Note: Free Downloads   In addition to developing some of the best Photoshop compatible plugins available, they have more than 3,000 royalty free seamless and full sized textures to download as well as an absolutely terrific collection of free designer fonts.  Look on the upper navigation bar under "download software".  A must see!

What can I say?  I'm a real user of the "image - adjust" options in Photoshop, and have run the gambit in color saturation, contrast and colorize options to get different cool effects.  I'm not sure if this filter is all that much better, except for one thing.  If you don't know how to use the features mentioned above to the best advantage, this plug in is probably for you. But then, that's what most plugins do.

It has the usual great AutoFX GUI with the option to change the color theme of the window etc. Easy to get around in, and that new feature of the wheel that will keep different tries so you can undo without loosing all the different attempts you make at being clever.  (see example)

There are 36 different effects such as 'antique photo' and "soft posterize".  It has a couple that are quit specialized such as 'blue sky' which ads a nice gradient time of blue to transparent to the top of the picture, and you can adjust all the stuff such as color mix and where the horizon is. It also has 'green foliage' which really richens up plants in a photo. Other effects are restore details, gradient tinting, tonal sharpen, and underexposed. It also has RGB Adjust, which works a lot like Photoshop's "image - adjust - variations" menu.   So, if you are tired of trying to search through all of Photoshops different menus to find ways to adjust your image, Mystical TTC is for you. One click of the button and your image is ready for your project with little fuss or frustration.

For more information or to download a demo: AutoFX
 

AutoFX has done it again.  OK, maybe there aren’t a lot of times when you’ll need an effect that makes a photo into puzzle pieces, but everybody knows that when they do need something like that, they can never find it.

Dream Suite, Series 2 has twelve different basic effects that can then be tweaked to the point of non-recognition. You get so many controls with each effect the variations are almost limitless.  Some of the nicer effects are Filmstrip (see example), Film Grain, and Film frame Art.  There are some others that are very cool, but they are so specialized, who knows when you might use them.  Such as Mesh, which imprints the photo on what looks like paper or leather strips that are interwoven.  You can adjust the size of the strips, the shape of the whole image (triangle etc) and how the photo sits on the mesh.  Plastic wrap and wrinkle is extreme, and ‘Tile’ puts the photo on a stack of tiles tossed on the table.  Plus, you can even twist, shape and play with the size and placement of the tiles.

You folks running smaller, slower machines, the time it takes to finish each effect can be a drag.  Still, if you think ahead about what you want to accomplish, and make fewer tries, the result is good enough to do the wait.

The GUI is like all the other AutoFX skins, attractive, easy to use.  Snapshot lets you revert to different tries, and the program works both as a plugin for Photoshop, or as a stand alone.  Don’t need a rocket scientist to run this one guys.  Just have to be creative.  In fact, why not design a whole web page around one effect, say Mesh.  Treat each photo or image the same, giving them different colors, or textures.  That would make one heck of a site that might look like it took you years.  I smell hero. Treat yourself, or not.  But I’m gonna have some fun with this one!

For more information or to download a demo: AutoFX
 

Photographic Edges 6
 

Be ready to be overwhelmed by this plugin’s huge choice of effects. AutoFX truly believes that ‘more is more’...not less is more, and this plug proves it.  With 10,000 edges, 1,000 matte textures, 175 frames, 230 effect brushes and 210 light tiles, you could take a whole week and still not come to the end of the creative effects you can create.

There are 14 photographic effects in all, and this new version has some much needed and welcomed upgrades.  There is new layer technology which allows you to work on layers within the plugin itself, and an easier way to remove effects with a trash can at the bottom of the layers menu much like Photoshop. It comes with a color PDF manual, which in truth is worth taking the to time to read, because this program is so extensive it could become a whole career in it’s own right.  Hundreds of presets can produce incredibly amazing effects, and if you decide to explore all the sliders and adjustments available in each of the 14 categories, you can save them as your own preset for future use.

As a stand alone program that can be plugged into Photoshop, you’ll find it more than powerful enough to give you some great images on its own.  I found the GUI a little challenging, but when you visit AutoFX’s website and see the startlingly beautiful images they’ve created, you’ll see that the opportunities are virtually limitless, and that it would be well worth it to take the time to understand this complex, professional plugin.

For more information or to download a demo: AutoFX
 

What can I say?  This is one of those cool programs that you stay up playing with until three in the morning, experimenting with all the really neat stuff it can do!  DreamSuite Gel Series could become a career in itself.  The ideas are limitless, even though you tend toward making puffy California images at first, the software can go way beyond that.  It can create amazing metal effects on text, as well as any other images as long as its got a good edge to work with.  Try taking some boring clip art, wand selecting different parts, copying them to different layers, and then access Gel Series through the plug-in menu and have fun.

The interface is like all of the other new Auto FX programs.  Softly modern and easy on the eye.  The menus are easy to follow, and like the others, if you pause with your mouse trying to imagine what that button does, a bubble window pops up and explains it for you.  This makes the program an easy one to learn quickly, and without much brain twisting you can create effects you never imagined.

Liquid crystal allows you to take text in the color of copper, silver or gold, or even rusty brown, and create amazing metal text or shapes.  It works great in layering for skins or websites.  Gel Painter option lets you paint either the object with color, or the background under the object. It also has the memory dots where you can capture snapshots of the image as you make changes, allowing you to switch back to past snapshots if you don't like what you've done.  A better idea than a history menu, it takes up way less memory on your computer. While the effect your going for may not always be what you anticipate, once you find the effect you can record the steps so you can use it on other layers to keep them consistent.

Don't install this program and figure you can just take a look at it and play later.  It will hook you in, and all priorities change.  The best part about DreamSuite Gel?  It will make you look like a hero.

For more information or to download a demo: AutoFX
 

AutoEye 2.0 examines, and then automatically enhances digital images providing full spectrum color correction, increased color vibrancy, contrast & sharpness, and rebuilt detail. Like the other new Auto FX programs, the new interface is modern and easy to look at, a vast improvement over 1.0.  Menus are easy to find and understand, and if you leave your mouse over a button confused as to what it might do?  A bubble pops up and tells you exactly what that particular effect does.  Unlike some other Auto FX software, the menus and bubbles are fast and unobtrusive, making the program quick to learn and easy to get around in.

This program seems particularly well tailored to folks who just purchased a digital camera and don't want to learn the more advanced and complex digital editing software.  AutoEye 2.0 is a solid stand-alone program that can easily and quickly fix digital photos, and works smoothly with those programs that support plug-ins.  My favorite feature is the Enhance.  It quickly does what it would take three or four steps in Photoshop to do, cleaning up the photo and leaving the image clear and bright.  If you work a lot with digital cameras and work on a deadline, this little goodie will save you tons of time.  One click of the button and it's done.

I didn't think the moiré feature was all that great.  AutoEye 1.0 left the image to blurry, and 2.0 seems to do so little I couldn't really tell the difference.  Maybe I didn't work it right, but Photoshop's Gaussian blur still seems to be the best way to nuke that problem.  I loved how the option for eliminating noise cleaned a messy image up quickly and actually thought it helped more with the moiré, at least on the image I was trying to correct.  And there is a nifty grain feature that allows you to easily add grain to your photo, sometimes helping to improve the look of the image. Something I've always looked for in Photoshop (takes to many steps).

This program is probably a must for all of you that have to clean and fix digital images, correcting the failing of today's digital cameras.  And if you work on restoring old photos, or damaged ones, there are a couple of features that you'll wonder how you lived without.  All in all, AutoEye 2.0 is a program for the amateur and professional alike.

For more information or to download a demo: AutoFX
 

Overall the effects are very nice and extremely versatile, but like most filter plugins, some modules will be found to be more useful than others.  Chisel, Dimension X, Liquid Metal and Metal Mixer effects are superb and make Dreamsuite one of the top plugins available. You can either purchase the entire suite or just choose the modules you want.

DreamSuite Series has just been released!  So check back for it's review.

For more information or to download a demo: AutoFX