Opens an image from your computer’s hard drive. Camera RAW, TIFF, JPEG as well as Kodak® Cineon and DPX file formats used in motion picture and television production can all be used in Optics.

Closes the image.

The last five recently opened or saved files can be selected and opened here.

Saves the image in JPEG, PNG, or TIFF file formats.

When saving to the TIFF file format, you can optionally save the Optics setup (filter, layer and mask information) along with the final file. If you then open up the saved TIFF file, you are able modify the filter, layer and mask information.

Saves the image as a new file.

When using Save or Save As, once the file format and name are entered, the Save Options window opens that contains settings for the file format. The controls within this window will vary depending upon the file type.

The Embed ICC Profile option is enabled by default and embeds the current profile.

Activates resizing.

Sets the size of the image in terms of percent or pixels.

Sets the width of the image.

Sets the height of the image.

Uses percent as the unit of measure for the image dimensions.

Uses pixels as the unit of measure for the image dimensions.

If your image is ultimately targeted for print, it is useful to specify image size in terms of the printed dimensions and image resolution. Referred to as the document size, these two measurements determine the total pixel count and therefore the file size of the image.

Sets the width of the image.

Sets the height of the image.

Sets the resolution of the document.

Uses pixels/inch as the unit of measure for the resolution.

Uses pixels/centimeters as the unit of measure for the resolution.

Uses inches as the unit of measure.

Uses centimeters as the unit of measure.

Uses millimeters as the unit of measure.

Uses points as the unit of measure.

Uses picas as the unit of measure.

Constrain Proportions maintains the aspect ratio of the image. This parameter automatically changes the height as you change the width, and vice versa.

A Setup takes a snapshot of the filters and masks applied to your image in the Layers window. Setups can be saved and loaded and are independent of the image they were originally applied to. In addition, a Setup can be used to batch process a series of files in the Standalone.

Opens a previously saved Setup.

Takes a snapshot of all filters and masks applied to your image in the Layers window and saves it as a Setup file. This Setup file can later be loaded to the same or a different image.

The last five recently opened or saved Setups can be selected and opened here.

Batch processes multiple files using the current setup or a previously saved Setup.

See Batch for more information.

Prints the current image and filter Setup.

Preferences allow you to customize default settings.

You can select whether the Optics Interface uses either a small or large thumbnail size. Medium thumbnails are the default.

Small thumbnails are used in the Optics Interface.

Medium thumbnails are used in the Optics Interface.

Large thumbnails are used in the Optics Interface.

Determines whether or not the Sapphire filters use live or pre-generated thumbnails.

Defines the default working resolution. However, when your image is saved, Optics always processes at full size.

Optics works at a maximum resolution of 1024 x 1024 pixels.

Optics works at a maximum resolution of 2048 x 2048 pixels.

Optics works at a maximum resolution of 4096 x 4096 pixels.

Optics works at a maximum resolution of 8192 x 8192 pixels.

Optics works at full resolution.

Uses a lower quality scaling method when displaying the image in the Viewer. Point is more accurate when applying filters such as grain and sharpen, but when zooming in, the image will display “chunky” artifacts.

Uses a smooth scaling method when displaying the image in the Viewer. Bicubic can mask the effect of grain and sharpen filters because of its inherent smoothing, but doesn’t suffer from the Point methods chunkiness when zooming in.

Enables or disables GPU rendering.

At large preview sizes, interaction may slow down when adjusting filter parameters. To maintain fast processing during adjustments, you can enable Downsampling.

Automatically downsamples the image if required.

Automatically downsamples the image by a factor of 2.

Automatically downsamples the image by a factor of 4.

Automatically downsamples the image by a factor of 8.

Interpretation detects and sets whether DPX files are Logarithmic or Linear. Sometimes the program used to create the DPX files writes the wrong header information into the file causing Optics to think it is Logarithmic when it is Linear and vice versa. The controls below allow you to explicitly set whether or not the file is Logarithmic or Linear. Setting this preference will take effect the next time you load a file.

Automatically figures out whether the DPX file is Logarithmic or Linear.

Manually sets the DPX file to Logarithmic.

Manually sets the DPX file to Linear.

Preselects the file type save format.

When saving, the image’s original file type is selected as the save format.

JPG is automatically selected when saving.

PNG is automatically selected when saving.

TIFF is automatically selected when saving.

Sets the duration of the timeline in the Particle Illusion user interface.

Sets the number of cached Particle Illusion and S_LensFlare instances. 10 per filter is the default. Higher numbers result in more memory usage.

The open/close state of parameter groups is set according to the default state specified by the filter.

Collapses all parameter groups.

Expands all parameter groups.

Sets the font size.

If the Viewer is not set to Full resolution, this preference displays a warning when entering Particle Illusion that states, “Preview resolution is not full resolution. Rendering from within Particle Illusion will not be full resolution.” If you plan on rendering an animated movie inside Particle Illusion, click Cancel and change the Preview Resolution to Full. Otherwise, the resolution in Particle Illusion will be whatever Optics was set at.

Controls Photoshop’s behavior of using the previously applied Optics filters and masks. You can choose from Always, Ask and Never.

When Optics opens, the filters and masks used in the last run are automatically applied to the image.

When Optics opens, you are asked if you want to apply the previous filters and masks.

When Optics opens, no filters and masks are automatically applied.

By default, the setup file save location is in the same folder as the source image. When this preference is disabled, the last folder used appears instead.

Lightroom will retrieve the Optics setup information consisting of filters, layers and masks when the Save Setup With Image preference is enabled. To do this, you need to use “Edit Copy with Lightroom Adjustments” and render the result. If you then apply Optics to the newly rendered version and use “Edit Original”, your previous Optics setup will be shown and can be modified.

By default, Photoshop remembers your previous Optics setup consisting of filters, layers and masks and when you reapply Optics, they can all be modified.

When enabled, anonymous usage statistics are recorded and transmitted to Boris FX.

Undo or redo operations.

Undo/Redo has a history, so you can jump to any item in the history by picking it from the menu.

Deletes the selected filter.

The Optics user interface is broken up into individual windows which can be opened or closed by selecting or deselecting them from the View menu. The following windows can be opened or closed:

Open or closes the Color Correct Wheels window.

Displays diagnostic information.

Copies the contents of the Console to the Clipboard.

Displays the OpenGL version information.

Displays rendering times.

Opens or closes the Exif window. See Exif for more information.

Opens or closes the Filters window. See Filters for more information.

Opens or closes the Histogram window. See Histogram for more information.

Opens or closes the Layers window. See Layers for more information.

Opens or closes the Metadata window which contains preset related information. See Metadata for more information.

Opens or closes the Parameters window. See Parameters for more information.

Opens or closes the Presets window. See Presets for more information.

Opens or closes the Variations window. See Variations for more information.

Opens or closes the Viewer. See the Viewer for more information.

Resets the window layout the next time Optics is started. This is useful if you have tweaked your windows beyond recognition.

There are 3 preset workspaces that automatically arrange the interface windows into different configurations. Optics workspaces can be selected, saved or deleted. The current workspace displays a checkbox next to it in the menu.

The interface is set to the default Optics workspace where the majority of windows are visible.

The Edit Layout shows the Viewer, Presets and Parameters windows.

The View Layout shows only the Viewer.

Creates a new workspace.

Deletes the current workspace.

Resets all workspaces to the defaults.

Exports the current workspaces.

Imports saved workspaces.

Opens the Optics User Guide.

Shows the Optics version.

Opens the Deactivation Options window which has two choices: Internet Deactivate (Recommended) and Advanced Options.