PhotoTools
PhotoTools is a collection of over 300 photographic effects that give your photos a really professional look. The components have been designed by Jack Davis, Kevin Kubota and the vendor's own staff for effects such as color and tone correction; improving shadow and highlight detail; adding sunlight, rain, snow, fog and rainbows; retouching portraits by smoothing skin, and so on. There are several black and white treatments, photo filters, camera tricks and lighting effects for adding more light and shadow to a flat-lit image.
Other effects include film simulation: with different films, toners and darkroom techniques; as well as stylized effects to recreate the look of popular movies or the effects used by professional wedding and commercial photographers. There are even one-click art effects that turn a photograph into a comic book picture or an imitation of an impressionist-style painting.
Comment
As the vendor points out, the power of this versatile package rests in the fact that you can stack the routines on top of each other to produce cumulative effects. This is a bit like using more than one filter on a camera lens, except that you are doing it after -- perhaps long after -- you've taken the photo.
Two of the most recently added tools in the package are called MaskingBug and MaskingBrush. Together they make it easy to place and blend multiple effects exactly where you want them.
Tech info
- Plugs into: Photoshop CS, CS2, CS3; Elements 3, 4 or 5; Apple's Aperture
- OS: Windows 2000 onward; Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
- Price level: Approx. $160
onOne Software
Founded in 2005 by former Extensis CEO Craig Keudell, onOne Software is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. A privately held company, it is staffed by software and photography professionals.
From the same vendor:
- DSLR Camera Remote (iPhone)
- FocalPoint 2
- Genuine Fractals
- PhotoFrame Pro
- PhotoTune
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