Plugin Newsletter - August 2006

 

Contents
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EDITORIAL

PLUGIN GUIDE #5: The Mehdi Plugins

POLL RESULTS: At what size do you usually print your photos or images?

NEW POLL: How much time do you usually spend on correcting and enhancing one digital photo?

THE DISCUSSION FORUMS: CS2 Reinstall, 3D Photos, Flat Brush Look, Photoshop Color Palettes, Color Conversion, Distort to Shape, PSP X Plugin Problem

FREE PLUGINS AND TOOLS: PixelSampler, MS Group Shot, Flash Slide Show Maker, Photo Extractor, Smart Photo Statistics

GRAPHICS NEWS: Lightroom Beta 3 for Windows, PhotoFrame, PatternPrint, SimpelFilter

PRODUCTS FROM THE PLUGIN SITE

ABOUT THE PLUGIN SITE

 

 

Hi,

As you may remember our new B/W Styler plugin was announced for spring 2006. Unfortunately, the release had to be delayed. It is now planned for the end of August or early September. With 16 different modes and dozens of effects B/W Styler will become our most feature-packed plugin so far. Some basic features that were developed for B/W Styler will also make their way into the other PhotoWiz plugins in future. For more information about B/W Styler see
http://thepluginsite.com/products/photowiz/bwstyler/

As you can see from the news section below Adobe Lightroom is finally available for Windows. I had a first look at it and was a bit disappointed. I found that it doesn't work as fast and isn't as intuitively to use as RAWShooter. Another problem with Lightroom is that it only works with Windows XP SP2. Although most people use this OS version, it still isn't a good step to ignore all other Windows users. I hope Adobe will at least improve the speed issue until the final release with the help of the RAWShooter guys, otherwise it looks as if Lightroom will have a hard time.

Kind regards,
Harald Heim

www.thepluginsite.com

 

 

PLUGIN GUIDE #5: The Mehdi Plugins
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In #5 of the Plugin Guide series we will have a look at the Mehdi Plugins, a collection of 26 filters, which are useful for special image effects. Three small tutorials will show you how to create a sepia mood, simulate an old film effect and imitate a thermal camera and night vision look with them. Two tips for using the Projection and Curves plugin are also included.

http://thepluginsite.com/knowhow/pluginguide/mehdiplugins/

 

 

POLL RESULTS: At what size do you usually print your photos or images?
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More than 320 people let us know their preferred print size in the latest poll. Here are the results:

1. 8 x 12 inch, 20 x 30 cm 41%
2. 4 x 6 inch, 10 x 15 cm 26%
3. 12 x 18 inch, 30 x 45 cm 11%

4. 5 x 7.5 inch, 13 x 19 cm 8%
5. 6 x 9 inch, 15 x 23 cm 6%
6. 3.5 x 5 inch, 9 x 13 cm 3%
7. 20 x 30 inch, 50 x 75 cm 2%
8. 24 x 36 inch, 60 x 90 cm 1%
Smaller than 3.5 x 5 inch or 9 x 13 cm 1%
Larger than 24 x 36 inch or 60 x 90 cm 1%

Surprisingly most people seem to prefer printing at 8 x 12 inch / 20 x 30 cm, which is the output format of most inkjet printers. So it seems most people prefer printing their photos themselves. Only on the second places comes the classic 4 x 6 inch / 10 x 15 cm. Almost 15% like printing at poster size best.

For more poll results, please visit the Know-How section at

http://thepluginsite.com/knowhow/

 

 

NEW POLL: How much time do you usually spend on correcting and enhancing one digital photo?
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Often you need to process photos in Photoshop or similar applications to make the best of them. There is always something that can be fixed or improved. Nevertheless, some people are satisfied with the photos that come out of the camera whereas some pros spend countless hours to turn a photo into a work of art. So our latest poll deals with the time that people spend on correcting and enhancing ONE of their digital photos. Choices range from "No time", "Less than 1 minute" to "More than a day".

Please cast your vote at the bottom of
http://www.thepluginsite.com/

 

 

THE DISCUSSION FORUMS: CS2 Reinstall, 3D Photos, Flat Brush Look, Photoshop Color Palettes, Color Conversion, Distort to Shape, PSP X Plugin Problem
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Here some of the latest messages from The Plugin Site Discussion Forums:

shuggy asked: "... if I reinstall my original [Photoshop CS 2] disk 1....will it give me an option to repair rather than install? 2....will I lose my extra filters/plugins that I´ve installed? 3....I think this happened after installing the CS2 patch, any known problems with this patch?"
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2186

edithbrosch wrote: "... I would be very interested on a soft with them I can make a 3D photos: as for example: ... if I look from an angle I see the portrait and from other angle the same portrait but with the eyes closed... "
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2177

rachnasingh wrote: "I want to make a design in adobe photoshop cs where the look is like a flat brush . something like when we use a 8" wide bristle brush to paint the wall . i can show a small image if someone can help me"
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2179

Allen-H asked:"Does anyone know of a site from where I can download some free color Palletts for CS2 please"
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2183

chapleski asked: "Does anyone know how I might convert a photo of a buffalo (American bison) and change it to look like a white buffalo, realistically, using a plugin? Thanks."
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2188

fbj asked: "Is there a way for PS CS2 to transform an image to fit a defined shape? I'd like to create the form (eg an ellipse) and have the image (eg a rectangle) transformed/distorted to fit. I also own Illustrator..but have not used it in awhile...so an action/etc for Illustrator would work for me too."
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2201

rgreene wrote: "I just upgraded to Paint Shop Pro X (v10.02 to be exact) and find that I can get plugins to work by setting their location and enabling them in the "File locations..." diaolog. But then when I exit the program and restart it, no plugins are found again..."
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2198

For more interesting discussions please visit
http://www.thepluginsite.com/forum/

 

 

FREE PLUGINS AND TOOLS: PixelSampler, MS Group Shot, Flash Slide Show Maker, Photo Extractor, Smart Photo Statistics
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PixelSampler from Twisting Pixels is a free image effects application (for Win/Mac) that can also be launched from Photoshop with the help of a plugin. PixelSampler applies nine photo effects called Black and White, Contrasting Levels, Duotone, Starlight, Starpoint, Grain, Monotone, Tonal Streak and Warm Cool. Most of the effects are rather simple, but useful. With the help of an eraser tool you can also remove the effect from certain image areas. The same application that contains PixelSampler also includes three other commercial products as trial versions.

http://www.twistingpixels.com/site_flash/details_pixelsampler.html

Group Shot from Microsoft is a free tool for Windows that lets you cut out objects like persons and assembles them to a group photo. As a requirement the photos need to be taken from the same angle, in front of the same background and under similar light conditions. Group Shot only lets you select rectangular areas and performs the cut out automatically , which doesn't work for all kinds of photos.

http://research.microsoft.com/projects/GroupShot/

Flash Slide Show Maker from Anvsoft (for Windows) can turn a folder of photos into an animated Flash (SWF) slide show with background music and special transition effects. It's wizard interface supports JPG, TIF, BMP & PNG images, offers 16 frame styles, 9 photo decorations and more.

http://flash.dvd-photo-slideshow.com/

Photo Extractor (for Windows) searches and extracts JPEG files from drives and memory cards with a trashed file system. It offers a fast image search, an image viewer and can choose which images to save.

http://mabusse.bravehost.com/photoextractor.html

Smart Photo Statistics 3.0 (for Windows) allows you to gather different types of statistics from your photos. You just need to select a folder of your photos and can see how often you used a certain camera, focal length, aperture, ISO value, the flash and so on. With the help of these statistics you can learn something about your photography habits and try to change them if needed.

http://www.softsymphony.com/photostat_descr.htm

 

GRAPHICS NEWS: Lightroom Beta 3 for Windows, PhotoFrame, PatternPrint, SimpelFilter
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Adobe finally made a public beta of Lightroom available for Windows XP SP2. Lightroom is a digital imaging workflow solution for professional photographers to import, select, develop and showcase large volumes of digital images. You can assist with the development of Lightroom by testing this new beta download and submitting feedback to the Adobe Labs forums at

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/

onOne Software announced two products for adding border and edge effects to digital photos: PhotoFrame 3 for Photoshop Elements and the Rick Sammon Digital Frame Collection with 20 signature frames. Additionally more than 100 new border and edge effects that recreate the look of film are available to all registered PhotoFrame Pro and PhotoFrame Elements users for free.

http://www.ononesoftware.com/
http://www.ononesoftware.com/instantfilm.php

GraphicXtras released the PatternPrint plugin for Illustrator. The plugin includes many fill options to create uncounted pattern designs for packaging, backgrounds, fashion and more. The plugin set comes with a large selection of bonus royalty-free pattern swatches.

http://www.graphicxtras.com/products/aiplugin17.htm

The GrayMixer and ColorMixer plugins (for Windows) from SimpelFilter are now available as Version 2.0. They have an updated GUI. They only work with RGB images of 8 bit/channel, but 16bit support is planned.

http://www.simpelfilter.de/en/bildbearbeitung/

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