Viewfinder 7.2 Concludes the Fall Update Cycle

Each fall Apple releases new devices and operating systems that we have to add support for.

This year was no different, except that iOS/iPadOS 16 has changed some of the fundamental parts of the OS (device rotation support, to be exact), which caused some extra headache. We’ve started to roll out changes in September, and now the app is considered to be complete in this regard.

As you can see in the release notes, new device support was also added to support all models in this year’s iPhone 14 series – both in terms of new screen sizes and camera profiles.

Speaking of the latter, Apple screwed up iOS provided angle of views big time for the Pro phones, but fortunately we don’t trust their data (which is usually off by up to 10-15%) and our profiles are precise as usual.

Sadly, there’s one more iOS bug that you should be aware of when updating any of our apps this fall: the OS may fail to properly close the app before updating it, and subsequently, not knowing which one to run, greets users with a pitch black screen. The fix is quite easy: force quit and restart the app (both copies) to wipe corrupted state information. See our knowledge base article for detailed instructions.

We’ve added support for 20 new cameras this fall, a bunch of lenses, and new aspect ratios that users requested.

The Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder 7.2 update is free for existing users and is available on the App Store.

Introducing Kwiketta for Adobe Photoshop

Kwiketta is a new group of little utilities that launch their associated targets directly under Rosetta, the Intel processor emulation on Apple Silicon Macs. And while doing so, they pass all files dragged to their icons or passed to them other ways, like using the Open With menu item in Finder, to the target.

That is, a Kwiketta app works and acts exactly like its target, allowing you to selectively launch either the native, Apple Silicon version (using the target directly) or the Intel version (using Kwiketta) of the target.

Why is This a Big Deal?

I still rely on PhotoKit plugins for Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately PixelGenius closed its business and ceased further product development years ago.

So, to be able to use these plugins, I have to launch the Intel version of Photoshop on my shiny new M1 Max Macbook Pro. There are two problems with that. First, I don’t always want the Intel version, because it’s slower, etc. Second, switching between the native Apple Silicon and Intel versions is a royal pain in the back: open the Get Info panel for Photoshop and toggle the Open using Rosetta checkbox.

I wanted a solution that, unlike fiddling with the aforementioned checkbox, doesn’t completely destroy my creative workflow. And this is why the first Kwiketta app, Kwiketta for Adobe Photoshop, was born.

How To Use

As you can see on the screen shot above, I put Kwiketta for Adobe Photoshop right next to Adobe Photoshop on my dock. If I click the Photoshop icon, the Apple Silicon Photoshop will launch. If I click the Kwiketta for Photoshop icon, then the Intel version of Photoshop will launch, complete with my Intel-only plugins. Simple as that.

Or you can drag files to the Kwiketta icon and they will pop into the Intel Photoshop. You got the idea.

A Kwiketta item also appears on Finder’s Open With menu of all file types that Photoshop supports.

You can use Kwiketta for Adobe Photoshop almost everywhere you would be able to use Adobe Photoshop. For example you can set it as an external editor in Lightroom Classic.

This is what I do because my regular export to web workflow relies heavily on Intel-only plugins, and this way I can initiate it right from Lightroom Classic.

Configuration

There are a few things you can set on the app’s Preferences dialog. The splash screen and automatic updates speak for themselves.

But I have to talk about the other two options.

Kwiketta can operate in two modes: it can remain running after the target has been launched (the default behavior out of the box), or it can automatically quit. The Automatically quit Kwiketta after a successful open option controls this.

In the default, remain running mode, Kwiketta will automatically relinquish control to Photoshop when you activate it. In my view this ensures a natural workflow (since the sole purpose of Kwiketta is to open the Intel target and the pass control to it). But if that bothers you, uncheck the Open the target when activating Kwiketta option.

You can always get into the Preferences dialog by right clicking the Kwiketta icon on your dock and choosing Preferences… from the menu.

Support for Apps Other Than Photoshop?

Photoshop was what I needed this app for, so naturally it was my first choice. But let us now what other app(s) would you like to get supported.

Availability

Kwiketta is available for free from DIRE Studio’s web site. You heard that right: it is free. DIRE Studio bears the costs associated with the app’s distribution.

But software does not grow on trees, and I had invested a lot of time into the development of this app. So consider honoring my work with buying me a coffee if Kwiketta helps you.

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Improved Wi-Fi Pairing in ShutterCount and Kuuvik Capture

The recently released Kuuvik Capture 6 and ShutterCount 6 brings a very convenient feature for those who use both apps on the same Mac or iOS device with Wi-Fi connection to a Canon camera.

Previously only the Mac’s/iPhone’s/iPad’s name was programmed into the camera’s menu by default, and in case you used multiple wireless tethering apps with the same camera, you had to manually edit the names to be able to distinguish between the apps.

Now we prefix the device’s name with an app identifier. Kuuvik Capture is referred to as “KC”, ShutterCount as “SC” and ShutterCount Pro as “SCP”.

App and device names as programmed into the camera’s menu by our apps.

These names are generated and programmed into the camera’s menu during the pairing process, but as always, you can change them in the camera afterwards.

Kuuvik Capture 6 and ShutterCount 6 are available for your Mac and mobile device in the respective App Store. These updates are free for existing ShutterCount (all versions) and Kuuvik Capture (5.0 or later) customers.

Getting Rid of Photoshop’s Blue Share Button

Some genius at Adobe recently came up with the idea that smacking imaging professionals, who typically prefer to work in a neutral environment to preserve color vision, in the face with a huge, non-removable, blue share button is good thing. For a function that most of us never ever uses…

Then they added the Neutral Color Mode preference, which changes the button to an outlined gray one, but it still represents a huge visual mass and causes my eye to snap to the button. I suspect the reason behind this whole thing is aggressive cloud storage marketing… Fortunately there’s a way to change this mess into something that blends in nicely and won’t drive you nuts:

Here’s how to do it on your Mac.

First, quit Photoshop. Then start the Terminal app, and type the following command:

sudo nano "/Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2022/Adobe Photoshop 2022.app/
Contents/Required/UIColors.txt"

Make sure to remove the line break before “Contents” if you copy and paste from above. The entire command must be on a single line. You’ll have to enter your password for the command to complete.

Once the nano text editor appears with the file opened in it, press Ctrl+W, type ShareButton and press Enter. Replace the color codes in the ShareButton section with the following:

        ShareButton:
                [ 
                [ 219, 219, 219, 1.0 ],
                [ 163, 163, 163, 1.0 ],
                [ 66, 66, 66, 1.0 ],
                [ 38, 38, 38, 1.0 ]
                ],

Press Ctrl+O and Enter to save the file, then Ctrl+X to exit the editor.

And that’s it. The share button is now unobtrusive neutral gray in all color themes. Note that you have to do it again after updating Photoshop.

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Did this post help you? Consider buying me a coffee if so.