VEGAS Image Update 2 (version 1.1.4.0) Early 2020

Please let me know by message if you know what the release notes for this version were.

VEGAS Image Update 3 (version 1.2.1.0), 27th May 2020

This update is based on Imerge Pro 6.0.

This new version adds brush masks, the ability to move, rotate and resize multiple layers, a multi-point gradient effect, a light rays effect, a lens distortion effect, a halftone effect, raw denoise, performance improvements, and the usual enhancements and fixes.

Highlights

• Added Brush Masks, which let you quickly paint masks onto layers or effects.
• You can now move, rotate and resize multiple selected layers at once.
• Add a “Multi-point Gradient” effect, in which you can create gradients using an unlimited amount of colored points.
• Added a “Light Rays” effect, which uses bright spots to cast light rays in your scene.
• RAW assets now have a bespoke denoise algorithm, which can remove defect pixels and larger noise patterns.  
• Added a “Lens Distortion” effect, which can be used to perform lens-based adjustments, such as barrel/pincushion distortion or chromatic aberration.
• Added a “Halftone” effect, which can produce a stylized newspaper print effect.
• Added support for Chinese (Simplified) localization.

Enhancements

• Changed the way the canvas resize dialog works to speed up initial asset importing.
• Slightly improved the performance of our render engine.
• The Black & White, Colorize Black & White, Saturation Editor, Linear Gradient, Radial Gradient, and Rotational Motion Blur effects are now significantly faster.
• You can now change the mask overlay color in the settings menu.
• Improved and fixed some issues with the blend-if controls.

Fixes

• Dragging a layer to the bottom of a closed group is now ordered correctly.
• Fixed an issue where the layer’s opacity slider would behave incorrectly if clicked at the bottom of it. 
• Resetting a color mask now resets all of its properties correctly.
• Resetting the transform of a text layer will no longer change the layer’s size to the size of the canvas.
• Fixed instability when you dragged images onto the canvas from a web browser.
• Locked layers can no longer be moved via multiple selection.
• Resetting a vector mask now resets all of its properties correctly.
• Fixed an issue where resetting a preset drop-down would reset the selected item as well.
• Fixed an issue where a text layer’s size mode would not size to fixed when you resized them.
• Fixed an issue where canceling the save of a project template could cause the application to get stuck.
• Fixed instability when closing the application while the preview window is open.
• Fixed issue with the Threshold effect not working correctly at 100% opacity.
• Fixed issue with Long shadow rendering incorrectly when scaling the layer.

VEGAS Image 2.0.3, 3rd August 2020

The first section of notes are taken from the VEGAS POST Suite announcement.

• The text system has been rebuilt from the ground up, allowing you to have different font styles within the same block of text. We’ve also added new font options including text outline, subscript, superscript, margins, and more.
• A new integration with VEGAS Pro has been added, which allows VEGAS Pro load VEGAS Image projects. 
• A “Healing Brush” effect has been added, which lets you quickly heal areas of your image using a source point and a brush.
• A “Clone Stamp” effect has been added, which enables you to clone parts of your image using a brush.
• A “Dynamic Contrast” effect has been added, which allows you to selectively apply contrast to the small, medium, and large details of your image. 
• A “Split toning” effect has been added, with a bespoke UI, which allows you to rapidly apply two colors to the highlight and shadow tones in your image.
• A “Gradient Map” effect has been added, which allows you to blend a gradient across the tones in your image.

Further new features, enhancements and bug fixes listed for Imerge Pro 7.0, 7.1 and 8.0 may also be included in VEGAS Image 2.0.3.

VEGAS Image 2.1.2.0, 4th November 2020

From the pop-up upgrade prompt in VEGAS Image:

Release notes

• Added support for CR3 RAW files along with fixes for other RAW file types.
• Added some user experience improvements such as clearer individual control resetting and faster editing for the Curves, Saturation Editor, and Black & White effects.

Enhancements

• Added support for Canon CR3 RAW files.
• Individual controls can now be reset easier, by clicking its associated label once. In addition, labels will be highlighted if their associated control has been changed.
• You can now drag your mouse up/down while picking a tone in the Curves, Saturation Editor, and Black & White effects to immediately begin editing its value.
• The Saturation Editor control handles adding new points better than before.
• Handles on the Curves effect’s control are no longer removed when they cross each other. And are now easier to select.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where some Panasonic S1 RAW files would not load correctly.
• Fixed an issue where some Nikon Z6 Raw files would not load correctly.
• Added option to disable chromatic aberration correction on RAW images.
• Fixed an issue where the Image Luminance Mask would generate more undo commands than it should.
• Removed the handle limit for the Curves, Saturation Editor, and Black & White effects.
• Fixed an issue where reset layer properties were not undoable.
• Fixed issues where certain asset properties were not undoable or not undoing properly.
• Fixed a font and style selection stability issue with certain machine setups.
• Fixed an issue where the Tone coloring effect wouldn’t reset correctly to its defaults.
• Fixed an issue where after inverting a Gradient mask, its controls would not work correctly.
• Fixed an issue where the canvas size was reported incorrectly in the canvas settings dialog.
• Fixed an issue where some effects had minimums and maximums that didn’t match their canvas controls.
• Fixed instability when using shift + return at the end of a text block.
• Fixed an instability where specific AMD cards were failing to use cached resources.
• Fixed an issue where the denoise option on RAW images would fail on some Nvidia cards.
• Fixed instability when changing a brush setting after opening a VEGAS Image project from an image file.
• Fixed some issues which would prevent you from adding a group layer with specific selections.
• Fixed an issue where Image layers were not added inside a selected group.
• Fixed an issue where selecting a layer on top of another would not clear the previous selection.
• Fixed an issue where VEGAS Image project file paths with certain special characters wouldn’t load in VEGAS Pro.
• Adding HDR and Focus stack layers is now possible from the Insert object menu.
• Relinking a RAW image now correctly sets the RAW conversion method.
• The font selection dropdown, and other dropdowns, can no longer extend outside the application window.
• Group layers now correctly reset to the “Precompose” mode.
• Changing brush settings in the toolbar is no longer undoable, as it could cause workflow issues.
• Fixed an issue where using the enter/return key on the save dialog could cause the dialog to close without saving.

Further new features, enhancements and bug fixes listed for Imerge Pro 7.1 and 8.0 may also be included in VEGAS Image 2.1.2.0.

VEGAS Image 2.2.0.3, 30th March 2021

From the pop-up upgrade prompt in VEGAS Image:

Summary

This version adds new export features. Including streamlined export UI, per layer exporting, resize options, export metadata options, PSD/PSB export, VEGAS Effects composite shot export, and more.

We have also added 3 new effects, Magnify, Leave Color, and Lens Blur. As well as a handful of quality of life improvements and bug fixes.

Highlights

• Layered exports, which gives the ability to export your project as individual layers.
• More options for resizing during export.
• PSD/PSB export, which allows you to export each layer of your composite into a single PSD/PSB file and continue with it in Photoshop.
• VEGAS Effects Composite Shot export, which lets you quickly and easily take your composite and continue with it in VEGAS Effects, including each layer with its position, scale, rotations, opacity, and blend mode.
• A new Magnify effect, which allows you to magnify areas on your image as well as controls to distort and bulge the magnification.
• A new Leave Color effect, which lets you easily pick a color to retain while turning everything else black and white.
• A new Lens Blur effect, which allows you to create stunning images simulating a narrow depth of fields including vivid and highly customizable bokeh.

Enhancements

• Improved canvas export with streamlined format options and new resize and metadata options.
• You can now view and edit the metadata of your Image content using the new EXIF/IPTC viewer.
• You can now export images with vastly more metadata override options, and even control which category of metadata you want to retain when copying from an existing image.
• Solid color layers now have colors as content items.
• You can now drag images from your browser directly into Imerge.
• You can now drag images onto the content section of an Image layer.
• Added an option to Collapse all groups, effects, and masks in their respective context menus.
• All rotation controls now include plus and minus 90 degrees buttons.
• Improved the look of saturation and tone coloring effect controls.
• File picker file type dropdowns are now more logically grouped.
• The curve control on the Curves effect now maintains a square aspect ratio for easier usage.

Fixes

• Improved the alignment process of Focus Stacking and HDR Merge.
• Fixed an issue where some Canon RAW files were not importing correctly.
• Fixed an issue where closing Imerge with the activation app open would not close the activation app correctly.
• Fixed an issue where embedded color profiles were not saving when exporting to Jpeg.
• Fixed an issue where some Tiff files would not import correctly.
• Fixed an issue where changing a batch output would not mark the project as having unsaved changes.
• Fixed an issue where changing a Bevel and Emboss contour control point would prevent you from using the contour presets.
• Fixed an issue where changing a camera or lens for Lens corrections didn’t update until both were selected.
• Fixed issue where the vertical alignment option for text wasn’t working correctly.
• Fixed issue that was preventing Image Color Selection masks from disabling while you are picking a color.
• Fixed an issue where controls on saturation editors could go out of sight and changed them to allow new points to be added and moved instantly.
• Fixed an inconsistency where the layer rotation control would go negative instead of wrapping around.
• Fixed an issue where Camera and Lenses for Lens corrections didn’t search correctly in some cases.
• Fixed an issue where images that had multiple periods in their names would be displayed incorrectly.

Further new features, enhancements and bug fixes listed for Imerge Pro 8.2 and 2021.1 may also be included in VEGAS Image 2.2.0.3.

VEGAS Image 3.0.3, 18th August 2021

Highlights

• Added a preset browser sidebar with live previews of the presets that can be applied. This is used to favorite, categorise, create, update and apply effect stack preset making it much easier than before to find the look you want.
• Updated our effect add menu to provide a faster, cleaner UI, whilst adding new features. You can now hover over effects in the list to view a preview of the effect along with a description of example use cases. The menu now also tracks and shows which effects you use, this, in combination with the new ability to favorite effects makes finding the effects you want easier.
• Added a Caustics effect that can be used to simulate both the light and distortion effects found in water refraction.
• Added a Color Balance effect which is used to balance the red, green and blue colors in a layer’s shadows, midtones and highlights.
• Added an Emboss effect, which can create a colored or monochrome emboss of your layer.
• Added an Inverted Highpass effect which is great for smoothing skin. This workflow is further assisted in this effect with the addition of an optional skin matte generation.
• Added a Mosaic effect that turns your image into a mosaic tile pattern. This effect has multiple options to change the mosaic such as tile shape, color variation and lightning.
• Added a Pencil Sketch effect that effortlessly converts an image into a pencil drawing, both in greyscale and full-color. There are many options for adjusting the sketch too, such as the pencil’s thickness, roughness, color, and many more.
• Added a Roughen Edges effect to add fractal-based noise variation to the edges of an image.
• Added a Shadows & Highlights effect which gives much finer control of adjusting the highlights and shadows of an image.

Enhancements

• Added many new default effect stack presets tailored to various image types and use cases.
• Updated many existing effects to have more apparent default values when added to your project.
• Improved mouse cursors for scaling layers and area masks.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the Saturation editor effect could not be reset in some cases.
• Fixed a PNG export issue where transparent areas were not displaying correctly in other applications.
• Fixed an issue where the export queue could get stuck if you were not activated and using specific project setups.
• Masks on Adjustment, Group and Solid layers now correctly update when the canvas is cropped.
• Fixed export issues when using BMP images of low bit depth.
• Fixed an issue where the vertical alignment of text was flipped.
• The vertical alignment of text is now shown while editing the text on the canvas.
• Fixed an instability that could occur after using the layer list search.
• Fixed an issue where Non-layered VEGAS Effects Composite Shot exports would not work.
• Fixed an instability that can occur during batch export after exporting a VEGAS Effects Composite Shot.
• The Straighten tool now correctly rotates multiple selections of layers and adheres to their anchors and position origins correctly.
• The linear gradient control no longer creates many undo commands.
• Fixed an issue that could occur when viewing presets in settings after downgrading your install.
• Fixed an issue where some custom cursor icons were small on HighDPI monitors.
• Fixed an issue where text capitalization would not work on some special characters such as Emojis.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes a project’s thumbnail could use an incorrect image.
• Fixed an inconsistency where the batch tab toggle button would not swap sides when the “Left-handed” UI layout was enabled.
• Fixed minor wording issue when deleting presets from settings.
• Fixed some focus issues with the settings menu.
• Fixed an issue with the Gaussian blur effect not blending correctly in alpha regions.
• Fixed minor issue with the export preset dialog defaulting to the wrong location.
• Fixed an issue where the preset tree in settings would collapse after importing a preset.
• Brush and Vector masks are no longer saved in presets.
• Removed some unnecessary confirmation dialogs when deleting, restoring and importing presets.
• Improved style of disabled dropdown/menu items to make them more clear.

VEGAS Image 3.1.0, 22nd February 2022

Summary
This version introduces 8 new effects, Median Blur, Dot Matrix, Tile, Reflection, Cartoon, Posterize, Solarize, and Color Vibrance.
Additionally, we have added a bunch of quality of life improvements to make using our effects better, such as non-linear sliders and aspect-ratio locking scaling.
Finally, as ever, there are many fixes and stability improvements.

Highlights

• Added a Median Blur effect which blurs the image using a median filter, perfect for reducing noise while maintaining structure.
• Added a Dot Matrix effect which transforms your image into a grid of dots, reminiscent of a Dot matrix printer.
• Added a Tile effect which allows you to quickly tile an image without the need for layer duplication.
• Added a Reflection effect which allows you to position mirror lines, perfect for adding reflections to subjects in your composite. You can also set the number and rotation of the mirror lines to create kaleidoscopic effects.
• Added a Cartoon effect that smooths and posterizes the image, as well as overlaying pen lines to the edges. All to give the image a cartoon-style appearance.
• Added a Posterize effect which reduces the color detail to produce blocks of color.
• Added a Solarize effect which creates the appearance of a film negative that has been exposed to light during development.
• Added a Color Vibrance effect that is perfect for adding color to greyscale textures, like fractal patterns or particles.

Enhancements

• Many effects now have non-linear sliders which allows much better control over the values used most often. Making it easier to dial in your effects.
• The Light Rays effect now has the option to set the light direction, instead of the position. Perfect for if you want the light source to be offscreen.
• The Sharpen effect is now called Unsharp Mask, and its control ranges have been increased to allow more sharpening options.
• Effects that have a scale or size control now have an aspect ratio lock to allow easier scaling adjustments.
• You can now set a default canvas background color and workspace color profile in the settings.
• Starting a project by opening an image will now set the project name to that image as well as the default save and export folder location.
• Added resize cursor handles to the crop tool.
• The Denoise effect has been optimized to improve performance.
• Improved the softness fall-off of Brush masks.
• Improved the quality and usability of the Matte Cleaner effect.
• Many dropdowns have been improved to have better scrolling.
• Improved the user workflow of saving an old project in a new version.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue with the luminance mask not applying correctly or logically.
• Fixed issues with some text input dialogs not accepting some language input.
• Fixed an issue would allow you to drag effects onto layers that they don’t support.
• Fixed issues with the brush mask not feathering correctly.
• Fixed an issue with effects not disappearing when the effect is deleted.
• Fixed an issue with relinking assets on some graphics cards.
• Fixed an issue with empty layers being created when the import fails.
• Fixed instability when importing some corrupted assets.
• Fixed issue where the icon for the preset files was incorrect.
• Fixed issues with detecting if the application is running before installing/uninstalling.
• Fixed potential issues when upgrading the application with the installer.
• Fixed some graphical issues with Chroma Key when the Adaptive Color is in use.
• Fixed issue with the blend-if tool not updating while it is being used.
• Fixed issue with the Clone and Heal brushes not applying on transparent areas.
• Fixed issues with masks and effects applying in the wrong order in very specific cases.
• Fixed the image stretching that can occur on the font dropdown.
• Improved performance when the second monitor display is open.
• Fixed an issue where the pin toggle on the effect menu was not saved in a specific case.
• Fixed some rendering issues when the effect can grow the layer.
• Fixed a rendering issue with the Pencil Sketch effect when adjusting the background radius.
• Fixed an issue with the text paragraph styles not copying/pasting correctly in some cases.
• Fixed an issue where the effect add menu would open offscreen when using the left-handed UI mode.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the canvas to move if activating pan during a selection.
• Fixed issue with the Voronoi option of Multi-point gradient.
• Fixed an issue that could occur with undo/redo on the text editor.
• Fixed issues with inconsistent results when exporting when using the resizing options.
• Increased the sensitivity with the Glow effect sliders.
• Text letter spacing is now uniform instead of relative.
• Fixed a crash when the machine's input sources changed.
• Fixed issues with showing the insufficient graphics memory warning when it shouldn’t.
• Fixed an issue with Pan being locked if Imerge is minimized or unfocused.
• Improve layer handle selection when multiple layers overlap.
• Fixed an issue when you attempted to paste too much text onto the canvas.
• Fixed an issue that would remove keyboard focus when searching in the layer list.
• Removed a 1-pixel border that was sometimes shown on the canvas.

VEGAS Image 4.0.10 - 10th August 2022

Highlights

• Added a new clipping masks feature. This feature gives layers the ability to clip to other layers in order to define their visual boundaries. Perfect for masking layers using complex shapes or images.
• Added a new lasso mask feature. This mask can be used to quickly draw a rough shape or loop around parts of your image.
• Added a new magnetic lasso mask feature. This mask automatically snaps to the edges of items in the image to allow you quickly and precisely mask part of the image.

Enhancements

• Redesigned the project list on the home screen.
• Improved the softness of Area masks to behave more intuitively.
• Improved the resize controls of Area masks to be easier to use.
• You can now individually lock masks and effects to prevent accidental changes.
• Updating a Vector Mask no longer disables the mask and allows you to see the effect of the mask in real-time.
• You can now hold shift while adding vector mask points to snap lines to 15º increments.
• Added a reset button for mask items, making it easier to reset a mask.
• Improved the project recovery dialog by having a background checkboard for partially transparent images.
• Made it easier to hide and show 2nd monitor preview.

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where unlocking a locked group would also unlock all children, instead of respecting locked children.
• Fixed an issue where masks on disabled effects were still editable.
• Files used for effects can now be relinked on load.
• Fixed a rendering issue on Lens Distortion for AMD GPUs.
• Fixed some issues regarding right-click context menus showing outside of the screen.
• Fixed some issues with incorrect icon usage.
• Fixed issues with some PSD files not loading correctly.
• Fixed issues with some TIF images not loading correctly.
• Fixed some rendering issues with the Gaussian blur.
• Fixed issues with Clone brush and Healing brush not updating correctly when the canvas is cropped.
• Fixed an issue with the Brush radius changing incorrectly with canvas size.
• Fixed an issue with the gradient mask center point not updating when the canvas is cropped.
• Fixed an issue with multiple renders when an asset is relinked.
• Fixed an issue with the shift key not working correctly sometimes on layer controls
• Fixed an issue with undoing the font color of text layers.
• Fixed an issue with sometimes being unable to close the name tag menu in the export panel.
• Fixed the grammar on the updates label.
• Improved the preview for the Shadows & Highlights effect.
• Fixed issue with dividers in dropdowns not being hidden correctly.

VEGAS Image 5.0.0 - 14th August 2023

No release notes were published for VEGAS Image 5.0.0. It probably includes some or all of the changes in Imerge 2022.2, 2022.3, 2023.1 and 2023.2. See https://fxhome.com/news.