HueForge v8.1 UI Break Down

HueForge v8.1 UI Breakdown

Main Interface

1. Lighting Settings

LED Light Type

The Illumination light temperature. It is only active in Lithophane mode and when the Back Lit button is selected. Selections are Warm White 2700K, Natural White 4000K (default), Cold White 6500K, Red, Green, Blue, Cyan and Magenta.

Light Intensity

Adjusts the strength of illumination in Lithophane mode and when Back Lit Button is selected.

Blending Type

Select from Filament Painting or Lithophane modes. Filament Painting is normally the default and sets the Front Lit button to on. Lithophane mode invokes the Back lit mode and inverts the layer heights of populated filaments (sliders and on Color Core).

Front Lit

Select to preview image as a filament painting (i.e. the print is to be lit from the front).

Back Lit

Select to preview image as a colored lithophane or a mixed mode filament painting with the light source positioned behind the print. Used by itself, it does not affect filament layer heights.

Slicer View

Select to preview the print as it would appear in a properly configured slicer view. Select Front or Back Lit button to restore to blended view. As an alternative, press and the scroll control button to temporarily switch to Slicer View while mouse cursor is in the preview window.

2. General Options and Operations

Remesh (momentary)

Recomputes the model mesh in the unlikely event that control actions are not properly reflected in the displayed geometry model. (May be removed in later versions.)

Wireframe check box

Changes the preview to show the geometry model's wireframe. Use Reset View button to restore

Reset View (momentary)

Press to restore properly scaled preview after a zoom, tilt or pan operation operation. Also used to clear Wireframe check box and restore normal preview.

Describe Button (momentary)

Opens a popup window listing the description of the current filaments and layer swaps needed in the slicer. Note: The information is also written in a [project_name]_describe.txt file when a project is saved.

Negative Button (toggle on/off)

Reverses the heights in the luminance map of an image - ON = dark (low) to light (high). Off = light (high) to dark (low). ON is the default setting for a filament painting; OFF for a lithophane. Selecting Lithophane mode turns this button off, but the button has no impact on Blending Type selection.

Width

The width of the model in mm. Note that the aspect ratio of the model is set by the image, so that this value might be adjusted to be consistent with the image aspect ratio.

Height

Height of the model in mm consistent with the image aspect ratio.

Border Width

Width of the border in mm when the Border Button is selected. The image shrinks by the width of the border. The border width is dependent on the relative model height and width. It has no effect if Border Button is not selected.

Border Depth

The height of the border in mm when the Border Button is selected. It can be taller than the overall height of the image part of the model. Its color is determined by the height of the color layer it ends on. If it is taller than the image part, its color corresponds to the color at the top of the image.

Full Range

When selected, if the luminance of an image does not extend over the full range of zero to one (black to white) the luminance range is stretch linearly to fill the entire range. This control is disabled in Color Match Luminance mode because the luminance mapping is no longer a linear function.

Border Button (toggle)

Places a rectangular border around the model. Does not follow the edges of an image with a transparent outline.

3. Filament Library

Panel

The panel displays a collection of available filaments, their colors, and transmission distances. Easily select filaments by dragging and dropping color icons from the library onto the sliders or cores.

New Filament

Add your own filaments that aren't in the library.

Filter

Easily search for specific filaments.

Sort

Sort your filaments by brand, color, transmission distance, or name.

Save Library

Save any changes you've made to the filament library.

4. Color & Mesh Core

Settings Menu

HueForge's Color and Mesh Cores are essential components of the software's color matching and 3D model creation process:

Color Core

Used to generate instructions for printing.
Allows users to manipulate colors and create the final appearance of the print.
Users can drag and drop colors from the filament library directly onto the cores.
Does not need to exactly match the arrangement of the Mesh Core.

Mesh Core

Only used in Color Match mode
Used to modify and create the 3D model structure.
Allows users to instruct HueForge on how to build the 3D model.
Allows for more control of the 3D model for complex images.
When working with the Mesh Core, users should aim for logical color layering. A disjointed blend can result in jarring transitions and more noticeable edges in the final mesh, potentially affecting the overall quality of the print.

5. Color Sliders

Color Sliders

Sort Sliders

Sorts the color sliders in ascending order based on their height.

Invert Sliders

Inverts the relationship between color and height for all sliders in the project. Particularly useful when switching in and out of Negative Mode

Clear Slider History

Removes the history of previous slider arrangements. This allows your current slider arrangement to be duplicated when switching modes. If you do not clear slider history when switching back to a mode it will remember it's previous sliders and positions.

6. Model Geometry

Min Depth

Base thickness: set the minimum thickness of the print, ensuring that the model has a solid foundation. Height in MM before the image mesh starts

Max Depth

Maximum height of the mesh. This does not dictate how tall your mesh is unless using Static Depth mode, just it's maximum possible height.

Actual Depth

This is how tall your mesh actually is.

Image Format

Allows switching between Color and Luminance for the image preview. This is purely visual and has no effect on the image or mesh.

Spike Removal

A filter that clears narrow peaks from the model geometry. Can Improves overall print quality by reducing unwanted artifacts.

Fast: Recommended for most cases
Moderate: For more intensive filtering
Aggressive: Used when dealing with very noisy sources or prints that would generate many spikes (Does not work in Color Match)

sRGB

Toggle between sRGB color space and less restrictive RGB color space.

Unbiased Lighting

Depth Mode

Static Depth: Sets the mesh height to the Max Depth value, regardless of slider positions. Dynamic Depth: Adjusts the overall depth of the model based on the position of the topmost color slider. The entire mesh shrinks uniformly. Clipped Depth: Reduces the height of the mesh by removing layers as the topmost slider is moved downward.

Adjustment Amount

controls the granularity of slider movements, offering three levels of precision:

Coarse: Results in larger steps when adjusting the slider, making it easier to make broad changes quickly.
Fine: Provides maximum control with smaller, more precise steps, ideal for detailed adjustments.
Medium: Offers a balanced approach, striking a middle ground between coarse and fine adjustments for a versatile control experience.

RGB Adjust

Allows you to adjust the amount of Red, Green and Blue in your image by adding a uniform mask over the image. Especially useful in Color Aware.

Tolerance

In Color Pop mode, increasing the tolerance allows you to include more near-grayscale colors in the grayscale range. For Color Aware mode, it's generally recommended to set the tolerance as close to zero as possible. Adjusting the tolerance can help fine-tune how HueForge interprets colors that are perceptually white or gray but may have slight color tints.

Smoothing

The slider allows users to adjust the level of smoothing applied to the mesh, which can improve the overall appearance of the print.

Brightness Adjust

Allows users to modify the brightness levels of their images. Brightness compensation has replaced the need for this in most situations.

Brightness Compensation

Select from several Brightness Compensation modes that allow users achieve more detail in specific regions
Power slider: This allows fine-tuning of the brightness compensation effect.
Includes a graph icon that visually represents how luminance values affect the vertical Z height of the model

7. Color Match Settings

Color Match Modes

Default Color Match

Uses the RGB color space for matching colors
Analyzes each pixel's red, green, and blue values separately
Provides a straightforward approach to color matching

CIELAB Color Match

Based on the CIELAB color space, which is designed to approximate human vision
Offers potentially more perceptually accurate color matching
Useful for images where precise color reproduction is crucial

HSL Color Match

Utilizes the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness color model
May offer better results for certain types of images

Dot Product Color Match

Uses a mathematical approach to color matching
Calculates the similarity between colors using vector dot product