|
Rangefinder Magazine
Columns/February 2002
First Exposure by Jack and Sue Drafahl
Photoshop Plug-in Update
Venturing into the world of Adobe Photoshop-compatible plug-in filters,
is much like surfing the web. As you navigate from menu to menu, your
creative potential expands exponentially. Just when you think you know
everything there is to know about plug-in filters, you discover a new
one or uncover a different application.
Plug-in filters come in two basic types—image enhancement and image
manipulation. The filters used for image enhancement correct for problems
that can degrade the quality in your original image. You will find plug-in
filters to aid in color correction, sharpness, tonal gradations, removal
of scratches and grain, restoration of faded images and more.
The plug-in filters used for image manipulation provide you unlimited
creative potential. There are literally hundreds of these filters that
allow you to posterize, melt, freeze, solarize, streak, add lens flare,
texture, shadows, create 3D effects, lightning storms, and even set your
image on fire. With the aid of these filters, you can create new images
that may not even vaguely resemble your original image. Amazing, huh?
The first photo-editing programs came loaded with the basic image correction
plug-in filters. As programs became more sophisticated, third-party vendors
started to create their own filters to supplement filter choices. Since
the industry standard for image editing seemed to be Adobe Photoshop,
most plug-in filters were designed for compatibility. Even other image
editing programs allowed the use of Adobe plug-in filters. The result
is a pretty stable system of plug-in filters that can do just about anything
you can dream of. To stay ahead of their competitors, third party plug-in
manufacturers are constantly upgrading their filters, so you can find
filter plug-ins to satisfy most any creative whim.
In this article we present the tip of the plug-in iceberg with a brief
explanation of some of the more popular plug-in programs that are Adobe
Photoshop 6-compatible. We can’t even begin to cover all the companies,
or all their plug-in filters, but hope that this brief excursion will
plug you in the right direction.
Alien Skin Software—Eye Candy 4000 is their much-anticipated upgrade
from Eye Candy 3. We’re not sure just how you can jump from version
3 to 4000 in one step, but that’s marketing for you. This group of
23 very high quality special effects plug-in filters offers something
for everyone. There are Chrome or Smoke Filters, Bevel Boss for creating
web page buttons, Shadowlab allows you to make drop and perspective shadows,
and Gradient Glows provides halo effects in any color. They have even
included five new filters—Marble, Wood, Drip, Melt, and Corona. Wow!
 |
|
 |
| Motion trail edit menu
with selected baseball and motion trail added. Eye Candy. |
Basic shapes are created in an edit program or imported
from other shape-drawing programs. The Chrome Filter is then applied
with adjustments to lighting angle, reflection, shadows, and bevel
types. Alien Skin Eye Candy. |
Magic wand was used
to select various portions of the barn. The fire filter was then applied
to the selected areas. Eye Candy fire filter. |
Eye Candy 4000 is easy to use and now features a huge preview window
that allows you to see underlying layers. You can adjust the filters on
your own or select from the hundreds of presets with the click of a mouse.
With unlimited “undo” and “redo” capability, modification
is effortless.
The most creative aspect of these filters is that you can easily select
the specific part of your image to apply the special effects filter. For
example, we used the magic wand to select only certain parts of an old
barn, before setting it on fire. The magic wand selected adjoining similar
pixels which gave a better feel of fire rather than torching the entire
building.
Alien Skin also has another set of 16 plug-in filters called Xenofex.
Most of these filters add effects to the entire image. You can crumple
the image, add fluffy clouds, lighting, or break your image up into a
puzzle. These filters are less complex than Eye Candy 4000, but can still
help you create some dazzling effects.
|
|
|
|
Wax model was selected and then altered with melt
filter from Eye Candy. |
Puzzle filter from Alien Skin, Xenofex.
|
Lightning filter from Alien Skin, Xenofex.
|
Andromeda Software—Andromeda Filters feature a wide variety of phenomenal
effects. The Photography set of 10 plug-in filters resembles the traditional
glass and gelatin filters you carry in your camera bag. Now you can create
reflections, star effects, velocity, multi-image, prism, rainbow and more
photographic effects with a keystroke.
If you like more complex special effects filters, you can select from
a wide assorted of specialized filters designed to create some high quality
special effects. The 3D Shadowing provides absolute control over shadows
using either sliders or direct mouse control. The 3-D Luxe filter allows
you to take a 2D image and wrap it around basic 3-D objects with full
lighting control. The De-focus filter enables you to set specific areas
to be out-of-focus, and the Velociraptor filter provides a variety of
styled motion effects. The Photo Tiler loads and labels images automatically
so it is perfect for web image organization.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 3D filter menu with original at top, texture and bevel
menus in the center, and the thumbnail image of the final render in
the lower right. Andromeda. |
Original 2D image wrapped around a sphere
using 3D filter. Shadow added with shadow filter. Andromeda. |
Final render of 2D image wrapped around
a sphere and beveled. Andromeda. |
Wood texture wrapped around sphere with
reverse star bevel effect. Andromeda. |
Andromeda continues to add new filters that are fully compatible with
Adobe Photoshop. Their most recent addition is the EtchTone Filter which
simulates the look of a steel etching. You have total control over the
amount of etching, contrast, brightness and sharpness. Previously, they
introduced the Perspective filter that uses a camera example to enhance
depth or perspective distortion in your images.
Corel Corporation—Kai’s Power Tools or KPT plug-in filters have
been around for some time, but were purchased in 2000 from MetaCreations
by the Corel Corporation. Many of the KPT5 filters require only a blank
image to create an entirely new fractal image, texture, or 3D art. Others
add warps, spheres, or change objects into 3D buttons for use on the web.
KPT 6 is not an improved version of KPT 5, but an entirely new collection
of plug-in filters. KPT6 is designed to better interface with image selections
and layering. It features image filters like Goo, Gel, Equalizer, Materializer,
Projector, Reaction, and Turbulence. You can also add realistic sky and
sun backgrounds with Scene Builder and Sky Effects to take creativity
to a new level.
|
|
|
|
Wood texture wrapped around sphere with reverse
star bevel effect. Andromeda.
|
Velociraptor filter. Andromeda.
|
One of the most impressive effects is the Lens Flare. You have your choice
of lens, light source, intensity and you can vary the amount of lens flare
in the image. The interface menu uses both sliders and large thumbnail
representations of the final image, so it is easy to view what you design.
You can also create your own special set of preferences and save them
out as a new plug-in setting for each filter.
Human Software—The folks at Human Software have designed a full line
of innovative plug-ins to make creative design a breeze. PhotoSpray is
a plug-in that sprays groups of photo-realistic images like leaves, flowers,
candy, fruit, clouds and more. You can vary the pattern, size, opacity
and random placement of the spray on any background or image layer.
 |
 |
|
 |
| Sun added with Scene Builder filter from
Corel KPT 6. |
Lens flare filter from Corel KPT6. |
Three different types of photosprays and their associated
drop shadows are sprayed on a white background. Spray filter from
Human Software. |
Door was selected with magic wand and then warped
with Squizz filter. Human Software. |
If you like to work with text layers, the Textissimo plug-in filter features
more than 750 text effects so you can create whatever your heart desires.
Simply type your text, select the desired effect and click to preview.
You can flow and warp text along a path using OttoPaths and flow images
on paths using MagicTrack. Masking is a breeze with the AutoMask plug-in,
and image warping and distortion can easily be done using the Squizz plug-in
filter. A thumbnail version of the final image is available so you can
reset the image if you don t like the effect.
Select filter allows color correction without involved image masking.
MagicFrame enables you to create more than 420 frames for your images
and ClassicFrame provides traditional picture frames to hang around your
photos.
nik Multimedia—If you like to use graduated filters on your camera,
you can now do it in your computer with the nik Color Efex Pro plug-in
filter. If the sky is too light or off-color, you can easily darken it
using these filters. Some are graduated with gray tones, while others
can control color in the sky or the foreground. If you have light fall-off
when using a long lens, or purposely want to darken or lighten the center
of the image, you can use the darken/lighten center filters. The filter
set also includes black-and-white filters and contrast control filters.
The nik Sharpener Pro provides a consistent tool for effective image sharpening.
It is designed to sharpen an image while maintaining optimum final output.
No more having an image look sharp on the screen, only to have it fall
apart when printed. The sharpener menu will ask you for image size, printer
type, printer resolution, and viewing distance before assigning a specific
sharpening filter to your image.
In order to satisfy the varied users in digital photographic marketplace,
nik offers both a standard and pro version of Sharpener and Color Efex
software. Other plug-in collections include nik Type Efex for creating
special effects using text, and a base collection of 126 plug-in filters
called nik Efex.
Right Hemisphere USA—Finally, we come to a Photoshop plug-in that
in reality is a full-blown paint program by itself. When you select the
Deep Paint filter in Adobe Photoshop, you can create realistic painting
effects. The extensive brush selection and paint choices allow you to
easily convert photos and illustrations using artistic tools. You can
use oils, watercolors, pastels, charcoals, felt pens, crayons and more
to simulate any painting effect. You can easily change brushes, add editing
layers, change the percentage of the effect, or apply it only to certain
image sections.
|
|
|
|
|
Comparison image with and without sharpen
filter. Before on rightand sharpen on left.
nik Multimedia. |
Orange to clear graduated
filter was applied to sky. nik Multimedia. |
Solarized filter from nik
Multimedia |
Deep paint menu with original
in upper left and two paintbrush variation in center and lower left.
Paintbrush filters. Right Hemisphere. |
Deep Paint allows 3-D lighting and texture control for added realism.
You can control paint thickness and reflectivity to enhance your creative
endeavors. The image sprayer can also be used to apply variations of a
single selected object onto a scene. When you have finished with your
painting effects, the altered image can be sent back to Photoshop for
further editing.
As we mentioned, there are so many Adobe Photoshop compatible plug-ins,
that we couldn’t truly give them all their deserved recognition.
We just selected a handful of our favorites to share with you. Once you
learn how to effectively use them, they will provide you a very powerful
creative edge. Are you ready to experience the power of plug-ins?
Jack and Sue Drafahl are freelance journalists/photographers living
in the Pacific Northwest. They have owned and operated a custom lab and
service bureau, Image Concepts, for many years. They can be reached at:
concepts@pacifier.com. The Drafahls new web site is: www.jackandsuedrafahl.com.
|
