Managing presets

On this page you'll learn how to manage and organize presets.

About presets

FilterOptix comes with a wide range of presets; previously created filters. The presets are used for convenient access to the large number of possible filters that can be created with FilterOptix. Besides using the provided presets, you can also add your own presets, delete presets you don't need, move presets around so they appear in a convenient order.

By default, FilterOptix automatically remembers the current set of presets so every time you start FilterOptix, you have your own set of presets. You can also store sets of presets to file so you can use multiple sets for different purposes or share them with other users.

The preset area

The preset area is located to the top-right of the FilterOptix window.
The preset area contains a number of boxes (1), each of which represents a single preset.
To the right of the area is a scrollbar (2). If there are more presets than can be shown in the area, you can use the scrollbar to scroll through all the presets.
At the top-right is a button (3) called the "Preset file menu" button. This button is used to store sets of presets to file.

Selecting a preset

Selecting a preset is as easy as simply clicking on the preset you want to use.

Changing preset order

You may want to have the presets appear in a different order, especially when you start adding your own presets. Luckily, moving presets around is very simple.

Click on the preset box you want to move and keep the left mouse button pressed. The preset will be marked with a transparent color. Whilst keeping the mouse button pressed, move your mouse pointer (and the preset!) to it's new location. The preset area will change whilst your doing this to reflect the change. When you are happy with the presets' new location, let go of the mouse button.

Adding, replacing and deleting presets

You can add your own filters, created in the Edit tab, by clicking on the right mouse button anywhere in the preset area. A pop-up menu will appear, with the full preset name at the top, giving the following options:

Delete (only when mouse pointer is over a preset)
Select "Delete" to remove the preset the mouse pointer is hovering over. No new preset is added to the current set of presets.
Replace (only when mouse pointer is over a preset)
Select "Replace" to replace the preset the mouse pointer is hovering over with the new preset. Use this option if you want to modify an existing preset.
Insert before (only when mouse pointer is over a preset)
Selecting "Insert before" adds the new preset before the preset the mouse pointer is hovering over and after the previous preset.
Insert after (only when mouse pointer is over a preset)
Selecting "Insert after" adds the new preset after the preset the mouse pointer is hovering over and before the next preset.
Add to end
Select "Add to end" if you want to add your new preset at the end of the preset list.

If you don't want to select any of the options, just click anywhere outside the menu.

Preset files

Entire sets of presets can be stored in files. You can use this to share presets with others or maintain multiple sets of presets.
To use preset files, right click on the Preset file menu button at the top-right of the presets area (3). A menu will appear like the one shown here.
From the preset file menu, you can select any of the following options:

"Open..."
Replace the current set of presets with a set stored in a preset file. A window will appear where you can select the preset file you want to open. You can cancel the window and return to the current set of presets.
"Open append..."
Add a set of presets stored in a preset file to the end of the current set of presets. It works similar to "Open..." but does not delete the current set of presets.
"Save as..."
Save the current set of presets in a file. A window will appear where you can enter a new filename to create or select an existing preset file to overwrite.
"Delete..."
Delete a preset file from disk. A window will appear where you can select the preset file to be deleted. You will be asked for confirmation before the file is deleted.
"Reset to defaults..."
Reset the current set of presets to the default set of presets provided with FilterOptix. You will be asked for confirmation before the current set of presets is replaced by the default.

If you don't want to select any of the options, just click anywhere outside the menu.

FilterOptix preset files use the .fop file extension.
Preset files are plain text files, experienced computer users may be able to edit the files manually, but no warranty or support is provided for manually edited preset files.

Options

There are a number of options which affect the look and feel of the presets area. These are:

Grid size
Grid colors
Preset size

You can learn more about these, and other, options by reading the "How to change options" tutorial or the options reference.