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Get Eye Candy 4000! |
Adobe Photoshop is the King undisputed in photo editing. Along with that crown has grown some very inspired plug-ins. For those not familiar with them, and those that are, plug-ins are additions that can make photo editing that much easier. Some are practical time savers, and others are just plain fun. Even if you do not have Photoshop installed on your system, you can still enjoy plug-ins because most photo editing applications support Photoshop compatible plug–ins.
For a long time, Alien Skin has had a reputation for being the makers of some of the very best plug–ins on the market. Loved by professionals and hard core enthusiasts, Eye Candy 4000 is easy to use, enjoyable and has something here literally for everyone. But do be warned, this is one tool that has the professional in mind.
If you have a host application like Adobe Photoshop, Canvas, Macromedia Fireworks, Jasc Paint Shop Pro or Corel PHOTO-PAINT installed, Eye Candy will work with that host application. If you are curious about your specific application, do visit Alien Skin for details on compatibility with other programs and versions.
Installation of Eye Candy 4000 is a breeze. The instruction book that comes with the program may bring back memories of a grade school primer. Do not be misled by the "folky" appearance of the 92 page instruction book. This plug–in does mean business with a capital B. Once you have installed the application in the proper directory, you are off to explore the power of plug–ins.
The various filters that make up the program, there are 23 in all, range from such effects as textures like smoke and marble to glows and cutouts. The diverse range and the many ways an effect can be adjusted are the real virtues of a program like this one. Instead of creating images from scratch, Eye Candy 4000 allows you to apply out of the ordinary effects directly to images, layers and cutouts.
By themselves, some of these effects may not mean much. Simply applying one to an image may do little if anything constructive. The true secret and the real power in Eye Candy is knowing when to apply an effect, where to place it, and the right amount of tweaking to pull it all together. Using imagination and the many adjustable elements provided by the plug–in, you can achieve a rich range of effects.
The basic interface for making adjustments is pretty straightforward. It is this consistency across the various effects that make this plug–in so accessible. The learning curve is not that steep. Gaining the most possible from the "Drip" effect requires simply finding a sharply defined shape to manipulate. In a few moments, a solid form has become a black square oozing black liquid, or drips of any kind and shape you may prefer.
The Melt filter as you can see when applied after the drip filter turns everything soggy and rather gooey. In this case, I used an image altered by the Star filter to see how mixing and matching various filters would work. Even in this rudimentary example, the possibilities available in just dabbling can have future creative possibilities.
The wood filter takes the outline of a shape and provides that grainy surface. While I am not sure how often I would use the wood filter, it is not so much what a filter does as to how well it can allow you to achieve a look or feel that matters. There could very well be a design that may require a direct, or indirect, use of this type of imagery. With a range this great the possibilities are endless.
Using complex graphics software has never been easy. Even when you start to obtain control over a program, there are always features that you may uncover only after years of working with a given program. Eye Candy 4000 with its standardized interface and sensible layout works. There is no confusion about where things are. You never feel like you are going on an Easter egg hunt to find the tools you need. While some software makers have created visually arresting plug–ins, very few have made them easy to use. Aesthetically advanced interfaces are a feast for the eyes, however when they eschew beauty for usability, working with them becomes something very unattractive.
While Eye Candy may not be as exciting to look at as some plug–ins, it is certainly easier to use than most, and very powerful.
In the time that I have worked with Eye Candy 4000, I have yet to see a real flaw, hang up, or serious malfunction. Watching your effects applied instantly in the preview window is still something of a rush. The program really invites you to play with the controls and alterations in a GUI that is easy to use and definitely not intimidating. I do believe even a novice can walk away from it with something to gain.
Price point wise, Eye Candy costs as much, if not more, than some middle level image editing programs. This is why a program like this is more geared towards professionals and serious imaging software enthusiasts who really like to manipulate images. While this program is fun, just having filters is no substitute for the crafting that goes into transforming them into visual forms that communicate. But on the other side, this program is a ton of fun.
I highly recommend it to anyone with serious imaging needs, and those that enjoy image editing. For those looking for tools to improve image quality, look elsewhere. Eye Candy 4000 is about opening creative doors and allowing you to do so with as little difficulty as possible.
Talk to Kurt in Graphics Unleashed Forums
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