SoftColor Automata Server

Pricing and Licensing

Single license key price is $899

Automata Server offers a 10-day free trial from the moment you launch the application. You'll have access to all the features with no limitations during this trial period, allowing you to experience its full potential.

When you decide to purchase Automata Server, you'll only need to make a one-time payment (no recurring subscription necessary). To start using the software immediately, buy a license key online, and we'll deliver it to your email instantly as soon as your payment clears, usually within seconds. If you've already installed the free trial, there's no need to reinstall anything - enter the license key, and you're good to go.

Please note that our application's single license key is intended for one computer. However, if you need to transfer the license to another computer, you can easily do so by uninstalling the application from the original device.

Lastly, we want you to be delighted with your purchase, so we offer a 60-day money-back guarantee. If you're unhappy with Automata Server within this period, just let us know, and we'll gladly refund your payment.

Hot-Folder Workflows for Batch Photo Editing Automation

Automata Server streamlines your image editing operations using hot folder workflows. This process involves monitoring a designated directory for new or changed digital image files. When Automata Server detects these files, it processes them automatically, saving you time and effort.

Setting up a hot folder is simple - choose any directory accessible by the software, such as a local or network folder. Once it's established, Automata Server will keep an eye on it for new files or changes to existing files, ensuring your images are always up-to-date.

The best part about this feature is its efficiency, as it eliminates manual intervention in the image editing process. All you have to do is drop your image files into the designated hot folder, and Automata Server will take care of the rest, processing them according to your preconfigured workflows. This saves you time and ensures a consistent and professional output for all your image editing needs.

Automata Server can also process sub-folders recursively. Automata Server replicates the same sub-folder structure in the output folder when processing images. This means that after the photos are edited and enhanced, they will be organized in the output folder precisely as in the input folder, maintaining consistency and making it easier to manage your files.

Automata Server provides you with unlimited workflows, enabling you to create as many as needed to fit your image processing requirements. The software automatically processes images in the background for you. With full parallel processing support, you can run multiple workflows simultaneously to increase processing speed and improve your productivity.

Automata Server supports using multiple workflows for the same input or output folders. This means that you can establish numerous workflows that use the same input or output folders, increasing the software's flexibility for your needs.

You can also loop workflows, with the output of one workflow serving as the input for the next. This enables a more efficient and streamlined workflow for you, eliminating the need for manual input at various stages of image processing.

Photo Editing Tools

Automata Server offers you advanced photo enhancement, editing, and color management tools, while also serving as a file logistics tool to streamline your photo workflows.

With the photo enhancement tools provided by Automata Server, you can effortlessly and swiftly correct various color and tone problems. The software delivers powerful features that grant you precise control over color and tone correction, making it possible to achieve professional-quality results in no time.

The image editing tools within Automata Server are layer-based, enabling you to make accurate image adjustments. You can utilize all editing, enhancement, and color management tools in tandem, allowing for highly customized workflows that cater to your specific needs.

Additionally, Automata Server's file logistics tool simplifies the process of managing your photo workflows. This feature enables you to quickly and easily manage files and move images between workflows without any hassle.

Automatic Color and Tone Correction

Automata Server's color and tone correction automation is driven by the in-house developed SoftColor Engine, designed just for you. This cutting-edge technology employs a layer-based color correction approach to automatically correct digital image white balance, exposure, contrast, color temperature, and dynamics problems, ensuring that your photos always look their best.

Automata Server offers a range of advanced color correction and image enhancement tools that enable you to achieve professional-quality results quickly and efficiently.

These tools include:

• Natural automatic white balance correction
• Exposure and contrast correction
• Rich dynamics enhancement and recovery for shadows and highlights
• Luminosity enhancement
• Automatic black/dark colors clipping
• Automatic white/light colors clipping
• Selective color corrections (skin tones, greens, blues)
• Curves tool, with support for Adobe Photoshop curves-files
• Manual adjustments for color temperature, exposure, and contrast

With Automata Server, you have the ability to fine-tune and set up color correction automation settings. This empowers you to achieve precise results for each image, ensuring that the output meets your specific needs and requirements.

The SoftColor Engine, a highly advanced technology, is designed to provide you with professional-quality color and tone correction for your digital images. This technology can detect and correct various issues automatically, allowing you to achieve high-quality results quickly and efficiently.

The layer-based approach of the SoftColor Engine offers you precise control over color and tone correction, enabling you to make exact adjustments to your images. This makes it possible for you to achieve highly customized workflows that cater to your unique needs.

SoftColor Engine

SoftColor Engine is the core technology behind Automata Pro, Automata Server, and PhotoEQ applications. This in-house developed system combines advanced color correction, photo enhancement, and image processing techniques to deliver powerful automation capabilities.

The SoftColor Engine results from extensive research and development efforts that combine color science, computer graphics, digital signal processing, and machine learning techniques. This unique blend of technologies enables SoftColor Engine to provide highly advanced automation capabilities that are both efficient and effective.

SoftColor Engine uses computer vision to analyze images, automatically identifying and correcting color and tone issues. The system also utilizes machine learning techniques to continuously improve its performance, enabling it to learn and adapt to new image processing challenges.

The SoftColor Engine is a product of extensive research and development efforts, tailored just for you. It combines color science, computer graphics, digital signal processing, and machine learning techniques in a unique blend of technologies. This fusion enables the SoftColor Engine to provide you with highly advanced automation capabilities that are both efficient and effective.

Employing computer vision, the SoftColor Engine analyzes images for you, automatically identifying and correcting color and tone issues. The system also leverages machine learning techniques to continuously improve its performance, enabling it to learn and adapt to new image processing challenges, ensuring you always get the best results.

Batch Color Correction by processing colors, not pixels

Automata Server's advanced image processing capabilities enable you to edit colors, not pixels. 

Automata Server's layer and parameter-based processing approach empowers you to achieve precise control over colors and tones without focusing on individual pixels. This enables you to attain professional-quality results quickly and efficiently, even when processing a large number of images, making your work smoother and more effective.

Manual Color Tools

Automata Server provides a range of advanced manual color tools that enable you to achieve precise control over color and tone correction.

These tools include:

• Curves tool, with support for Adobe Photoshop curves-files
• Color temperature adjustments with ColorEQ for natural color temperature adjustments
• Exposure adjustments
• Contrast adjustments
• Black and white conversion tool

Color Grading Tools

Color grading is a process used by photographers to change the visual tone of an image, resulting in a complete transformation of the image's aesthetics.

Automata Server's color grading tools present you with an extensive range of options to achieve precise control over the visual tone of your images. These tools empower you to create various looks and aesthetics, including warm or cool styles, vintage appearances, and moody atmospheres, ensuring that your images always convey the perfect mood and style you desire.

Image Editing Tools

Automata Server offers a range of advanced layer-based image editing tools that enable you to control their images' final appearance precisely.

These tools include:

• Resize and resample image size dimensions
• Cropping automation
• Automatic smart sharpening
• Unsharp masking
• Noise removal automation

Automata Server's image editing tools are designed to work seamlessly with other tools.

Color Management Tools

Automata Server offers a range of advanced color management tools that enable you to control their images' final appearance precisely.

These tools include:

• Convert to profile: Automata Server enables you to convert their images to various color profiles, including RGB, CMYK, and grayscale. This ensures that images are displayed and printed accurately and that colors are consistent across different devices and platforms.
• Assign profile: With Automata Server's assign profile tool, you can easily apply color profiles to their images.

File Logistics and Filtering

Automata Server provides a comprehensive set of file operations tools that enable you to manage their image processing workflows effectively. 

These tools include:

• File logistics and filtering: Automata Server allows you to filter input images by image types, such as CMYK or grayscale. You can also filter images by filename, file format, and path.
• File operations: Automata Server enables you to perform various file operations, including copying, moving and deleting files. These operations can be applied to both the input and output folders of the workflow.

PDF processing

Automata Server offers you a powerful PDF processing solution that allows you to edit raster images inside PDF documents. With Automata Server, you can access all the photo editing and color management tools you need for working with PDFs.

Utilizing Automata Server's advanced image processing technology, you can select which image types to process, such as JPEG, TIFF, or BMP bitmaps, and even choose to process or skip CMYK images as needed.

Automata Server automatically saves processed PDFs to the output folder of your workflow, ensuring a seamless and efficient experience for you.

3rd Party Scripts and Applications

Automata Server presents you with an open and flexible workflow system that enables you to seamlessly integrate third-party scripts and applications into your image-processing workflows. With Automata Server, you can add pre or post-processing commands to your workflows, allowing you to extend your workflows with additional functionality.

Automata Server supports various scripting languages, including Windows batch files and PowerShell scripts, enabling you to customize your workflows to meet your needs and requirements.

With Automata Server's open workflow system, you can achieve highly customized workflows that are tailored to your unique image processing needs, ensuring the utmost efficiency and effectiveness in your work.

 With Automata Server's scripting capabilities, you can:

• Integrate Automata Server with your editorial systems, enabling you to manage your image processing workflows and improve your productivity seamlessly.
• Utilize Automata Server for web services, leveraging the power of REST-API to achieve highly efficient and scalable image processing workflows.
• Extend Automata Server to work with custom image formats, enabling you to process images in various formats and achieve highly customized workflows that meet your unique image processing needs.
• Implement your own image processing algorithms with Automata Server, allowing you to seamlessly integrate ImageMagick/GraphicsMagick scripts and other custom algorithms into your image processing workflows.

Log Files for Processing Details

Automata Server provides you with a comprehensive logging system that enables you to easily monitor and track all aspects of your image-processing workflows. With Automata Server's advanced logging capabilities, you can gain deep insights into your image processing workflows, helping you optimize your processes and achieve greater efficiency and productivity in your work.

Automata Server automatically saves all processing details to log files for you, including information on file count, processed files, skipped files, errors, and processing time. These automata logs are text files with a simple syntax, making them easy to parse. With this feature, you can quickly see processing details directly from filenames, enabling you to swiftly identify any issues or errors in your workflows and take immediate action to resolve them.

Furthermore, Automata Server's advanced logging capabilities provide detailed information on any problems that arise during the processing of images, enabling you to promptly identify and resolve any issues that may impact your image processing workflows.

Automatic Enhancements

With Automata, you can automate color correction, image enhancement, and color management tasks, resulting in professional-quality color and tone correction for any photo.

The best thing about Automata's photo enhancement automation is that you have full control over all automatic adjustments. The software automatically fixes white balance, exposure, and tone problems and can remove color casts. Automata also features natural white balance correction and ColorEQ to fine-tune color temperature and tint, as well as exposure correction, contrast correction, and dynamics enhancer for clarifying shadows and enhancing luminosity.

With Automata, you can easily set your desired look for processed photos and utilize layer-based photo editing, automatic color grading, and the creation of custom workflow templates. Image editing in Automata is a non-destructive and layer-based operation, meaning that you can use image editing tools and filters together with color correction or separately, giving you the flexibility and control you need.

Image editing in Automata is non-destructive and layer based operation. Image editing tools and filters can be used together with color correction or separately.

Color and Tone Correction Automation

Automata Server offers you automatic color and tone correction to effortlessly adjust color balance, exposure, and contrast concerns. Separate layers are utilized for adjusting white balance, exposure, and contrast in this procedure. This allows you to fine-tune all color correction settings according to your preferences. Even if you choose not to use automated correction, you can manually adjust white balance, exposure, contrast, and correction strength for optimal results, giving you the flexibility and precision you need.

The intensity value lets you change how the color values of the pixels in color-corrected photos are mixed with the original image. This makes it the easiest way to fine-tune the automatic color correction results, ensuring you achieve the desired outcome.

You can also adjust the exposure and contrast levels to improve the correction. Color grading, ColorEQ, and curves are three tools that can be used to change the color correction level. You can also use these tools to adjust the white balance if needed.

Color Grading Automation

Color grading is a technique used in photography to enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of an image by adjusting its levels of brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue across a spectrum of colors. You can use it to make an image appear warmer or colder, give it the appearance of being vintage or retro, or produce a high-contrast, dramatic style. Images that reflect your personal style or the identity of a brand might have a look and feel that is entirely unique to the image.

The automatic color grading feature found in Automata Server is a powerful tool that enables the complete transformation of an image's aesthetic quality. By using a layer-based method, you can generate personalized color grading presets and have them automatically applied to your photographs, ensuring a consistent and professional appearance.

Using Automata's automatic color grading tool, the COLOR 1/2/3 filters can be set up with different composition models. The mode setting modifies how the color filter interacts with processed images, while the BLACK and WHITE filter increases exposure and contrast in modified images. The MODE option determines the mode of blending between the image layer and the layer containing the color grading tool.
 
With Automata's automatic color grading, you can get results that look like they were done by a professional without having to spend hours manually adjusting each image.
 
The layer-based approach from Automata allows total control over color grading adjustments. The settings for each layer can be fine-tuned, or the overall color grading intensity can be altered with a few clicks.

Boost Colors Tool

The Boost Colors tool in Automata is an useful function that boosts the colors and contrast of modified photographs. This application enhances the saturation and richness of your photographs using the LAB color space. This tool can be used independently or in conjunction with other color correction and enhancement tools.

Automata applies the Boost Colors tool in a specific order along with other color and tone correction tools. The order is as follows:

• Automatic color and tone enhancements
• Selective color adjustments
• Boost Colors tool
• Automatic color grading

Selective Color Adjustments

Automata's selective color adjustments tool allows you to alter the hue, saturation, and lightness values of selected colors. There are customizable options for skin tones, blues, and greens. Utilizing the fuzziness value, a color is selected. The intensity value modifies the manner in which color values are blended under the designated area. After the color grading tool, the selective color adjustments tool is applied to the produced image.

Exposure, Contrast and Customize White Balance (ColorEQ)

Automata offers nonlinear adjustments for exposure, contrast, and white balance, empowering you with precise control over these crucial image aspects.

ColorEQ is a powerful Automata tool that allows non-linear adjustments to white balance, exposure, and contrast. It adds or removes specific colors from an image using machine learning. ColorEQ enables white balance batch adjustment for numerous photographs with harmonious results.

You can use ColorEQ to modify the white balance automated color correcting settings of Automata. Additionally, you have the flexibility to adjust the degree of the ColorEQ correction to your liking, ensuring the results meet your unique requirements.

Non-linear adjustments for exposure, contrast.

Separate layers are used for white balance, exposure, and contrast adjustments in Automata's automatic color correction process.

Curves Tool

Automata offers powerful curve-based image editing and enhancement features. With the curves tool, you may manually set the curve values or import and export Adobe Photoshop curves files. There are four different curves for the RGB, red, green, and blue channels.

In addition to the control over the curves values, you can also adjust the intensity of the curves tool, which determines how original and edited pixels are mixed. You can change the curves adjustments blending modes, including Photoshop blending modes.  

Normal / Overlay / Softlight / Darken / Lighten / Hardlight / Difference / Exclusion / Hue / Saturation / Color /Luminosity

Curves tool is applied as its own layer after color correction tools.

Convert to Profile Tool (RGB, CMYK, Grayscale)

The "Convert to Profile" feature in Automata Server allows you to change the color profile of an image. The color profile is a set of instructions that describes how colors should be displayed in the image. By altering the color profile, you can ensure that your images display correctly on various devices or in different color spaces. For instance, you might want to convert an image from an RGB color profile to a CMYK color profile if you plan to print the image, ensuring optimal results in your final output.

Automata's CONVERT TO PROFILE tool allows you to select an ICC-profile that defines the target color space (RGB, CMYK, grayscale). The rendering intent method and black point compensation usage can also be set. The ICC-profile is embedded in the saved photo by Automata.

Color management uses 32 bits precision for processing and support v4 and v2 profiles.  Automata's color management system uses Little CMS color management engine. 

Assign to Profile Tool 

With ASSIGN PROFILE tool, you can add and embedded ICC-profile to image files. The profile is added to the image file before it is loaded for processing. The embedded profile is replaced with a new one. 

Resize and Resample Images

Automata's resizing tools provide you with various options for resizing images.

• Resize pixel size: You can set the desired width and height of the image. If the height is not defined, the new height value will be calculated automatically. If the width is not defined, the new width value will be calculated automatically while maintaining the aspect ratio.
• Set maximum pixel width/height: You can set a maximum width and height for the image. If the image width is larger than the maximum width, the tool will scale down the image width while maintaining the aspect ratio. Similarly, if the image height is larger than the maximum height, the tool will scale down the image height while maintaining the aspect ratio.
• Maximum width for landscape image: This tool sets a maximum width for landscape images (width > height) while maintaining the aspect ratio. It does not affect portrait images
• Maximum height for portrait image: This tool sets a maximum height for portrait images (height > width) while maintaining the aspect ratio. It does not affect landscape images.

Resample to Resolution

The resample to resolution tool in Automata Server allows for the adjustment of dots per inch (DPI) resolution. This updates the DPI values in the metadata of the photo.

Scale Images

Scales edited image width and height. (Aspect ratio saved).

Crop

Automata's cropping tool crop edited to image selected aspect ratio.

Rotation Tools

Rotate tools enable you to rotate, flip, or mirror images as per their requirements. Moreover, you can straighten and fix images' horizontal orientation with ease using the "Straighten" adjustment.  

Automatic Sharpening

Automata's automatic sharpening is a process that increases the overall sharpness of an image by enhancing the edges and contours of objects in the image. The filter detects the edges and contours of objects within the image and then applies sharpening to these areas. This can make the objects appear more defined and crisp, and can also increase the overall clarity and detail of the image. The result is a sharper and more detailed image, which can be particularly useful in situations where images appear soft or blurry due to camera settings or other factors.

Unsharp Masking

Automata has also traditional unsharp masking tool to sharpen images.

Unsharp masking is a technique used in digital image processing to sharpen an image by increasing the contrast between edge pixels. This is achieved by creating a blurred copy of the original image, subtracting it from the original to create a high-pass filtered image, and then combining the high-pass filtered image with the original to create a sharper image.

The unsharp masking tool has three parameters: amount, radius, and threshold.

The amount controls the strength of the filter and how much it sharpens the image. Value between 0 and 500%.

The radius controls the size of the edges that will be sharpened. Value between 1 and 250 pixels.

The threshold controls the minimum brightness difference between pixels that will be considered an edge for the purposes of sharpening. Value between 0 and 255. A higher threshold value will result in fewer edges being sharpened, while a lower threshold will result in more edges being sharpened, including noise and other artifacts.

Noise Removing

Automata's automatic noise removing tool is a powerful digital filter that effectively removes noise from images and reduces speckles within the image. This tool applies a range of advanced algorithms that identify and filter out noise, resulting in a cleaner, smoother image. The filter works by analyzing each pixel in the image and its neighboring pixels, and then removing any pixels that differ significantly from their neighboring pixels.

The tool is particularly effective for images that have been taken in low-light conditions or at high ISO settings, which can often result in significant noise and grain.

Black and White Conversion

The edited photos can be converted to a black and white image with Automata. The black and white conversion is the final step of Automata's processing, keeping the edited photos as RGB (8 bits/channel).

The black and white conversion can be tuned by adjusting the RGB channel coefficient values. For the best result, the sum of the RGB channel percentage values should be 100%.

Copy and Move Files

The file operation tools in Automata include input file filtering by filename or type. File operations such as copy, move, and delete are available for both the original and processed files. Input and output folders can be set for file operations

Copy and move operations can be set to photo editing workflows in Automata. The original files will be copied or moved by Automata to the output folder with a specific suffix name. Additionally, a workflow specifically for file logistics can be created where Automata will copy or move the original files from the input folder to the output folder.

XMP-metadata

XMP-metadata can be included in the processed image [JPEG, TIFF, PSD] with XMP configuration in Automata Server. The XMP data is read from the .xmp file and stored in the image.

XMP metadata, or eXtensible Metadata Platform, is a standard for embedding metadata into digital media files, such as images or videos. This metadata can include information about the content of the file, the creator, and other details that can be useful for organizing and managing digital assets.

Open Workflows for 3rd Party Scripts and Applications

The open and flexible workflow system of Automata Server facilitates seamless integration of third-party scripts and applications into image-processing workflows. Pre or post-processing commands can be added to workflows to extend their functionality. You  can customize your workflows with scripting languages, such as Windows batch files and PowerShell scripts, to meet their specific requirements.

Pre-Process Command

The Pre-Process tool in Automata allows for the execution of a selected application or batch/script file for every file located within the input folder before Automata processes the file.

All files located within the input folder will be used as input parameters for the Pre-Process command, allowing the loading of files that are not supported with Automata. The Pre-Process command can be a Windows executable (.exe), Windows batch file (.bat), or PowerShell script (.ps1).

Post-Process Command

The Post Process tool in Automata enables the execution of a selected application or batch/script file for every file after it has been processed by Automata. The Post Process command can accept processed files as input parameters and allows for additional customizations.

Post-Processing command can be a Windows executable (.exe), Windows batch file (.bat), or PowerShell script (.ps1).

Supported File Formats 

Automata Server can operate with many digital images and camera RAW formats. It handles conversions between image formats and color spaces.

Automata Server supports all metadata formats when it is processing photos. Automata saves all metadata information from the original image to edited. Supported metadata formats are: EXIF, IPTC, XMP, 8BIM (Adobe Photoshop metadata)

Automata can edit raster images inside PDF-files. For PDF processing Automata supports JPEG, TIFF and bitmap files (RGB / CMYK)

Input Digital Image and Camera RAW formats (Read)

JPEG ,JPEG2000, TIFF, PSD, PNG, BMP,PGM, PPM, JPEG XR

Support for following JPEG color spaces: RGB, GrayScale, YCbCr, CMYK, YCbCrK

Support for following TIFF types: TIFF (rev.6.0 and Tech.Note #2, Packbits, JPEG, LZW, CCITT G.3, and G.4, ZIP) with RGB, CMYK, B/W, CIELab.

Automata manages embedded EXIF, IPTC and XMP meta-data.

Camera RAW Formats:
dng, .crw, .cr2, .mrw, .nef, .raf, .orf, .pef, .srf, .arw

Automata uses DCraw and Libraw opensource libraries to process digital camera raw formats.

Output Digital Image Formats (Write)

JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PSD, BMP

Automata saves PSD files with two layers
[Original Image / Improved Image]

Support for following JPEG color spaces: RGB, GrayScale, YCbCr, CMYK, YCbCrK

Support for following TIFF types: TIFF (6.0, Packbits, JPEG, LZW, CCITT G.3, and G.4, ZIP) with RGB, CMYK, B/W, CIELab

Parallel Background Processing

Each Automata Server workflow is a separate process, so all image processing tasks can be done in the background without the operator having to do anything. The software automatically scans the input folder for new and changed files. It saves processed files to the output folder of the workflow.

The ability to execute each workflow as a separate process offers numerous advantages. You are able to build new workflows and modify existing ones without affecting other
workflows. If one workflow encounters a difficulty, different workflows continue to function normally. This makes Automata Server an error-tolerant system that can continue to operate despite an error.

Automata Server enhances background processing on multicore/multiprocessor computers, enabling faster and more efficient concurrent execution of many workflows.

Automata Server vs. Automata Pro

Differences Between Automata Server and Automata Pro

Automata Server:

• Server is a multi user server application
• Server is running as Windows Service

Automata Pro:

• Pro is a single user desktop software

Automata Pro and Server have the same workflow tools and features. You can import and export workflow settings between Pro and Server.

System Requirements

Automata Server requires 64 bit Windows.

Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012

Windows 11, 10, 8, 7

Automata Server also works on local and cloud virtual machines. To get the best performance Automata Server needs a computer with multi-core processor and 8 GB RAM.

All our applications Automata Pro, Automata Server, PhotoEQ, are native Windows applications that run on your computer. No internet connection needed.

We have developed SoftColor Engine with C++, and we use hardware acceleration libraries to enhance performance. This makes Automata Server run fast, and it use optimal performance on physical hardware and virtual machines.