Plugins for Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom, PSP & others
Plugins for Photoshop, Elements, Lightroom, PSP & others
Plugin Newsletter - February / March 2011
CONTENTS
B/W STYLER 1.03 FOR MACOS
X: New 64-bit version for Photoshop CS5
LIGHTMACHINE 1.02 FOR MACOS X: New 64-bit version for Photoshop CS5
COLORWASHER 2.03 FOR MACOS X: New 64-bit version for Photoshop CS5
HYPERTYLE 1.05 FOR WINDOWS: Renders 2 to 4 times
faster
HARRYS FILTERS 4 FOR WINDOWS: New 64-bit version, resizable window and speed enhancements
PHOTOFREEBIES 2.01 FOR WINDOWS: Dialog resizing improved and dll dependency removed
THE PLUGIN SITE PANEL 1.05: Support for latest plugin versions
PARTNER RECOMMENDATION: Pixmac - A Microstock
Photography Provider
POLL RESULTS: Have you ever done HDR photography?
NEW POLL: What types of photo enhancement plugins do you prefer? Would you use the 64-bit or Standalone/Lightroom version of a commercial Photoshop plugin?
THE DISCUSSION FORUMS: Serial Number Problem, MTTC Problem, Plugin Installation Problems, Windows 7 and Plugin Dlls
FREE PLUGINS AND TOOLS: Richard Rosenman
Plugins, FilterForge FreePacks, Pixel Bender 2, GuideGuide Panel, ExposurePlot
GRAPHICS NEWS: Puzzle
Pro 3, Alienskin 64-bit Plugins, Portrait Professional 10, Silver Efex
Pro 2, AKVIS Sketch/NatureArt
Dear Reader,
Finally all of our PhotoWiz plugins are available as 64-bit Mac versions. Plugin Galaxy will follow soon. After doing some more tests with our plugins it seems that speed increases of 2 to 3 times can be achieved with 64-bit plugins if RAM is a critical factor. Otherwise the time saving only lies between 20-30% compared to the 32-bit version.
We have also updated three Windows plugins lately: The free Harrys Filters 4 and PhotoFreebies 2.01 plus the commercial HyperTyle 1.05 plugin. Additionally version 1.05 of the free The Plugin Site Panel (for Win/Mac) has also been released.
By the way, a Spanish edition of my book about
nude and portrait photography was published this month. It is sold in
Spain and eight countries of Latin America. Chinese and Polish editions
will also be published soon. An English version is not planned at the
moment. Sorry. For more information see
here.
Kind Regards
Harald Heim
B/W STYLER 1.03 FOR MACOS X
New 64-bit version for Photoshop CS5
B/W
Styler simulates the whole workflow of B&W photography. It offers
B&W conversion with six different techniques and recreates traditional
B&W effects. It emulates 42 historic film types and various ISO rating,
lens filters, lab development strategies, paper types, color toners, special
lab effects and more. It also applies selective B&W, split color,
vignette blur and mist effects.
Version 1.03 of B/W Styler contains a 64-bit version for Photoshop CS5. As with the other PhotoWiz plugins we now only offer one version of B/W Styler 1.03, which consists of PowerPC 32-bit and Intel 32/64-bit plugins in one universal binary. As a result they cannot be used in Photoshop 7/CS and Photoshop Elements 1-4 anymore. But we still provide the previous version for people who use these old applications.
Apart from several UI improvements B/W Styler now also displays selections in the preview. The Soften effects of Expert Mode as well as the Black Mist and Blur Vignette effects are finally rendered correctly after pressing OK.
For downloading a demo version
and more details visit
The
B/W Styler Product Page
LIGHTMACHINE 1.02 FOR MACOS X
New 64-bit version for Photoshop
CS5
LightMachine
combines shadow/highlight, virtual lighting and color-based photo enhancement
tools in one plugin. It corrects brightness, contrast, color and saturation
in shadows and highlights independently, lets you place shadow/light spots
similar to a real photo studio and achieves special effects, e.g. glows,
sunsets, high key, selective b/w effects, color replacements and polarizing
filters.
As with the other PhotoWiz Mac updates LightMachine 1.02 features a 64-bit version, an improved UI and various bug fixes.
For more details and a demo version see
The
LightMachine Product Page
COLORWASHER 2.03 FOR MACOS X
New
64-bit version for Photoshop CS5
ColorWasher
is primarily a color correction tool, but it also enhances the contrast,
exposure, saturation and shadow/highlights of digital and scanned images.
It incorporates automatic, semi-automatic and manual tools for correcting,
enhancing and restoring photos.
The new 64-bit and UI enhancements in version 2.03 make it even more productive. And with the removal of the 30,000 pixel limit, ColorWasher is now able to process gigapixel images without much RAM, just like our FocalBlade Mac plugin.
For more information and downloading a demo
version visit
The
ColorWasher Product Page
HYPERTYLE 1.05 FOR WINDOWS
Renders 2 to 4 times faster
HyperTyle is a Photoshop plugin that lets you apply texture, surface,
paint, erosion, transparency, edge, frame and shadow effects to images.
All effects are based on seamless textures. The demo version contains
a Freeware main effect that does not place watermarks to the image.
Version 1.05 renders 2 to 4 times faster than
previous versions. 1100 additional textures are now offered for download
to registered customers. Several UI improvements make it a bit easier
to use.
More details at
The
HyperTyle Product Page
HARRYS FILTERS 4 FOR WINDOWS
New 64-bit version, resizable window and speed enhancements
Harrys Filters 4 is a freeware plugin with 69 image effects. It is our
oldest and most popular Photoshop plugin. It includes filters for color
adjustment, artistic effects, colorful gradients, impressive patterns,
warping images, adding noise effects, encrypting and decrypting images,
zoom effects, mirroring and paint effects as well as natural effects like
lightning, tornado and polar lights.
Version 4 contains a 64-bit version, a resizable
window with visual styles and speed improvements for 8 of the 69 effects.
A few compatibility issues have also been fixed.
More details at
The
Harrys Filters Page
PHOTOFREEBIES 2.01 FOR WINDOWS
Dialog resizing improved and
dll dependency removed
PhotoFreebies for Windows consists of 12 freeware plugins with photo effects
like sepia, saturation gradients, b/w conversion and color space transformations.
Version 2.01 saves and restores the dialog size for all plugins simultaneously.
Both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions are now installed by the same installer.
Additionally a dependency on Msvcr80.dll was removed from the 64-bit versions.
More details at
The
PhotoFreebies Page
THE PLUGIN SITE PANEL 1.05
Support for latest plugin versions
ThePluginSite Panel is a free flash panel for Photoshop CS4/CS5 for Windows
and MacOS X. It allows you to apply our Photoshop plugins in a convenient
way. The new version 1.05 was updated to work with the latest versions
of our plugins. Please note that it now only supports PhotoFreebies 2.01
and Harrys Filters 3/4 under Windows.
More details at
The
TPS Panel Page
PARTNER RECOMMENDATION
Pixmac - A Microstock Photography
Provider
We added a new Partner
page which features other web sites and companies which we cooperate
with and whose services convinced us.
Our PhotoWiz products are often used on royalty free stock photography to enhance or change the characteristics of a photo to better suit the particular web or print project. So we have teamed up with leading microstock photography company Pixmac, who have millions of images online and one of the fastest and easiest-to-use search engines, to give you 10% extra on any Credit Pack purchased at Pixmac. You would just need to enter the code THEPLUGINSITE10 in the promo code box. This code is valid for three month.
Have a look at what they have to offer here
www.Pixmac.com
POLL RESULTS
Have you ever done HDR photography?
487 votes were collected in the poll about HDR
photography. Here are the results:
I
do it only occasionally. 26%
I am interested in trying it but never have. 20%
I do HDR photos all of the time. 19%
I am unfamiliar with this technique. 17%
I am not interested in it. 8%
I prefer to create HDR-like effects from single shots. 7%
I gave it up again. 2%
45% of all voters are actively doing HDR photography and an additional 20% are interested in the topic. 17% are not interested or do not like it and another 17% have insufficient knowledge about it. As it seems HDR photography is a hot topic, even if less than half of all voters make use of it.
For more poll results please visit the
Resources section
NEW POLL
What types of photo enhancement plugins do you prefer? Would you use the 64-bit or Standalone/Lightroom version of a commercial Photoshop plugin?
This time we have three polls for you, but each poll consist only of three items. The poll questions the following:
What types of photo enhancement plugins do you
prefer?
Would you use the 64-bit version of a commercial Photoshop plugin?
Would you use the Standalone/Lightroom version of a commercial Photoshop
plugin?
THE DISCUSSION FORUMS
Serial Number Problem, MTTC Problem, Plugin Installation Problems, Windows 7 and Plugin Dlls
After updating the forum software and removing almost 4000 forum members, who had never posted a valid message, no more spam reaches the board. Post of new members now have to be manually approved. This may seem a bit inconvenient, but also helps to avoid spam. We may deactivate it again in the near future.
Here are the latest interesting or unsolved posts on the forum:
Serial Number Problem
Don wrote : "After a couple of years I finally got a good computer
but now a software problem.... I have Chromasoftware Photographic filters....
Every time I call up this filter it ask for my serial number indicating
this is 30 day version. After putting in the number, it says serial number
accepted. The next time I call it up it again ask for the serial number
again."
Read
More...
MTTC Problem
carlita wrote: "Hi folks, I wonder if anyone can help with this problem,
I have CS5 with Mystical Tint Tone and Color installed as a plugin, if
I open an image in CS5 then go to the Mystical Tint Tone and Color filter,
the filter opens but it does not open the image which was active in PS5
It does open via the file menu in Mystical Tint Tone and Color."
Read
More...
Plugin Installation Problems
marion666 wrote: "Hi, ive got problems with filters on W7 as well.
On my 32bit almost all filters worked in PSP and quite a few in PS cs5.
On my 1st 64bit ps cs5 did not show the filters nor the file i checked
in preferences, but the filters installed ok and showed in psp. They didnt
however work all as they should. In PS CS3 a few filters in the file in
preferences showed."
Read
More...
Windows 7 and Plugin Dlls
Dixie wrote: "I have windows 7 and 64 bits psp 9.What dlls do I use
and where do I install them.? Can I use the same ones I used for vista
it was 64 bits tooo.And would you tell me the name of them to make sure
I have all of them right?"
Read
More...
Feel free to post comments or start a discussion topics
at
The Plugin Site Forum
FREE PLUGINS AND TOOLS
Richard Rosenman Plugins, FilterForge
FreePacks, Pixel Bender 2, GuideGuide Panel, ExposurePlot
Richard Rosenman released
a few new plugins (for Windows). The Peter De Jong Attractor plugin generates
light patterns,
Buddhabrot and Fractus produce Julia/Mandelbrot fractal images, the Diffusion
Limited Aggregation plugin draws cracking patterns on special images and
the Box Fitting plugin generates random boxes. The Halftone plugin was
updated with antialising and a grayscale option.
Visit website...
Filter Forge Freepack 5 (for Win/Mac) is called
"Hearts" and contains seven filters that create Valentine's
Day themed textures and effects. Freepack 4 (Distortions) of FilterForge
is now also available for MacOS X.
Visit website...
Version 2.1 of the Adobe Pixel Bender Plugin
(for Win/Mac) was released. Pixel Bender lets you write or open filter
code that is executed on the graphics card (GPU) of your computer. Several
filters are already included. More filters can be found on the Pixel Bender
Exchange. Version 2 only works in Photoshop CS5. If you are use Photoshop
CS4, you need to get version 1.
Visit website...
GuideGuide is a flash panel for Photoshop CS4
& CS5 (for Win/Mac) that provides a similar functionality as the grid
tool of InDesign. Eight parameters define how the guide line will be created.
Visit website...
ExposurePlot is a freeware tool (for Windows)
that analyzes your usage of the focal length of your lenses in jpeg photos.
It also displays charts for ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
Visit website...
For more free plugins and tool, please visit the
Resources section
GRAPHICS NEWS
Puzzle Pro 3, Alienskin 64-bit Plugins, Portrait Professional
10, Silver Efex Pro 2, AKVIS Sketch/NatureArt
AV
Bros released Puzzle Pro 3.1, a Photoshop plugin (for Win/Mac)
for creating all various types of jig-saw puzzle effects. It offers a
Layout Mode for designing the puzzle and a Puzzle mode for applying effects
to it. To purchase AVBros products with a 20% discount click here.
Visit website...
Alienskin has now updated all of its Photoshop
plugins to 64-bit. You can get the latest updates from their web site.
Visit website...
Anthopics Technology released Portrait Professional
10 (for Win/Mac), an application and plugin that can be used with
Photoshop, Aperture and Lightroom. It offers various options for fixing
skin blemishes, removing wrinkles, grease, sweat or shine highlights,
adjusting face lighting, removing red eye and whitening teeth and eyes.
Version 10 includes new sliders to control all aspects of the nose, better
eye controls, face shape controls and an "Exaggerate" slider
to achieve more dramatic results. It also contains a Child mode and an
Enhance Skin Only mode. Different priced editions of Portrait Professional
are available.
Visit website...
nik Silver Efex Pro 2 (for Win/Mac) is a black-and-white
conversion software with GPU-based image rendering for Photoshop, Lightroom
and Aperture. New in version 2 are a history browser, a dynamic brightness
feature, Amplify Blacks and Amplify Whites options, visual presets categorized
by photographic style, a soft contrast effect, fine structure options,
an image borders feature and the ability to add color back to the images.
Visit website...
AKVIS Sketch 12 is a standalone tool and plugin
for converting photos into pencil sketches and watercolor paintings. Version
12 introduces the Smudging parameter which creates the effect of smearing
hatching. You can observe the conversion of a photo into a drawing or
watercolor painting in real time and interrupt the process when the required
result is achieved. AKVIS also released NatureArt 2 for imitating
natural phenomena. In addition to six nature effects already offered (Rain,
Sun, Water, Lightning, Clouds and Fire) Version 2 introduces a new Frost
effect.
Visit website...
