Alpha v0.20.2

Hey everyone, sorry it took so long to get this out. This update contains a bunch of things that I thought we had already released -- a couple bug fixes and some cool new features. Some very big things are on the way though, so be on the lookout for the next update.

Changes

• Add Multi Gaussian filter to Normal Map Generator (#2255)
• Add ability to limit the length of certain iterators (#2218)
• Add support for sub-pixel distance transform (#2235)
• (ncnn) Allow disabling Winograd/SGEMM (for cpu ncnn) (#2237 -- thanks @JeremyRand)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed being able to close the dependency manager while installing deps (#2227)
• Fixed RGBA preview image background (#2225)
• Fixed pip using bad caches on dep installs (#2232)
• Fixed dragging bug on image previews (#2236)
• Fixed bug from read-only image in CAS (#2239)
• Fixed CAS for grayscale images (#2241)

And thanks to these maintainers: @joeyballentine and @RunDevelopment

Alpha v0.20.1

This is a hotfix to fix the Windows installer installing to the wrong place. If you installed v0.20.0 on Windows, I recommend checking if your system registers two separate chaiNNer installs, and uninstalling the extra one after applying this update. If your system is not registering a second chaiNNer instance, I recommend navigating to C:\Users\[your user]\AppData\Local and seeing if a directory called app exists, and if it contains chaiNNer.exe. If it does, I recommend just deleting that app directory entirely. The v0.20.1 installer will not automatically fix this for you. I am very sorry for this inconvenience.

Bug Fixes

• Fix windows installer installing to the wrong place (#2219)
• Fix PyTorch erroring when both CPU and FP16 modes were enabled (#2217)

Alpha v0.20.0

Hey everyone! This is a pretty major update with some pretty overdue changes. The main big change is that we've upgraded to Python 3.11 (for integrated Python) as well as PyTorch 2.0 (if you're using chaiNNer for its PyTorch capabilities). Between these two changes, you should hopefully see a bit of an overall speed boost when processing things. That isn't all that got changed though, so take a look at the rest of the changelog to see everything that's new.

NOTE: After installing v0.20.0, integrated Python will be redownloaded, and you will need to re-install any dependencies you are using from the dependency manager (assuming you are not using system Python). Also, dependency-related settings have been reset in this build, so make sure to double-check that everything looks correct)

Major Changes

• Update Integrated Python to Python 3.11 (#2144, #2092)
• View Image nodes now have resizable image previews (#2167, #2174, #2205, #2214)
• Improved Video Frame Iterator codec and container selection (#2158 -- thanks @adegerard)
• Add ability to pass custom additional ffmpeg params to Video Frame Iterator (#2158 -- thanks @adegerard)
• MacOS builds are now code-signed (#2136, #2180 -- thanks @stonerl)
• MacOS builds are now universal (x64 and arm64) (#2162, #2166 -- thanks @stonerl)

Minor Changes

• (PyTorch) DAT and SRFormer support (#2153, #2155, #2156)
• (PyTorch) Support for reading .ckpt files (for certain models) (#2193)
• (PyTorch) Support for DiffBR's SwinIR models (#2202)
• (PyTorch) FP16 now gets enabled by default for compatible GPUs (#2203)
• Linux build improvements (#2179 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Wayland Linux support (#2178 -- thanks @illode)
• Added BC5_SNORM format and additional format information to DDS options in Save Image (#2199)
• Added support for uncompressed DDS (#2201, #2211)
• Performance improvement for iterator progress updates that should use less CPU and lag the UI less (#2182)
• Visually show feature-disabled nodes as disabled (#2194)
• Added docs for Mip options in Save Image (#2207)
• Added anti-aliasing to Threshold node (#2209)

New Nodes

• Text as Image (#2125, #2213 -- thanks @adegerard)
  • This node allows you to create an image from text, for use with overlaying on other images.

Dependency Updates

• Update PyTorch to 2.0.1 (#2143)
• Update ONNX-related dependencies for better 3.11 support (#2153)

Bug Fixes

• Fix .chn files being unable to be opened with chaiNNer on MacOS (#2150 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Fix BC5 DDS loading (#2198)
• Fix High Pass for grayscale images (#2206)
• Fixed logging empty lines (#2208)

and thanks to the following maintainers: @joeyballentine @RunDevelopment @stonerl

Alpha v0.19.4

This update contains a few bug fixes, a few new features, and a bunch of improvements specifically for macOS.

Changes

• Add position to Blend Images node (#2087 -- thanks @adegerard)
• Made some node outputs more consistent (#2111 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Add "Separate Alpha" checkbox to upscale nodes (#2127)
• Handle unsaved changes on chaiNNer restart (#2132 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Various macOS DMG improvements (#2122 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Set minimum macOS version to 11.0.0 (#2124 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Remove the macOS portable build as it was broken and has likely never worked (#2119 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Associate .chn files with chaiNNer on macOS (#2115 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Add "New Chain" and "Open Recent" menus to macOS dock (#2140 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Slight optimization for NCNN model loading when using CPU NCNN (#2142 -- thanks @JeremyRand)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug related to opening certain older chain files (#2116)
• Fixed tooltips being placed behind modal popups (#2128 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Fixed hotkeys (such as pressing F5 to run a chain) sometimes not working (#2114 -- thanks @stonerl)
• Fixed incorrect inputs on new unified Crop node (#2134 -- thanks @adegerard)

And thanks to the following maintainers: @joeyballentine @RunDevelopment

Alpha v0.19.3

Another update which adds a few things and fixes a few bugs.

Changes

• (PyTorch) SCUNet architecture support (#2102, thanks @adegerard)
• Threshold node improvements (#2091)

New Nodes

• Generate Threshold (#2096)
  • A node to generate the threshold value for the Threshold node.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Save Image not creating directories correctly (#2099)
• Fixed issue with displaying image previews (#2101)
• Disable multi-instance support on MacOS as it did not work correctly (#2107, thanks @stonerl)
• Display modal overlays on top of toast messages (#2110, #2112, thanks @stonerl)

And thanks to the following maintainers: @RunDevelopment

Alpha v0.19.2

This update contains a few important bug fixes as well as some new long-requested features.

Changes

• Use Rust implementation for dither nodes (#2075)
  • This implementation is between 100 and 500 times faster than the previous pure-python implementation.
• Use Rust implementation for Copy to Clipboard (#2079)
  • This removes the multiple platform-specific dependencies as well as enables support for this node on silicon Macs.
• Add support for saving 16 bit and 32 bit images (#2083)
• Add setting for allowing multiple concurrent chaiNNer instances (#2089)
• Light mode improvements (#2064, thanks @stonerl)
• Add support for saving BMP in Save Image (#2077)
• "Webp (Lossless)" in Save Image is now just "Webp" with a lossless checkbox (#2080)
• Added warnings in node documentation for nodes with limited color depth (#2090)

New Nodes

• Quantize to Reference (#2071)
  • A custom quantization implementation that tries to emulate a reference image as closely as possible. Useful for pixel art upscales.
• Percent (#2076, thanks @adegerard)
  • Similar to the Number node, this node lets you input a percentage via slider to connect to other nodes.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed dropdown settings resetting their values unintentionally (#2081)
  • This fixes the ONNX execution option problem people have been reporting recently. Make sure to check that you aren't using CPU by accident.
• Fixed Image File Iterator not sorting alphabetically (#2067)
• Fixed Stretch Contrast (#2082)
• Ignore file extension case in file image iterator (#2084)

Thanks to the following maintainers: @joeyballentine @RunDevelopment @theflyingzamboni

Alpha v0.19.1

This update has a critical fix for the image file iterator as well as many MacOS improvements.

Changes

• System usage meters now use traffic-light color scheme (#2023, thanks @stonerl)
• MacOS clipboard improvements (#2031, thanks @stonerl)
• Help menu improvements (#2041, thanks @stonerl)
• Other MacOS improvements, such as a new icon (#2042, #2049, thanks @mafiosnik777)
• Per-platform dependency description improvements (#2047, thanks @stonerl)
• Add new option to enable hardware acceleration for the GUI rendering. We do not recommend enabling this unless you're using CPU upscaling as it will reduce GPU performance. (#2055, thanks @stonerl)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed glob pattern issues and related bugs with Image File Iterator (#2039)
• Fixed header layout for small screens & window sizes (#2036)
• Fixed broken input information for iterator errors (#2040)
• Fixed transparent image color contamination with Average Color Fix (#1907, thanks @Splendide-Imaginarius)
• Reduced the chances of seeing an error during an intentional backend restart (#2043, #2030)
• Fixed MacOS not quitting properly (#2051, #2049, thanks @mafiosnik777)

Alpha v0.19.0

Hey everyone. It's been a while since the last update, and in my opinion, it's been worth the wait. We have a lot of interesting improvements and new features to share with all of you.

First, we now have documentation for all available nodes. This can be accessed both by a button in the top right button bar, as well as by right-clicking on a node in the sidebar and clicking "Open Documentation". The documentation includes a lot of information about nodes and their inputs & outputs. Not to mention, the docs are also searchable. This will hopefully be a huge help to both new and existing users.

Second, the update screen has finally received a makeover. This has been a long-overdue change. Starting with 0.19.0, you will get a popup when there is a new update, which will have an option for ignoring the update or viewing the update's changelog. If you view the changelog, a modal will open that will show you a full changelog of the update -- or multiple updates if you happen to be a few versions behind. From there you can view the release on GitHub or open chaiNNer.app to download it. If you do choose to ignore the update, don't worry, because you will see a green download indicator next to chaiNNer's version number which you can click on to view the update again.

Third, we've made some improvements to how the backend sets up chaiNNer. This is mostly to prep for future features, but it also conveniently makes it slightly easier to set up chaiNNer on a remote machine, as all the necessary dependencies will be installed via the backend, instead of the frontend. This shouldn't affect existing users much, except you may notice that on starting up chaiNNer this time you see a slightly different progress indication on the splash screen as it installs the few new necessary dependencies. We also now bundle a couple of small, cross-platform dependencies that should make first-time setup a bit faster. If anyone is having trouble with the new first-time setup process, definitely let us know ASAP.

Fourth, chaiNNer is now taking advantage of some first-party Rust code. This means we were able to speed up certain nodes by a significant amount. Expect future updates to improve the speed of other nodes as we move some intensive operations over to Rust.

And now for the changelog:

Major Changes

• Node Documentation (#1880, #1900, #1902, #1923, #1925, #1928, #1926, #1932, #1929, #1930, #1937, #1946, #1950, #1952, #1956, #1961, #1962, #1963, #1993, #1992, #1995, #2004, #2009, #2017)
• Update checking improvement (#1935)
• Mandatory dependencies now get installed via the backend (#1834, #1856, #1862, #1863, #1866, #1869, #1881, #1882, #1878, #1885, #1960)
• New design for sliders (#1966, #1971, #1976, #1975, #1977, #1986, #1987, #1988)

Minor Changes

• Added Contrast-Adaptive-Sharpening to High Boost Filter (#1841)
• Added weight loading for NCNN Scale op and fix InnerProduct bug (#1864)
• Use chainner_ext (rust code) for Fill Alpha (#1865)
• Added nearest color mode for Fill Alpha (#1883)
• Allow color inputs in merge transparency (#1888)
• Improved type error messages for colors (#1889)
• Add a wcmatch.glob field to image iterator (#1840, #1939, thanks @zeptofine)
• Hide unimportant labels (#1919)
• Add more algorithms to the Color Transfer node (#1903, thanks @adegerard)
• Update pytorch model file input label (#1927)
• Add window size detection to OmniSR (#1933)
• Splash screen is no longer always on top (#1938)
• Better computed alpha for upscaling nodes (#1942)
• Move system stats to backend (#1948)
• Changed empty-string behavior of text inputs (#1954)
• Shorter names for channel inputs/outputs in Split/Merge Transparency (#1967)
• Stack many images on Stack node (#1972)
• Consistently use sliders for blur radius-like number inputs (#1973, #1978)
• Optimized box blur implementation (#1974)
• Optimized Gaussian blur (#1981)
• Input number on enter (#1982)
• Variable precision for log-scale sliders (#1984)
• Added context menu entry to extract value into node (#1985)
• Added linked inputs group (implemented for Box Blur) (#1983)
• Use slider in Gamma node (#1989)
• Renamed "LUT" to "color palette" (#1991)
• Simplified printed structs by omitting default fields (#2003)
• Use a later version of pytorch that supports MPS for Arm MacOS (#2012)
• Update ONNX + ONNXRuntime & Improvements for ONNX on MacOS (#2010)
• Some UI fine-tuning around GPU selection on Mac (#2020, thanks @stonerl)

New Nodes

• Image Statistic (#1748)
  • A node to get the min, max, mean, media, n-th percentile of an image.
• Get Bounding Box (#1884, #1901, thanks @zeptofine)
  • Like Crop Content except it returns a bounding box insted of cropping.
• Regex Replace (#1893)
  • Like Text Replace, but uses a regex search.
• Fast NL means (#1890, thanks @adegerard)
  • Uses Fast NL means to denoise an image.
• Pick Color (#1913)
  • Grab the color of a pixel in an image.
• Directory (#1921)
  • Pick a directory and reuse it throughout the chain, like you can with numbers and strings currently.
• Switch (#1945)
  • Connect multiple inputs and select which one you want to output.
• Stretch Contrast (#1959)
  • Auto-levels-like functionality. Automatically improves contrast.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed 2 bugs in Dither Palette (#1844)
• Fixed Unsharp Mask modifying input image (#1851)
• Fixed bug with CLI mode timing out if it took too long to process (#1853)
• Fixed settings dropdowns where invalid values would get stuck with no way to change them (#1876)
• Fixed error reporting (#1908)
• Fixed ordered dithering (#1911)
• Don't check whether the directory exists in Save Image (#1912)
• Require RGB in Write Output Frame (#1920)
• Fixed linux & macos RAM usage reporting (#1948)
• Fixed wide dropdowns (#1958)
• Fixed round-half-up for negative integers (#1970)
• Enforce non-empty images (#1997)
• Add color limit for Palette from Image (#2005)
• Always estimate tile size as 256 on Mac for NCNN (#2006)
• Changed default tile size to 256 for ONNX (#2007)

Dev Changes

• Backend-defined dependencies (#1834, #1856, #1862, #1863, #1866, #1869, #1881, #1882, #1878, #1885, #1960)
• Backend-defined GPU list (#1877, #1879)
• Added more contribution documentation (#1837, #1847, #1848, #1894, #2019)
• Added emoji support for node icons (#1831, thanks @jackcarey)
• Fixed backend script path detection with external Electron (#1839, thanks @JeremyRand)
• Added --devtools argument (#1849, thanks @JeremyRand)
• Support NCNN CPU inference (#1867, thanks @JeremyRand)
• Change --no-backend boolean arg to --remote-backend=<url> (#1957)
• Enforce naming conventions (#1968, #1969)
• Upgrade to Navi 0.6.0 (#2001)
• Update minor/patch version of electron (#2022)

And of course thanks to the regular maintainers of the project: @joeyballentine @RunDevelopment @theflyingzamboni

Alpha v0.18.9

I know I just did a release, but I couldn't wait to get this out. I finally fixed the broken windows installer :)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the windows installer not opening after install/update (#1830)
• Fixed being unable to pass in electron-specific launch arguments to chaiNNer (#1830)
• (unconfirmed) Fixed MacOS and Linux portable builds to be truly portable (#1829)

Alpha v0.18.8

Note: this is another reminder that the windows installer doesn't open after installing. It's a known bug we haven't been able to fix

Another small update with some bug fixes and a couple of new features.

Changes

• Add FFv1 support to Video Frame Iterator (#1779)
• (onnx) Add FP16 option for tensorrt (#1795)
• (pytorch) OmniSR Support (#1804, #1813, #1815)

New Nodes

• Pixelate (#1777, thanks @harisreedhar)
  • Pixelate an image, similar to Photoshop's "Mosaic" filter

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug with generating hashes after an upscale (#1797, thanks @Zarxrax)
• Fixed a bug that would show invalid nodes in the right-click node-selector context menu (#1821)

Also, thanks to the following maintainers: @joeyballentine @RunDevelopment