August 04, 2017 - Tablet processing fixes

Today's update fixes more processing issues with various tablets, and some interaction/display bugs with the perspective ruler control points.

July 24, 2017 - More UGEE fixes

A couple days ago I was notified of crashes and other weird behavior when using new UGEE tablet drivers. These drivers are used with many different tablet brands, so this was a high priority task.

After some investigating, I was able to address the issues. Special thanks to Neal and Santiago for helping me with testing! As always, if you experience any issues, please email me, as I can only fix problems I know about!

This update also has more performance improvements, including something special: reduced CPU load of Photoshop when using Wintab!

While I was debugging I noticed that Photoshop was making repeated needless API calls to expensive driver functions, while drawing, and also while idle! I was able to have LNP cache the result of these functions to save your CPU. This will work even if the LNP UI window is closed (as long as the Photoshop plugin is installed).

Update #1 (build 1942): I released a second update that fixes a loss of pressure issue on some setups. Thanks to everyone who emailed about the problem! :)

Update #2 (build 2042): I released another update that fixes a potential crash at startup.

July 19, 2017 - UGEE driver bug

Today's update features input processing optimizations, and different default settings for a better first-run experience.

This update also includes various bugfixes, including an experimental fix for a UGEE tablet driver bug that would cause lines to be cut off mid-drawing.

June 09, 2017 - Ellipse Auto Fit

Lazy Nezumi Pro already helps you draw perfect ellipses, but it can sometimes be hard to find the optimal center/rotation/degree parameters when you're trying to place them in your scene.

To help with this and hopefully save you time, today's update adds an Auto Fit button in the ellipse ruler section (and a global shortcut). Simply press the button, then sketch an ellipse (it doesn't have to be complete), and LNP will try to find the best parameters to fit your sketch! You can then fine-tune via the interactive control points.

This update also expands the scripting capabilities when using rulers. The dn normalized distance parameter is now available for the Connected, Radial, and Perspective rulers. For these rulers I've also added a new ds parameter that maps to the the starting distance from connection point/center/VP. Using these new parameters opens up some interesting possibilities, and I've added some new script modes in the Radial Patterns as examples.

Here's the Radial Fade script mode in action. This script will automatically attenuate the pressure of your stroke as it approaches the center.

The script modes in the Basic and Complex Patterns categories have also been updated to make them easier to use.

In other news, and in an unfortunate repeat of what happened last year, Microsoft's Creator Update for Win10 is causing problems with a lot of software, including LNP. If you install this Win10 update, LNP's Direct2D overlay renderer will not work. Until I can find a solution, the only fix is to disable Direct2D via Settings/Edit Overlay Settings, or to uninstall the Creator Update.

March 25, 2017 - Ruler Scripting

Today's update adds new ruler-specific input variables to the scripting engine, which will help write more powerful scripts!

If a ruler has a center point, its position is now accessible via the rcx/rcy script variables. This is used in two new script modes that can be found in the Circular Patterns category: Circular Spiral, and Circular Spiral Sine (these should be used with the Ellipse ruler).

If you are using the Perspective ruler, the dn script variable is now mapped to the normalized square distance of your pen position from the vanishing point (1 at your starting position, and 0 at the vanishing point). This allows for lines that auto-fade as you get closer to the vanishing point, as explained in the updated tutorial.

February 24, 2017 - Connected Lines

This update adds a new parameter to the Connected Lines ruler: Stop at connection point. This will prevent your lines from overshooting the end point.

This update also fixes several bugs, including one that would prevent the use of the perspective measure control point at a VP angle of 90.

January 25, 2017 - Ruler Accuracy

The Rulers Update added an accuracy parameter to the Ellipse Ruler, for when you want to draw non-perfect but still good looking (and connected) circles and ellipses. Due to popular demand, this update adds the accuracy parameter to all the rulers!

This update also has a fix for the Custom Cursor and Cursor Hiding features that were broken by the Win10 Anniversary Update.

January 06, 2017 - Rulers Update!

Happy new year friends!

The first update for 2017 is the first official Rulers Update! Many thanks to everyone who downloaded the beta versions and reported issues.

I have added a Direct2D option in the Overlay Settings. Due to unresolved issues with the latest insider preview build of Win10, this is not enabled by default, so be sure to try it! It will greatly improve overlay rendering performance. Unfortunately Windows XP support has been dropped starting with this version, since it does not support Direct2D.

You can interact with most ruler parameters by holding the control key. This will show the different control points. The old keyboard shortcuts for individual parameters are still there if you need them.

I've made a guide to get you started with them. Let me know if anything is unclear! Do you have ideas for new rulers, or enhancements for existing ones? Please get in touch!

November 23, 2016 - Rulers Update Public Beta

Digital artists, it is now time to take control of your rulers!

This has been months in the making, and is the biggest update since the start of the project!

I have taken all the constraint scripts, and moved them into their own dedicated Rulers section. While doing this, I have optimized them, and added overlay control points to most of their parameters. You can still use the old shortcuts, but as my friend (and super-tester) Nasan says, you now have One Shortcut To Rule Them All! Just hold Control to interact with them. I tried hard to make them intuitive to use, and consistent in their design.

This now also lets you use rulers with scripts! I've added a new script section called Circular Patterns that can be used with the Ellipse ruler for some cool effects. Check out the new Misc - Gears preset as an example.

The other major change is a complete reimplementation of the overlay window's renderer, using Direct2D! Many of you complained about the GDI renderer's slow performance, especially on high resolution displays. The Direct2D renderer is hardware accelerated, and can be up to ten times faster! If you're using a basic theme in Win7, be sure to switch to an Aero theme for this to work correctly (transparent windows aren't required, but desktop composition has to be enabled).

So why a beta? This update includes so many changes and so much new code, that it's impossible that some bugs won't have gotten in. I've done a lot of testing, but I feel it more prudent to have a smaller percentage of you try it out first. I also need to finish updating the documentation, tooltips, and translations. When I feel like it's stable and ready, I'll make it official and send out the update notification to all users. So if you download it, please report any issues you encounter. I am very much looking forward to your feedback (which has already been invaluable)!

After installing it, you can backup or delete your old constraint presets, as they have been replaced with ruler presets.

November 03, 2016 - Photoshop CC 2017

Today's update adds support for the new Photoshop CC 2017.

In other news, I am still making good progress on the Rulers Update!

October 13, 2016 - Photoshop Elements 15

This update adds plugin support for the new Photoshop Elements 15.

Due to popular demand, using a keyboard shortcut to switch to a preset will now turn it ON if it was OFF. You can set these shortcuts up via Settings/Edit Shortcuts/Preset Shortcuts.

August 29, 2016 - Photoshop Plugin Init Delay

Today's update adds a plugin initialization delay parameter in the Settings/Edit Photoshop Options menu. Usually you won't have to change this, but if you experience problems in Photoshop, a shorter or longer init delay can sometimes help.

This update also fixes a couple of line ending issues for Paint Tool SAI and Fire Alpaca.

July 28, 2016 - Better Line Endings

July 30 update: I fixed a bug that could cause lines to shoot to infinity when lifting the pen.

As I was doing more experiments with different tablets, I noticed that when using lots of smoothing, the line endings would not always look great. Sometimes they would have a slight bend in them right before the end. This was really bugging me, so I spent some time investigating and experimenting.

Today's update introduces an alternative algorithm that produces much better line endings. It preserves angular momentum, so it makes drawing curves and loops a lot easier. This applies to the Moving Average and Exponential Moving Average smoothing modes when using Catch Up enabled.

I have also written a new tutorial page: Line Smoothing with Lazy Nezumi Pro! This will help you better understand all the options at your disposal to get the lines you want! Please let me know if anything isn't clear.

June 30, 2016 - N-Trig update

Today's update adds much better support for N-Trig digitizer devices such as the Surface Pro!

I've also improved support for the new system stylus API which the latest versions of Photoshop use by default on Win8 and Win10. You should now get much better lines without having to revert back to Wintab. The lines should now fade-out instantly, and this fixes the freezing issue that would sometimes happen when lifting your pen too quickly from the tablet.

As usual, please get in touch if you notice any problems. I will now resume work on the Rulers/Direct2D update!

June 21, 2016 - Photoshop CC 2015.5 support!

Today's update adds support for the latest version of Photoshop!

In other news, I have purchased a Surface Pro 4 to do some proper testing in order to make sure Lazy Nezumi Pro works as good as it can with N-Trig digitizers. I have already identified a couple issues with their Wintab drivers, and am currently testing some fixes. So far I am very impressed with this tablet, and can see why it's becoming popular among digital artists!

June 01, 2016 - Photoshop Jitter Bugfix!

If you draw in Photoshop with a pen tablet, you may have experienced a problem where your lines suddenly go from looking super nice (right image), to super jittery (left image). This seems to happen randomly, with or without Lazy Nezumi Pro enabled or even installed.

If you look through various online forums, you'll see that this has been a problem for years now, and no one seems to have a solution (aside from the temporary fix of alt-tabbing away and back to the PS window).

I am very happy to announce that I finally have a better understanding of what's going on! And better yet, I may have found a fix! If this problem affects you, please install today's update and email me your results. I've added a Fix Jitter Bug checkbox in the Settings/Edit Photoshop Options menu, so you can toggle it if it causes any problems. Please note that this will only work for Photoshop versions starting with CS5.

This update also fixes a bug for users who have their mouse buttons swapped.

Important: if this update causes problems for you, please email me your Windows/Tablet/Photoshop versions, and the log_photoshop.txt file (Help/Send Logs menu in LNP will show you where it is).

June 03 update: I released a small update that fixes a couple rare issues related to the jitter bugfix.

May 09, 2016 - Bugfix update

Today's update fixes an old Qt bug that could cause instability or a crash after checking for updates.

It also addresses an issue where the overlay window would become hidden behind other windows. Thanks to Zach for reporting this and helping me find a fix!

In other news, I'm still working on the new Rulers section. I have already ported (and improved) Ellipse, Radial, Parallel and Connected Lines, and am now working on the Perspective rulers. I hope to have this ready by this summer!

Here's a preview GIF of the Ellipse ruler with a special square wave script:

April 21, 2016 - Bugfix update

Today's update fixes a couple of rare bugs, and an initialization problem with some Huion tablets.

In other news, I am working hard and making good progress on moving all the Constraints to their own Rulers section! This will allow for a script to be applied after a ruler. Need to draw some gears? Ellipse ruler + square wave script, done! This will also open up more options in how you can interact with them. For example, there will be more draggable control points so that you don't have to rely solely on keyboard shortcuts.

Here are a couple work in progress GIFs!

March 23, 2016 - Pressure Curve Auto Adjust!

Today's update adds an Auto Adjust button to the Pressure Curve controls.

Turn it on, then draw a couple of lines. Be sure to use your full regular pressure range (but don't press harder than you normally do). It will adjust the Gain and Softness parameters so that you can more easily get high output pressure values, while still allowing for precise control of thin lines. Turn it off when you're happy, and then fine tune the settings.

You'll also notice a new green area under the curve in the graph window. This represents your last used pressure range.

February 19, 2016 - More Keyboard Shortcuts

Many users wrote to say they preferred the older continuous angle rotation shortcuts for the Perspective and Isometric presets, so today's update adds them back! You can configure them via the Settings/Edit Shortcuts menu's Constraint Shortcuts tab. The fixed increment shortcuts are still available for those who prefer to use them. The shortcut tooltip overlay will now only show the ones that are set (otherwise it can get pretty crowded).

The previous update added auto-offsetting of all constraint centers when panning with the spacebar key. This makes it easier to use the Perspective preset, but it can sometimes cause the center of another preset to be off-screen when you switch to it. Many users wrote about this, thinking something was broken. Because of this, this update adds a Spacebar Pan Offsets Ruler Centers setting. The default is OFF, so if you have gotten used to auto-tracking, make sure you turn it on! Also, please note that you can always use the Move Center constraint shortcut to get the center back, or the Set/Reset Scripting Center Pos global shortcuts.

This update also fixes several problems, including the pen eraser not being detected for some tablets, and the Windows ripple effect causing the overlay window to hide. Thanks to Chris and Michelle for reporting these issues!

January 23, 2016 - Perspective Tutorial

Jan 24 update: a couple multi-monitor bugs were fixed!

The first update of 2016 brings many changes, so please check the change log for details!

You'll notice several of usability improvements, including UI scaling for those of you using high DPI screens, and better slider control (including precision adjustments while pressing control).

The Perspective preset has been updated, and a tutorial is now available to help you use it. Panning your canvas using the space key will now offset the center to help you stay in sync. I hope this will help you create some really cool scenes!

The Ellipse preset now has an Accuracy parameter, for when you want to draw not-so-perfect circles, but still have the ends connect easily. Be sure to give this a try, it's a lot of fun!

November 26, 2015 - Measurement Ticks

Today's update adds measurement ticks to the Connected and Parallel Lines presets! The angle (off the horizontal), and distance (in pixels and ticks) are displayed before you draw, so you can use these as pressure sensitive rulers.

Ticks are now used in the Perspective, Isometric, and Fisheye presets as well, for better precision and rendering performance.

Speaking of performance, this update also adds a Off while drawing option in the Overlay Settings, in case the overlay rendering causes performance problems on your system.

October 22, 2015 - Fisheye Perspective!

Today's update adds a Fisheye Perspective preset! Freeze mode, measure points, and snapping all work the same as with the other perspective preset.

This is also known as curvilinear or 5 point perspective, and maps a 180 degree field of view to a circular area defined by the radius parameter. It more closely represents our vision of reality, compared to linear perspective.

September 29, 2015 - Hook Window Fix

Today's update fixes a couple of bugs related to the Hook Window feature.

In other news, I am making good progress on the 5 Point Perspective (Fish-eye) constraint mode!

September 11, 2015 - Japanese and Korean translations

Today's release updates the Japanese translation, and adds a Korean translation! Please let me know if you find anything that should be corrected.

There are also a couple of bug fixes, including one that happens in SAI when using the latest 6.3.14 Wacom driver. This driver appears to have some freeze and lag bugs, so you may want to downgrade.

September 03, 2015 - Bugfix update!

Today's update fixes a couple of bugs, including one that was preventing the Perspective Freeze Mode shortcut from being changed.

A huge thank you to all the awesome users who report bugs quickly and help me test fixes!

September 01, 2015 - Perspective Freeze Mode!

Today's update fixes a couple bugs, and adds a Freeze Mode to the perspective preset!

The default key is NumLock, and this will allow you to freeze the current perspective system, so you can draw lines within the system at specific relative measurements.

While in freeze mode, you can still change the measurement point unit distance, if you need to change the number of subdivisions.

In other news, a Korean translation for the LNP UI is coming soon! If you would like to help me proof-read the translation, please contact me.

August 04, 2015 - Multi-monitor fix

Today's update fixes an issue where the overlay graphics window would sometimes start up on the wrong display in multi-monitor setups. Special thanks to Ivan for helping me figure this one out!

For Photoshop, LNP now saves the last used tool used with version info, so that changing Photoshop versions won't cause tool sync issues at startup.

July 27, 2015 - Perspective Manual Snap Mode

Today's update adds a manual snap mode to the perspective and isometric presets. You can use this mode instead of the auto-detect mode, by setting the snapMode parameter to 1. You can then use the snapLine param to change which line it will snap to (the shortcut for this is shift). No more false starts!

This update also fixes several issues with the overlay window, and the Disable on Pen Eraser setting now works with Photoshop CC in Windows 8.

July 03, 2015 - Improved Overlay Performance!

This update greatly improves the transparent overlay window's rendering performance! This means hopefully less lag on lower end systems, especially when using big monitors or when streaming.

If you need even more performance, be sure to turn off Anti-Aliasing in the Overlay Settings.

This update also adds a new preset called Smoothing - Weighted! This simulates a weighted pen that is affected by momentum and drag. Great for calligraphy lines with curves and loops! The output pressure is also directly computed from the speed of the weight, which makes thickness fade-in and fade-out automatic. Its settings can be controlled in the Distortion Scripting section.

June 16, 2015 - Photoshop CC 2015!

This update adds support for the new Photoshop CC 2015 version.

Be sure to run the LN installer after you've installed the new Photoshop. After starting both apps, you may also need to change PS tools a couple times so that LN can sync up.

May 05, 2015 - Configurable Constraint Shortcuts!

This update finally allows you to setup your own keys for the constraint preset parameters! You can configure them via the Settings/Edit Shortcuts menu, in the Constraint Shortcuts tab.

The Ellipse constraint can now also slide along the major axis, and both the minor and major axis now show an orange section for the size of the last drawn ellipse.

The Connected Lines constraint now has the option to connect lines from the start point of the last stroke, and a shortcut is available to switch between start and end points.

This update also fixes several bugs, including a crash at shutdown, and a crash in TVPaint.

April 24, 2015 - PS Tool in Status Bar

A support request I get sometimes is from users who think that LN stopped working in Photoshop, when the problem is simply that they have a tool selected that is configured to be bypassed in LN.

To address this, this update now shows the currently selected tool in the status bar. If it's bypassed it will be marked as (OFF). And remember, you can configure which tools to bypass with LN via the Settings/Edit Photoshop Options menu.

This update also fixes a couple bugs related to the overlay window.

April 09, 2015 - Better Pen Precision in Win8!

Thanks to users who let me know they were still having offset issues in Win8, I did some more research and found a much better way to handle pen input! This change adds better precision and will hopefully get rid of all offset issues for multi-monitor users.

This update also adds some usability improvements:

• The constraint overlay graphics are now hidden when the user selects a bypassed Photoshop tool.
• Added a Distortion Scripting On/Off global shortcut.
• All global shortcuts except Hook Window are now unregistered when a non hooked application is in focus.

April 05, 2015 - Happy Easter!

Today's update fixes a couple bugs, including an offset bug on some multi-monitor Win8 configurations. Thanks to Kelly for reporting this and helping me narrow down the problem! If you are still experiencing this problem, please try checking or unchecking the Settings/Tablet Options/Pen Offset Fix menu.

The preset change overlay popups now use the preset's guide color to make it easier to quickly see which preset you've changed to. Thanks to Dylan for the suggestion!

March 02, 2015 - Flash CC Update Fix

Today's update fixes tablet support for Flash CC version 14.2.0!

In other news, Dacosta Bayley's March of Robots 2015 challenge is on!

Post your robot drawings to your favorite social media sites and tag them with #marchofrobots for a chance to win some cool prizes! For more info, visit: http://marchofrobots.com/home/.

January 17, 2015 - Tablet PC Rotation

This update fixes a couple bugs, including one that was causing a pen offset after rotating a tablet PC. This was tested on an Asus Vivotab Note 8 tablet. Thanks to Candice for reporting this and helping me debug the issue!

January 06, 2015 - Happy New Year!

Happy 2015 everyone! I wish you all the best for this new year! :)

A huge thanks to everyone who has supported Lazy Nezumi Pro so far! I have to say, the global digital artist community is a pretty great one to work with. You all rock! Thanks for helping LNP become what some users called the Plugin of the Year!

And please keep sending me your art, I really love seeing what LNP helps create! I will reblog/retweet some of your posts if you tag them with #lazynezumi!

Please note that at the end of the month, I will no longer be supporting Amazon Payments or Google Wallet, since they are being discontinued by their parent companies. So if you are thinking of purchasing a license and wish to use either of these options, now's the time! I will of course continue to support Paypal and direct credit/debit card payments via Stripe.

December 25, 2014 - Christmas Update!

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it!

This update adds pen tablet support for Sketchbook in Win8.1, and fixes a bug that was causing disconnected lines in GTK apps (Gimp, Inkscape, MyPaint). Many thanks to the users who reported these issues and helped me test fixes.

Many users complained that the constraint parameter shortcuts were a bit awkward, so you can now turn these on or off via the Settings/Constraint Param Shortcuts menu (and you can assign a global hotkey to this via the Edit Shortcuts menu).

I've also moved some menu items to a new Window Settings sub-menu, including a new option to have the window close button exit the app directly (instead of minimizing it to the system tray).

December 13, 2014 - Max Value For Pressure Curve

It turns out that the changes that were made for Verve cause problems in some other applications (like Krita), so I've moved those changes to a separate code path. Thanks Thierry for reporting this!

Also suggested by Thierry, this updates adds a Maximum Value setting in the Pressure Curve control group, for when you want to clamp the pressure of your strokes to a certain maximum.

December 07, 2014 - Bugfixes

This update fixes a couple of bugs, including one that could cause the pen to get stuck in Verve and other applications.

If you haven't tried Verve yet, be sure to check it out! It's a pretty cool painting app that uses fluid dynamics!

November 27, 2014 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Edit: Sorry for the double update, but several users quickly pointed out that the experimental offset fix was actually causing an offset problem for them. Since it does help some users, I have moved it to the Settings/Tablet Options/Pen Offset Fix menu.

This update fixes a couple of bugs, and adds a Settings/Save Presets on Exit option.

Black Friday Weekend Sale starts tomorrow!

November 07, 2014 - Constraint Shortcuts!

By popular demand, this update adds keyboard shortcuts for some of the constraint preset parameters!

You will now be able to quickly change some parameters by holding down a key and just moving your pen, which will make working with these presets much more efficient!

The available shortcuts are shown in an overlay tooltip when you switch to a preset that supports them. You can remove this tooltip by setting its timeout to 0 in the Overlay Settings.

This update also fixes several bugs, including a pen offset problem and a pressure sensitivity issue.

October 16, 2014 - Overlay On Incorrect Monitor Fixed!

This update fixes a bug that would cause the overlay window and distortion center to start on the wrong monitor for some multi-monitor configurations. Thank you to the users who reported this problem!

Remember that you can always set/reset the distortion center via shortcuts that you can configure in the settings.

October 13, 2014 - New Update!

October 14 Edit: A user reported the overlay window was sometimes resizing while drawing. Today's update fixes this.

September 26, 2014 - PS CC 2014 Win8.1 Support!

As some of you may know, Photoshop CC 2014 now uses the new WM_POINTER pen tablet API in Win8.1, instead of Wintab. This means that Lazy Nezumi Pro does not work with the pen unless you use the PSUSerConfig.txt workaround to make Photoshop switch back to Wintab.

For the last couple of months I have been been doing experiments with this new API, and I finally have a working test version for you to try!

Keep in mind that this is still somewhat experimental, so please report any strange behavior. Before trying it, don't forget to rename or delete the PSUSerConfig.txt file if you were using it, and be sure to enable Windows Ink in your tablet control panel.

This update also adds an option to close the app when Photoshop is closed, and support for new versions of Sketchbook.

September 08, 2014 - Anniversary Sale!

I can't believe one year has already passed since Lazy Nezumi Pro was launched! To celebrate, licenses are 30% off this week!

September 03, 2014 - Photoshop Shoelace Bug Fixed!

While changing the line processing code for last update's stability fixes, I accidentally removed something that was preventing those dreaded end-of-line shoelace artifacts in Photoshop. This update fixes this. Thanks Pauzak for catching this so quickly!

August 30, 2014 - Curved Radial Lines!

This update adds a curve parameter to the Radial Lines scripting mode. Thanks Nasan for the awesome suggestion!

I've also fixed a couple bugs, including some that could cause missing or glitchy lines in Photoshop and Flash.

August 17, 2014 - Line Offset Bug Fixed!

This update fixes a bug where lines would sometimes start at the wrong position for some tablet configurations. The change also increases general processing performance.

August 08, 2014 - Overlay Settings & New Presets!

This update adds a new Overlay Settings window that will allow you to enable or disable overlays, change their opacity, set guide line colors, and configure the new perspective measure point options!

I've removed the 3 perspective modes (1, 2, 3 point) and replaced them with a more versatile perspective mode that is able to handle up to 3 vanishing points. It works by allowing you to specify the degree of the 2 ground-parallel vanishing lines, and a vertical tilt for looking up or down. The center of view can now also be set by dragging an overlay on the screen.

Currently, there is no tracking between the canvas position/zoom and the center of view. I know this is a limitation and I am looking into it. For now, I advise you to mark with a cross the location of your center on a separate layer, so that you can move the center over the correct position after you pan your canvas.

I have added a bunch of new presets in this version. Some of them were previously found in the separate zip downloads. The presets now have prefixes so that they are sorted and easy to find in the list: smoothing, constraint, and misc.

Several bugs have also been fixed, and better support has been added for Manga Studio.

I'm very excited about this update, and I thank everyone who contributed through their feedback, comments and ideas!

July 16, 2014 - New Overlay Guides!

July 19 Edit: Startup crash/hang issue should now be fixed! Please let me know if you are still experiencing this problem after this update.

I'm super excited about this update, since it adds a brand new overlay rendering system! This should allow the guide lines to work consistently over any application! I've done a lot of testing, and things are looking pretty great, but please let me know if you run into any problems on your system.

I've changed the look of the Pulled String smoothing guide line so that it actually looks like a real string. This way, you can tell how much you have to pull it before your brush starts painting again!

I've also added a new Mega Crosshair cursor in Settings/App Cursor for all you crazy precision cyborg artists!

And last but not least, I've added guide lines to some of the Distortion Scripting Constraint Modes. Be sure to download the presets that use them from the Presets page if you haven't already! Here's an example of the new guides with the 3 Point Perspective preset:

July 07, 2014 - UI Tweaks

This update has a couple minor UI changes that are aimed at saving space on the window.

A new setting has been added to the presets menu: Presets/Show in Mini Mode. This allows you to choose which presets you want to see in the Mini Mode view.

Starting with this version, preset shortcuts will be saved in a separate file in your user data directory: presetSettings.xml. This will allow you to change shortcuts without having to manually save a preset, and will eliminate potential shortcut conflicts when sharing presets with other users.

June 26, 2014 - New On/Off Button!

Several of you complained that it wasn't clear if Lazy Nezumi Pro was enabled or not. I think that with this update, there will be no more confusion! :)

I also added some overlay messages when you use keyboard shortcuts, in case your art application is full screen and you can't see other windows.

This update also fixes several bugs, one of which was preventing distortion scripting parameters from being sent to the plugin in certain cases (thanks for reporting this Zhille!).

June 20, 2014 - Photoshop CC 2014 issue

In Win8, Photoshop CC 2014 now uses the Microsoft system API for pen tablets, which is not currently supported by Lazy Nezumi Pro. Until support can be added, you can follow this procedure to switch back to the supported Wintab API.

June 17, 2014 - More Distortion Modes!

This update adds a couple more distortion modes:

• Constraints/connected ellipses: draws a circle or ellipse using your last stroke's ending position as the center.
• Constraints/straight lines - connected: draws a straight line that passes through your last stroke's ending position.
• Misc/noise: adds random distortion to your line, exactly like the old LazyNezumi noise feature.

I've added a new stock preset that uses the noise mode. For the two other modes, I've added new presets to the Line Constraint Presets zip you can download from the Presets page. I hope you're enjoying all these free content updates! :)

I've also changed the Start With Photoshop setting first-run default to false since some people had complained. I guess they hadn't seen they could disable this in the Settings/Edit Photoshop Options menu.

June 14, 2014 - New Distortion Modes

This update adds a bunch of new distortion modes (in Shapes and Constraints), and fixes a couple bugs.

I have created some new presets that make use of these distortion modes. Check them out at the new Presets page!

May 20, 2014 - Perspective Line Constraint Presets

I have created some presets that will help you draw perspective correct lines!

Edit:These presets are deprecated since the latest version of LNP now comes with a very versatile perspective preset!

May 13, 2014 - Preset Saving Bug Fixed!

This update fixes a bug that was preventing some users from saving or renaming their presets.

Starting with this version, the New Version window will now show you the latest update changes.

I've also added a new Save As button that appears at the bottom of the UI when you change a preset setting.

May 06, 2014 - Bugfix Update!

This update fixes a few bugs, and adds support for older versions of Photoshop.

I've also removed the default keyboard shortcut for the Cursor Visibility function, since some people were accidentally hitting it and wondering why their cursor was gone!

Apr 18, 2014 - Bugfix Update!

This update fixes a bunch of bugs, including some pretty serious crashes.

One of these issues is a Qt bug that was causing the application to exit after showing the Update Available message box, while minimized to the system tray. This probably annoyed many users, so I apologize!

Thanks to Nolan, Thierry, Funshark, and Erin for reporting these problems!

Apr 14, 2014 - L-Systems!

This update adds special functions to the Distortion scripting language that allow you to define complex shapes and fractals by using simple rules and instructions, called L-Systems. A tutorial is available here.

Apr 08, 2014 - No-Pressure Bug Fixed!

So it turns out the tablet event code in Qt 4.8.5 sometimes interferes with other apps that use the tablet! This was causing weird problems for some users, like not having any pressure sensitivity after starting Lazy Nezumi Pro.

I've rebuilt Qt with QT_NO_TABLETEVENT and QT_NO_TABLET, and things seem to be better now! Please let me know if you are still experiencing these kinds of issues after this update.

Many thanks to the users who reported this, and Sean for helping me figure it out!

Mar 27, 2014 - New Distortion Modes!

This update adds new settings, fixes some bugs, and adds a bunch of new distortion modes for you to play with!

Here is an example of what you can do with the new Shape modes!

Mar 21, 2014 - Spring Sale!

To celebrate the new season, all licenses are currently 20% off!

The flowers in the poster were generated using the new Distortion feature. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already!

Mar 17, 2014 - Distortion!

I'm very proud to present the latest Lazy Nezumi Pro feature: Distortion!

Ever wished you could draw repeating patterns perfectly, or add random variations to your strokes? How about having the angle of your art-pen-controlled brush rotate by itself? These are just a few examples of the limitless possibilities that Distortion makes possible!

I've included 5 new presets that show off this feature, including one that uses a fractal program that lets you draw beautiful flower patterns by just holding down your pen! For this one, I recommend using a thin, low density/flow brush for good results.

But the real power of this feature is that if you are mathematically inclined, you can code your own custom Distortion programs, and share them with your friends!

To make sure that everyone can try this awesome new feature, you will get 10 additional trial days if your trial is currently expired! Be sure to tell your friends! :)

This update also fixes a crash in Flash and adds some stability improvements in Photoshop.

Mar 06, 2014 - Minor Bugfix Update

Here's another quick bugfix update, while I continue to work on the next big feature!

This one fixes a communication problem between the plugin and the main application. Many thanks to Davide for reporting the problem and helping me fix it!

If you or a friend tried Lazy Nezumi Pro in the past and it just wasn't doing anything, please give this version a try!

Feb 23, 2014 - Minor Bugfix Update

I've started working on some new big features, so I decided to release this small bugfix update now.

This update fixes the inverted OpenGL guide line in 3D-Coat, and fixes a bug in Photoshop where lines would sometimes start with a big blotch when drawing after alt-tabbing back from another window.

Feb 21, 2014 - Improved Pressure Smoothing!

Some users mentioned that they were having a hard time getting nice fade-ins with pressure smoothing. After a bit of experimentation, I was able to slightly change my algorithm to help provide better results!

I've also tweaked my Photoshop integration code, to try to reduce the occurrence of missing lines.

This update also adds Catch Up support (for position smoothing) in Gimp and InkScape.

And for those of you who use the Inverted Pressure feature, I've fixed a problem that was causing a big blotch to sometimes appear at the start of thin lines (high pressure start).

Feb 14, 2014 - Valentine's Day Sale!

Feb 05, 2014 - Open Canvas Support!

A couple users had reported that Lazy Nezumi Pro wasn't working properly with tablets in Open Canvas. This update fixes these problems. I have tested with versions 4.5 and 5.5.

I have also fixed a bug that was preventing the Photoshop plugin from getting the right tool when using tool presets.

I've also added Settings/Enable Shortcuts, so you can disable global keyboard shortcuts when you need to, without having to exit Lazy Nezumi Pro.

Some users were requesting better visual feedback when Lazy Nezumi Pro is enabled, so the window and notification area icons now change colors.

If you encounter any issues with this update, please let me know. You can also get the previous version here.

Jan 24, 2014 - Custom App Cursor!

This update adds Settings/Custom App Cursor (shortcut is configurable in the settings). This will let you use a custom cursor in your hooked application! By default (and as requested), this custom cursor is a tiny dot that will help you draw details while zoomed out. But you can change this cursor by editing the customAppCursor.cur file located in the installation directory.

My friend Funshark notified me that the settings were not being saved if Lazy Nezumi Pro was still running when shutting down Windows, so that is now fixed.

Several users reported some strange behavior with the auto Mouse Mode detection feature. It was sometimes switching to mouse mode even though the tablet was in pen mode, and causing stepping artifacts. I have disabled this. Instead, Lazy Nezumi Pro will now show the user a warning if it detects that the tablet might be in mouse mode, and asks if they want to enable that setting in Lazy Nezumi Pro as well. This message will only be shown once.

So if you have been experiencing weird line behavior, grab this update and please make sure that Tablet Mouse Mode is disabled (unless your tablet is actually configured in mouse mode).

And to help people help me debug Lazy Nezumi Pro, I've added Help/Send Logs that will create an email ready to be sent to me, with the log files already attached. Please use this if you run into any trouble.

Jan 18, 2014 - Graphs!

This update adds graph windows for the Pressure Curve and Pressure Speed Scaling stages!

These will hopefully help you better understand what these features do to your pressure, and show you information about your strokes.

The Pressure Speed Scaling graph is interactive: you can zoom by dragging your mouse/pen and pan by dragging while holding the ctrl key. The Slow Gain and Fast Gain circles can also be selected and moved.

These graphs are made possible by the wonderful QCustomPlot library! If you are a Qt developer in need of a good scientific data visualization library, I really recommend this one.

Jan 10, 2014 - New Update!

Happy new year! Here's the first update for 2014!

You can now edit your preset shortcuts via Settings/Edit Shortcuts (as well as Presets/Edit Name and Shortcut).

You can now change the location of your user data directory, where your license and presets are stored, via Settings/Edit User Data Path.

And I've added Settings/Start Minimized, for those who don't want to see the window when the app starts.

Thanks to Niv, Lin and Miluette for these feature requests!

14.01.11 Update: My friend Choi spotted a bug where some sliders would start hidden, so I released another small update to fix this today! Sorry for the double update but I decided I didn't want this bug out there until the next version.

Dec 28, 2013 - Massive Update!

I am pretty excited about this update, since I was able to fix many issues for users who use their tablet's Mouse Mode! You will now be able to get the same nice fade-out line endings when using position and pressure smoothing! Also note that sample interpolation is no longer needed for this to work, making performance a lot better.

Interpolation will now mainly be used to smooth out pressure gradients when drawing fast strokes. You may not need it at all if your tablet sample rate is high enough.

Mouse Mode is now automatically detected, which will help users avoid getting the dreaded pen-offset problem. This is actually pretty cool, because you can now use Lazy Nezumi Pro to make applications work in Mouse Mode, where they previously had the same offset problem!

In my opinion though, Wacom should have never added Mouse Mode, since it is much less precise, and adds so many problems. I really recommend that you work in Pen Mode instead.

This update also adds some basic size and opacity animations to the UI, making it look a bit more polished.

I've also slightly tweaked the Pressure Speed Scaling to make it more flexible, and added pressure and speed feedback labels to help you tune your settings.

Many other little changes and bugfixes, which you can see in the change log.

This will probably be the last update for 2013. But don't worry, I have many more things planned for 2014! :)

Dec 23, 2013 - Holiday Sale!

To celebrate the holidays, all licenses are now 30% OFF, until Jan 03 2014!

I'm also working on an update that should be ready in a couple of days. Stay tuned!

Happy holidays! :)

Dec 15, 2013 - Per-Preset Guide Settings!

I was going to wait until I had more changes to release an update, but it looks like the other stuff is going to take a bit longer to test properly. Also, some users were a bit panicked about the new Hide Real Cursor setting being enabled by default.

So this setting is now disabled by default. Also, this and the other guide/cursor related settings are now per-preset! This gives users more flexibility, and also has the nice bonus of allowing a different guide color for each preset! I've gone ahead and set some default colors for the stock presets.

This was a great idea from one of my early beta testers. Thanks Nick!

I've also improved the performance of the OpenGL guide line rendering, and added some basic anti-aliasing so that it doesn't look so pixelated.

Dec 11, 2013 - Bugfix Update!

I didn't think I would have another update out so soon after yesterday's, but a couple users found some bugs that I was able to fix. Thanks Choi and Bruna for reporting these!

I've fixed an offset bug with the guide lines when the window rulers are active in PhotoShop.

I've also fixed another bug that was causing problems for users who had another admin user perform the install. If you tried the software in an office environment and it didn't work, this was probably the cause, so please try the new version and let me know!

In other news, Lazy Nezumi Pro was featured on Advanced Photoshop Magazine's Facebook page today! That was totally awesome, thank you so much guys! :)

Dec 10, 2013 - OpenGL Guide Line!

Today's update will make many users happy, as I've finally added support for guide line and circle rendering in OpenGL windows! This means that you can now have the guides in PhotoShop if you use its Use Graphics Processor performance setting.

There's now also an option to hide your application's cursor while drawing. This can be useful when doing precision work with small brushes.

I've also added the possibility to make small adjustments with the UI sliders by holding the control key. Thanks Sakaa for the idea!

Have you ever wanted to invert your pressure control to draw thinner lines when pressing harder? Well now you can, with the new Invert option in the Pressure Curve stage! Thanks Rolant for the idea!

And last but not least, I fixed a bug that was causing weird behavior with the lasso tool in PhotoShop. Thanks Funshark for spotting this, and all the other awesome help and feedback!

Dec 03, 2013 - New Version Available!

Today's update adds some performance optimizations and bug fixes.

If you've been having strange behaviour or crashes in your art program, make sure you install this update! Many thanks to Hong and Shopi for helping me track down this issue!

Nov 26, 2013 - Black Friday Approaches!

The first annual Black Friday Weekend Sale will be between Friday, Nov 29, 00:00 EST, and Monday, Dec 2, 23:59 EST.

All license prices will be 50% OFF!!

Don't miss your chance to unlock all the powers of Lazy Nezumi Pro at a reduced price! It's a one time investment that will save you an immeasurable amount of time and frustration in your artistic ventures!

Already have a license? Purchase one as a gift for your artist friend!

Nov 26, 2013 - Massive Update!

As you can see by the latest entry in the change log, I've been busy!

I have fixed a bunch of issues, notably hooking problems in 64bit Win8, and problems for international users.

The installer is now capable of finding non-english Photoshop plugin directories, and installs the plugin for Photoshop Elements if it finds it installed.

One change I am very happy about is for the Sample Interpolation feature: if you now use interpolation with position and pressure smoothing, your lines will finish in a nice fade-out to the position where you lifted your pen! Before this update, the lines would just end whenever you lifted your pen, which would cause them to be shorter if you used a lot of smoothing. Please note that this only works in some applications, including Photoshop.

I had to change a lot of code to make this work, so it's possible that I broke support for some applications (although I really tried not to). Please let me know if you find any problems!

Nov 15, 2013 - Pen Orientation Smoothing!

Today's update adds pen orientation (tilt and rotation) smoothing, for people who have pen tablets that support these features.

I have so far only tested this with an Intuos3 Art Pen, so please let me know how this works for you if you have a different pen.

I received some nice feedback about the Mini Mode UI (thanks Cristiano!), so I've changed it a little so that the user can now always see which preset is currently selected, and if it is enabled or not.

The other major change is the addition of a Fast Speed control for the speed pressure scaling processing stage. This control sets the pen speed at which the Fast Gain setting will be applied.

Nov 01, 2013 - Speed Based Pressure Scaling!

Today's update adds a very cool new feature: speed based pressure scaling. I've added a new preset called speed pressure that shows it off.

This feature gives a more natural feel when drawing, and can add a lot of character to your lines! I've had a lot of fun testing it and I hope you will enjoy using it!

The UI was starting to get crowded so I also redesigned it. Each processing stage can now be enabled via a checkbox, and its details can be shown or hidden via a tool button.

A couple keyboard shortcut related bugs were also fixed.

Oct 28, 2013 - Updated Site Design

I took some time to polish the website a little, after getting some very useful feedback from some designer friends (many thanks James). I hope you like the new look.

Last week was absolutely crazy, someone very well connected posted about Lazy Nezumi Pro on Facebook and the site received tons of traffic. Whoever you are, thank you! :)

The last couple of releases have mainly been bug-fix releases, but some new features are coming soon! I am currently working on speed based pressure scaling, which is very fun. I also ordered a Wacom Art Pen so I can start working on tilt and rotation processing. Stay tuned!

Oct 18, 2013 - Mini Mode!

A new version is available! All the changes in this update are UI related.

The major change is the addition of a Mini Mode (in the settings menu) that will hide most elements from the window when the mouse isn't over it. When the mouse comes over it, all presets will be shown as buttons. This allows the user to quickly select a preset by using only one click.

I think you will like this mode if you don't like to (or can't) use keyboard shortcuts to select your presets. Many thanks to my friend Choi for helping me test this!

Please see the change log for details.

I also created a Facebook page, where I'll be posting updates and art from users who use Lazy Nezumi Pro. So send me some art if you would like it to be posted! You can visit the page here. Feel free to like it and share it with your friends!

Oct 03, 2013 - New version available!

This version adds a new setting to check for updates at startup. You can enable this so you'll be notified as soon as a new version is available!

I've also added a quick tutorial that should help first time users figure out how to use the software.

Many of you have provided some great feedback and ideas, keep it coming! :)

Here are some of the things I plan on working on next:

• Pen Tilt processing
• Try to delay end of strokes in PS, to get nicer looking line endings
• Auto hook for non PS applications
• Speed based pressure scaling

Sep 28, 2013 - Amazon Payments!

I've added Amazon Payments as a payment option! This will give an other option for those of you who would like to buy a license but can't or won't use PayPal.

Sep 22, 2013 - Guide Line and Circle are Back!

Well since so many people asked about this feature, I've brought back the guide line and circle! You can now enable these by going into the Settings/Guides menu.

Since most operations in Lazy Nezumi Pro introduce some lag, these can help you see where your pen actually is. However, please note that this feature is experimental and that it will not work in all applications!

This version also fixes a couple minor bugs. Please see the change log for details.

Sep 19, 2013 - Trial Period Bug Fixed!

The trial period bug is now fixed (thanks Noaru)! If you were having this issue, please download the new version so you can get a full 30 day trial of the software.

The new version also adds better support in the Twisted Brush art software.

Sep 18, 2013 - Trial Period Bug

I have one user who contacted me saying that after installing Lazy Nezumi Pro, it told him his 30 day trial period was already up.

This is a strange issue and I'm currently working with him to resolve it.

I hope that not many users are affected by this problem, but if you are, my apologies. I will have it fixed as soon as possible!

In other news, Lazy Nezumi Pro was featured on graphics.com, which is really cool of them!

Sep 16, 2013 - New version available!

Some users asked for Lazy Nezumi Pro to minimize to the notification area (system tray) to save taskbar space. This update adds this feature!

Here's the complete change list:

• Added icon in system tray, closing window now minimizes it to the tray (use Exit menu to quit).
• Added Presets/Save+Discard Changes menus, disabled when there are no changes.
• Changed Presets/New menu so that it creates a preset with default/off values.
• Added Presets/Save As menu that saves your current settings to a new preset.
• Minor UI style tweaks.

As always, you can download the updated version on the main page or here. You don't need to uninstall the previous version when upgrading, but make sure to close PhotoShop first!

Sep 13, 2013 - New version available!

A very diligent user (thanks Jill!) spotted a bug that was sometimes causing lines not to be drawn. I managed to track it down and fix it, along with some minor UI bugs.

I also decided to change the way line endings are detected in SAI so that the behaviour is more consistent with PhotoShop. If you have pressure averaging, the line will now stop when you lift the pen, instead of going on until the output average reaches zero.

You can download the updated version on the main page or here.

Also I would like to remind you, please don't hesitate to contact me if you encounter a problem with Lazy Nezumi Pro. I will try my best to fix any bugs you find, or to get it working correctly with your art software!

Sep 10, 2013 - Lazy Nezumi Pro Released!

After many months of hard work, I am proud to announce that Lazy Nezumi Pro is officially released!

This version is a complete rewrite of the old (2009) Lazy Nezumi. It has a nice dynamic Qt UI, and tons of new features, including pressure smoothing and user presets.

If you are a PhotoShop user, you'll be happy to hear that it comes with a PhotoShop compatible plugin. With it, you don't have to worry about hooking any windows. The plugin also knows which tool you are using, and you can easily configure it to disable itself when you are using tools with which you never need smoothing (for example pan, zoom, color picker, etc.).

But if you use other software, worry not, because Lazy Nezumi Pro is ready to hook into almost any software to bring you the ultimate mouse and pen smoothing experience!

Lazy Nezumi Pro comes with a 30 day, fully functional trial period, after which some features are disabled until you purchase a license.

You can purchase a license securely using PayPal. I will be adding support for other payment methods in the future.

So head on over to the Home page and download it. I hope you find it useful and that it helps you create awesome art!