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Photoshop Plugin Reviews From Jay Nelson - October 2008 - Plus Photoshop Tips
October 13, 2008
Here are the latest Photoshop Plugin Reviews by Jay Nelson, the editor-in-chief of Design Tools Monthly, plus some great Photoshop tips.
Beautiful, Affordable Photoshop Actions
www.PanosFX.com has a collection of 40 free actions for Photoshop that are quite impressive, and dozens of inexpensive actions that are even more impressive. Among the free actions are page curls, puzzle makers, film strip, woven mat, postage stamp, cracked wall painting, embossed label tapes (Dymo), and watch face. Commercial actions include book covers & pages, cube effects, a beautiful aged paper effect, realistic mosaics, realistic sketches, vintage photos with various edges, and film strips. Each action costs less than 10 euros.
Silver Efex Pro
Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro ($200) is a plug-in for Photoshop and Aperture that provides a powerful, flexible and effective approach to converting color images into a variety of monochrome images styles. From the school of "show me an image and I'll show you 12 variations for a start", the Nik interface incorporates dozens of tools to manage Film Grain, Film Types, Color Filters, Tinting and Toning and a Style Browser to access over 20 preset conversions. We were up and running in minutes after installing the plug-in, and found it expands our reach when working to achieve black and white excellence.
Much Easier Compositing
When pasting a new object or person into an existing image, it's difficult to defringe the edges and match the background's color and lighting. AKVIS Chameleon ($69), makes this a much more efficient and successful process. This plug-in for Photoshop lets you make a rough selection around an object, then copy it into another image. Once pasted, Chameleon realistically blends the edges into the new background and adjusts the object's color to match the background. For example, you could quickly replace closed eyes from one photo with the open eyes from different photo. Another option lets the background show through the pasted object, making it easy to create the appearance of placing an illustration on an existing texture or surface. (Think: logo on objects.) See their website for dozens of impressive examples and a free 10-day trial. It's quite amazing.
Random Photoshop Tips
Color-Code Your Layers
Photoshop lets you assign colors to layers in the Layers panel. This comes in handy when you have a complex project with lots of layers, because you can use colors to indicate the state of the layer. For example, Complete, In Progress, Unused, Old But Keep, etc. Just Control-click the layer's name, choose Layer Properties, and choose a color. (Or, choose Layers> Layer Properties or use the flyout menu on the Layers panel.)
Quickly Reset Tool Options
Here's a quick way to reset any tool in Photoshop to its default settings: select the tool, then click on the tool's icon at the far left of the Tool Options bar. This opens the Tool Preset Picker, where you can choose Reset Tool from its pop-up menu.
Expand Selection Without Rounding
When you choose Select> Modify> Expand in Photoshop, it expands the size of your currently selected area -- but it also rounds any sharp corners on the selection. To maintain sharp corners, don't use Expand. Instead, choose Select> Transform Selection and then either drag a corner to resize it, or type new values into the Options Bar.
Image Quality & Cache Levels
Photoshop stores low-resolution previews of your image in its image cache, then uses those to speed screen redraw. Unfortunately, this could mean that you're not looking at your actual image, but rather Photoshop's interpolated low-res preview. You can adjust the cache by choosing Photoshop> Preferences> Performance. For the most accurate view, set the Cache Levels to 1. If your screen redraw becomes sluggish, increase it to 4 or 6. By default, it's set to 6, which improves performance on slower machines.
Copy Merged
Sometimes you want to copy a selection in Photoshop, but its elements are on different layers. To copy everything visible within a selection, from all layers, just add the Shift key to the usual keyboard shortcut for Copy: use Shift-Command-C instead of Command-C. This is the shortcut for Edit> Copy Merged.
Photoshop Color Picker Secrets
Photoshop's color picker has more capability than you may know. When you open it, it shows the foreground color's hue in the vertical bar, and the color's saturation and brightness in the big square. However, if you click the S or B radio button (instead of the H radio button), Photoshop will display either the Saturation or the Brightness in the vertical bar and a color rainbow in the big square. This is useful for when you want to lighten a color without changing its hue or saturation, or want to choose a different hue (color) that has the same saturation and brightness as your current color.
Group Photos into Stacks in Bridge
In Bridge, you can group similar photos into a Stack, to easily work with just those photos all at once. Just select the photos you want to group and then press Command-G to create the Stack. To expand the stack, press Command-Right Arrow. To collapse the stack, press Command-Left Arrow.
Refine Edge of Selections
Photoshop has several ways to adjust the edge of a selection for smoothness, size, feathering, etc. But in CS3, all these controls appear together in a helpful dialog: Select> Refine Edge…. There, you can use sliders to adjust the Radius, Contrast, Smoothness, and Feathering of your selection, and also Contract or Expand it. But there are two features in this dialog that put it over the top: a set of icons that let you see your selection in different ways (selection border, quick mask, mask, image on white, or image on black background); and a helpful description, with examples, for every control in the dialog box. All together, this is incredibly helpful.
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Photoshop CS5 & Photoshop CS5 Extended - Best Deals From Adobe
Adobe Photoshop CS5 delivers breakthrough capabilities to help you create images with impact. Refine your
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Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended software helps you create the ultimate images
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Find CS5 upgrade options and Creative Suite 5 deals at the Adobe Store. See CS5 pricing in UK currency at the Adobe UK Store. Visit the Adobe Special Offers page to find the latest deals. Save 80% on Adobe Student Editions. Try before you buy — download a free Photoshop CS5 trial.
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Photoshop CS5 Tutorials & CS5 Resources
See our Photoshop CS5 Resource Center for Free Photoshop CS5 Tutorials, and the Free Photoshop CS5 Trial Download. See our Photoshop CS4 Resource Center for Free Photoshop CS4 Tutorials.
Exclusive onOne Software 15% Instant Discount Coupon
Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - PSSPPT06 - during the checkout process at onOne Software for an instant 15% discount on any onOne product. This includes Genuine Fractals and their amazing Photoshop Plug-In Suite.
OnOne’s new Plug-In Suite solves six of the most frequent problems photographers will encounter in Photoshop. This suite has been granted American Photos Magazine’s Editor’s Choice award for Top Image Editing Software. The Plugin Suite includes:
Genuine Fractals Pro is renowned by both photographers and printers for its finesse at increasing images to more than ten times their original size while maintaining the sharpness and detail you started with. Think of this as the industry standard for image resizing.
Mask Pro is used to remove the tough stuff — such as hair, smoke and glass — while retaining the fine detail. You choose what colors to keep, then paint away what you don’t need.
PhotoTools Pro packs hundreds of high-calibre photographic effects into one user-friendly plug-in. It’s fast and easy to use. Gives your photos that pro quality look.
PhotoFrame Pro lets you enhance your pictures with hundreds of such design effects, or simply drop your image into a pre-fab layout in Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture.
FocalPoint helps to control focus and minimize visual noise. Draw the eye to specific points in your images by using selective focus, depth-of-field and vignette effects.
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Nik Software 15% Instant Discount - Exclusive 15% Coupon
Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - NIKPSS - during the checkout process at Nik Software for an instant 15% discount on any Nik Software product. This exclusive discount coupon code can be applied to all the latest Nik Software Photoshop plugins, including Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Viveza, Sharpener Pro, and Dfine.
Color Efex Pro
52 photographic filters with over 250 effects for professional quality images.
Completely Original. Completely Indispensable.
Nik Software Color Efex Pro filters are the leading photographic filters for digital photography. The award-winning Color Efex Pro filters are widely used by many of today's professional photographers around the world to save time and get professional level results. Whether you choose the Complete Edition, Select Edition, or Standard Edition, you’ll get traditional and stylizing filters that offer virtually endless possibilities to enhance and transform images quickly and easily.
Patented U Point technology provides the ultimate control to selectively apply enhancements without the need for any complicated masks, layers or selections. Control color, light and tonality in your images and create unique enhancements with professional results. With 52 filters and over 250 effects found in Color Efex Pro, you can perform high quality retouching, color correction, and endless creative enhancements to your photographs. Download a free Trial version.
Viveza
The most powerful tool to selectively control color and light in photographic images without the need for complicated selections or layer masks.
Two of the most important factors in creating great photography are color and light. Mastering the art of selectively correcting or enhancing each of these is now possible for every photographer without the need for complicated masks or selections, or expert-level knowledge of Photoshop. Integrating award-winning U Point technology, Viveza is the most powerful and precise tool available to control light and color in photographic images.
U Point powered Color Control Points, placed directly on colors or objects in an image (such as sky, skin, grass, etc.), reveal easy-to-use controls that photographers can use to quickly adjust brightness, contrast or color in a fraction of the time needed by other tools. With Viveza you’ll spend more time shooting photographs and save hours of image editing. Download a free Trial version.
Silver Efex Pro
Complete power and control to create professional quality black and white images in one convenient tool.
Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software is the most powerful tool for creating professional quality black and white images from your photographs. For the first time, all the advanced power and control required for professional results have been brought together in one convenient tool.
Featuring Nik Software’s patented U Point technology to selectively control the tonality and contrast of the image, Silver Efex Pro includes advanced imaging algorithms to protect against unwanted artifacts, a comprehensive collection of emulated black and white film types, a variable toning selector for adding traditional toning techniques, over 20 one-click preset styles, and a state-of-the-art grain reproduction engine that help produce the highest quality black and white images possible from your color images while providing more freedom to experiment. Download a free Trial version to use Silver Efex Pro.
Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - NIKPSS - during the checkout process at Nik Software for an instant 15% discount. This exclusive discount coupon code can be applied to all the latest Nik Software Photoshop plugins, including Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Viveza, Sharpener Pro, and Dfine.
Exclusive 15% Discount On All Topaz Plugins - Use Coupon Code PHOTOSHOPSUPPORT - Includes Bundles And Upgrades
Enter our exclusive discount coupon code PHOTOSHOPSUPPORT during the checkout process at Topaz Labs for an instant 15% discount on any Topaz product, including bundles and upgrades.
Topaz Labs Photoshop plug-ins are specifically designed to expand a photographer's creative toolbox by harnessing powerful image technology developments. Photographers everywhere are now taking advantage of the creative exposure effects, artistic simplification, unique edge manipulation, and top-of-the-line noise reduction offered in Topaz products. The Topaz Photoshop Plugins Bundle is a super powerful Photoshop plugins package that includes the following Topaz products:
Topaz Adjust
Deliver stunning and dynamic images with this uniquely powerful plug-in that features HDR-like abilities and enhances exposure, color and detail.
Topaz Detail
A three-level detail adjustment plug-in that specializes in micro-contrast enhancements and sharpening with no artifacts.
Topaz ReMask
The fastest and most effective masking and extraction program with one-click mask refining.
Topaz DeNoise
Highest-quality noise reduction plug-in that removes the most noise and color noise while preserving the most image detail.
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Provides creative simplification, art effects, and line accentuation for easy one-of-a-kind art.
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Take control of the detail depth of your images with extensive smoothing, texture control and edge enhancement tools.
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Drastically improves the quality of web images and other compressed photos.
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Photoshop Masking Plugin Fluid Mask - Exclusive Instant Discount
The 4 1/2 out of 5 star review of Fluid Mask at MacWorld begins by saying that this "Photoshop plug-in takes the pain out of extracting backgrounds," and goes on to recommend the latest version, stating that "Fluid Mask is a very effective tool for separating objects from their backgrounds. It offers a variety of useful features for tackling almost any difficult image, from wispy hair to complex foliage. Online video tutorials and live training sessions help ease the learning curve."
Our friends at Vertus, the makers of Fluid Mask Photoshop Plugin, have set up a special exclusive discount for PhotoshopSupport.com. Go to our Fluid Mask page for a special, exclusive discount link.
Fluid Mask is designed for photographers, image editors, graphic designers and all those who take digital image editing seriously. In a streamlined interface and workflow, Fluid Mask instantly shows key edges in the image and provides comprehensive easy to use tools that work with difficult-to-see edges and tricky areas like trees & lattices. Fluid Mask will also preserve all-important edge information for a professional quality cut out. Go to our Fluid Mask page for more info.
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Did You Know You Could Create An Entire Website In Photoshop?
SiteGrinder Photoshop Plugin - Create Websites Instantly
There often seems to be a strict division of labor within the world of web design and development. Creative professionals tend to stick to the Photoshop domain, while those well-versed in scripting are left to the task of implementing their work. Indeed, the two realms are quite different from each other, to which any of us even vaguely familiar with either can easily attest.
Essentially, Photoshop is a no-holds-barred design studio, offering the artist a seemingly endless array of creative options. On the other hand, HTML, CSS, Java and the like follow strict rules of engagement, requiring the developer to take any number of esoteric concerns into consideration in order to ensure that designs are properly displayed on the web.
Turn Photoshop Into A Complete Web Design Tool
SiteGrinder seeks to bridge this gap between design and development. Basically, SiteGrinder turns Photoshop into an easy-to-use and fully functional web design tool. With SiteGrinder, designers will now have the freedom to totally let their creativity loose and then, without skipping a beat, transfer their designs to the web. Bringing esthetic concerns together with more practical considerations, SiteGrinder is an amazingly powerful tool that would make a fantastic addition to any web designer's bag of tricks. Mac OS X and Windows versions of the SiteGrinder unlockable demo are available now via download.
Photoshop CS4 Essential Skills - By Mark Galer And Philip Andrews
Brimming with beautiful pictures, Photoshop CS4 Essential Skills guides you through a project-based, progressive curriculum so that you can build all the essential skills to enhance photographs creatively and professionally with Photoshop CS4. If you are an aspiring professional or a student learning photography, digital imaging, or design graphics, you'll be amazed at the stunning results you can achieve. A DVD is included free.
The Essential Skills Photography Series from Focal Press uniquely offers a structured learning experience for photographers of all ages, with both the underlying theory and loads of invaluable 'how to' and real-life practice projects - all from the most talented photography practitioners/educators in the world.
Read 2 free sample chapters:
Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4
Transforming Smart Objects In Photoshop CS4
Find more Photoshop CS4 tutorials on our Photoshop CS4 Tutorials Page.
Read 2 free sample chapters from the Adobe Photoshop CS3 version:
Adjusting Exposure in Adobe Camera Raw CS3
Photoshop CS3 Tutorial High Dynamic Range
Find More Adobe Photoshop Books at Amazon.com
Find all the latest bestselling Photoshop books at discount prices at Amazon.com.
Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4
