Plugin Newsletter - May 2000

CONTENTS
========

- PEOPLE'S FAVOURITE IMAGE VIEWER

- NEW POLL: YOUR FAVOURITE GIF ANIMATION TOOL

- EDGE & FRAME TUTORIAL AND TIPS FOR MS PHOTODRAW

- NEW FREE PLUGINS

- 35 NEW GRADIENTS

- SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hi everyone,

Here are the results of the latest poll on the favourite image viewing
software with over 270 contributing people:

1. ACD See 35% (commercial)
http://www.acdsystems.com/

2. Irfan View 24% (freeware)
http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/%7Ee9227474/english.htm

3. Not listed 10%

4. Thumbs Plus 7% (commercial)
http://www.cerious.com/

5. Ulead Photo Explorer 6% (freeware)
http://www.ulead.com/

It is interesting to see that a commercial viewer is better liked than a
freeware viewer. ACD See is the best image viewing software I've seen so
far, so I'm not surprised with the results. Irfan View however is a nice
image viewer, too, but also has many other features that go beyond image
viewing.
10% of all voters used a image viewer that wasn't listed in the poll.
Seems there are a lot more than the 30 mentioned image viewers and
probably some people from other operating systems joined the poll. But
it could also be that I missed a major player, although I don't believe
it.

The new poll is about gif animation software. You can choose your
favourite gif animator from 19 tools. Please place your vote at
http://thepluginsite.com or http://pico.i-us.com

As usual, if you know a good question for a new poll or want to know
people's opinion on a graphical topic, please email me.

Sincerely,
Harald Heim

The Plugin Site -
Your guide to image and video effects
http://ThePluginSite.com

Plugin Com HQ - Plugins, effects and tools for Image and Video Editing
http://pico.i-us.com

EDGE & FRAME TUTORIAL AND TIPS FOR MS PHOTODRAW

I added a new tutorial on applying edges in Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000 to
the Other Effects/Edges & Frames page. Because PhotoDraw doesn't have
different blending modes, it normally isn't possible to apply edges
easily. That's why I created a plugin that does the necessary blending.

I also updated the advanced tips page with tips for creating special
edge effects with PhotoDraw. Especially using the PhotoDraw's 3-D plugin
can create stunning edge effects.

http://pico.i-us.com

NEW FREE PLUGINS

Two new plugins this time. Metrix is an easy to use plugin for adapting
two images to each other by matching the colors of both images. The
adapted images can e.g. be used to create a panorama image. But it only
works fine with very similar images. A nice tutorial is available on the
Metrix web site, too.
This plugin is Windows only and in beta stage and expires in two or
three months. It received a two stars rating.

http://www.panix.com/%7Ejnr

The Primus plugin is the small brother of BladePro. It is a free, but
feature limited. You can use it to create nice text effects or beveled
and textured shapes. It offers 16 presets and a slider for adjusting the
bevel height. Unfortunately you can't use more than the supplied 16
textures. You need to register it (for free) before you can apply the
effects.
This plugin received a full three star rating and is available for both
Macintosh and Windows. If you like it, you should have a look at the
full featured BladePro plugin.

http://www.comm-unique.com/

For more free plugins visit http://thepluginsite.com or
http://pico.i-us.com

35 NEW GRADIENTS

I received 35 gradients from Arkady Gursky who asked, if I could publish
them. I did that, cause they are quite nice. He used some of the shapes
from my Edge and Frame Galaxy product for these gradients, so some of
these gradients show this shape when you use them for creating
transitions in Adobe Premiere or After Effects.

If you like them or use them in one of your projects, please write a
small thanks to Arkady Gursky.

Get them from the Transitions/Harry's Gradients page at
http://pico.i-us.com

SHORT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Get more out of our scanner and digital camera with the new and
full-colored $29.95 books from Muska & Lipman.
http://www.muskalipman.com

Interested in 3D scanners?
http://www.dimension-3d.com

The Creative Composite Challenge: Create a composite image using any
software and any images and post your composite in the forum. Some
prizes are waiting, too.
http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=7279965&siteid=25519423&bfpage=graphicssoft

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