Step Into Updates - Slowly

The Apple World Wide Developer Conference, WWDC, has inspired developers to make updates to their apps and work to be ready for iOS 16.x in the fall. 

So if you are not on auto-update for apps, then read the reviews before taking the leap. 

View your important apps on the App Store. Read the hype. Scroll to Ratings & Reviews > tap See All > tap Sort by Most Helpful > change to Most Recent. Read. There's no rush to update. 

When reading reviews, know that some folks are using old iPhones and iPads and have an axe to grind. Read reviews for the features that are important to you.  

On my Caution List: 

• Pixelmator v2.7 released Jul 18, 2022 
• Darkroom Photo & Video Editor v6.0.6 Jul 16, 2022
• Focos v 2.5.12 Sept 5, 2022 

On my Good-to-Go List: 

• PicCollage 
• Camera+2 
• RAW Power 
• Touch Retouch
• Prisma
• Hydra 2

So far, I have avoided opting into a subscription when offered on apps. 

Investigating Camera+22 - yes, that is "twenty-two" the current version for Camera+2. This update now includes an "Ultra Res" camera preset and in the editor. Ultra Res is supported on devices with "neural engine" meaning iPhone 11, iPad Pro 3 generation and iPad 9th generation ... and later. I've reported a "bug" for the iPad version because there is no ( i ) > Copy Edits ... to apply edits (crops) to other photos. This feature is available on iPhone. 8/1/22 WAIT A MINUTE - USER ERROR! After contacting tech support at LateNightSoft, this feature is where it’s been all along. Edit your picture in C_2. In the thumbnail display of C+2 Photo Library > Info > … > Copy and close the picture. Back at thumbnail view  tap a photo to see options > Info > … > Paste. 

I'm also shooting with Hydra 2 Pro-Pack because it offers 110MP and 49MP resolutions. These upscaling features are part of the "computational photography" that helps camera with small sensors (smartphones) capture amazing details. Similar to Apple Camera's Night Mode, the best shots for image stacking are still images or landscapes where a tripod can be used.  

Filter - is our friend

Just working with Photos and found the Filter option. Looking at Library Albums or Shared Albums you can find the ( ... ) button in the top right corner and see several menu items. The menus change depending on the current view. For example: 

• Library > Months > ( ... ) > 
• Albums > view an album > ( ... ) > Filters > 
• Albums > Shared Albums > view an album > ( ... ) > Filters > 

[We can expect new menu items to appear with future iOS updates.] 

The little icon for Filter is available in other apps. 

Frame Grabber is the app recommended to save a still frame from a video clip. And from Live Photos! Also from Timelapse or SloMo videos. Individual frames are saved as HEIF to Photos or to Files app.  

Some Update News

It is important to keep up with updates for security reasons. There are always incremental updates between major updates that are important to install for computers and mobile devices. 

iOS and iPadOS 16 is coming this fall and the current version is 15.5. 

I've finally updated my iMac to the Monterey macOS, v12. The reason for my long delay in updating is because of critical software I use for recording and editing app demo videos. (Telestream's Screenflow is this critical app.) Just in time because the Ventura macOS, v13, will be out this fall. 

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Troubleshooting 

iPhone OS was acting strange. Several features seemed to be misbehaving. I've used the Screenshot feature to document the app and Markup to add annotations on wackiness. After restarting several times and the problems persisted, the last resort was to sign-out of my Apple ID and sign back in. This would be called "the nuclear option" and after this experience, I'd not recommend it. Live with the problems until a new iOS comes out and then update. If that doesn't solve things, call Apple Support for guidance. Why? Because you are disconnecting your device from Calendar, Contacts, Messages, Mail, Photos and more. The guidance from the pros at Apple will help you not duplicate your Contacts. 

After signing back on to iPhone with Apple ID, there has been one new problem - Shared Album in Photos. On my iPad this current semester's album has 260 photos and 14 videos! Sounds about right. But on the iPhone there are only 71 photos and 7 videos! What? Past shared albums for our Studio class seem to include the same number of photos on iPad and iPhone. So there is a ghost in the machine and it got cranky in March and June. Time to visit Apple Communities and search posts to see if others have noticed this problem. 

Back in March I posted a video report about Live Photos. Actually a "problem" with changing the Key Frame in a Live Photo and retaining that frame when Share > Duplicate > Duplicate as Still Photo and then editing the still image. Oops. When editing the new still image it automatically everts to the original Key Frame. Whattt? Experimenting with options: First: transfer the Live Photo with new Key Frame to Mac computer using AirDrop. Photo becomes JPEG. Good. Second: transfer the Live Photo with new Key  Frame using PhotoSync app on iPhone. One photo becomes two files - a JPEG and MOV! The new key frame appears as the JPEG photo.  Third: use Frame Grabber app on iPhone to open Live photo, select individual frame and export ... HEIF image. 

Gear, Experiments, Questions

From Spring 2022 

Gear We Love - Tripods and stabilization 

• Chad likes the IPOW Universal Cell Phone Tripod Mount - use on 1/4" thread tripods. This spring loaded clamp will adjust to fit phones in cases and can hold a phone in vertical or horizontal position. 
• JoEllen recommended the Ulanzi ST-14 Iron Man III 360° Tripod Smartphone Mount is a ball-head mount for 360º movement while on a tripod. 
• Chad also uses the GRIPT Professional Smartphone Tripod Adapter, Hand Grip Universal Tripod Mount for hand-held or tripod use. 
• Cynthia reports that tablet support is also available IPOW iPad Tripod Mount Adapter Universal Tablet Clamp Holder 
• Melissa found the IKLIP-3 Deluxe iPad Tablet Mount that looks like it can hold an iPad Pro. 

Experiments and Questions 

• Niel - the Monuments Preset in Camera+2 does a fabulous job with long exposure to remove people from a scene. He tested it in Arden Fair Mall. 
• Chad - has embraced his inner black & white guru self with the free Lenka app. 
• Chad - My iPhone 11 Pro can't unlock when I'm wearing a mask. Oh, this feature requires an Apple Watch. 
• James - what is the latest on a news for an iPhone SE? Welcome to the rumor-mill for the Apple Ecosystem. There have been two SE models in the past, and are probably offered to bring new people to the world of iPhones. If this "special edition" model is introduced, it will not be a choice for photographers. In the past the SE was a smaller size device. The History Cooperative has a timeline of iPhone models and Wikipedia has a succinct iPhone article. 
• Cynthia is always interested in macro - a recent video from Luke Edwin is iPhone 13 PRO MACRO Photography Tips and Tricks  

Widgets and Workflow

Back in 2021 Notes 

Widgets and App Library on iOS 14 (iPhone only)

Apple User Guide: Widgets and Personalize Your Home Screen 

How to setup and use Apple ProRAW on iPhone 12 Pro 

Hints from the online universe: 

iPad Pro Subscription-Free RAW+JPG Workflow Using iCloud Photo Library and RAW Power from Ben Vallack featuring his Fuji mirrorless camera and an app on our list, RAW Power. He covers the editing workflow steps and uses iCloud Photo Library - but I want more details on the after edit workflow. Check out Ben's Designing a Self-Managing Filing System for document lifespans. Can this system be twisted into our photo workflow? At least it helps us to think outside the box.

Watching other YouTube videos by photographers and reading the viewer COMMENTS reveals interesting possibilities. Several refer to Pixelmator Photo and editing in place (on external SSD) vs copying to local storage (on iPad). Back in 2019 Noah Herman's video iPad Pro + External Storage | Photo/Video Workflow Demo! talks really fast but offers important clues for workflow. 

Andrew O'Hara at AppleInsider has posted Everything New with Camera & Photos in iOS 14! 30+ Changes & Features! Get ready, he talks fast and I could watch this 9:26 minute video several times to get it all in my brain. 

How to Master the Camera App on iPhone 13 Pro & iPhone 13 Pro Max! video from AppleInsider has good reminders and features iOS 15 updates. 

A Photos app Extension is Markup, Apple introduced several iOSs ago. I use it to add details to screen snapshots, annotate photos and draw in Notes. Read about Markup. 

Awhile back I posted Markup in iOS 11 - a video on YouTube showing examples of how I use the Markup Extension. 

iDownload Blog reviewed Apple's Markup Extension << this is a power feature in iOS, iPadOS and MacOS. 

Black and White Notes

 Posted for Fall 2021 but a good reference 

• 10 Tips to Improve your B&W Photography by Stephanie Gagnon on PictureCorrect 
• How I create dramatic Black and white images for Instagram by Sean Tucker (Darkroom app has Curves and HSL sliders) 13:38 
• Editing images on mobile phone with apps by Sean Tucker (Android) 15:33 (Amazon Prime - Photos for backup at 11:56) 
• Protect Your Highlights by Sean Tucker 15:48 (@2:04 begins sketch of dynamic range) 
• Embrace your Shadows: A lesson for light and life by Sean Tucker 

Spring Cleaning - New Articles

Well, "new" is a relative term, right? New to me, not necessarily "hot off the press" kinda new. 

Backlight is a new site - maybe start with Shadow photography on iPhone: How to master light and shadow and wander through the other articles posted there. Peruse the list of articles on Storing photos because this is a recurring theme for our time together. One of the ads is for Gemini Photos - with in-app purchases - for cleaning up duplicates. Not ready for this service yet. 

Review Things You Never Knew iCloud Could Do from Slash Gear.  You can open Pages and create a new document using the Book template, share cloud files and more. 

Come back for other new articles ... next week ... after I catch my breath. 

Pages to ePub

You can create your own photo book using the Pages app and a book template. 

Checkout these references to help make books in place of Albums. 

Books app resources 

Pages User Guide for iPad 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/pages-user-guide-for-ipad/id1450571972

Creating Digital Books on Mac and iPad 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/creating-digital-books-on-mac-and-ipad/id1572547377 

iPad User Guide - Files app, iCloud, Collaboration references 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/ipad-user-guide/id1567104892 

Venngage 20+ eBook Templates and Design Tips (ideas for your work) 

https://venngage.com/blog/ebook-template/ 

You will need a reference for the Pages application, this is Apple’s free word processing and page layout app. This guide, is an example of a word processing book where readers can set font size and style for preferred reading. The text in this type of book “reflows” and a larger font increases the number of pages. Search will find text in this book. A page layout book, a picture book, has fixed pages and the text does not “reflow” or pages expand to accommodate larger text size. Search will find text in this book. 

Why a book instead of an album in Photos? 

• Your audience is not sitting on your couch 
• Audience uses Windows or Android devices 
• You want to make room on your device for new photos
• You want to include text, video and audio to your project 
• Add interactive features, Image Gallery with captions
• Add links to web videos and web sites
• ... 

Workflow suggestions 

1. Review your photo library, add captions for pictures you want to add to your book
2. Review existing Photos albums for source material
3. Review Pages app and the User Guide 
4. Practice with text styles and making modifications in page layout document 
5. In pages look at options to add media to your document 
6. Organize your project in the Files app > iCloud Drive > new folder for project
7. Bring word processing files into iCloud for easy access 
8. Review landscape book templates offered when creating a new photo book
9. Review portrait book templates for new text-based book 
10. Choose a template with placeholders and pictures options for your project 
11. ... 

Important steps in creating a book project 

• Plan on practicing with features in a sampler document 
• Mac users need to find a Windows user to install ePub Reader app & test sampler
• Collect assets (text, photos, presentation files, audio recordings/script …) 
• Pictures can be captioned or added to an album in Photos app 
• Keep web link contents in Notes app or a Pages app 
• Archive Keynote presentation at full resolution 
• Archive Keynote presentation as PDF - slides & handout 
• Save a copy of Keynote presentations with Reduced Size option
• Export Keynote presentation as individual images 
• Warmup your skills by working with a practice document 
• Export an early version of several pages and open in Books app
• Revise template and workflow as needed 
• Complete project 
• Save ePub to iCloud and find sharable link 
• Share ePub file using email and add text to mention the project, file size and how to open on iPad or a Windows computer 

Features for your book

• Master Pages (blank, two-column, one-column, photo collage, cover) 
• Text Styles (font, size, style) 
• Placeholders (text, photos, gallery) 

Template 

• Page Layout style document 
• Test text with styles and making modifications then updating style
• Styles to include: heading, body, caption, label, URL (new for us) 
• Practice on a page with Image Gallery, add caption (accessibility feature) 
• Practice on a page with collage of photo placeholders 
• Practice page for table of contents 
• Page with lorem ipsum text
• Add photo to lorem ipsum page and set text wrap 
• Add photo to blank page with border style 
• Create page with instructions on using features of this document 
• Add Blank page for book cover 

iPad Activity 1.0

1. Open template and rename document > 2022_book_practice.pages
2. Touch buttons on top left, top right, to see features, menus, options
3. Use left sidebar to rearrange pages (move cover to page 1) 
4. Use left sidebar to add new page - see available page templates 
5. Add a photo to image placeholder and adjust mask 
6. Add a new blank page, add text block and stylize, add photo 
7. Add shape and arrange layers - text block, photo and shape 

iPad Activity 2.0

1. Look at Master Page options and change the background color of the page
2. Look at Master Pages and add a line or border (even layout grid) 
3. Close Master Page view 
4. Add two more pages with lorem ipsum text, edit heading, add some new text
5. Add a new page then add Image Gallery (not included in a template) 
6. Set order of images in gallery, add Caption/Description for each photo
7. Check page sequence 

iPad Activity 3.0

1. Export Pages document as ePub with Table of Contents 
2. Save to iCloud Drive project folder 
3. Open Files app and find ePub document, tap to open in Books app
4. Explore the features included in your ebook 
5. Tap center of page to bring up top tools, bottom page thumbnails
6. Test TOC jumps to page, Search finds text, Gallery flips images 

iPad Activity 4.0

1. Return to Pages app, open 2022_book_practice.pages
2. Add a new blank page
3. Add a web video 
4. Add a new blank page 
5. Add text and links to websites 
6. Export document as ePub with revised name
7. Open Files app and tap to open revision in Books app
8. Test new web content pages 
9. Take notes on what you want to include in your project 
10. Revise your practice document and Export as Pages Template 
11. Delete early version of the book in the Books app
12. Delete early versions of your practice document 

Lose Yourself in Search

Niel Nielsen will demonstrate the power of Search available in the Photos app Library. His handout can be found at https://rsiphonephotostudio.blogspot.com/p/search-your-photo-library.html  

Search keeps getting better with each iOS release.