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Flexify 2 Guide

The document describes Flexify 2, a plug-in filter for photo programs that warps full-sphere photos into new shapes. It can transform panoramic images and maps into different projections, including tetrahedron, cube, and icosahedron. The software installs as a plug-in and works with Photoshop and other programs.
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© © All Rights Reserved
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
269 views

Flexify 2 Guide

The document describes Flexify 2, a plug-in filter for photo programs that warps full-sphere photos into new shapes. It can transform panoramic images and maps into different projections, including tetrahedron, cube, and icosahedron. The software installs as a plug-in and works with Photoshop and other programs.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Flexify 2

Flaming Pear Software

What it does What it does

How to install Flexify is a plug-in lter for paint programs. It warps full-sphere photos —
those showing a full view of a scene in every direction — into new shapes that
are more attractive or useful. It can also transform maps.
Quick start

Projections

Input

View

Retouching

Polyhedra

Other controls

Memory dots

Globemaking
How to install
Brick spheres
Illustrated installation instructions are online at www. amingpear.com/
Cube maps faq.html .

To use this software, you need to install it into Photoshop.


FAQ
Just drag the plug-in lter into the folder where Photoshop expects to nd it.
Versions On OS X, it will be similar to Applications/Adobe Photoshop/Plug-ins.

How to purchase On Windows, it will be similar to C:/Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop/


Plug-ins.
Questions
You must restart Photoshop before it will notice new plug-ins.
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The plug-in is now installed. To use it, open any image and select an area. From
the menus, choose Filter > Flaming Pear > Flexify 2.

Quick start
When you invoke Flexify 2, a dialog box will appear.

To get a quick idea of what Flexify does, load a full-sphere panoramic image
into your paint program (there’s a small example panorama here). If the image
is circular, the selection should graze the edge of the circle.

Invoke Flexify, and tell it what kind of input image you’re using via the “Input”
popup menu. Choose a di erent projection from the Output popup. Click the
dice button a few times until you see a result you like; then click OK.

Flexify’s capabilities and controls are explained below.

2
ff
Projections
A projection is a way of unwrapping and warping a spherical surface so that it
will lie down at. It’s like making a at map of the Earth — you have to make a
choice about how to deform shapes.

Flexify can accept as input spherical panoramas in any of fteen projections and
can output them in more than fty. Some of the projections are practical; some
are weird and are meant to emphasize the bizarre, vertiginous nature of ultra-
wide-angle photography.

Flexify can output the following projections:

3
fl
fi
fl
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The panorama ts into a
rectangle. Meridians are
vertical, parallels are
equirectangular
horizontal, and the north
a.k.a. cylindrical and poles are stretched out
equidistant or to lines at the top and
plate carrée bottom. Scanning
panoramic cameras produce
this kind of image. Not the
same as Mercator.

The re ection seen in a


mirror ball
mirrored ball.

polar Angular distance from the


center of projection
a.k.a. azimuthal increases uniformly toward
equidistant the edge.

The image sphere as seen


orthographic
from the outside.

4
fl
fi
An unfolded 4-faced shape.

Most of Flexify’s polyhedra


tetrahedron can be exported as 3D .obj
les.

cube An unfolded 6-faced shape.

octahedron An unfolded 8-faced shape.

An unfolded 12-faced
dodecahedron
shape.

An unfolded 20-faced
icosahedron
shape.

5
fi
Hammer A 2:1 wide ellipse.

Werner A heart-shaped projection.

sinusoidal
A pointy shape.
a.k.a. Sanson-
Flamsteed

Like a regular view from a


normal lens. Straight lines
rectilinear stay straight. The FOV slider
controls the zoom, which
a.k.a. gnomonic
can go all the way to a 180°
eld of view.

Produces views balancing


naturalness with vertigo.
hyperbolic The FOV slider controls the
zoom, which can go all the
way to a 360° eld of view.

6
fi
fi
Like hyperbolic but with less
distortion of scale and
stereographic
shape. The FOV slider
controls the zoom.

This is the format needed


for some panorama viewers,
including QuickTime VR.
The view is in nitely
stretched toward the top
cylindrical
and bottom, so the vertical
view is determined by the
rectangle’s proportions.

An unusual projection with


a nite height and in nite
width. The FOV slider
Wetch
controls the zoom, which
can go all the way to a 360°
eld of view.

pinwheel Polar with a swirl.

A wide diamond shape with


lozenge
a crease at the equator.

7
fi
fi
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fi
A square full of creases.
square Good for scenes containing
lots of straight lines.

Labrys-like shape with


limited distortion. It’s the
curvy
central portion of a mirror
ball projection.

Goggle-shaped view which


presents the whole sphere
goggles in a style like the hyperbolic
projection, but with less
extreme size changes.

Weird projection with inside


and outside regions
quasar bounded by a circular
black-hole-like
discontinuity.

14 faces An unfolded cuboctahedron.

8
An unfolded deltoidal
24 faces a
icosatetrahedron.

An unfolded pentagonal
24 faces b
icosatetrahedron.

An unfolded small
26 faces
rhombicuboctahedron.

An unfolded rhombic
30 faces
tricontahedron

An unfolded truncated
soccer ball
icosahedron.

An unfolded
32 faces
icosidodecahedron.

9
38 faces An unfolded snub cube.

An unfolded deltoidal
60 faces
hexecontahedron.

An unfolded small
62 faces
rhombicosidodecahedron.

A compromise whole-earth
Winkel Tripel projection often used by the
National Geographic Society.

gores: 12 A shape for globemaking.

gores: 24 A shape for globemaking.

10
A shape for globemaking.
The FOV slider lets you
gores:multi
choose anything from 3 to
36 gores.

A shape for globemaking.


gores: 6/12
Shows only half the sphere.

The scene repeats endlessly


loop toward the horns of the
loop.

Each half of the scene gets


two circles it own hyperbolic
projection.

A popular origami pattern.


balloon Read “Flexify Origami” for
folding instructions.

11
An obscure origami pattern.
Read “Flexify Origami” for
folding instructions. Fun to
paperlock
write letters on the reverse
and fold them into
concealment.

The format of Omnimax


Omnimax
70mm lm frames.

A tetrahedron 5-compound,
and Flexify’s hardest-to-
build polyhedron. It prints
out as ten sawtooth shapes.
Each sawtooth folds up into
a pair of peaks, and you
spikeball assemble them all to get the
nished shape.

Because the shape is so


complex, you should start
with a very bold, simple
picture.

The image sphere built from


Lego® bricks. Flexify can
create building plans for
brick preview
these spheres. It’s explained
in the Brick Sphere section
of this guide.

12
fi
fi
A 2:1 wide ellipse with
Mollweide
parallel lines of latitude.

A world map for role-


playing games, used by
icomap
GURPS Space and
Worldographer.

star 3 A polar-Werner hybrid.

Another polar-Werner
star 5
hybrid.

A polar projection
magnipolar
emphasizing the center.

13
Rectilinear in the center,
swoop blending to hyperbolic at
the left and right sides.

An unfolded
dodo
dodecadodecahedron.

An unfolded great
GID
icosidodecahedron.

Rectilinear in the center,


oculus blending to hyperbolic at
the top and bottom.

14
Three 120° rectilinear views
side by side. Great for
triptych
scenes with lots of straight
lines.

Three 90° rectilinear views


side by side. Suitable for
tetraptych
presenting rectangular
rooms.

A ring shape. The FOV slider


annulus controls the size of the
hole.

Rectilinear with a vertical


o set controlled by the
Latitude slider. Good for
shift lens looking up at tall buildings
while keeping the buildings’
edges parallel.

15
ff
For making maps with
straight loxodromes.
Mercator
Not the same as
equirectangular.

An 8-gore shape suitable


for making custom
umbrella umbrellas. The FOV slider
sets the length of the
petals.

A tetrahedron unfolded to
tetra tile
repeat endlessly.

The panorama bent to


hyper double
appear twice in one picture.

16
The panorama bent to
hyper triple appear three times in one
picture.

Mercator cross A repeating cross pattern.

A repeating six-pointed star


Mercator star
pattern.

A conformal projection in a
Lagrange
circle.

The image sphere


unwrapped like the peel
rind 1 from an apple. The central
ribbon makes one pass
around the sphere.

17
A rind with two passes
rind 2
around the sphere.

A rind with three passes


rind 3
around the sphere.

Creates twelve gores for an


ellipsoidal globe. The FOV
slider controls the
ellipsoid’s proportions.

tunable ellipsoid 0 = 0.5:1 skinny ellipsoid.


90 = 1:1 sphere. 180 = 2:1
fat ellipsoid.

Or: aspect ratio = 2 ( ( FOV /


90)-1) .

Like the tunable ellipsoid,


tunable egg except the result is egg-
shaped.

18
Four rectilinear views, rolled
at random angles, looking
4 views
along a uniformly
distributed set of directions.

12 views Twelve rectilinear views.

Twenty-four rectilinear
24 views
views.

60 views Sixty rectilinear views.

Seventy-two rectilinear
72 views
views.

19
Robinson A modern map projection.

An equirectangular view
stretched to ll the whole
equi tall image. This is the way
equirectangulars worked in
Flexify 1.

Midway between rectilinear


semistereo
and stereographic.

A cube unfolded, then


thorn
warped. Conformal.

A conformal projection
Lagrange 3/4 intermediate between
stereographic and Lagrange.

20
fi
Good for de-emphasizing
squoculus
the sky.

A left-handed version of
thorn levo
thorn.

Good for improving sheye


pictures of people or
architecture. Straightens
unFish verticals and makes
distortion less objectionable
over about a 180° eld of
view.

A Lagrange projection that


Lagrange plus shows more than 360°
horizontally.

A conformal mapping of the


Adams I
whole sphere to a square.

21
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fi
A conformal mapping of the
Adams II
whole sphere to a square.

A variant of Peirce
trecunx
quincunx.

A variant of Peirce
quadracunx
quincunx.

A conformal mapping of the


whole sphere to a square.

Peirce quincunx If your input is a world map,


set Longitude to 90° to get
the standard Peirce map
layout.

22
A variant of Peirce
sexacunx
quincunx.

A variant of Peirce
septecunx
quincunx.

5-star A polygon.

pentagon A polygon.

23
Guyou A 2:1 conformal rectangle

An awkward hexagon;
3-star actually a star based on a
triangle.

triangle A polygon.

Each hemisphere in a
rhombus 1
triangle.

24
Another way to present each
rhombus 2
hemisphere in a triangle.

A snow ake or star of


6-star
David.

hexagon A polygon.

A less-warped triangular
Lee tetrahedric
layout.

25
fl
Lee tetrahedric dissected
rectangular tet
into a rectangle.

A two-lobed shape; two


2-clover
stereographic hemispheres.

3-clover A three-lobed shape.

4-clover A four-lobed shape.

26
5-clover A ve-lobed shape.

6-clover A six-lobed shape.

pentalene A polygon.

naphthalene A polygon.

27
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phenalene A polygon.

shuriken A four-armed shape.

cross A conformal shape.

double Guyou A 4:1conformal rectangle.

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wide rect A 2:1conformal rectangle.

semicircle A conformal shape.

ellipse A conformal shape.

One conformal Reuleaux


Reuleaux 1
triangle.

29
Two conformal Reuleaux
Reuleaux 2
triangles.

Four conformal Reuleaux


Reuleaux 4
triangles.

Eight conformal Reuleaux


Reuleaux 8 triangles. Compare
Leonardo’s mappamundi.

Eight stereographic
octreleaux
segments.

30
zigzag A conformal cube unfolding.

chevron A conformal shape.

monozag A conformal shape.

3-malta A conformal shape.

31
4-malta A conformal shape.

5-malta A conformal shape.

6-malta A conformal shape.

The world warped so


Gilbert everything appears on one
side of a sphere.

32
Two copies of a
stereo twice
stereographic view.

Three copies of a
stereo thrice
stereographic view.

The image sphere in two


Adams diamonds
squares.

An equal-area projection.
Depending on the
proportions, this can be
Lambert (3.141:1),
equal-area
Behrmann (2.356:1),
cylinder
Edwards 37°24’ (1.983:1),
Hobo-Dyer (1.977:1), Gall-
Peters (1.571:1), or Edwards
50°52 (1.251:1).

33
quick globe A shaded 3D globe.

A Peirce quincuncial map


equal squarea warped into an equal-area
version.

A square sheye with strong


square sh 1
peripheral distortion.

A square sheye with less


square sh 2 peripheral distortion and
straighter verticals.

34
fi
fi
fi
fi
The world warped so
everything appears on one
Gilbert globe
side of a sphere. With 3D
shading.

pointy A conformal shape.

shuriken star A conformal shape.

calyx 3 A conformal shape.

35
calyx 4 A conformal shape.

calyx 5 A conformal shape.

calyx 6 A conformal shape.

wa e A conformal shape.

36
ffl
trident A conformal shape.

astercurve 5 A conformal shape.

astercurve 7 A conformal shape.

astercurve 8 A conformal shape.

37
trizag A conformal shape.

shark 3 A conformal shape.

shark 4 A conformal shape.

sunburst A conformal shape.

38
The shape formed by the
2 cylinders intersection of two
cylinders. A Steinmetz solid.

The shape formed by the


3 cylinders intersection of three
cylinders. A Steinmetz solid.

Isle of Man A rind with three arms.

shard A conformal shape.

39
A conformal shape related
starburst
to sunburst.

3-incurvate A conformal shape.

4-incurvate A conformal shape.

phenyl cross A conformal shape.

40
anthracene A conformal shape.

conformal A regular dodecahedron


dodecahedron with a conformal graticule.

tattoo 1 A sphere dissection.

tattoo 2 A sphere dissection.

41
Top and bottom cube faces.
Good for hand-retouching
the poles of a spherical
zenith & nadir panorama. Later, you can
re-import your changes
with the zenith-nadir input
mode.

Cube faces in horizontal-


cross form. Good for
retouching. Later, you can
re-import your changes
horizontal cross with the horizontal cross
input mode. For best
results, use the PSD export
and choose 4x3 image
proportions.

Cube faces in vertical-cross


form. Good for retouching.
Later, you can re-import
your changes with the
vertical cross
vertical cross input mode.
For best results, the PSD
export and choose 4x3
image proportions.

A roughly spherical
thirtysphere polyhedron with vertices
every 30°.

42
A developable shape made
devtet
of ruled surfaces.

A developable shape made


conictet
of four cones.

Flexify can make several


kinds of Class I geodesic
spheres. In the output
menu, geodesic spheres are
named like this:

Geodesic 4|2 is based on a


tetrahedron; frequency 2.

geodesic spheres Geodesic 8|3 is based on an


octahedron; frequency 3.

Flexify has all the Class I


geodesic spheres from 4|2
up to 12|5. Plain Platonic
solids like 4|1 appear
elsewhere in the menu.

43
Sphericons are developable
3D shapes created by
making a regular polygon
into a surface of revolution,
then twisting one half
relative to the other.

In Flexify’s output menu,


the sphericons are named
like this:

Sphericon 6/0 is based on a


6-sided polygon; 0 steps of
rotation between the halves;
even number of lanes.

Sphericon 6/0+ is like 6/0,


sphericons
but with an odd number of
lanes.

Sphericon 6/0/H is hybrid


built from half 6/0 and half
6/0+.

Flexify can create all the


distinct sphericons from
3/0 up to 11/5. Where two
sphericons are chirally
equivalent, like 6/1 and
6/5, Flexify o ers only the
rst one.

quatretat A curly projection.

44
fi
ff
A developable shape. After
twistless rind work by D M Swart and
Sebastien Perez-Duarte.

A developable shape. After


curvy cube work by D M Swart and
Sebastien Perez-Duarte.

A developable shape. After


baseball work by D M Swart and
Sebastien Perez-Duarte.

sprocket-4 A conformal shape.

sprocket-5 A conformal shape.

45
An asymmetrical
daycare
developable shape.

short rind A developable shape.

Good for natural-looking,


wide pictures with lots of
straight lines. Stereographic
Panini
horizontally, rectilinear
vertically. Also called
Vedutismo.

A quasi-curved-origami
shape based on Oschene’s
tetrahedral teabag box.

To build:

- Render with Edges turned


on
YangTet
- Score along the internal
edges

- Cut along the semi-


circular marks on each side

- Slide the overlapping


lens-shaped parts together.

46
A quasi-curved-origami
shape, and an octahedral
YangOct
version of the YangTet.

Build it like the YangTet.

A quasi-curved-origami
Tribox shape.

Build it like the YangTet.

A quasi-curved-origami
shape with a gnomonic
Squarebox A
projection.

Build it like the YangTet.

47
A quasi-curved-origami
shape with a conformal
Squarebox B
projection.

Build it like the YangTet.

A quasi-curved-origami
shape with a gnomonic
projection. It’s based on
work by Oschene and
vitroid.
Squirclebox A
There are no semicircular
cuts. Just slide the two
halves together, alternating
the aps.

A quasi-curved-origami
shape with a conformal
projection. It’s based on
work by Oschene and
vitroid.
Squirclebox B
There are no semicircular
cuts. Just slide the two
halves together, alternating
the aps.

48
fl
fl
Triskelion fat A developable shape.

Triskelion meso A developable shape.

Triskelion skinny A developable shape.

Triskelion plain A developable shape.

Triskelion
A developable shape.
straight

49
Calliope A developable shape.

Clio A developable shape.

Euterpe A developable shape.

Thalia A developable shape.

Melpomene A developable shape.

50
Terpsichore A developable shape.

Erato A developable shape.

Polyhymnia A developable shape.

Urania A developable shape.

Aglaia A developable shape.

51
Euphrosyne A developable shape.

Naiaid A developable shape.

Thalassa A developable shape.

Despina A developable shape.

Galatea A developable shape.

52
Larissa A developable shape.

Proteus A developable shape.

Triton A developable shape.

Nereid A developable shape.

Halimede A developable shape.

53
A curved origami pattern
which folds into a sphere.
The FOV slider control the
number of segments; a 16
-segment sphere looks nice.

Render it with Edges turned


Folding sphere
on. The straight edges are
mountain folds, and the
curved edges are valley
folds.

After work by Jun Mitani,


Oschene, and vitroid.

A quasi-curved-origami
YangCube shape.

Build it like the YangTet.

A quasi-curved-origami
Yang shape.
Dodecahedron
Build it like the YangTet.

54
A quasi-curved-origami
YangIcosahedron shape.

Build it like the YangTet.

rhombic A polyhedron unfolded so


hexecontahedron as to yield the crispest
A appearance when built.

rhombic Like rhombic


hexecontahedron hexecontehedron A, but
B easier to assemble.

55
A quasi-curved-origami
pentbox shape.

Build it like the YangTet.

A quasi-curved-origami
shape like YangCube but
squirclecube with deeper curves.

Build it like the YangTet.

A quasi-curved-origami
shape like YangTet but with
YangTet wide deeper curves.

Build it like the YangTet.

56
Two stereographic views
above and below separated by an angle
chosen with the FOV slider.

Two stereographic views


up and down
separated by 180°.

An equirectangular where
the brightness tapers o
cosine fallo
toward the poles. Use for
making lightmaps.

A spherical curved origami


pattern. The FOV slider
controls the number of
segments. Tabs in uences
the overhang at the bottom.
disc sphere A
57
f
fl
ff
Like disc sphere A but with
disc sphere B
less coloring.

trisplat A conformal shape.

pentasplat A conformal shape.

curlicue 1 A developable shape.

58
curlicue 2 A developable shape.

curlicue 3 A developable shape.

curlicue 4 A developable shape.

curlicue 5 A developable shape.

curlicue 6 A developable shape.

59
curlicue 8 A developable shape.

curlicue 9 A developable shape.

curlicue 10 A developable shape.

curlicue 11 A developable shape.

curlicue 12 A developable shape.

60
curlicue 14 A developable shape.

curlicue 15 A developable shape.

curlicue 16 A developable shape.

curlicue 17 A developable shape.

curlicue 18 A developable shape.

61
curlicue 19 A developable shape.

curlicue 20 A developable shape.

curlicue 21 A developable shape.

curlicue 22 A developable shape.

curlicue 23 A developable shape.

62
curlicue 24 A developable shape.

curlicue 25 A developable shape.

curlicue 26 A developable shape.

curlicue 27 A developable shape.

curlicue 28 A developable shape.

63
curlicue 29 A developable shape.

curlicue 30 A developable shape.

curlicue 31 A developable shape.

curlicue 32 A developable shape.

curlicue 33 A developable shape.

64
A 3x2 arrangement of cube
Facebook 3x2
faces used for Facebook
cube
panoramic video.

A 3x2 arrangement of cube


Pano2VR 3x2 cube
faces used by Pano2VR.

The Laskowski tri-optimal


projection, which
Laskowski simultaneously minimizes
distance, angular, and areal
distortion.

A northern view of the


north armadillo world on an armadillo-
shaped torus.

north armadillo A shaded northern view of


globe the world on a torus.

65
A southern view of the
south armadillo
world on a torus.

south armadillo A shaded southern view of


globe the world on a torus.

An interrupted projection
Mollweide ocean suitable for showing
Earth’s oceans.

A Bonne projection with the


Bonne
standard parallel at 45°.

A perspective view of the


vertical sphere. The FOV slider
perspective moves the camera closer to
the surface.

66
A shaded perspective view
vertical of the sphere. The FOV
perspective globe slider moves the camera
closer to the surface.

A perspective view of the


upper edge of the sphere.
yover
The FOV slider ies the
camera closer in.

A shaded perspective view


of the upper edge of the
yover globe
sphere. The FOV slider ies
the camera closer in.

cross 3 A conformal shape.

cross 5 A conformal shape.

67
fl
fl
fl
fl
tridactyl A conformal shape.

The Canters W14 polyconic


Canters
projection.

Natural Earth A compromise projection.

sinusoidal An equal-area map from


interrupted 1570.

An equal-area hybrid
sinu-Mollweide
projection.

68
Ginzburg 8 A compromise projection.

Larrivée A compromise projection.

Oblate north An orthoapsidal projection.

Oblate north An orthoapsidal projection


globe with shading.

Oblate south An orthoapsidal projection.

69
Oblate south An orthoapsidal projection
globe with shading.

Prolate north An orthoapsidal projection.

Prolate north An orthoapsidal projection


globe with shading.

Prolate south An orthoapsidal projection.

Prolate south An orthoapsidal projection


globe with shading.

70
A plane tiling with
Triangle tile
conformal triangles.

A plane tiling with


Square tile
conformal squares.

A plane tiling with


Hexagon tile
conformal hexagons.

Hyperbolic 3,9
A Poincaré disc tiling.
disc

A Poincaré disc tiling


Hyperbolic 3,9
conformally warped to a
square
square.

71
A Poincaré disc tiling
Hyperbolic 3,9
conformally warped to a
pentagon
pentagon.

A Poincaré disc tiling


Hyperbolic 3,9
conformally warped to a
band
wide band.

Hyperbolic 4,8
A Poincaré disc tiling.
disc

A Poincaré disc tiling


Hyperbolic 4,8
conformally warped to a
square
square.

A Poincaré disc tiling


Hyperbolic 4,8
conformally warped to a
pentagon
pentagon.

72
A Poincaré disc tiling
Hyperbolic 4,8
conformally warped to a
band
wide band.

Hyperbolic 5,4
A Poincaré disc tiling.
disc

A Poincaré disc tiling


Hyperbolic 5,4
conformally warped to a
square
square.

A Poincaré disc tiling


Hyperbolic 5,4
conformally warped to a
pentagon
pentagon.

A Poincaré disc tiling


Hyperbolic 5,4
conformally warped to a
band
wide band.

73
Round triangle A conformal shape.

Round square A conformal shape.

3 pentagons A conformal shape.

4 pentagons A conformal shape.

5 pentagons A conformal shape.

74
Frangipani A oral shape.

A variant on a Steinmetz
Flake 3
solid.

A variant on a Steinmetz
Flake 4
solid.

A variant on a Steinmetz
Flake 5
solid.

Pentaskelion A freeform shape.

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Triad A freeform shape.

The panorama mapped


onto a ball of cubes. The
Voxel globe
FOV slider controls the
resolution.

The panorama mapped


onto a blobby shape. The
Blob world
FOV slider controls the
number of blobs.

A at-earth model
published in 1893. Latitude
and Longitude tumble the
Ferguson
model. The Spin slider
spins the map relative to
the model.

A modern equal-area map


Strebe 1995
projection by Daniel Strebe.

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An equal-area pseudo
Eckert IV
cylindrical map projection.

Hill eucylic An equal-area map projection.

The front hemisphere of a


Hammer retroazimuthal
projection. Directions are
Retroazimuthal
correct from any point to the
front
centre of the map. Distances
from the center of the map are
proportional.

The back hemisphere of a


Retroazimuthal
Hammer retroazimuthal
back
projection.

Conformal A regular octahedron with a


octahedron conformal graticule.

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An unfolded compound of
Boxball four cubes.

An unfolded small triambic


Spangle icosahedron.

An unfolded fteenth
stellation of the rhombic
Sawtooth
triacontehedron.

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An unfolded medial
hexagonal
Cinquefoil
hexecontahedron.

An unfolded
Rhombicosacron rhombicosacron.

A Waterman butter y map.


This version has a gnomonic
graticule, not the pre-2012
Waterman
'method P' graticule with
straight lines. Antarctica is
not detached.

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A map inspired by the cover
Quatrefoil of the November 1975 issue
of Scienti c American.

The Spilhaus World Ocean


map in a square. A
conformal map showing the
Spilhaus world’s oceans as a
contiguous region. Flexify
does not paint out the land
for you.

Quilt 3 A conformal shape.

Quilt 4 A conformal shape.

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Quilt 5 A conformal shape.

Philbrick
An interrupted world map.
interrupted

Robinson
An interrupted world map.
interrupted

An interrupted world map


suitable for showing Earth’s
Ocean data
oceans. Similar to maps
made by Ocean Data View.

A version of the Peirce


Peirce 1.75 Quincuncial map that shows
the world 1.75 times.

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A conformal map by
Xarax Constant Xarax showing the
world in half a hexagon.

A freeform compromise
Danseiji IV projection by Justin Haruaki
Kunimune.

The dual shapes of geodesic


spheres. For tetrahedral,
octahedral, and icosahedral
Goldberg base shapes, Flexify can
make the rst eight Class I,
the rst eight Class II, and
the rst ten Class III
polyhedra.

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Shapes analogous to
geodesic spheres, but built
by dividing a base into
quadrilaterals instead of
triangles. For tetrahedral,
Quad
cubic, and icosahedral base
shapes, Flexify can make
the rst ve Class I, the rst
ve Class II, and the rst six
Class III polyhedra.

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Input
Flexify can accept some of the above projections as input: equirectangular,
mirror ball, polar, orthographic, cylindrical, ellipsoid, stereographic, Mollweide,
gores:12, Robinson, Mercator, Lagrange, Hammer, Winkel Tripel, equal-area
cylinder, gores:6, zenith & nadir, horizontal cross, vertical cross, soccer, Strebe
1995, and Eckert IV.

Other input formats include:

A frontal view of a
security mirror. The
ellipsoid
major axis to minor axis
ratio is 1.18:1.

A circular image showing


circular sheye
a 180° eld of view
180°
across its diameter.

A rectangular image
showing a 180° eld of
fullframe
view across its diagonal.
sheye 180°
The rectangle may have
any proportions.

A square showing a 90°


one cube face
rectilinear view.

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One cube face with all
edges alike and
symmetrical so that six
tiling cube face tiles can seamlessly cover
a sphere. You can make
these with MakeCubeTile
or MakeIsoCubeTile.

The left or right half of


an equirectangular
image. If your input
half-equi image is too big for
Flexify, you can use this
mode to process it in
halves.

A Nicolosi projection, a
popular globular form
Nicolosi
found in antique world
maps.

One-fourth the width of


quarter-equi an equirectangular
image.

The re ection in a silver


balloon. The major axis
mylar
to minor axis ratio is
1.55:1.

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Twelve half-gores, a
gores: 12
form sometimes used by
radial
the US Geological Survey.

An image from a
Lomography Spinner
360° camera. Crop the
spinner 360° input so it’s 360° wide
and the height spans
from edge to edge of the
lm.

An image from a
Lomography Spinner
360° camera with
unknown horizontal eld
spinner guess
of view. Crop the input so
width
the height spans from
edge to edge of the lm;
Flexify will try to guess
the horizontal eld of
view.

A 6x1 arrangement of
cube faces used by the
Unity game engine,
Unity 6 frames
Nvidia Texture Tools,
Oculus, and the Unreal
Engine.

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A 3x2 arrangement of cube
Facebook 3x2
faces used for Facebook
cube
panoramic video.

Pano2VR 3x2 A 3x2 arrangement of cube


cube faces used by Pano2VR.

Eight globe gores in a


gores 8
straight line.

Eight globe gores in a


Eckert IV
straight line.

A world map for role-


playing games, used by
Icomap
GURPS Space and
Worldographer.

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View

You can change the center of projection — the point


in the input image that winds up at the center of the
output.

Latitude moves the center of projection north and


south.

Longitude moves the center of projection east and


west.
an o -center hyperbolic
Spin spins the view around the center of projection. view

Flexify can set the center of projection automatically


in three ways.

The reset button sets latitude, longitude, and spin


reset
to zero. This gets you back to the normal view.

The axis button sets latitude, longitude, and spin to


multiples of 90°. This usually gives symmetrical-
looking views.
axis

The dice button generates totally random views.

dice

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Retouching panoramas
Panoramas often need to be retouched by hand — the tripod needs to be painted
out, or moving clouds need to be xed — but it’s hard to paint properly on an
equirectangular panorama.

Flexify can help. You can export, retouch, and then re-import panoramas. Three
projections have matching output & input modes designed just for this task so
you can round-trip an image. Detailed instructions are here.

Top and bottom cube faces.


Good for hand-retouching
the poles of a spherical
panorama. Later, you can
zenith & nadir re-import your changes
with the zenith-nadir input
mode. Flexify will then
feather the edges a little to
improve blending.

re-imported

Cube faces in horizontal-


cross form. Good for
retouching. Later, you can
re-import your changes
horizontal cross with the horizontal cross
input mode. For best
results, use the PSD export
button and choose 4x3
image proportions.

Cube faces in vertical-cross


form. Good for retouching.
Later, you can re-import
your changes with the
vertical cross
vertical cross input mode.
For best results, use the PSD
export button and choose
3x4 image proportions.

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Polyhedra

Flexify has some projections that you can print, cut


out, fold, and glue together to make a three-
dimensional printout of your panorama.

If you use a map of Earth as your input image, you


can make a crude globe.

Tabs sets the width of “glue tabs” that make the


polyhedron easier to glue together.

The Tab color button sets the color of the tabs.

The Faces checkbox shows each face of the


polyhedron in a single color, to make it clearer how
the shape should be folded together.
color button
The Export Faces button o ers three ways to export
a polyhedron.

First, you can write a multi-layer Photoshop


document with one face of the current polyhedron on
each layer. Extra tabs will be added to each face so
that everything can be glued properly.

Second, you can export 3D models in OBJ, STL, DXF,


and Mathematica format. export faces

Third, you can export an equirectangular map of all


polyhedron faces.

If your image is 32 bits per channel, then each face


will be written to a separate document. If you export
an OBJ model, its JPEG texture map will still be 8 bits
per channel.

Pepakura Designer is handy for editing cut-and-fold


paper models.

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Other controls
The Flip checkbox ips the input picture left-for
right. If you’re starting with a mirror-ball photo, this
will correct backward text.
Load preset
The Sharpen slider makes the image crisper.
Sharpening is done in the output image space, so you
get the right result even where the picture is strongly
warped.
Save preset
The Background color button lets you choose a
background color. If your color doesn’t show up, turn
o Transparent Gaps.

The Preview menu improves the appearance of the Undo


preview at the expense of speed.

The Grid menu places a latitude-longitude graticule


over the output.
Send to
The Transparent gaps checkbox tells Flexify what to Photos
do with unde ned regions of the input. When this is
checked, such areas appear transparent (or black if
you’re working in the background layer). When it’s
unchecked, they get a solid color halfway between the
background and tab colors. Transparent gaps also Export to PSD
makes the border, if any, around the result document
transparent.

The Indicatrix checkbox draws shapes which, on the


image sphere, would be circles. It’s good for checking
how distorted the output is. Little planet

The Anamorph checkbox produces a special


distortion. Ordinarily the image sphere is meant to be
viewed by an observer at its center; you could build
globe with the image printed on the inside, and it Info
would appear in correct perspective to an observer at
the globe’s center. When checked, Anamorph moves
the viewpoint to the surface of the sphere. You could
then build a globe whose inner picture appears
correct when viewed through a hole cut in its surface.
This viewing point appears as a pinched singularity in
Flexify’s output.

The Edges checkbox draws a black outline around


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The Lines color button sets the color of edges, that
latitude-longitude grid, and the indicatrix.

The De-halo checkbox guarantees that halos don’t


appear along contrasty edges, but this comes at the
cost of making the whole image slightly softer. It’s
useful in HDR images where bad halos can appear at
the edge of the sun or other bright lights.

Plus, % and minus buttons: if the selected image area


is bigger than the preview, these buttons let you
zoom in and out. You can move the preview by
dragging it around; your cursor will turn into a hand.

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Memory dots
Although you can save your settings permanently to
les, you can also stash settings in memory dots.

Click an empty dot to stash the current settings in it.

Click a full dot to retrieve its settings.

Hover the mouse over a dot to see what it contains.

Option-click to erase a dot on Macintosh.


memory dots
Right-click to erase a dot on Windows.

If a dot is orange, plug-in is currently using that dot's


settings. empty

Dots remember their contents until you erase them. If full


you'd rather make a temporary dot that forgets when
you exit the plug-in, control-click it. Temporary dots current
are square.
temporary

When you start the plug-in, it puts the starting settings


in a temporary dot. That way it's easy to start over
without exiting the plug-in.

On Mac, you can drag-and-drop settings les from the


central memory well.

You can build a web page showing how the current


image would look with every memdot setting. Just
option-click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) on the big
memdot image.

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Globemaking

Flexify can warp maps into new shapes for making


globes. You can use any of the polyhedron modes,
explained above, to make faceted fold-together
globes.

You can also make a conventional round globe. First,


get a spherical object to use as a form. Traditionally,
a plaster sphere is used, but a toy ball will do. It has
to be exactly spherical: measure its girth in several
places and verify that all measurements are the same.

Next, use Flexify to make “gores” — the lens-shaped


strips of map that form a globe’s surface. Print these
out so that the width of the gores is equal to the
diameter of the sphere. Glue the gores onto the 12-gore shape

sphere, carefully making them conform to the curved


surface.

The Tabs slider adds solid-colored “glue tabs” that


make the gores easier to glue together. It also fattens
the mapped part of the gores slightly too, so that you
need not align them perfectly on the sphere.

The Tab color button sets the color of the tabs.


color button

If you don’t want tabs, but do want the gores to be


slightly fattened, set the tab color to the same as the
background color.

Flexify can also accept gores as input and turn them


into a conventional map. Use the input mode
gores:12 or gores:6.

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Brick spheres

Flexify can create plans for building an image sphere


from Lego® bricks. Use the output mode called ‘brick
preview’ to see what you can build.

To change settings, click the brick button. A new


dialog box will appear.

Layers: To suit the proportions of the bricks, Flexify


plans a sphere with a diameter 6/5 of the height. For
best results choose a height that’s a multiple of 5.

Plates: Builds the sphere from 1/3 height plates brick preview

instead of bricks.

Colors: The best input images have vivid colors and


strong, simple shapes.

For output you can choose among 12 colors: black,


blue, brown, green, dark grey, light grey, red, sand
red, tan, white, yellow, and sand green.
brick button
Light grey bricks will represent any unde ned
regions.

You can make three kinds of output:

— a multi-layer Photoshop document where each


layer of the document is the plan for one layer of the
sphere

— an LDraw model

— a text le with counts for each color of brick.

In the Photoshop document, parts that aren’t visible


from the outside are marked with black dots, so you
can substitute other colors there. The sphere plan is
hollow and just thick enough form a solid surface so
you’ll need to build supports inside as you go.

The plan doesn’t specify exactly what bricks to use,


just what colors go where.

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Cube maps

Flexify can split a panorama into six cube faces. Some


panorama viewers want this format, and it’s often
used to make “sky boxes” in 3D action games.

Click the cube map button and a new dialog box will
appear asking for the size of the faces. Flexify will
write six Photoshop documents containing the cube cube map button
faces.

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Frequently asked questions

I want to make maps and globes with Flexify. Where can I nd suitable input
maps?

Here are some places to start looking:

NASA’s Visible Earth imagery

NASA Jet Propulsion Lab maps of most Solar System bodies

LunarCell synthetic worlds

You can use Flexify’s polyhedron and gore modes to make cut-and fold globes.

How do I make a spherical photo without expensive special equipment?

Get a plain silver spherical Christmas-tree ornament and photograph it.

How do I improve photos of ornaments?

Panoramas made with the mirrored-ball technique always have a aw at the


point opposite the camera. You can either paint this out, or you can photograph
the ball twice from two locations about 90° apart around the ball’s equator.
Unwrap both re ections; their aws will be in two di erent places. Use the good
part of one image to replace the aw in the other.

Since the re ection in the ball contains the whole scene, the sun or another light
source will probably appear in it, and this can cause your camera’s auto-
exposure to darken the whole picture. Avoid this by using a manual exposure
setting appropriate for a typical part of the scene.

The best ornaments to use are blown-glass ones from eastern Europe, but there
are other kinds of mirrors you can use:

Gazing balls. These are garden decorations originally popular in Victorian


England, and they can be found at some garden-supply stores.

Safety/security mirrors. These are the dome-shaped mirrors sometimes seen at


busy corridor intersections at airports and warehouses. These are usually not
hemispheres but ellipsoids with proportions of about 1 : 0.85, so you should use
the ‘ellipsoid’ input mode.

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Large steel ball bearings. The makers of HDR Shop have hints on where to get
them.

Hemispherical mirrors from “whole sky cameras.” These are hard to nd since
meteorologists now use sheye lenses for sky photography.

Large steel or copper mixing bowls don’t give sharp re ections, but they are
inexpensive and can produce soft, tinted views with streaky blurs around the
highlights.

Using a mirrored ball you can make a wide horizontal view panorama with no
aw. Place the ball on the ground and photograph it from directly above; or hang
it from something and shoot it from below.

Use a zoom or telephoto lens to get far from the mirror and minimize the size of
the camera in the picture.

To enable a telephoto lens to focus closer, use it together with a close-up lens.
That this will reduce depth of eld, making focussing trickier.

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What is the di erence between equirectangular and Mercator?

An equirectangular image shows the whole sphere, usually in a 2:1 wide


rectangle. The north and south poles are stretched out to lines at the top and
bottom, and the lines of latitude and longitude make a uniform grid of squares.

A Mercator projection shows most of the sphere, but the complete projection is
in nitely tall. The lines of latitude and longitude form rectangles that stretch
taller the further they are from the equator.

Although Mercator projections are notorious for making Greenland look as large
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as South America, they have two useful properties. They are conformal, which
means angles are accurate within small regions. And they show lines of constant
compass bearing as straight lines. These lines, known as rhumb lines or
loxodromes, are useful in air and sea navigation, which is why Mercator maps
are still used.

So:

Equirectangular images are good for panoramas and spherical texture maps.
Mercator maps are good for sailing across an ocean.

How else can I (ab)use Flexify?

Straighten out the horizon in panos shot o -level.

Warp an HDR lighting environment so it’s easier to paint out the tripod.

Use it on non-panoramic photos to make them weird.

Distort the same image twice or more in a row to make it weird.

Photograph safety mirrors and security-camera bubbles in public places. De-


warp the re ections to see what they see.

Extract a normal (rectilinear) view from the input.

Take a photo of a spherical object like an orange or the Earth and see what it
would look like from a di erent point of view. Use orthographic input and
orthographic output.

Make many-sided dice for role-playing games. Use only polyhedra whose sides
are all the same shape, else the die will be biased.

Make weird graph paper. Start with a blank white image and turn the grid on.

What are some panoramic photo resources on the net?

International Association of Panoramic Photographers

VR Photographers Resources

Where can I get Lego® info and bricks?

eBay — good for used bricks

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BrickLink — extensive selection

Lego Shop — the o cial source

LDraw — model-planning software

Version history

Version 2.986

Adds several Goldberg polyhedra quad polyhedra. The polyhedron exporter now
writes DXF and Mathematica les.

Version 2.985

Adds the Peirce 1.75, Xarax, and Danseiji IV output projections.

Version 2.984

Adds the Robinson interrupted and Ocean data output projections.

Version 2.983

Runs natively on Apple Silicon.

Version 2.982

Adds the Philbrick interrupted output projection, and adjusts the shape of Sinu-
Mollweide.

Version 2.981

Adds the quilt 3, quilt 4, and quilt 5 output projections.

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Version 2.98

Adds the Spilhaus output projection.

Version 2.97

Adds the Waterman and quatrefoil output projections.

Version 2.96

Adds new output projections: conformal octahedron, boxball, spangle, sawtooth,


cinquefoil, and rhombicosacron.

To help with the construction of complicated polyhedron models, the ‘faces’


checkbox now makes each tab appear in the same color as the face it should be
glued to. The ‘edges’ checkbox now draws concave edges as dashed lines.

Version 2.95

Improves the results when exporting the faces of 3D models.

Version 2.94

Adds new output projections: Hill eucyclic, retroazimuthal front, and


retroazimuthal back. Strebe 1995 is much faster. Fixed tiny artifacts in the
graticule which could occur at the edges of maps.

Version 2.93

Adds new output projections: Ferguson, Strebe 1995, and Eckert IV. Adds new
input projections: gores: 8, Strebe 1995, and Eckert IV.

Version 2.92

Adds new projections: round triangle, road square, 3 pentagons, 4 pentagons, 5


pentagons, frangipani, ake 3, ake 4, ake 5, pentaskelion, triad, voxel globe,
blob world.

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Version 2.91

Fixes a bug in the un sh projection.

Version 2.90

Fixes a problem with the curved-origami boxes.

Version 2.89

Adds new projections: oblate north, oblate north globe, oblate south, oblate
south globe, prolate north, prolate north globe, prolate south, prolate south
globe, triangle tile, square tile, hexagon tile, hyperbolic 3,9 disc, hyperbolic 3,9
square, hyperbolic 3,9 pentagon, hyperbolic 3,9 band, hyperbolic 4,8 disc,
hyperbolic 4,8 square, hyperbolic 4,8 pentagon, hyperbolic 4,8 band, hyperbolic
5,4 disc, hyperbolic 5,4 square, hyperbolic 5,4 pentagon, hyperbolic 5,4 band.

Improves the interface on high-DPI Windows monitors.

Version 2.88

Adds new projections: cross 3, cross 5, tridactyl, Canters, natural earth,


sinusoidal interrupted, sinu-Mollweide, Ginzburg 8, and Larrivée. Improves the
Laskowski projection.

Version 2.87

Adds new projections: Laskowski, north armadillo, north armadillo globe, south
armadillo, south armadillo globe, Mollweide ocean, Bonne, vertical perspective,
vertical perspective globe, yover, and yover globe.

Version 2.86

Adds input and output modes for Facebook 3x2 cube and Pano2VR 3x2 cube.

Version 2.85

Fixes an issue with registration codes on Windows.

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Version 2.84

Adds the Unity 6 frames input and output modes.

Version 2.82

Restores compatibility Mac OS X 10.8.

Version 2.82

Restores compatibility with 32-bit Photoshop.

Version 2.81

Minor updates for OS X El Capitan.

Version 2.80

Works with Photos app on OS X.

Version 2.79

Fixes an issue with registration codes.

Version 2.78

Restores compatibility with Mac OS X 10.7.

Version 2.77

Macintosh version works 32- and 64-bit modes.

Version 2.76

Macintosh version works in Retina resolution.

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Version 2.75

Adds a control for the color of lines and edges. New output modes are disc
sphere A, disc sphere B, trisplat, pentasplat, and 33 curlicue shapes.

Version 2.73

Fixes previews in 16-bit color.

Version 2.7.2

Fixes certain awed projections in the Mac 64-bit version.

Version 2.7.1

Fixes issues with stability and misaligned freeform selections in previews.

Version 2.7.0

64-bit version for Macintosh. Adds four new output modes: YangTet wide, above
and below, up and down, and cosine fallo .

Version 2.6.9

Adds four new output modes: rhombic hexecontahedron A, rhombic


hexecontahedron B, pentbox, and squirclecube.

Version 2.6.8

Adds YangDodecahedron and YangIcosahedron output modes, and spinner 360°


and spinner guess width input modes. Faster drawing of all polyhedral output
and best-quality output.

Version 2.6.6

Adds YangCube output and Ortelius oval input.

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Version 2.6.5

Adds the triskelion fat, triskelion meso, triskelion skinny, triskelion plain,
triskelion straight, Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore,
Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, Naiaid, Thalassa, Despina,
Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Triton, Nereid, Halimede, and folding sphere
projections.

Version 2.6.2

Adds the YangTet, YangOct, Tribox, Squarebox A, Squarebox B, Squirclebox A,


and Squirclebox B projections. Fixes the missing the o set in shift-lens;
proportion problems when exporting unFish, and improper cropping of 6-clover.
Basic multicore support for Windows.

Version 2.6.0

Adds the Panini projection. Fixes faint dark lines that could appear in HDR
images when “dehalo” is turned o . 64-bit version for Windows.

Version 2.5.2

Adds the sprocket-4, sprocket-5, daycare, and short rind projections. Fixes
hairline gaps that can appear in the twistless rind. Fixes blank results when
exporting some polyhedra to OBJ les.

Version 2.5.0

New output modes: zenith & nadir, horizontal cross, vertical cross, thirtysphere,
devtet, conictet, geodesic spheres, sphericons, quatretat, twistless rind, curvy
cube, baseball.

New input modes: six gores, zenith & nadir, horizontal cross, vertical cross,
soccer.

Gores 3 of 12 output mode is now properly aligned when longitude = 0.

Option-click on the memdot preview now builds a web page showing how the
current image would look with every memdot setting.

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Version 2.4.0

Adds the tattoo 1 and tattoo 2 projections. Fixes improper results from
exporting cube faces on Intel machines.

Version 2.3.9

Fixes a case where the Mac version can fail to produce a a result after the user
clicks OK.

Version 2.3.8

Adds the 3-incurvate, 4-incurvate, phenyl cross, anthracene, and conformal


dodecahedron shapes. Fixes artifacts that can appear when “de-halo” is turned
o .

Version 2.3.7

Fixes a crash that can happen on Macintosh PowerPC machines.

Version 2.3.6

Adds the shard and starburst projections. Makes the rst preview appear faster
in the Mac version.

Version 2.3.4

Fixes a case where the Register button may not respond.

Version 2.3.2

Fixes a crash that can happen on PowerPC Macs.

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Version 2.3

Adds the wa e, trident, astercurve 5, astercurve 7, astercurve 8, trizag, shark 3,


shark 4, sunburst, 2 cylinders, 3 cylinders, and Isle of Man projections. Adds
exportation of equirectangular poly-face maps. Brick previews can have
antialiasing. PSD export has a “same proportions as original” option. Text entry
of settings. The Mac version has multicore support, drag-and-droppable
presets, and a resizable interface.

Version 2.2.5

Adds the pointy, shuriken star, calyx 3, calyx 4, calyx 5, and calyx 6 projections.
Fixes cosmetic problems with the interface under Mac OS 10.5.

Version 2.2.4

Adds the square sh 1, square sh 2, and Gilbert globe projections. Improves


the handling of input modes which have transparent areas or discontinuities.
Changes the Gilbert projection so it reacts more usefully to nonzero latitude
settings.

Version 2.2.2

Adds quick globe and equal squarea projections. Improves “best” mode results in
strongly anisotropic regions. Removes speckled pixels that sometimes appeared
on one edge of previews in “better” mode. Some polygonal projections now show
colored faces better.

Version 2.2

Adds antialiased (smoothed) output and preview. New input modes: Hammer,
Winkel Tripel and equal-area cylindrical. New output modes: cross, double
Guyou, wide rect, semicircle, ellipse, Reuleaux 1, Reuleaux 2, Reuleaux 4,
Reuleaux 8, octreleaux, zigzag, chevron, monozag, 3-malta, 4-malta, 5-malta,
6-malta, Gilbert, stereo twice, stereo thrice, Adams diamonds, equal-area
cylinder. No more missing graticule lines. Graticule slid over one pixel to the
proper location. Added the Tissot indicatrix. Gores:6 output removed; use
gores:multi instead.

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Version 2.10

Adds the shuriken output mode. Fixes a Windows problem where the plug-in
wouldn’t remember its registration when it was installed in one user account but
activated in another. Fixes a Macintosh problem where the plug-in could have
bad settings or crash when installed on a machine for the rst time.

Version 2.09

Adds 19 new output modes and the Lagrange input mode. Replaces gores:36
with the more adjustable gores:multi. Improves the appearance near the poles in
most conformal projections: no interrupted graticules, no top-to-bottom color
wraparound.

Version 2.08

Adds new output modes: thorn levo, unFish, Lagrange plus, Adams 1, Adams 2,
trecunx, quadracunx, quincunx, sexacunx, heptecunx. Smoothed out creases in
thorn mode. Fixed poor antialiasing in the 4/12/24/60/70 views modes. Fixed a
probLem where the latitude-longitude grid would sometimes not appear, and
de-cluttered the grid near the poles. More memory dots. Windows PSD export
can have a custom size. Mac presets have custom Finder icons.

Version 2.06

Adds new output modes: semistereo, thorn, Lagrange 3/4, squoculus, and box.
Universal binary on Macintosh. More memory dots. Exported HDR les can be
layered. Exported OBJ les xed to work with Photoshop CS3.

Version 2.05

Adds exportation of PSD images with custom size; new grid option. New input
modes are 12 gores: radial and Mercator. Fixes a problem under Windows where
the software could crash on HDR images.

Version 2.04

Adds the equi tall projection. Fixes a problem where the software could forget its
registration.

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Version 2.02

Adds IPTC keywords and color pro les to all exported images.

Version 2.0

Adds 32-bit high-dynamic-range capability. Can handle images up to 30,0000 x


30,000 pixels, given enough hard drive space. Adds the quarter-equi, Robinson,
and mylar input modes; rind 1, rind 2, rind 3, tunable ellipsoid, tunable egg, 4
four views, 12 views, 24 views, 60 views, 72 views, and Robinson output modes.
Memory dots, info button, exportation of 3D models. Changes ‘transparent gaps’
to make backgrounds transparent too. Equirectangular output is now always 2:1.
Cube maps now always export to six separate les. Adds Anamorph and De-halo
controls. Exported PSD les now have color pro les. The Mac version lets you
use Adobe’s color picker.

Version 1.99

Adds the stereographic, hyperdouble, hypertriple, Mercator cross, Mercator star,


and Lagrange projections. Fixes tiny aws in the grid lines and adds a glue
mode. Better previews in the le chooser. The Mac OS X version adds the iPhoto
button.

Version 1.98

Faster. Adds the Mercator and umbrella projections.

Version 1.97

Adds the GID, oculus, triptych, tetraptych, and annulus projections; sharpening;
transparent gaps; polyhedron edges; two new glue modes.

Version 1.96

Adds the dodo projection and face exportation.

Version 1.95

Adds the 6/12 gores projection, and Nicolosi, stereographic, and half-equi
input. Works with 16-bit-per-component color.

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Version 1.94

Adds the swoop projection and more glue modes.

Version 1.92

Recordable as a Photoshop action. Adds the beanbag projection.

Version 1.9

Adds globe gore input, more brick options including LDraw; the star 3, star 5,
and magnipolar projections; and six new glue modes. Improves globe gore
output.

Version 1.86

Adds a button for creating cube maps. Adds a six-gore mode and changes gore
shapes slightly for better results. Fixes the appearance of previews in presets
from version 1.85.

Version 1.85

Adds two input modes: circular sheye 180° and full-frame sheye 180°. Fixes
tabs on the ‘24 faces a’ shape.

Version 1.84

Adds Mollweide input and output, and icomap output.

Version 1.82

Adds more glue modes and xes a crash that could happen when using the
menus under Windows XP.

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Version 1.81

Adds the ellipsoid input mode. Adds new glue modes: Color, Luminance, Linear
Light, and Pin Light. Fixes the appearance of text in the interface when running
under Mac OS X 10.2.3 .

Version 1.8

Adds the brick sphere.

Version 1.75

Adds the spikeball. Fixes the sizes of the half-polar, Hammer, lozenge, and two-
circles projections, which were too small in version 1.7. Changes the tabs on the
‘gore’ projections to simplify printing them at the right size.

Version 1.7

Adds the paperlock and Omnimax projections, and origami instructions.

Version 1.6

Adds the grid checkbox.

Version 1.5

Adds the ‘24 faces b’ shape.

Version 1.4

Adds the loop, two-circles, and balloon shapes.

Version 1.3

Adds the 12-, 24-, and 36-gore shapes for globemaking.

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Version 1.2

Adds the 30-faces polyhedron shape; adds two new input modes, cylindrical and
orthographic; and xes a bug where some polyhedra would not display correctly.

Version 1.1

Adds eight new polyhedron shapes.

Version 1.0

The rst public release.

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How to purchase
You can place an order online here. A secure server for transactions is available.

Questions
The software, documentation, and supporting materials are made by Flaming
Pear Software. Answers to common technical questions appear on our support
page, and free updates appear periodically on the download page.

For bug reports and technical questions, please write to


support@ amingpear.com .

©2023 Flaming Pear Software

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