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Intellihance 4 Pro |
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 Helps you enhancing all the color parameters of your images, either automatically (just push a button, the plugin does the whole rest), manually (then working as a combination of all the options available under Image -> Adjust...) or as a mix between the two.
Among the great features of this product are the fact that you can simultaneously view different versions of the image, that there are a number of presets (for Flatbed scanners, digital cameras, magazines...) which you can customize at will. It is also closely integrated with the other Extensis products, and also with Photoshop, so you can access the various default settings from the Extensis menu without having to load the plugin itself.
In the end, it does a great job, it does it fast and easily, you can create your own preferences or use the built-in ones, and it is far better than the version 3.0... One small regret though : working with multiple views of your image tends to slow things down a lot. |
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 Now in version 2, this one helps you making masks : just select the colors you want to keep, the ones you don't want, use one of the tools to make your mask... too good to be true ! The Magic Brush is one of the most impressive tools I have ever played with in PS4 - ever painted masks with a brush that KNOWS what should get red and what should not ? The new functions in v2 include more precise color selection tools, plus the Edge Blender to soften the edges and remove unwanted halos, and a better integration in Photoshop.
Only one regret : you will need some time before being able to really use it to the max, but once you're done... |
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 This one is a set of 2 extremely interesting tools : PhotoBars is a set of fully customizable toolbars for Photoshop that should content all those who regret that lack in their favorite app (they have been updated and are now fully working with PS5) ; there are also a number of very useful effects with presets and numerous parameters (PhotoButtons, PhotoGlow, PhotoCastShadow, PhotoEmboss, PhotoBevel) that perform very well all those standard effects, and are not much different from those in PhotoTools 2 ; but the PhotoTips by Deke MC Clelland Himself have been removed, as well as PhotoText (rendered useless by PS5).
The new filters included are PhotoTexture, an amazing texture generator that fits perfectly well into PS, and PhotoGroove, an advanced beveller that is almost as good as Painter´s.
The last goodie in the pack is PhotoAnimator, a standalone application for making animated Gifs, that works perfectly well with PS thanks to its support for layers, and can now be called directly from PS.
In the end, nothing you will find no use for : everything here is both extremely handy and incredibly useful, even if the toolbars need some getting used to... |
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PhotoFrames 2 |
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 This plugin makes it real easy to create artistic frames, whether they are elaborate or simple. You can add up to 3 colored frames at the same time, they can be presets sold with the plugin (a huge collection) or frames you create yourself (using non-prepared photos gives very interesting lighting and texturing effects), you can save your frame sets, tweak and manipulate them in anyway... The new version has added a considerable host of new features, such as the possibility to create the frame in a layer of its own, standard frames, a new interface closer to the standard Adobe interface, the possibility to have multiple frames at once, a number of effects such as glow and bevel, making it the ultimate tool for thejob ; the only thing I have not been able to test was the collection of frames which come with the product. |
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PhotoGraphics |
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 Truly amazing, this one works in fact as a mini application launched from Photoshop, enabling the user to perfectly control text (everything you could expect, from baseline to precise tracking), flow it along paths and vector shapes (in a perfectly intuitive and easy way), and finally create and color simple vector paths and shapes. In fact, the general interface and controls reminds a lot those you find in XPress or Illustrator... Another nice touch : designs created with the plugin are stored inside the image, but can also be stored alone, so you can use them on different images.
In the end, one can only be admirative, because this product really fills a gap ; but there are still a couple of things missing : speed could be better, flowing text being very resource-demanding ; there is no way one can import/export files with real vector apps such as Freehand or Illustrator; and finally, it lacks basic boolean operations on shapes, such as crop, merge, etc... |
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Also note that Extensis offers free its PhotoBevel and PhotoText plugins, part of its
PhotoTools suite. |
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