Snap Art 3’s stroke placement algorithm is smarter, with more realistic and artistic results than in Snap Art 2. Snap Art 3 keeps things simple and also makes it easy to change filters without closing Snap Art and selecting a new one in the Filter menu. I like this change because plug-ins such as Snap Art tend to crowd Photoshop’s Filter menu and make it hard to navigate. Previously, all ten filters had their own menu items under Filter > Alien Skin. Snap Art’s filters are now selected in the UI’s Background panel. However, one of the best UI improvements to come from Snap Art 3 isn’t even in the Snap Art window: Snap Art 3’s filters have been combined into one filter and show up in Photoshop’s Filter menu as one (Filter > Alien Skin > Snap Art 3). The detail mask (which replaces the focus region introduced in Snap Art 2) is controlled in the Layers panel instead of the persistent Focus Control settings in version 2.The buttons and notification region at the top of the UI have shrunk and moved to the bottom of the window.The Settings panel now has its own place in the left sidebar. The five panels of settings have been reduced to four panels with more descriptive names (Background, Layers, Color and Canvas).Snap Art 3’s user interface has the same look and feel as version 2, but there have been some improvements: I’ve criticized Alien Skin in the past for interfaces that are clunky compared to what we’re used to from Adobe, Apple, and others. Multiple filters must still be composited in Photoshop.ĭespite these restrictions, the detail mask is a major improvement that puts Snap Art 3’s adjustment masking on par with applications like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. As with version 2, Snap Art 3 doesn’t apply multiple filters at once, even though you can apply multiple detail mask effects.However, you can save a Snap Art 3 detail mask to a new layer, and you can convert that layer to a mask in Photoshop. If you use a detail mask to edit an image in Snap Art and then open it in Photoshop, the detail mask won’t convert to a Photoshop layer mask.Click on the image below to see a larger version.Īlthough the detail mask is a major improvement, there are some things it can’t do: (See Figure 1 for the actual settings.) The result is vibrant swirls of color representing the stained glass. #ALIEN SKIN SNAP ART 3 PHOTOSHOP PLUGIN WINDOWS#In this image from Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, I created a detail mask for the windows and applied the Abstract effect with a small Brush Size, low Photorealism, and maximum Stroke Color Variation settings. The Structure effect looks similar to the Detail effect but I see more posterization when I use it.įigure 2. I like the Detail effect for restoring photographic detail and the Abstract effect for creating patches of color-good for painterly techniques, though over the top if you want to keep details recognizable. The effects aren’t well documented, so experimentation will show what they can do for your images. This means you can use detail masks to tweak filter settings for a specific area and/or use the effects to change what the filter emphasizes. The detail mask applies one of three effects-Abstract, Detail, or Structure-and provides the same general settings, such as Brush Size, Photorealism, and Paint Thickness. #ALIEN SKIN SNAP ART 3 PHOTOSHOP PLUGIN SOFTWARE#Some functions that are common in other software are missing, such as the ability to show/hide layers, but the core functions are all here. The Layers panel gives you great control over detail masking. You control these masks in Snap Art’s Layers panel.įigure 1. The detail mask can have more than one mask, each applying its own effect. You paint rather than draw the detail mask, and the detail mask brush has its own size, hardness, and amount settings, which gives you greater control. Snap Art 3 has replaced the focus region with the detail mask, a major improvement in masking. In my review of version 2, I said that while it was an improvement, it wasn’t a true mask. Snap Art 2 introduced the focus region, an ellipsis that served as a mask to selective reduce filter effects. #ALIEN SKIN SNAP ART 3 PHOTOSHOP PLUGIN UPGRADE#Snap Art 3 costs $199 you can upgrade from version 1 or 2 for $99. While Snap Art 2 yields beautiful artwork, Snap Art 3’s results are not only a bit more natural in appearance, but they’re easier to create, too. Now the company has pushed the state of the art a little further with Snap Art 3, the latest version of a suite of artistic filters for Adobe Photoshop. The images they produce are artistic and organic, as if they were created by a human hand rather than a computer. Some of Alien Skin’s most inspiring products have been its artistic filters for Photoshop. Effects look like they were created by hand, not by computer.Ĭons: As in previous versions, Snap Art does not work with CMYK images, only RGB.
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