shows the resize window I get on some pictures in PSP X5. The window opens in the top left rather than opening in the middle of the screen as usual for other pictures where all the data and options appear as normal. As you see there is no data anywhere other than the word Static where original photo data should be. None of options' drop down menus have any options in them and clicking the OK button has no effect. On my laptop version of X5 I don't get the resize screen at all only the error message about the absence of a parameter in the repository.

This phenomenon only occurs on some of my jpegs and not others and does not occur on the same pictures when I use the resize facility in PSP X3. I have noticed that the jpegs which fail to bring up the normal data-filled resize window all have peculiar EXIF data (see x & y resolutions on my 2nd attachment)

. I cannot find any odd EXIF data on my Raw picture files.

I usually create my jpegs from Raw using Canon's EOS Viewer conversion facility although sometimes I do the conversions on my 32 bit laptop (under Windows XP) and sometimes on my 64 bit desktop (under Vista). At present I don't really remember which computer I used to convert any of them but the peculiar EXIF data seems to be scattered amongst my old and new photos and even on jpegs from my wife's old jpeg-only camera not converted from Raw in EOS Viewer.

Whilst the peculiar EXIF data may explain the bug I don't think it really matters to me/us as users. I don't want to search for and reconvert all those pictures with peculiar EXIF data. What matters is that a facility which was a useful feature and and worked correctly without exception in version X3 is no longer working in the later X5 and this may well begin to affect others as more people buy this latest version.

Thank you for taking an interest in this problem. I contacted Corel but they don't want to know and just sent me some links here or to a tutorial on resizing!

[hartpaul]

OK I did some tests (that you could have done)
I took an image tht was 2000 x 1333 pixels (I don't think the size of the image is the problem , but more the corruption of the EXIF data).
I could not duplicate your result.

I note in your screenshot of EXIF info that the Resolution was 9547529 dpi.
The X Resolution reads as 9547529/1
and the Y Resolution reads as 24/1
I gather that that info was obtained in Manage Mode and the Resize dialog box from Edit mode (Edit mode also has an Info box (I) on the Standard Toolbar.
So that switch of viewing modes confused me a bit.

OK I used Irfanview and attempted to change the X and Y values to 9547529 and 24 respectively and saved the image.
It would lot allow anything more than 95475 to be typed in (5 characters) and when the saved image was inspected it showed as 29939 and 24 in the first panel and on inspection of the EXIF info showed X29939 and Y300 which was also the values shown in PSP X5 Edit Info window. The Manage info box showed thos values /1 .
I could not get your large number (9547529) or your smaller number (24) at all.

Upon inspection of the Resize box (Edit mode) the largest resolution I could set it at was 2540 in both X5 and X4 while in X3 it allowed a resolution of 32767 as a maximum.

So your problem is not with Corel or any versions of PSP, but with whatever program is setting out of bound resolution settings that PSP cannot understand.
I guess the GIGO principle still applies (Garbage In Garbage Out ) and this is not Corels fault.
I loaded that extreme image X 29939 and Y24 into photoshop CS2 and it could not show the image correctly unless I turned Pixel Aspect Ratio off. It did however allow me to resize the image once I did that.

[smc]

Once again thank you for your involvement Abiel (and all the investigative effort).

As you suggest it seems increasingly probable that the EXIF 'corruption' is the root of the problem wherever it has come from (and I am trying a few investigations to replicate the problem data).

Your loyalty to Corel is, of course, admirable but the fact remains inescapeably that PSP X3 (and presumably earlier versions) will process these pictures without faltering whereas something has been changed in version X5 (don't know about X4) which prevents the purchaser/customer from using one of its important facilities in certain circumstances. I doubt that I will be the last to experience this but I do wonder which other facilities are affected in X5 - the update has only come onto the market recently and I for one haven't used everything in it yet.

I don't subscribe to the 'Blame Culture' attitude. I just want a problem sorted but I am very disappointed with the Corel support representative(s) who has made no attempt to investigate and provide 'Support'.

Thank goodness for this forum.

[hartpaul]

Its not a case of the Corel people being uninterested, but placing limited resources to investigate the most prevalent AND Reproducible bugs. If they had to devote free man hours to every person with a problem which could be caused by another program, upgrade or hardware and its upgrade (see another thread in this forum about a catalyst driver that someone has tracked down to a single AMD file - not a corel bug at all) then they could not finish fixing the real bugs such as the Text extra space -( everyone so it seems since X3) .

In your case the program is working correctly but cannot understand the wrong figures your image is feeding it. Bit like having an image that has negative number of pixels and wondering why it cannot show the image .
For them to get really interested the "bug" would have to work on every system with that version of the program, be reproducible every time, and be reported by a reasonable % of registered users (10% ?? 20%??...)

[smc]

Apologies for not noticing that it was hartpaul who did all the investigating and many thanks for also getting involved.

I guess it would be sensible of me to 'agree to disagree' on the issue of Corel support. I got a similar brush-off when I approached them about tree/folder displays in Project Creator but I see a lot of people seem to have had difficulties with that program.

Fortunately I believe that I have discovered the root of the resizing problem - Corel Photo Album 6 which came with PSP X and which I started to use to tag my jpegs about 3 months ago. I now see that well over 90% seem to have 'corrupt' EXIF data (that's only about 12,000 pictures).

To test the theory I have converted some new raw pictures using my usual workflow with EOS viewer and all is initially OK with the EXIF data. As soon as I tag them each one now shows the corrupt EXIF information. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way of 'untagging' them (well I haven't found out how to do it yet) so once tagged they stay tagged (and with corrupted EXIF) even if I uncheck all the tag boxes in Photo Album.

Fortunately I have an uncorrupted collection of almost of my jpegs in my backups. It was the absence of corrupted EXIF data on all the pictures backed up prior to my tagging exercise which confirmed the cause.

Now it will be interesting to see if Corel want to know/are interested in this discovery and if so will they debug the routine(s) which causes the resizing problem in PSP X5 (which are OK in X3) and issue an update particularly as its a Corel program which creates the problem.

What I have to decide is how to extract myself from this predicament. I can spend a lot of time replacing the corrupted EXIF photos with my backups and reprocess every picture taken since the backup or just wait for Corel to modify X5 (should I hold my breath?). Or I could just continue using X3 having forked out my hard-earned spondulicks for the new program. I wonder if the last version of Photo Album (7?) had the same error?

I haven't had enough time to learn how to use PSP X5 to tag pictures yet. I tried originally with X3 but there were bugs in the tagging system which pushed me back to Photo Album.

Surely someone else has started to encounter these problems? I can't be the only one to use Photo Album 6 and PSP X5?

[Walpole1]

Had the same thing happen to me just recently. The JPG would resize okay in X2, but got the same blank window in X5.

Found that if I saved the photo in X2 it would then resize properly in X5. Corrupt EXIF info from the original camera, or prog that it was first manipulated in.

Walpole1

[smc]

Hi Walpole 1. Relieved to know that someone else has found this. Do you use Photo Album 6 or if not do you know which program corrupted your file(s)?

As expected Corel Support didn't seem interested in the bug. Just emailed back a rather terse "Technical Support covers installation, registration and activation issues. Refer to the link below:
http://www.corel.com/corel/pages/index.jsp?pgid=800170" - not my idea of the meaning of the words 'Technical' and 'Support' especially as I had gone to the trouble of providing a full explanation of at least 2 problems one in Photo Album 6 and the other in X5 and how they impact each other. Hey Ho!

Re-saving my corrupted pictures doesn't seem to restore the EXIF neither in X3 nor X5.

[edwinn]

As expected Corel Support didn't seem interested in the bug. Just emailed back a rather terse "Technical Support covers installation, registration and activation issues. Refer to the link below:
http://www.corel.com/corel/pages/index.jsp?pgid=800170" - not my idea of the meaning of the words 'Technical' and 'Support' especially as I had gone to the trouble of providing a full explanation of at least 2 problems one in Photo Album 6 and the other in X5 and how they impact each other. Hey Ho!

Where (or what) is the link for reporting bugs?


-Ed

[smc]

Regrettably I don't know of anywhere to report bugs. Perhaps Corel pick them up from forums like this.

[pgbish]

I too have the exact same problem, x2 works fine, x5 doesn't

My main question to corel is why should people bother to upgrade at all when the newer product doesn't function properly on a critical feature suck as resizing

I may as well return the software and get try and get my money back.

x2 works fine, x5 is a backward step in my opinion.