Twisting Pixels Releases Classico Plug-In

The folks at Twisting Pixels have some really cool plug-ins that work with Adobe Photoshop and Corel PHOTO-PAINT. Recently they added a new plug-in that can make your photos look like a painting by one of the masters.

ArtStudioPro Classico gives you filters like Aged Paint, Artistic Edges, Cracked Paint, DaVinci, Graphite Sketch, Sketch, Painted Background and Vintage Sketch. With each filter, there are a number of settings you can adjust to get the exact look you want.

You can download a free trial version of this and other Twisting Pixels plug-ins as well as purchasing full versions at the Twisting Pixels Web site.

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Auto FX Sale Extended

A couple of months ago I told you about a big sale on AutoFX plug-ins. The bad news is that the sale ended at the end of 2007. The good news is that the sale was so successful that AutoFX has agreed to extend the sale until the end of January, 2008. Surf on over to AutoFX and find the plug-ins that meet your needs before the sale ends!

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Twisting Pixels Plug-In Sale

The folks at Twisting Pixels are having a sale on their plug-ins. Enter the Discount Code of ASPCUST and you will get 25% off of any of their products. I'm not sure how long this code will last so take advantage of the sale while you can.

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Beware the Academic Version of CorelDRAW

I got an e-mail last night from someone asking why they were unable to get the Jigsaw Puzzle Creator add-on to CorelDRAW to work. I noticed that the e-mail came from someone with a .edu e-mail address and asked if he was using the Academic version. Sure enough, that was the problem.

Just so we're clear, the special version is called CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Student and Teacher Edition. It is created so those in the academic community with limited budgets can still afford to work with CorelDRAW. Most of the popular software packages are available in Academic versions. Anyone who is a student or teacher, and can prove it, is eligible to buy. The package retails for $99 and sells for only $79.99 at Amazon.

Now let's talk about why it truly costs less and why you shouldn't be buying it. There are no printed manuals included. Obviously Corel can save money by not having to print the books and the decrease in the box weight helps on shipping costs. The hidden trap is that VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) is not included. It is a Microsoft product and Corel has to pay licensing fees to include it. So by leaving it out, they save a few more bucks on this special edition. This is what bit the person posing the e-mail question to me. For the most part, this eliminates all plug-ins and add-ons for CorelDRAW from working!

There are also some legalities about the Academic version that are often overlooked. You can't use it to make money. How many people are buying it to save money that are truly going to be using it for their business? My guess is that a large percentage of sales would violate this rule. The Academic version is not eligible for upgrades. So when you realize that VBA is not included or that you shouldn't be using it, you must buy the full version.

From time to time I hear grumbling about the "high cost" of CorelDRAW. The people who tend to complain the most are those using it to run their business. They have machines costing tens of thousands of dollars being run entirely by CorelDRAW...which costs $399 for the full version before discounts. Sure sounds like a bargain to me.

So before you run out and buy the Student and Teacher Edition, think about how you will be using it and what is missing. If you own any previous (non-Academic) version of CorelDRAW, you are eligible for the upgrade. It lists for $179 and sells for $159.99 at Amazon. For those of you who have been using an Academic version or if you are simply a new user, you'll need the full version. It lists for $399 and sells for $306.99 at Amazon. I just hate to see users who can't realize the full power of CorelDRAW because they decided to save a few bucks and thus missed out on all the cool stuff that VBA brings to the table.

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Big Sale on AutoFX Plug-ins

Were you wondering what present you could give your creativity for a holiday present? How about one of the AutoFX plug-ins? I'll tell you about all the great choices in a minute, but what you really need to know is that they are all on sale for 30% off through the end of the year. There are also some discounted bundles also on sale.

Let me give you a quick overview of the products involved:

Photo/Graphic Edges 6.0 gives you the ability to do cool stuff with edges on your images. It includes a total of 14 effects: Acid Edge, Ambient Brush, Burned Edge, Distort Edge, Edge Brush, Edges, Frames, Montage, Photo Border, Photo Tabs, Putty Edges, Smudged Edge, Transfer and Vignette.

Mystical Lighting allows you to do some amazing things with lighting in your images. Effects include Edge Highlights, Ethereal, FairyDust, Flare, Light Brush, Light Caster, Mist, Mottled Background, Radial Light Caster, Rainbow, Shader, Shading Brush, ShadowPlay, Spotlight, Surface Light and Wispy Mist.

Mystical Tint Tone and Color has effects for color and tonal changes in your images. Effects include Antique Photo, Black and White, Blue Sky, Color Bleach, Color Contrast, Color Mixer, Cool, Dark Contrast, Darken Colors, Deepen Tones, Enriched Black, Gradient Tinting, Green Foliage, Hand Tint, Hard Posterize, Harden Details, HSB Adjust, Image Brush, Levels, Multiply Darks, Over Exposed, Restore Details, RGB Adjust, Saturate Colors, Sepia Soft Posterize, Soft Saturation, Soften Details, Tonal Contrast, Tonal Detail, Tonal Sharpen, Tonal Smooth, Tonal Soften, Under Color, Under Exposed, Vitality, Warm and Washed Out.

DreamSuite Series One has eighteen filters that do a variety of cool stuff. They include 35mm Frame, Chisel, Crackle, Crease, Cubism, Deckle, Dimension X, Focus, Hot Stamp, Instamatic, Liquid Metal, Metal Mixer, PhotoBorder, PhotoDepth, PhotoTone, Putty, Ripple and Tape.

DreamSuite Series Two has fourteen more filters in a variety of areas. Filters include 2 1/4 Frame, 4 x 5 Frame, Dreamy Photo, FilmGrain, FilmStrip, Film Frame Art, Mesh, Mosaic, PhotoPress, PhotoStrips, PlasticWrap, Puzzle Pieces, Tile and Wrinkle.

DreamSuite Gel Series allows you to give your graphics a gel look. This works on both graphics and text.

Also under the AutoFX banner are Xtivity, a Flash authoring program and Pixtivity, a multimedia slideshow generator.

If you give these products a look, you're sure to find one or more that will help boost your productivity.

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