Plugs 'N Pixels 01

8/23/2019 Plugs 'N Pixels 01

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IMAGE CREATION, MANIPULATION & EDUCATION

plugs-n-pixels


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This is the Premiere issue of Plugs N Pixels, a free ezdedicated to celebrating the plug-in, a marvelotechnology designed to extend the functionality Photoshop. As if Photoshop and other image editapplications arent already fully capable of enabling yto fulfil l your creative dreams! But throw in an endleselection of smartly engineered plug-ins, and there is

limit to what can be accomplished.Each issue of Plugs N Pixels will offer you a great cover imacreated using a handful of plug-ins, as well as featured prodpages to inform you about the currently available plug-ins aapplications technology.

ISSUE #1reated and produced for free

distribution to the Photoshopplug-in community by

Mike Bedford

WEBSITE: www.plugsandpixels.com

MAIL: [email protected]

Layout created in ACD Canvas X.Final PDF by Acrobat 9 Pro.

Text and images byMike Bedford

plugs-n-pixels

welcome!

Pages 3-6: Behind The Cover ArtThe fiery cover scene was created using several plug-ins an

native imaging effects. This tutorial takes you through the entcreative process, complete with screenshots

Pages 7-9: Topaz Photoshop Plug-ins SuiteTopaz Labs products are perhaps the best deal in plug-ins

Plug-In InformationPages 10-11: Auto FX Mystical Tint, Tone & Color

Page 12: Auto FX Mystical LightingPage 13: Auto FX Photographic EdgesPage 14: Auto FX Dreamsuite and Gel

Page 15: Vertus Fluid MaskPage 16: Photo Wizard ColorWasher and Photo Freebies

Page 17: The Plugin Site Plugin GalaxyPage 18: AV Bros. Puzzle Pro

Page 19: PowerRetouche

Page 20: Closing artwork

table of contents
mailto:[email protected]://www.plugsandpixels.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.plugsandpixels.com/mailto:[email protected]


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behind the cover artUsing Photoshop-compatible plug-ins is an uncharted creative adventure. One can spen

hours experimenting with different combinations of plug-ins. This issues cover started wita single, simple photo of a tree and evolved into something entirely different! Heres how:

The plain sky in the original image was crying out for something more appealing. I searmy archive and found this cloud photo from Hesperia, California. I selected the sky withMagic Wand tool and pasted the cloud image into it. The result is a believable but much minteresting combination. When it comes to photo art, feel free to experiment.

The nex t orde r of business was to begin thi nking abou t what plu g-i n eff ects woulappropriate to add to this base image to create further interest and mood.

< LEFT: The Layers palette for the finished cover image, showing the order of effects

The cover image seems to be making some sort of environmental statement, but actuaisnt. In the course of experimentation, the dominant fire element came from Alien SkinCandy 5: Nature set (more on that later). The tree image was shot in Chino Hills, Californiabeautiful spring morning. Nice photo of a great location, but that alone is not enough. Spreparation work was necessary before the various plug-ins could be applied.
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nik Color Efex Pro 2 offers a fcalled Old Photo Color which gthe tree photo a grainy, moootherworldly appearance.

Next, I extended the subdued moodusing Center Spot, found in Digital FilmTools 55mm suite of plugins. CenterSpot added the soft-focus effect tohe edges of the image while leavinghe center in its original state. I

adjusted the balance of focus untilsatisfied with the results.

Once you begin working with plug-ineffects, you will look at your existingmages differently and also approach

your new shots with an eye toward

adding digital effects. Its better toshoot clean and add any effects later.

At this point we are a long way frthe origina l tree photo! Necontent to leave well enough alondecided to add edge effects to entire image. onOnes PhotoFraman excellent choice for rescuing yimages from the ordinar y bringing them into the extreme.

Adding a frame or edge is a ma

of looking through tens, hundredthousands of frame files until you one that suits your image and result you have in mind.

PhotoFrame allows you to not oapply the frame, but to changesize, orientation, focus and opacityaddition to adding bump mapdesired.

Our tree photo is almost finishBut when there are more plug-inshand, there are naturally more effe

waiting to be applied...
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The plain white edge of the back ofhe page curl was an invitation to make

a selection. And an active selection isan invitation to apply another plug-in!n this case I turned to the Alien Skin

Eye Candy series, specifically, Nature:Fire.

With a little experimentation, you cancreate a simple flame or an entire

irestorm in your image. At this point inmy design, the f lame had yet tospread, but spread it will, as we willsee in the steps on the next page.

At this point we have the origtree image with a new backgrouncolor effect, altered focus and aedges. What to do next? Take it the third dimension with a page effect (after deleting the cusedges white pixels)!

AV Bros. Page Curl Pro is the madvanced curling effect to be fouNot only can you do the classic cuany direction and to any degree,(among other things) you can additional curls along with bacimages! (See the masthead ofPlugs N Pixels website for anoexample of the curl effect.)

Our tree photo ended up with separate curls on opposite endthe image. But a simple cur l is enough for the plug-in artist! when there are stil l more plug-inexplore. And this is where thesuddenly began...

Lets take a moment to see howPremiere Issue! text on the ezcover was created.

I started with the text shown beand experimented with varShinycore Path Styler Pro presets I arrived at a combination of effthat comprise the text on the co(from left to right: Stroked white tmetal effect, orange glow effect drop shadow).
http://www.plugsandpixels.com/eyecandynature.htmlhttp://www.plugsandpixels.com/eyecandynature.htmlhttp://www.plugsandpixels.com/pagecurl.htmlhttp://www.plugsandpixels.com/pagecurl.htmlhttp://www.plugsandpixels.com/pathstyler.htmlhttp://www.plugsandpixels.com/pathstyler.htmlhttp://www.plugsandpixels.com/pagecurl.htmlhttp://www.plugsandpixels.com/eyecandynature.html


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Now we will see how the effects all come together! Lets work our wayfrom the background (bottom layers) up to the additional fire effects.

The background is composed of three separate images: A solid black (forthe stroked edge), a white image fil led with Alien Skin Xenofex 2Television Lines with monochrome Noise added and the same white

image inverted. (All layers were left unmerged for flexibility.)The lined layers were blended into each other with a Gradient maskand offset slightly to create the raised line effect. On additionalseparate empty layers just above the background, I applied Alien Skins

Eye Candy 5: Nature (Fire and Smoke), ar ranging the layer positionsagainst the background until satisfied with the overall juxtaposition ofeach layer element.

Meanwhile, back on the tree layer (complete with page curl andfire): I duplicated the layer and applied a radial blur to the copy (seebelow). The original layer was reduced to 55% opacity over theblurred one. Underneath the tree layers I added two copies of the

Eye Candy 5: Impact (Backlight) effectto create a white glow. A noisy dropshadow was applied to an independent firelayer, which was also dupl icated tostrengthen the opacity of the effect.

Finally, the plug-in icon and the title wereadded to finish off the design!

Working with plug-ins to produccreative imagery such as the cover othis ezine isnt hard! This tutoriasounded complicatedit was actually

harder to remember and describethe various steps I took while I wasexperimenting in Photoshop than tocreate the image composite in the

first place.Once you understand the basics of

your imaging program and theoptions offered by the various plug-

ins, at that point its only a matter ofexperimenting. Freely apply different

variations and combinations of plug-ins.
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www.plugsandpixels.com/adjust.html

topaz adjust 3

Topaz Labs products are taking tphoto forums by storm as usaround the world discover theinexpensive but excellent and hig

versatile plug-ins.Topaz Adjust, Simplify and DeNo

together make up a killer pack creative and image-correction pluins that can be used individuallyone after the other on your images

Adjust (shown at left) offers imaenhancement and creative effecsuch as small detail enhancementimage softening (both effects areminiscent of a $595 plug-in froanother developer which used

rule this product niche, but no morAdjust offers you ful l control ov

image exposure, details, color anoise reduction. Version 3 recenunderwent an interface redeswhich includes visuals of each pres

HDR effects and image correction for only $49.99

Origin
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There used to be a simplification produ

called buZZ Pro/buZZ.X, marketed by f02pUnfortunately, that developer went out of tplug-in business and for a long time there wno other product to fill the gap. Until now!

The folks at Topaz Labs not only reproducethe unique effects generated by the buZZ linbut have added more control and additioneffects as well. Problem solved.

The new Simplify 2 interface now offepreset thumbnails. You can choose fromnumber of varied effects which range frobuzsim (used on this pages backgroun

image) through cartoons, oil painting anwatercolor, color and penci l sketchinwoodcarving and underpainting (the lattershown in the screenshot above).

Of course you are free to further edit thresults of each preset, including the size anstrength of the simplif ication, level brightness, contrast and saturation as well edge type and strength (with isolated edgpreview for fine-tuning the distinction).

Simplify makes it easy to experiment wiapplying different presets to duplicate laye

of your image for unique results.

www.plugsandpixels.com/simplify.html

tooppaazz ssiimmpplliiffyy 22
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ttooppaazz ddeennooiissee 22www.plugsandpixels.com/denoise.html

Buy all three featured Topaz plug-ins(Adjust, Simplify and DeNoise)

PLUS the newClean 2 in theTopaz Photoshop Plug-in bundlefor only $129.99 (save $70)!

Dead pixels and horrible digital noise aboundn this long-exposure image of a California forest fire.

The shot was taken in 2003 with a 4-megapixelconsumer camera at night, so the odds were againstgetting a clean image from the start.Topaz Labs DeNoise 2 plug-in handled both

problems with very little tweaking, resulting in aclean yet still-sharp final version of the image.

Topaz Adjust has a lite version of DeNoise built in,but this standalone version offers even more controlover color noise, smoothness, JPEG artifact repair,amount of added grain, etc.

AFTER DeNoise

BEFOREDeNoise
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For your convenience, AutoFX's software offersautoupdate feature that updates your software while work. Another feature to help you get up to speed weach feature is the Help on Demand system that activapop-up instructions as you hover your mouse over a too

control.Af ter

adjust are hawith

effect, can sand repllater. can store c u r r e

image state using the Memory Dots, allowyou to experiment and quickly retur n tprevious incarnation of your work. Efpreviews are optimized for speed.

The image below was taken on Califor n

historic Route 66. MTTC's Antique effect wperfect touch for transforming the mod

color image into a nostasnapshot from yesteryear.

See the next page focomplete list of the 38 effec

The photo of the water fall (above right)needed a bit of tonal adjustment. I first usedMTTC's Levels option to adjust the exposure.Next I used the Tonal Soften effect to adjust theedges' depth of focus, followed by Warm

adjustments to further set the mood. Finally,Hard Posterize wrapped up the applied effects, withthe result shown above. You can tur n the Smar tLayereffects on and off, as well as adjust each effect'sopacity for maximum control, as one does inPhotoshop itself.

www.plugsandpixels.com/mttc.html

Auto FX recently released its 8th visual imagingolution offering, Mystical Tint Tone and Color. As

with its other titles, MTTC works either as astandalone application or plug-in for maximumflexibility. Choose from among 38 useful visualeffects that can be applied to your entireimage at once, or manually brushed on asdesired. An effects layers palette allows you tocombine several effects at different opacities

and experiment with the results.

Original

Original

Antique eff
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38 Mystical color, handtinting & tonal effectFor an image shot in

Nevada's Virginia City,nothing but a Sepia effect

would do. Notice howMTTC turned this recentcolor digital photo into abelievable 19th century

time-faded image.

If you're using Mystical Tint Tone and Color from withinPhotoshop as a plug-in, you will enjoy support for Layers,

ransparency, Actions, Last filter and Fade filter. Below left isa screenshot of the controls area of the standard Auto FXinterface, a futuristic 3D panel withpulldown options, buttons and a

selection of relevant tools.At right are more examples of image

enhancement using Mystical Tint Toneand Colors various effects to liven upan ordinary image.The top photo of the Queen Mary in

Long Beach, CA is the or iginalunaltered digital image. The centerimage was treated with DarkenColors as well as Hard Posterize. Thebottom image is the original imagetreated only with the char ming andwar m nostalgia-invoking Antiquecolorization effect.

Antique PhotoBlack and White

Blue SkyColor Bleach

Color ContrastColor Mixer

CoolDark Contrast

Darken ColorsDeepen TonesEnriched Black

Gradient TintingGreen Foliage

HSB AdjustHand Tint

Hard PosterizeHarden Details

Image BrushLevels

Multiply DarksOver ExposedRGB AdjustRestore DetailsSaturate ColorsSepiaSoft PosterizeSoft SaturationSoften Details

Tonal ContrastTonal DetailTonal SharpenTonal SmoothTonal SoftenUnder ColorUnder Exposed

VitalityWarmWashed Out


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The folks at Auto FX have come up with what I can only describe as a fantasyfactory for images. Mystical Lighting operates as a plug-in or standalone app,

enabling you to add dreamy lighting effects to your images. Apply either photo-realistic or surrealistic light and shading effects at will. It no lonmatters what lighting conditions existed at the time of the shoot.

Starting with a couplenice but simple scenic photo

I experimented with vario

Mystical Lighting effects such

Mist and Radial Light Caster

tur n the sunny and d

landscape above into a mood

misty, windswept Scottish mo

The tree and hillside pho

used in our earlier tuto

picked up a little bit of ma

thanks to the Fair yDust effe

Note the history-like pale

which allows for multip

undos and editing

applied effects.

www.plugsandpixels.com/mysticallighting.html

Original

Original
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Adding creative edge and freffects to your favorite photos is

thing, but Auto FX's Photo/Graphic Ed6.0 takes the process to a whole new level! Not only are you supplied with 3 CDs full of profession

prepared content, you can layer these effects using SmartLayers technology AND use the 230 artistic bruto paint on edge effects, as I have done at upper left. The application runs as a plug-in or a standalon

maximum compatibility, and offers unlimited undos (the applied effects are not permanently written to original file until you actually choose to save it).

Begin your work by choosing from among 14overall photographic effects, within theconfines of which you pick and choose edges

to apply as you explore the endless possibilities:Acid Edge, Ambient Brush, Burned Edge, Distort

Edge, Edge Brush, Edges, Frames, Montage, PhotoBorder, Photo Tabs, Putty Edges, Smudged Edge,Transfer and Vignette. Included in the screenshot atright are the Burned Edge Effect and Smart Layers in

action while below I have multiple adjustable edgesgoing on within one image for a

beautiful and unique look.Photo/Graphic Edges

version 6 is fullyb a c k w a r d

compatible withthe previously released

versions.

Never Do SQUARE Again!

www.plugs

andpix

els.com

/pge.h

tml

Ori

10,000 Edges

1000 Textures

175 Frames

230 Brushes210 Light Tiles

PDF Manual

300 presets
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When it comes to creative effects, Auto FX's own Dreamsuite Series One is a milestone in the industry, h

won over 30 top industry awards for excellence. Dreamsuite transports you into its own beautifulfull-screen, customizable creative environment, where you can apply any of 18 different visual effects to mage (or even combine various effects in one image).The examples above only scratch (or ripple!) the sur face of what can be done by applying 35mm

frames, chisles, creases, bevels, liquid metal, photo borders, depth and tone (and several more beaeffects) to your photos or artwork. Be sure to check out the entire Auto FX software line for more options

Have you ever painted images wtranslucent, glossy, neon-colortoothpaste before? You can no

It's a strange concept, but as the illustration above right shows, it's a whole new dimension in photogracreativity. Using the Gel Painter, Crystal Painter, Gel Mixer and Liquid Crystal paradigms, you can paint on toexisting images or create original artwork in a manner unmatched in traditional art (unless you coglassblowing, but this is much easier). The Gel Series does not do boring 2D. Gel effects of any color caapplied over type, graphics and photos using a paint brush or airbrush. You then add directional lighting

hading effects as desired to increase realism.

www.plugsandpixels.com/dreamsuite.htm
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F l u i dMask is a highly advanced software tool designed to mlife easier for everyone who creates cutouBuilt as a plug-in for Adobe Photosh

Fluid Mask is the new next-generat

cut-out tool. Behind the producbreakthrough technology t

mimics the way the eye, opnerve and brain perform vis

processing. I t offers intuitive, accurate and

approach to cutoutsUsing Fluid Mask yapply selections tmeta-data layer

image informatcalled the ImInformation Layer (

This is made up boundary, texture and co

information pulled from yimage.

The screenshot at left shothe Fluid Mask working environment as blue sky is dropped out of the flag photo

Cut out images with results yonever thought possibl

www.plugsandpixels.com/fluidmask.html
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16/20

Photo Freebiesare FREE!Photo Freebiesare FREE!

The Plugin Site is now offeringersion 2 of Harald Heims very

popular ColorWasher plug-in forMac and Windows. Shown at right,olorWasher works with the userelecting a neutral portion of themage from which the plug-inalculates color correction. For

best results, a second samplingrea may be made. Improvements

were made to the Highlight andhadow adjustment sliderso enable more extremedjustments while avoiding

aturation changes.Compare the adjustments

with the original in a sidey side view or as a test

trip (right).

Origin

www.plugsandpixels.com/colorwasher.htm
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The Plugin Galaxyhas come into closeproximity with theEarth once again withan updated set of

wild plug-ins for OS-X. These twenty- oneexamples display the

wide variety of fun

and interestingeffects possible with

this set. Fine-tune theresults with severalsliders, or try yourluck with the Randomoption button.

Alpha Tool Feedback

Bluuur Glass

Breakfast Grid Pop Art S

ColorizeInstantMirror

Rainbow W

Cryptology Noisee Star W

Edge Tool Page Curl Sunshine Z

O

www.plugsandpixels.com/plugingalaxy.html
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18/20www.plugsandpixels.com/puzzlepro.html

Sample features:Using a Splitter not onlyas a shape for cutting animage, but also as anobject to be drawnSaving the knife's shape aan .EPS, .AI or .AVPH(Puzzle Pro 2.0 format) fileUsing the channels of the

document (document's cuselection, RGB, CMYK or Gchannels,alpha channels and layer

transparency) as a sourcefor selectionBevel, Gaussian Blur, MotBlur, Opacity, Color OverlaHue/Saturation andBrightness/Contrast effectsSaving the selected pieca multilayer .PSD file

AV Bros. Puzzle Pro 2.0: A very puzzling piece of software...From Petah-Tiqwa, Israel comes the AV Bros. Puzzle Pro 2.0plug-in, which has as its main purpose the creation of jigsawand other puzzle piece effects in your images. A most power-ful program, Puzzle Pro 2 offers you complete control over theshape, size and lighting of the pieces you create. In addition topuzzle pieces, you can create maze, honeycomb andengraved effects! Prepare to spend some extra time with the

51-page PDF Help document and their website in orderto understand and get the most out of this plug-in.

Puzzle Pro 2.0 works its magic in two main windows(aside from the various other detailed adjustment andPreset palettes that appear from the depths of the

application!): The Cutter panel (lower right) is where theactual puzzle piece shape is edited, and the Mainwindow (above), which can take the for m of Layout,Puzzle and Adjust modes, is where you select which actual puzzle pieceswill be affected (or not) by the settings. Individual puzzle pieces can beselected and colored, as well as deleted or exported as separate piecesinto their own Photoshop layers which can be accessed separately.

The screenshot below shows how you canmanually edit the custom shape of eachpuzzle piece for full creative flexibility.

www.plugsandpixels.com/puzzlepro.html
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19/20

Jan Esmann, artist and software developerfrom Denmark, has updated his PowerRetouche suite of Photoshop plug-ins so

both the Mac and Windows versions arecomplete and identical. The suite offers afull range of image correction andenhancement options. For this example Iused the Edgeline and Posterize plug-insand a gradient mask to create thebackground image (see individualscreenshots).An example using the

Studio B/W plug-in isshown at the bottom

of the page.

Original

www.plugsandpixels.com/powerretouche.h
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20/20

Created with:nik Color Efex Pro,

onOne PhotoFrame

Photo/artwork by: Mike Bedford

CLOSING ARTWORK
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