Plugins for Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom, PSP & others
Plugins for Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom, PSP & others
Plugin Newsletter - March 2004
Contents
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EDITORIAL
PHOTO GALAXY 2300 RELEASED
SPECIAL OFFER: Photo Galaxy 800 and 1600 at a 50% reduced price
THE PLUGIN SITE NEWS: Resource And KnowHow section
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES MAGAZINE: Masking Plugins
PRODUCT REVIEWS: ImageDoctor, PSP 8 Zero To Hero book
POLL RESULTS: Selling Other Plugins on The Plugin Site
NEW POLL: Your Most Used Image Applications
THE DISCUSSION FORUMS: Digital Clock FX, KPT5 XP Problem, Dot Outline, Perspective Deformation
FREE PLUGINS AND TOOLS: Mezzoforce Ice, Econym, Channel Mixer, Premiere Pro Plugins, Speed Reader
GRAPHICS NEWS: Asiva, ZBrush, Genicap, BabelColor, Dosch, SymetryWorks
PRODUCTS FROM THE PLUGIN SITE
ABOUT THE PLUGIN SITE
Dear Reader,
I have finally found some time to create an "About Us" page, so that you have an idea who is behind The Plugin Site.
It can be seen at http://thepluginsite.com/about/about.htm. Please don't be shocked of our faces :-)!
There is also a second dedicated server at thepluginshop.com now that will be used for the downloads from our Download Center. The graphicsgalaxy.com shared server will still host some downloads, but their number will be reduced bit by bit, so that it will only feature e.g. the discussion forums and galleries. So download will improve, especially for users with slow dial-up connections.
Unfortunately virus emails have become a much larger problem than unsolicited emails recently. So I can only recommend to everyone to constantly run a virus scanner or at least a firewall on his computer. In an effort to reduce these several hundred unwanted daily emails, we have deleted all our email addresses ending with "@thepluginsite.de". So please don't use one of these addresses to contact us, because they don't work anymore. I'm also considering removing some other addresses, but as long as we have a virus scanner running on our email server and a filter to delete them automatically, there should be no problem with keeping the other email addresses.
Wishing you all the best,
Harald Heim
www.thepluginsite.com
PHOTO GALAXY 2300 RELEASED
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We have just released another Photo Galaxy volume 18 months after Volume 5 of Photo Galaxy. The old five volumes are now called Photo Galaxy 1600 according to their horizontal size in pixels, whereas the new volume belongs to Photo Galaxy 2300.
Although the Photo Textures 2 volume of Photo Galaxy 1600 was already of high quality, we managed to improve the quality of the new Photo Galaxy 2300 volume even more. Photo Galaxy 2300 features more than 950 photos on 2 CD-ROMs or a single DVD. The photo textures are sorted into 118 sub categories thus offering a wide variety of visual themes. The photos consist mostly of photo textures that were selected from a pool of a several thousand photos to ensure high quality. The photos are provided as high quality JPG files at a size of 2272 x 1704 pixel (which is approx. 6 x 8 inches or 15 x 20 cm at 300 dpi respectively 8.5 x 11 inches or 21 x 29 cm at 200 dpi). The photos were taken in different places in the USA, Spain and Germany during the last two years.
The most impressive of the 118 categories of Photo Galaxy 2300 are: Brick, Cactus, Canvas, Clouds, Coal, Coffee, Drops, Fire, Fireworks, Gems, Ice crystals, Leather, Lights, Marble, Metal, Old Paper, Plastic, Pool, Relief, Smeared, Sparks and Sunflower.
For more information and for ordering please visit:
http://thepluginsite.com/products/photogalaxy/
SPECIAL OFFER: Photo Galaxy 800 and 1600 at a 50% reduced price
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We are offering the Photo Galaxy 800 CD for $19.95 instead of $40 (without shipping) and all five Photo Galaxy 1600 volumes for $49.95 instead of $90 (without shipping). These approx. 50% reduced prices are only offered until April 17, 2004.
Photo Galaxy 800 consists of almost 4400 photos on a single CD-ROM at a size of 800 x 600 or 880 x 584 pixel and sorted into 38 main categories. Photo Galaxy 1600 offers a total of 5400 photos located on 5 different CD-ROMs or a single DVD. The photos are provided as high quality JPG files at a size of 1600 x 1200 or 1760 x 1168 pixel.
For more information please visit
http://thepluginsite.com/products/photogalaxy/
THE PLUGIN SITE NEWS
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Several pages of the Resource section and KnowHow section of The Plugin Site have been updated. A lot of broken links have been removed. It is quite amazing how quickly some web sites appear and disappear again.
The Commercial Plugins page of the Resources page has been updated again with new plugin companies. Their number seems to increase more and more. The Commercial Plugins page is probably the most complete reference of them. Additionally the Commercial Premiere Plugins page and the Commercial After Effects Plugin page have been updated with dozens of plugin links and descriptions.
The Photoshop Tutorials and Paint Shop Pro Tutorials pages from the KnowHow section have been updated with dozend of new links to interesting tutorials web sites.
http://www.thepluginsite.com/resources/
http://www.thepluginsite.com/knowhow/
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES MAGAZINE:
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Issue 10 of the Digital Photography Techniques magazine shows you how to master clever lighting tricks, recreate studio lighting effects, reproduce the off-camera flash look, do an Easter bunny image composition, produce a Halftone CD cover artwork, digitally open eyes on photos. Harald Heim's Essential Plugin column reviews the masking plugins in the categories sky cleaning, blue boxing, special masking and manual masking tools.
http://www.dcmag.co.uk/news/article/mps/UAN/376/
PRODUCT REVIEWS
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Barbara Wallis and Harald Heim wrote reviews on Alienskin ImageDoctor and the "PSP 8 Zero To Hero" book from Sally Baeacham and Ron Lacey. Here are the summaries:
"Image Doctor is a great set of photo repair filters. It enables the user to make such photo corrections far more easily and quickly than can be done in most photo editors. This is a valuable addition to photo plugins and is recommended to everyone who needs and wants to correct photo blemishes and defects with ease."
http://thepluginsite.com/reviews/imagedoctor.htm
"Paint Shop Pro 8 Zero To Hero teaches you the basics of Paint Shop Pro 8 with the help of dozens of interesting and understandable examples and projects. It is highly recommended for people who want to start to fully use the potential of Paint Shop Pro."
http://thepluginsite.com/reviews/pspzerotohero.htm
For other review please visit
http://www.thepluginsite.com/reviews/
POLL RESULTS
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Last month we had a poll with the question "Would you like to purchase Photoshop plugins from other companies on our web site?" on The Plugin Site. As expected there was only a small participation of 84 people, but the results are nevertheless valid:
1. Yes, I prefer ordering on The Plugin Site. 53.5%
2. I buy where I get the lowest price. 32%
3. I don't know. I have no preference. 6%
4. No, I prefer ordering on the software company's web site. 4.5%
5. No, I prefer buying at a local shop. 2%
I buy where I get the best service. 2%
6. No, I prefer ordering through my favorite reseller. 0%
For more poll results, please visit the KnowHow section which was recently updated with the latest poll results:
http://www.thepluginsite.com/knowhow/
NEW POLL: Your Most Used Image Applications
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Our latest poll asks you "Which of these image applications and which version do you use regularly?". This poll was already conducted two times at The Plugin Site. As the graphics application market is changing rapidly, we carry out this poll at least every two years. The poll gives you the choice between 20 image applications, of which 11 allow you to choose a version number. There is also an Other item for people using less common applications. Of course you can choose more than one application or version number, because a lot of people use more than one application.
Please cast your vote(s) at the bottom of the main page at
http://www.thepluginsite.com
THE DISCUSSION FORUMS
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Here are the latest interesting posts from The Plugin Site Forums:
RennieP asks "Does anyone know where I can find a digital clock effect/filter that will simulate the kind of running clock seen at the bottom of a TV screen when a sports competition is being shown."
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=948
Icprncss asks "I recently installed the upgrade to XP and have found that KPT5 will not work in Photoshop, PSP, Photopaint, or PI. Prior to the upgrade, I had no trouble with it. Has anyone else encountered this problem?"
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=961
jammnn writes "Looking for filter to outline an Image with dashes and/or dots."
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=968
Flushed Smile wrote "I'm currently using PSP4.14 and generaly I can successfully achieve most of my graphic needs with no problem, but is there any plug-in available that improves upon the perspective deformation so that it compresses in and down as the image approaches the vanishing point? "
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=963
For more discussions and comments please visit
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/
FREE PLUGINS AND TOOLS
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The free Mezzoforce Ice plugin from A. Malas overlays the image with an effect that looks like an ice layer. There are six sliders and a few presets for influencing the effect.
http://www.kompai.lt/2m/inside.asp?lst=mf&ln=en
The Econym Plugins are a free collection of 11 plugins for Photoshop and compatible applications. Effects include page curls, page rolls, color posterization, color tinting and some other effects. There is also a contrast masking plugin, which renders very slowly, and two plugins for correcting the brightness and contrast of 16bit images. The plugin dialogs are a bit small and maybe a bit too colorful. Nevertheless you may find the one or other useful plugin among them.
http://www.econym.demon.co.uk/plugins/
ChannelMixer is a freeware plugin (for Windows) that is meant for Photoshop Elements users, which don't have a tool with that name in their application. Unlike Photoshop's ChannelMixer it lets you only do custom conversion to B&W and no color effects. Unfortunately this plugin has the same problem as his Photoshop counterpart: it doesn't keep brightness constant when converting to B&W, so you have to be careful when using it.
http://knm.homeip.net:8081/Public/ChannelMixer
The Free Premiere Plugins page on The Plugin Site now features four freeware sets of VST plugins for producing audio effects in Premiere Pro. The Voxengo Plug-ins include reverb and tempo delay effects, the Elemental Audio Inspector is a spectrum analyzer and Super Destroy FX includes a geometry plugin, DJ-like speed modifier, audio stutterer and off-speed delay. Finally Maxim VST Effects contains effects called speaker simulator, stereo delay, overdrive, de-esser, degrade, sub-bass synthesizer, vocoder and tone generator.
http://thepluginsite.com/resources/freepm.htm
Speed Reader 2.0 from Cybia (for Windows) lets you quickly browse through your drives and folders and display the text files with just a few clicks. SpeedReader now also features a basic image viewing feature that can display graphics full-size or tiled for testing seamless textures. The program supports many formats including jpg, png, bmp, psd, tga and more.
http://www.cybia.co.uk/reader.htm
GRAPHICS NEWS
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Version 2.0 of Asiva Correct+Apply Color Plugin Released
Asiva's approach to color correction, employing the creation of "maskless" selections via their patented color technology, has proven popular with Photoshop users. The new version of this plugin claims improvements in ease of use and increased precision in how corrections are applied. Mac/Win demos available.
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2223
Pixologic Announces ZBrush 2
ZBrush has always provided a unique synthesis of 2D and 3D creative capabilities, and the new version looks even better. Available initially for Windows, with a Mac version on the way. Demo available.
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2249
Genicap Introduces Graphics Software that Integrates Superformula Algorithm
Available as a standalone program for PC, or as an Illustrator plugin for PC and Mac, this provides a new approach to quickly generating a wide variety of organic-looking 3D objects. PC demo available.
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2242
Mac Version of BabelColor Color Comparator and Translator Software Released
Available previously for Windows, the Mac version provides the same approach to displaying color data and color patches from two RGB spaces selected from thirteen pre-defined industry standard spaces. Demos available.
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2239
Dosch Design Releases Roads & Architectural Details V2
Each disk provides a collection of hundreds of detailed models, provided in a variety of popular 2D and 3D formats. At the same time Dosch released new texture and HDR high-res images, so there's lots to check out on the site.
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2258
Artlandia SymmetryWorks 3 for Illustrator
The latest version of this venerable Mac/Win Illustrator plugin makes it easy to create patterns from photographs or scanned images. It even supports opacity masks.
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2225
For daily graphics news updates, visit
http://www.Graphics.com
