About Squeeze
Squeeze is an Adobe Photoshop plug-in to disguise rectilinear distortions of natural objects

Disclaimer: This software is provided "as is". No warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, are given. Not even to its functionality, use and applicability. Read the License agreement for further information.

Contents of this Read-me file:
1. Installation
2. Preview
3. Field of View
4. Scale to fit
5. Sampling Type
6. Known issues and incompatibilities

1. Installation
Move or Copy the filter plug-in to your Photoshop filters folder, (re)start Photoshop, then the filter should be available under:

filter --> theimagingfactory --> Squeeze...

2. Preview
This plugin shows the results of its calculations in a preview pane. To better judge the effect of your settings the preview can be zoomed by the zoom-buttons below the preview pane indicated with a "+" (plus) and "-" (minus) symbol. Alternatively you can use the cmd-"+" or cmd-"-" key sequence.

A percentage of scaling is given between the zoom buttons. You can click the percentage text to quickly switch between 100% and best fit. If the preview is larger than the preview pane you can quickly scroll through the preview by clicking the mouse in the previewpane and subsequently draging the preview.

The preview checkbox next to the preview pane allows you to switch between previewing the original data and previewing the filtered data. Mac users can use the ctrl-space key sequence quickly switch the preview checkbox.

3. Field of View
Use the Field of View slider to "squeeze" the sides of the picture inward. The subjects to the sides of the picture will be scaled proportionally more than the subjects in the middle, which stay relatively untouched. The Field of View parameter can be directly related to the focal length of the lens used. 36 degrees would roughly correspond to a 55mm lens, and 54 degrees corresponds to about 35mm.

4. Scale to fit
During the correction process the original image is "bend". This bending occurs because the outer part of the image needs to be scaled differently from the middle part. Squeeze allows you to choose the scaling of the resulting image relative to the original image rectangle.
Selecting "Off" will result in the image being "bend" inward, effectively creating edges smaller than the canvas size. The resulting pixels for which no original pixels exist will be black. It is sometimes desireable to have the edge pixels copied in these void pixels, so that retouching at a later stage is made easier.
'Edge Replication" turns copying of edge pixels on or off.

5. Sampling type
Distorting a digital image requires a technique called resampling. Resampling helps the computer decide how an arbitrary point in the original image is best represented in the resulting image. The simplest such techniques is called "Point" sampling or "nearest neighbor" interpolation and consists of simply selecting the pixel closest to the arbitrary point. This is a very quick method but in most cases results in unwanted "aliasing" artifacts, such as jagged edges ("jaggies") along supposedly sharp edges.
Another method consists of taking the weighted average of the four pixels closest to the arbitrary point. "Linear" interpolation is an example of this. It is reasonably quick and disguishes "jaggies", but also tends to blur the image slightly.
"Spline" interpolation methods yield even better results. One such method (known as Windowed Lanczos interpolation) is implemented using the sixteen pixels closest to the arbitrary point.

6. Known issues and incompatibilities
- For the NT family of OSes this plugin requires Windows NT 5.0 or higher!
- The windows versions will occasionally not update its values when first selecting a slider followed by immediate dragging. In this case, briefly release the mouse, then resume dragging.

For questions, suggestions, comments and other issues regarding this product, or for general information regarding all of our products you can visit our web-site at www.theimagingfactory.com.