Review of Alien Skin Eye Candy 4000

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One User's Opinion of Alien Skin Eye Candy 4000

© 2001 by Foster Coburn. All Rights Reserved.

Eye Candy 4000

Alien Skin Software, LLC
1111 Hughes Street, Suite 113
Raleigh, NC 27604
Web: www.alienskin.com

Software Requirements for PC

· Windows 98/NT4/2000/Me
· Pentium II or better
· 32Mb of RAM
· 24-bit color display or better
· Adobe Photoshop 4.0 or later, Macromedia Fireworks 2 or later, Jasc Paint Shop Pro 5 or later, Corel Photo-Paint 8 or later, Deneba Canvas 6 or later, Adobe Image Ready 1 or later.

Software Requirements for Mac

· Mac System 8.6 or later
· PowerPC or better
· 32Mb of RAM
· 24-bit color display or better
· Adobe Photoshop 4.0 or later, Macromedia Fireworks 2 or later, Deneba Canvas 6 or later, Adobe Image Ready 1 or later.

Estimated Street Price: $169, Upgrades $69

The folks at Alien Skin software just have creative written all over them. Sure the products let you do creative stuff, but their press releases can be even wackier. So I'm always on the lookout for the latest from them as I never know what to expect. My surprise was that Eye Candy 4000 was full of great new stuff though the look had become a bit more conservative.

Let's start with the simple changes. First, the name. It went from Black Box v2 to Eye Candy v3 to Eye Candy 4000. Each one is just an upgrade of the previous. You'll find that five filters have been added to the package. They include Marble, Wood, Drip, Melt and Corona. At first glance, you might think that some filters have been removed as they are no longer listed. Nothing has been removed, it is just that some filters have been merged into a single filter. All of the same options exist, just in a different form.

If you read my review of KPT 6 a while back, you know I'm not a fan of that non-standard interface. And so I give major kudos to Eye Candy for sticking with a standard interface while adding a ton of functionality. A good example of the interface change is the addition of the Bevel Profile Editor to the Bevel Boss, Chrome and Glass filters. You've still got a list of the most used profiles, but now you can directly edit the curve of the bevel you want. If you are familiar with editing a tone curve, then you'll feel right at home. If not, it is as simple as clicking on the data points and moving them around or clicking on the line to add new points. Getting the exact bevel you want has never been easier. Once you have the desired bevel, it can easily be saved as a preset for use again.

A simple addition is the Color Gradient Editor found as part of Fire, Gradient Glow, Smoke and Star filters. The example at left is taken from the Fire filter. Building gradients is as simple as picking the colors you want and placing them. For each placed color, you can also specify opacity to get the realistic look needed for things like fire and smoke. An eyedropper allows for easy selection of colors from the Preview window. And again, you can save your favorite gradients as presets. A really cool features is the ability to e-mail the presets or other settings to both Mac and PC users. So if you get something really awesome, it can be shared. If you are void of creativity, like me, you can use the creations of the more creative users.

Work has also been done to increase your productivity. When you adjust the sliders, they work in real-world absolute parameter units. Want that in English? If you create something that works great at 300 dpi and then try it at 72 dpi, it will now look equally great. In the past, you'd have to adjust the parameters based on the resolution you were using. If you select a filter and later decide you want another filter, just select it from the menu and you're all set. No more need to cancel and start over. I can't tell you how much time that will save me.

Another big benefit is the addition of unlimited undo and redo. I'm certainly not going to need the unlimited part, but being able to go back 5 or 6 steps can sure come in handy. Are you a keyboard fan? Great, they've added keyboard shortcuts that match Photoshop as closely as possible. To see all your changes, the preview window has been enlarged and you now have the option of seeing all layers or just the selected layer. This is great for testing a filter on one layer and then seeing how it looks when everything else is active.

Now that the Web has become so popular, so has the ability to create seamless tiles. Just by checking a check box, you can now create seamless tiles in the Fur, HSB Noise, Jiggle, Marble, Swirl, Water Drops and Wood filters. Below is an example of the Marble filter with the seamless tile checkbox enabled. That can be taken one step further by using filters as Live Effects in Fireworks 3/4 or Canvas 7. This is a great way to create artwork that dynamically changes using these cool effects.

OK, so we've covered lots of changes and we've yet to talk about any effects. Wait no more as there are definitely cool effects to discuss. One of the new effects, Melt, allowed me to easily take a winter photograph and turn it into the interesting image at right. Almost as if someone had thrown water on an ink jet print.

Even with the new filters added to the package, it is the tried and true filters that are still the ones I'll use the most. What used to be Inner Bevel and Outer Bevel (The Boss for Photo-Paint users), is now the Bevel Boss. And with the ability to edit the bevel, it doesn't disappoint at all. I've used it on the text below to give it the nifty 3D look. Then I used the Shadowlab to give it a very nice drop shadow. Sure, most image editors have a drop shadow filter, but Eye Candy's is just enough better to make it worth using. The finished image below took only a couple of minutes and yet the result looks great.

My choice for the best new filter is Chrome. The presets give you the choice of the metal you want to imitate. Plus you can choose any image you want for the reflection map. Resulting images are nothing short of incredible. Again, the image below took only a couple of minutes to create.

Of all the plug-ins available, the Eye Candy filters have always been my bread and butter. Sure there are other packages that might provide more glitz. It is just that Eye Candy gives you the filters that you can use on an everyday basis. So if you can only afford one set of plug-ins, you want Eye Candy.

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Foster D. Coburn III has written six best-selling books on graphics software and is currently the Webmaster of the Graphics Unleashed Web site.

Alien Skin Eye Candy 4000

By: Alien Skin

Eye Candy 4000 is a collection of 23 time-saving filters that will fortify any user's creativity. Eye Candy is the only filter set on the market that combines practical effects like shadows, bevels and glows with stunning effects like Chrome, Fire, Smoke and Wood. This easy-to-use set is consistently ranked one of the top-selling graphics plug-ins in the world.

Xenofex

By: Alien Skin

Xenofex is a collection of 16 inspirational special effects that will energize any graphics project. Realistic natural phenomena and sophisticated distortions have never been easier to create. The interface is simple and intuitive, and includes a fully resizable and zoomable preview window that allows you to see the effect on any part of your image with a single click. Xenofex also includes over 160 presets to help you begin creating complex special effects in seconds.

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_{Last Updated Tuesday January 30 2007.}