Technology Overview  

For the past several years since the introduction of Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras (DSLR), photographers recognize the problem of dust and particulates being deposited on the camera sensor cover.  Whenever the lens is changed, airborne particles as dust, pollen, lint, and other particulates fall onto the sensor cover which is typically made of a thin piece of glass protecting the sensor itself.  These artifacts create a shadow on the digital image that is captured by the sensor.  In addition, when the camera shutter is pressed, the prism mechanism moves in the camera chamber and stirs up particulates which are deposited on the sensor glass.

The current DSLR sensor cleaning solutions only solve part of the dust and particulate problem.  Professionals and advanced amateurs have their camera sensor cleaned before a shoot.  This is an expensive process typically from $80 to $150 for the service by a skilled camera shop. Some camera makers are offering a vibrating sensor to 'shake' the particulates off the sensor cover.  This does little to correct the problem. In fact, it can make it worse.  The dust remains in the camera cavity and just relocates to somewhere else in the cavity or on the sensor cover. Also, the vibration does nothing to 'sticky' particulates such as pollen.  A cleaning may still be required. Other solutions involve a static discharge over the sensor cover.  This is also a poor solution.  Particulates once again remain in the camera cavity and simply move around. It does nothing for 'sticky' particulates like pollen.  The static discharge also does not help the camera electronics!  One more solution is to 'blur' the image so that the shadow of the particulates is less noticeable.  This also does not fare well with the professionals and advanced amateurs.

It is important to note that in the solutions above, the particulates moving around only creates more issues for the photographer who needs to edit the images to deliver a quality product.  The dust particles are not in the same place each time!

Another emerging problem is dust on the sensor glass of 'point and shoot' cameras without changeable lenses.  The dust and particulates still enter the camera chamber, but through a slightly different path.  The dust is drawn in around the zoom lenses which must let air pass so that a vacuum is not created in the camera chamber.  This path also draws in smaller particulates which are deposited on the sensor cover.  These are less noticeable on the lower resolution sensors.  But as the consumer demand for larger dpi (Megabits) continues, these particulates will  become more visible.

None of the above solutions solve the problem of the images already captured with noticeable particulate defects.  Both SensorKleen Pro and SensorKleen with SmartBrush technology solve this problem in different ways. 

SensorKleen Pro - User Interface:

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) is very simple.  Select the source for your images and where you would like the corrected images to be written.  You should never write over your original images.  Here is the SensorKleen Pro user interface:

Source Window

Simply choose a set of images or folders of images to begin.  It is recommended that you select a least 20 images to begin.  All images must be from the same camera.  They should be processed by SensorKleen Pro BEFORE any editing or rotating with your image editing application.  Do not mix images from different cameras as the sensor dust is very different!  The file types can be camera RAW, JPG, or TIFF.  Once selected, the images appear in the 'Images to Process' area.  You can 'Include subfolders' in the 'Source' window.  This will allow you to include all subfolders of images from the same camera.  Once selected, the image file names will appear in the 'Images to Process' window.  Note that you can add image files by using the 'Drag and Drop' method to place them in the white window in the 'Images to Process' group.  You can add additional images or remove images by using the controls: 'Add', 'Add Folder', 'Remove', and 'Clear Inputs'. 

Now that all of the images are selected from your photo shoot, select where you want to store the corrected images in the 'Destination' window.

Destination Window

This window allows you to specify where the corrected images will be stored.  The default is to make a new subfolder named 'SensorKleen' under the original folder of source images.  If you select multiple folders of source images, then multiple 'SensorKleen' folders will be created.  One under each of your source folders.  Note that you can change the subfolder name to anything that you choose.

When using camera Raw input, the output of SensorKleen Pro will be .DNG format.  The original Raw files are preserved.

You can optionally designate a specific folder for all of your images to be written into by checking the 'Designate Folder' option.   This destination folder is chosen by selecting a specific folder name.  You simply select 'Choose Folder' and browse to the folder where you would like all of your corrected images to reside.  Please be careful and do not write over your original source images!

Messages Window

The 'Messages' window provides status of the application.  Once you have selected your 'Source' images, a message appears that shows the count of the source images selected.  If you delete any images, this count will be updated.

Once you select 'Process Images' button, additional informational messages will appear in the 'Messages' window.

There are four steps in the SensorKleen Pro process: 

1. 'Checking images...' will check your images for consistency (camera type, crops, rotations)
2. 'Analyzing (image name)...' will appear in the 'Messages' window as each image is analyzed for defects
3. 'Calculating dust map...'  calculates the combined dust map of all the images you selected
4. 'Correcting (image name)...' will show you what image is being corrected

The 'Processing Complete...' messages indicates all of your images have been corrected and written to the designated folder(s). 

Here is a list of the 'Messages' that may appear:

Total Number of images = xxxx

Initializing…

Starting processing…

Checking images...

Not enough memory

Analyzing ‘xxxxx’

Calculating dust map…

Correcting ‘xxxxx’

Writing 'xxxxx'

Writing over existing file 'xxxxx'

Pausing Processing…

Resuming Processing…

Processing Complete…

Attempting to cancel processing…

Processing Cancelled.

Controls

To begin processing your images, simply press  and the application begins.  The 'Messages' window will provide status of the progress of the correction.  You will also see a progress bar above the controls. 

Processing time will vary with your computer speed, memory, image characteristics (f-stop and image size), and other tasks that may be running.  This could take anywhere from fifteen seconds to several minutes per image.  Please be aware that the SensorKleen Pro process, for a large set of images, can take several hours of your computer time. 

SensorKleen Pro is the perfect 'morning after' solution to sensor debris from your photo shoot!

The help file is opened by selecting the button in the lower left corner of the application.

The button launches an independent application to allow you to touch up individual images.

The button changes to 'Pause Process' once the processing has begun.  This can be used if you want to suspend image processing temporarily to allow your computer to perform other tasks.  To resume processing, select the 'Resume Processing' button.

The button will allow you to 'Stop Processing' the images that were selected.  It may take a few minutes to end the current process.  Images that have completed the correction process step are saved in the designated folder.  An image that is in the correction process will be corrected and saved and all remaining images will not be corrected and saved.

The progress bar provides a visual indicator with three colors to indicate the SensorKleen Pro processing steps.  The Magenta color indicates the images are being analyzed. The Cyan color indicates the dust map is being calculated.  The Yellow color indicates the image is being corrected and saved.
Clicking on the Image Trends logo of a product that has been purchased and registered will allow you to check for updates.

If you have a trial version of the product, any image saved will have a permanent watermark. To eliminate the watermark function, you must purchase and register the product. It is highly recommended that you do overwrite the original image processed using the program in trial mode. 

By selecting the icon, you will be guided through a set of menus that allow for a simple process to purchase and update this product. The process is secure and your personal credit card information is not retained by Image Trends or our partners. Please see our Privacy Policy on the Image Trends Web site. 

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SensorKleen with SmartBrush Technology - User Interface:

This GUI has more controls available for editing your image.  Here is the SensorKleen with SmartBrush user interface:

Image View Window
The image is opened from the ‘Control Panel’ and displayed in the ‘Image View’ window that expands to the maximum size of the display or 100% of the image size, whichever is smaller. The ‘Image View’ window can be adjusted to meet the preferences of the user. Some users prefer to move the right hand edge of the ‘Image View’ window to align with the left edge of the ‘Control Panel’. In this way, the ‘Control Panel’ does not overlay any of the image content. Please note, that when editing a camera Raw image, the image will appear as a gray scale image because you are viewing the Bayer array.  The Bayer array has typically 50% green pixels, 25% red pixels, and 25% blue pixels.  Each pixel represents the intensity of either a red, green or blue pixel.  When the image is converted from raw, the pixels are interpolated to provide red, green, and blue values at every  pixel location.

Control Panel
SensorKleen uses a proprietary user interface that appears on the right side of the display when the application is launched. At startup, the ‘Open…’ button is active. The user begins by pressing the ‘Open…’ button to select an image from the user’s My Documents folder, or any folder selected by the user. 


‘Open…’ button allows the user to open the image to be processed. If the user wants to open a new image without closing down the application, they should press the ‘Open…’ button. When opening a new image, the user is prompted if they want to save the prior image or not. The valid input image file types are: .DNG, .JPG, or .TIF from a DSLR camera image. 


Save as …’ button allows the user to save the corrected image with a new name and/or in a different location.

Once an image is opened, the following functions are active:

Touch Up Controls
‘Touch Up Controls’ allow the user adjust the settings used by the SmartBrush™ technology to remove dust from the image.

Touch Up Control settings:

• ‘Brush Type’
  
• ‘Add Touch Up’ allows the user to mark areas as defects to be removed.
  
• ‘Remove Touch Up’ allows the user to remove erroneous corrections from image content.
  
• ‘Brush Strength’ is set to remove the dust as determined by the software. If necessary, the user has the ability to adjust the strength. On transitional areas where dust and image content are similar, the strength can be used to remove the dust without removing image content.
  
  If the ‘Brush Strength’ is moved all the way to the left, the brush will act the same as the ‘Remove Touch Up’.
  
• ‘Brush Size’ allows the user to adjust the size of the brush to cover more of the image area.
  
• ‘Undo’ allows the user to undo previous changes in succession. All previous corrections can be undone.

View Tools:

• The ‘Navigation Window’ within the ‘View Tools’ section shows the entire image and also displays what portion of the image is being viewed in the ‘Image View’ window. A red box surrounds the portion of the total image displayed in the ‘Image View’ window. When the cursor is in the ‘Navigation Window’ it changes to a hand icon. When the mouse button is depressed, it allows the user to move the red box around within the ‘Navigation Window’ which produces a corresponding change in the ‘Image View’ window.
  
•  ‘Before/After’ button inverts the before and after view of the image when the mouse is held over it and then the user will see the effect on the image in the ‘Image View’ window. Clicking on the button changes the definition to the opposite function: Before/After. The before and after image is easier to see with highlights turned off.
  
•  ‘Highlights’ button inverts the highlighting when the mouse is held over it and then the user will see the effect on the image in the View screen. Clicking on the button changes the definition to the opposite function: Highlight On/Off.
  
• (left arrow) allows the user to rotate the selected image counter clockwise 90 degrees per click.
  
• (right arrow) allows the user to rotate the selected image clockwise 90 degrees per click.
  
• ‘Zoom In’ allows the user to zoom in up to 400 percent to see more image detail.
  
• ‘Zoom Out’ allows the user to zoom out to see more of the image on the screen. Maximum zoom out is the full image on the screen.

Help (?) button
The help file is initiated by clicking the button on the lower left of the ‘Control Panel’.

A ‘Quick View’ help is available by hovering the mouse on the button. It appears in the ‘Image View’ window on the left.


Close All button
Clicking on the ‘Close All’ button will close all windows and exit the application.  This is the same as clicking the close button on the top right corner of the 'Image View' window.


Image Trends Logo button
Clicking on the Image Trends logo of a product that has been purchased and registered will allow you to check for updates.

If you have a trial version of the product, any image saved will have a permanent watermark. To eliminate the watermark function, you must purchase and register the product. It is highly recommended that you do overwrite the original image processed using the program in trial mode. 

By selecting the icon, you will be guided through a set of menus that allow for a simple process to purchase and update this product. The process is secure and your personal credit card information is not retained by Image Trends or our partners. Please see our Privacy Policy on the Image Trends Web site.

Pop-Up Control Box
The ‘Control Panel’ contains the image control settings; automatic controls and manual controls. Advanced users may choose to eliminate the ‘Control Panel’ to view more of the image in the View Screen by performing a right click in the image and deselecting 'View Controls' in the ‘Pop-Up Control Box’. The ‘Pop-Up Control Box’ goes away after any selection. Other functions can be selected by performing a right click in the image and selecting the desired function. The ‘Pop-Up Control Box’ can be removed by using the escape (Esc) key on the keyboard.

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Supported Cameras:

Image Trends recognizes that new digital cameras are introduced continuously.  We have tested with the majority of existing Digital SLR cameras with interchangeable lenses as listed below.  We will continue to validate the SensorKleen technology with additional cameras, so please check for product updates on a regular basis.  If your camera is not in the list below, SensorKleen may work to your satisfaction.  However we have observed differences in the quality of lenses and the variety of sensors used in camera models. 

If your camera is not supported, we will update our information with your assistance. We will accept your sensor dust images from a camera that is not on the list.  Please send them via Email to Support. Full resolution, high quality JPEG or camera RAW images directly from a camera that has dust at two to four aperture settings (e.g. f8, f11, f16, f22) will help us fill in missing camera types.  Some models do not supply sufficient camera metadata to allow SensorKleen Pro to function correctly.  We do not support reduced resolution RAW images. 

Cameras Tested:

Canon - 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, D30, D60, EOS 1D Mark II, EOS 1D Mark II N, EOS 1Ds Mark II, EOS 1D Mark III, EOS 1Ds Mark III, EOS 1D, EOS 1Ds, Rebel (300D), Rebel XT (350D), Rebel Xti (400D)

FujiFilm - Pro S1, Pro S2, Pro S3 (JPG only - Raw format has non square pixels and is not supported), Pro S5

Hasselblad - H3D-39

Kodak - SLR/n (Reduced resolution camera Raw is not supported)

Konica-Minolta - 5D, 7D

Leica - R9, Digilux 3

Mamiya - ZD

Nikon - D1, D1X (JPG only - Raw format has non square pixels and is not supported), D1H, D2H, D2Hs, D2X, D2Xs, D3, D40, D40x, D50, D70, D70s, D80, D100, D200, D300

Olympus - E1, E-300, E-330, E-400, E-410, E-500, E-510

Panasonic - DMC-L1

Pentax - K10D, K100D, K110D, *ist D, *ist DL, *ist DL2, *ist DS, *ist DS2

Samsung - GX10, GX1L, GX-1S

Sigma - SD9, SD10, SD14

Sony - A100

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Tips and Techniques:

SensorKleen Pro

SensorKleen Pro now supports camera RAW format in addition to JPG and TIFF file types.  When using camera Raw input, the output of SensorKleen Pro will be .DNG format.  The original Raw files are preserved.  

Please select at least 20 images for the best processing.  The more images the better!  SensorKleen Pro groups images by f-stop.  The more images per f-stop, the more accurate the correction.  

In the event that the set of images only has a few small aperture images, it may be necessary to use SensorKleen SmartBrush to correct those few images. 

Occasionally. in a large set of images additional dust appears in a portion of that set; for example, caused by changing the lens during a shoot.  It is suggested to run the entire series through SensorKleen Pro once and then run the subset of corrected images, with the additional dust, a second time through SensorKleen Pro. 

SensorKleen with SmartBrush Technology

Hovering the mouse over the 'Image Viewed' and the 'Highlight' buttons without clicking will invert the definition of the button. In this way you can quickly seen the 'Before' and 'After' image or the 'Highlight' areas.

Some user will prefer to leave the 'Highlight' control 'On' to see the areas being changed while using the brush. Hovering over the 'Highlight' button will allow you to see how the image was affected. 

SmartBrush Control Panel:

Advanced users may choose to eliminate the Control Panel from view which makes more of the image visible. Simply right mouse click on the image and then click on the 'View Control Panel' item in the list. This will uncheck the 'View Control Panel' function. All editing can then be performed by using the right mouse button and selecting from the Popup Control Box. To restore the Control Panel, simply right click on the image and select 'View Control Panel'.   The Popup Control Box can be removed by using the Escape key on your keyboard. 

SmartBrush Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Pan - the user can pan around the image by selecting 'Shift' on the Keyboard while holding the primary mouse button down and moving the mouse.

• Left & Right Arrow Keys - when the mouse is clicked on any slider in the 'Control Panel' the Left and Right Arrow keys will control the slider movement.

• Mouse Scroll Wheel - the Scroll Wheel can be used to control the slider movement once it is selected by the mouse button in the 'Control Panel'.  When the cursor is in the 'Image View' window, the mouse Scroll Wheel will only control the 'Brush Size' slider.

• Tab Key

  • Once a slider is selected in the 'Control Panel', the Tab Key can be used to move to the next slider.

  • When the user is working within the 'Image View' window, the tab key toggles the 'Control Panel' on and off.

• Change Brush Size - the user can change the 'Brush Size' in the by using the mouse Scroll Wheel.

• Help can be accessed by pressing the 'F1' key

• 'Ctrl' + 'Z' - is the same as 'Undo'.

• 'Ctrl' + '+' - is the same as 'Zoom In'.

• 'Ctrl' + '-' - is the same as 'Zoom Out'.

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System Requirements

Operating Systems:
Windows Vista, XP, NT, 2000

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