A plug-in for the camera RAW image processing program Bibble.
Author: Sean Puckett (seanmpuckett@gmail.com).
en français

Bibble 5 note: This is a Bibble 4 plug-in. It does not work with Bibble 5.

What does Matty do?

Matty allows you to create borders/frames/mats around your images. This is often useful when exporting images for use on the web or in other circumstances where the final file will appear by itself and may need a border to help offset it from the surrounding material.

Download Freeware Now

Matty Freeware version 0.9a is available for download now.

Windows, Linux and Mac versions included in the same download. Read the Matty Release Notes, then access the download area.
You'll find installation instructions as INSTALL.txt in the zipfile.
Please provide feedback at the email address above.

Purchase Professional Version Now

Windows, Linux and Mac versions included in the same download. MattyPRO now available for Windows, Macintosh (Intel and PPC), and Linux. MattyPRO adds the ability to create bitmap edge effects, watermarks for image protection, and can simulate room lighting to produce shadows for a much more realistic looking frame.

MattyPRO: $10 USD

Already purchased, but need an upgrade? Click Here.

If you purchase this plug-in, you do so knowing it is not compatible with Bibble 5. I do not provide installation support for Bibble 4 plug-ins, and in purchasing them you do so at your own risk. Further, I do not guarantee that any Bibble 4 plug-in will be available for Bibble 5.

Sample Output

Black, tan and dark tan.

Gallery style.

MattyPRO shadowing (with MarkyPRO watermark)

PROOF Watermark sample

Studio Logo Watermark sample -- click image to zoom in and see quality.

Frame, Edge Effect and Watermarking (MattyPRO)

Framing (Matty) User Interface

Matty is quite simple, as befits a simple plug-in.

Enable Checkbox

The enable checkbox controls whether Matty's settings affect the image.

Reset Button

Clicking the reset button forces all of Matty's sliders to reasonable defaults, and disables the plug-in.

? Button

This button shows a popup with the version number, author, and homepage of the plug-in.

Frame, Mat and Reveal Tabs

Each border of colour has its own tab, controlling its width and colour. The outermost border is called Frame, the middle Mat, and the inner Reveal. Each tab has the same controls, as each border has the same options.

Size Checkbox

Enabling/disabling the size checkbox enables/disables the border itself.

Size Slider

Controls the size of the border in percentage of the image's longest edge. This is relative to the size of the crop area.

Height Slider (MattyPRO)

Sets the height of this border relative to the one beneath it. This only affects the drawing of shadows. More height gives you a wider shadow effect for this border.

Colour Picker

The standard colour picker that chooses the colour of the border.

Options Tab

Reduce Image to Fit Frame Checkbox

Reduces the image to fit within the Matty-generated frame. Uses a bilinear resampling algorithm to preserve detail and maintain good speed, but inevitably some image resolution will be lost due to the reduction in pixel count.

Note that because the image height/width ratio changes when you apply a frame, some of the image will still be cropped by the frame (along the long edges), but it is much less severe than when this checkbox is not checked.

Ambient Slider (MattyPRO)

Adjusts the amount of shadow applied when a layer's height value is greater than 0. More shadow is a more obvious effect.

Horiz and Vert Sliders (MattyPRO)

Adjusts the shadow effect to suggest the room lighting is stronger from different directions. Useful for simulating overhead lighting, or being lit by a window at the side, or other effects.

Edge Effects (Matty-Edge) User Interface (PRO Only)

Enable Checkbox

Turns on the edge decoration plug-in.

Squeeze Slider

Reduces the size of the original image by a given percentage. Useful when using a wide edge treatment when you don't want to lose too much of the image margin space. If Matty Framing is in use, the squeezing takes place at the same time so there is less reduction in image quality.

File Selector

This list shows all files found in the matty image directory (see below). Select a PNG image file and it will be loaded for use with the current image.

Rescan Button

Rescans the matty directory for new files during a Bibble session. Click this also to verify the location of the directory.

Placement Selector

Selects a placement algorithm. Placement describes the orientation of the edge effect on top of the camera image.

1. Smart Placement rotates the longest side of the edge image to match the longest side of the camera image. This reduces distortion of the edge effect.
2. Smart Flipped is identical to Smart, but the image is rotated 180 degrees.
3. 0 Deg forces the edge image to align with the camera image.
4. 90 Deg rotates the edge image 90 degrees clockwise.
5. Similarly with 180 and 270 Deg.

Method Selector

Chooses a method for combining the edge image with the camera image.

1. Normal - uses opacity in the edge image to control how much of the camera image bleeds through.
2. Darken - in addition to opacity, the edge image is only allowed to darken the camera image.
3. Lighten - in addition to opacity, the edge image lightens the camera image only.

Watermark (Marky) User Interface

Watermark Image Selection Group

Image Selection Drop List

This list shows all files found in the watermark image directory (see below). Select a PNG image file and it will be loaded for use with the current image.

Rescan Button

Rescans the watermark directory for new files during a Bibble session. Click this also to verify the location of the watermark directory.

Position Group

Anchor Point Drop List

The watermark is anchored (size and position change relative) to the selected corner or side of the image.

Right and Down Sliders

Adjust to move the watermark relative to the anchor point up to one full image width/height away.

Size Slider

Adjust to change the size of the watermark relative to the image size.

Relative to Matty Frame Checkbox

When checked, Marky considers the position of Matty's framing elements when locating the anchor points. When unchecked, only the crop window is considered. Generally you'll leave this checked unless you want to watermark on top of the Matty frame.

Compositing Group

These settings control how your watermark is combined with the original image.

Mode Drop List

Chooses the compositing mode. Available modes:

• Normal - Opaque pixels in the watermark obscure pixels in the image.
• Difference - Like Photoshop's "difference" blend mode. The darker value is subtracted from the lighter one.

Fade Slider

Controls the final transparency of the watermark.

Notes

Watermarks Not Saved with Image

Only the name of the watermark is saved with your source image, so if you later change or delete a watermark, then revisit an image that used that watermark, you won't see the original. This also means that every computer you use Bibble and Marky with must have access to the same watermark files, named the same way. You may need to copy watermark files around if you've got several studio computers, or use a "symbolic link" to redirect your watermarks. (Consult your system administrator for details.)

Watermark Image Directory

Marky presents the list of image files stored in a directory named "marky" in your Bibble user directory. The first time that Marky is launched within Bibble, this directory is created for you. It's also easy to verify the location of the directory by pressing the "rescan" button within the Marky window -- you're notified of the exact directory location scanned.

Since all files are shown in the list (due to filename and filetype issues), do not put non-watermark images in this directory as they will clutter up your list.

Image Compatibility

Edge and watermark images should be saved as an 8-bit (non-interlaced) PNG image. Marky can read either true colour or palettized images, but cannot read interlaced or 16-bit images. Marky fully supports embedded transparency in your PNG image, so you can use watermarks with cut out areas, drop shadows, halos or other effects.

You may be able to load a JPG image, but this support is not guaranteed, and transparency is not supported. GIF may or may not be supported at a later date, however this is not a key feature; PNG offers the most flexible options for compositing, so is the format of choice.

Odd Redraw or Crop Behaviour

There are occasional issues that preclude clean redraws when you are zoomed in on your image or when you move the crop window. Tap any Bibble control to trigger a redraw. Be assured, however, that your final output will be correct.

Screen Update Issues

Matty doesn't update when you move the crop window. Touch any Bibble control to force a redraw.

Diagonal Hash Marks in Zoomed In Views

These appear when Matty hasn't got sufficient source data for the "reduce to fit" option. Matty shows the hash marks to indicate that what you are viewing isn't what the output will look like as it cannot perform the "reduce". These marks will not appear in final output (as the source data is always sufficient).

Frame won't fit

If the frame you want won't fit around the part of the image you've cropped, try enabling the "Reduce Image to Fit Frame" checkbox in the options tab.

Shadow Generation

Shadows are created using an occlusion algorithm. This considers how much ambient light is striking a given pixel considering how much of the "sky", from that pixel's point of view, is obscured by things above it. This produces a very realistic shadow in most cases, although the illusion is only totally sincere if you consider the basic case of your image in a white, featureless room with no directional lighting. The Horz and Vert sliders adjust the occlusion algorithm to provide a fairly reasonably approximation of tilting the frame within the room, but due to "the need for speed" don't step down to the ray tracing level for perfect shadow calculation.

No Shadows on Frame

Since shadows are drawn "beneath" a layer, the uppermost layer will never be shadowed -- it can't receive shadows, it can only cast them. However, shadows can be cast to more than one layer -- a very "high" frame can cast shadows on the image even if the mat is quite wide. The effect can be subtle.