- TOPAZ SIMPLIFY
TOPAZ LABS
http://www.topazlabs.com / Approx £24/$40
Not everyone is a natural with a paintbrush, digital or otherwise, which is why there are plenty of filters and
plug-ins for Photoshop that look to turn your photos into works of art in minutes. As with many filters of
this ilk, there are the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Topaz Simplify is one of the best, thanks to its
ability to create realistic results that look as though you have painstakingly painted in every minute detail.
There are various looks you can achieve, from watercolour to oil painting, and pencil sketch to charcoal.
The plug-in opens from within Photoshop and there are a number of presets to get you started with the
vague look you are after. You can customise all of the filters that you want to use with sliders down the
right of the screen. It’s easy to completely change the look of a filter into something right for you, so not
every image will come out looking like a carbon copy of the one before it.
Despite the quality results, this is actually one of the cheaper plug-ins that we have looked at here. If you
need fine-art results, then this is definitely worth your consideration. - BLOW UP 3
ALIEN SKIN SOFTWARE
http://www.alienskin.com / Approx £59/$99
Sometimes there are photos that you want to use in your
designs and they are just not big enough. It’s a cardinal sin
to simply upscale them without thinking about the result,
but there are plug-ins that enable you to get more inches
without losing quality. Blow Up uses a similar system to Photoshop’s Resize
command, so it’s instantly familiar. The difference is that it uses powerful
algorithms to maintain high quality without introducing any artefacts.
ENLARGE YOUR PHOTOS
- PERFECT RESIZE 8
ONONE SOFTWARE
http://www.ononeso ware.com / Approx £89/$150
This is an industry-standard resizing application that uses
interpolation algorithms to enlarge photos to a high
standard. It comes in two versions: Standard and Premium. We’ve only looked
at the Premium here as it works as a Photoshop plug-in, whereas the
Standard version is standalone only. Aside from that, the Premium option
also lets you batch edit, resize CMYK, Lab and Greyscale images, and opens
RAW camera files, making it the more appropriate choice.
© Andreas Krappweis on http://www.freeimages.com