Expert: LizaL - 5/6/2005

Question
We are a professional photo studio and I personaly have used photo shop for 10 years.  I am looking for a good variety (bundle) of easy to use digital affect that my assistant and I can apply to our senior images to make them more interesting.
Do you have any ideas?
Thanks

Charles

Answer
Hi Charles,

It sounds like you're looking for good plug-ins for Photoshop. Now "interesting," of course, is subjective, and what you consider interesting might not concur with my ideas -- but I'll list some places for you to look, and you can see what you think.

Also, by "senior images," I'm going to assume you mean seniors in high school -- but if I'm wrong, please feel free to post back and let me know!

1. The first package that comes to mind when I think of Photoshop filters is Splat! by Alien Skin. In fact, they have many packages -- but I think of Splat! because it has neat border and resurfacing effects. You can also see these effects in action on their site.

Also be sure to check out the other packages Alien Skin offers; Splat! is just a start.
http://www.alienskin.com/splat/splat_filters.html


2. Corel's KPT Collection -- actually, Kai's Power Tools, which was bought out by Corel several years ago -- has some neat effects, but unfortunately the Corel Web site doesn't show you. Here's the link:
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3/Products/Display&pfid=104...


3. Auto F/X -- I have the Photo/Graphic Edges bundle, and these are really nice:
http://www.autofx.com/pge_6/pge_6.html

In fact, I recommend checking out the whole site -- there are a lot of neat filter bundles here:
http://www.autofx.com/


4. Flaming Pear is also a very good source for interesting plug-in effects:
http://www.flamingpear.com/products.html


5. I don't know anything about this company (Xaos) but they have what appears to be a neat plug-ins package -- it's for Windows, BTW:
http://www.xaostools.com/products/flashmain.html


Now you don't say what platform or OS you're running, and you don't say which version of Photoshop you're using. But with the exception of the Xaos package, I think all of the aforementioned are for Windows and Mac.

I hope this helps, and gives you some ideas. And if it's not what you had in mind, please post back but this time tell me what OS you're running and what computer platform, as well as your Photoshop version -- and also some more specific descriptions for what you consider "interesting!"

Thanks,

Lisa