You’ve been working in Photoshop and just finished designing a knockout interface for a website and its companion app. Now you’re faced with the daunting task of slicing and exporting layers into PNG files for the final product. PNG Express is about to make your life easier.

PNG Express is a powerful plug-in that allows you to add tags to the names of groups and layers and, with the click of a button, exports them into PNG files. Let’s say you design a series of buttons with multiple states. By creating a group containing each button’s layers and adding the prefix “PNG:” to the group’s name, you’re telling PNG Express which layers to export. By adding the prefix “STATE:_on” or “STATE:_off” to the label of the corresponding layers in a group, PNG Express will export and name resulting files based on the state. For example, a group named “PNG:map” containing layers labeled STATE:_on and STATE:_off will result in the following files be exported: map_on.png and map_off.png. Adding the suffix “–m” to a layer or group’s name will merge the layer with other visible layers. This is particularly helpful if you have layers containing blends that interact with other layers. Another great feature is the ability to specify the exact dimensions of the asset to be exported, rather than being restricted to PNG Express’ determination.

I found PNG Express to be a stable product that significantly reduces development time. The documentation and example files make it easy to learn the program. PNG Express is compatible with Adobe Photoshop CS5 or newer for both Mac and Windows.

Company: Rune Lund-Hermansen
Price: $29 (single user); $129 (unlimited business)
Web: www.pngexpress.com
Rating: 5
Hot:  Saves time
Not: 

Plug-ins frequently fill a void with features not found in the main application, or they might do tasks found in the main application more efficiently and with better results. And let’s not minimize aesthetics—many plug-ins are more visually appealing, making them more enjoyable to use. An old favorite of mine was the incredible Kai’s Power Tools, but sadly, somewhere along the line, it was sold to a larger company and left to die. This is a fate shared by many plug-in manufacturers; however, onOne Software thrives, and for good reason: they’re keenly aware of, and responsive to, their audience. They continually hone, evolve, and expand their products, giving us better ways to work with our images.

Let me give you an example. In September 1994, Adobe amazed the photographic and design communities by introducing a powerful feature in Photoshop 3 called “layers.” It was a revolutionary and practical way to work with images. Fast-forward to Lightroom, which doesn’t have a layers feature, but onOne filled the void with their impressive Perfect Layers plug-in, and now we can combine areas of multiple files using layers and masks. Quite an accomplishment.

At first, onOne made plug-ins exclusively for Photoshop but eventually expanded to include Aperture, Lightroom, and Photoshop Elements. Their latest and most ambitious offering is Perfect Photo Suite 7. It’s a big, comprehensive, powerful piece of software that stretches the definition of plug-in by straddling the border between a plug-in and a full application. In fact, I think a case can be made that as a standalone program, it might be all you need for image editing.

THE SUITE EDITIONS

Perfect Photo Suite 7 is sold in three different versions: Standard Edition, Lightroom & Aperture Edition, and Premium Edition. All editions work as standalone applications, but the Lightroom & Aperture and Premium Editions also work as plug-ins. The Premium Edition is the only one that works as a plug-in in Photoshop (in addition to integrating with Lightroom and Aperture). The onOne website clearly defines the differences between the editions, but probably the most import difference to be aware of is that the Standard Edition doesn’t support RAW files. This edition also comes with a smaller library of effects in both Perfect Effects and Perfect B&W.

All editions of the Suite include seven unique plug-ins under one roof. In the standalone version, this structure lets you move your image seamlessly between the plug-ins (called modules) in a logical workflow without being interrupted and having to return to your main application. Perfect Photo Suite 7 includes new versions of Perfect Layers, Perfect Effects, Perfect Mask, Perfect Portrait, Perfect Resize, and Focal Point. Although Perfect Photo Suite 6 used black-and-white presets, it became clear that it was time for Perfect B&W. This new module gives us the space and tools to build our grayscale images with impressive tonal separation. Photoframe was dropped from the line up, but much of it was absorbed in the other plug-ins, especially Perfect Effects 4.

One caution: Before purchasing, read the suggested minimum and recommended system requirements. Perfect Photo Suite 7 is a big program and I soon discovered that smooth sailing requires a graphics card with 1 GB of VRAM, which is listed under the recommended system requirements. The stated minimum system requirements of 256 MB of VRAM will get you in the door, but if you work with large files, the brush tools won’t run smoothly and screen redraws lag. This is important because if you can’t work with smooth precision locally, your work will only be half-baked. I know I shouldn’t compare, but the tools in Lightroom are a pleasure to use, and Perfect Photo Suite 7’s should be, as well.

THE INTERFACE

Working in Perfect Photo Suite 7 will be familiar to a lot of people, but its many tools, sliders, and features that might be new to others require further explanation. onOne Software is committed to supporting their users and provides documentation, videos, webinars, and a site called Perfect Inspiration (www.ononesoftware.com/inspiration) that uses a weekly multimedia approach to motivate and get you to explore the Suite’s impressive depth. There’s even a commercial online Marketplace link where you can shop for textures, presets, and borders that can be directly downloaded and added to the modules.

The new user interface is straightforward and easy to learn. The modules share a common interface design, which minimizes the learning curve. The centerpiece is the large preview window, but the true signature piece is its vast library of visual styles (Effects) to the left of the preview window in the various modules. To the right of the preview window is a toolset specifically designed for each module. You can create, name, and save presets based on your most-used adjustments.

New to Perfect Photo Suite 7 is the Search field, located at the top left of the interface. If you don’t know where to look but have an effect in mind, type in a keyword and all the related presets will appear. If you have a preference for certain presets, you can flag them and add them to a Favorites collection for quick access.

The standalone version now has a file browser in the interface of the Perfect Layers module; however, its navigation is limited to your main drive. To navigate to external drives, you have to choose File>Open. If you already have an image open and you select another image, you’ll be asked if you want to add the image as a new layer or create an entirely new image. It’s nice to have the option.

Photo Credit: Steve Baczewski

PERFECT EFFECTS 4

The round trip from Lightroom to any of the modules is smooth, with a reassuring, nondestructive workflow. Right-click on your image, choose Edit In, and select a module. When I have photographer’s block, the new Perfect Effects or Perfect B&W is the place to go for inspiration. Perfect Effects has a preset library with hundreds of effects organized by category, with names such as Cross Process, Edge Control, etc. The styles range from subtle to dramatic. With so many new effects, it’s inevitable that some seem repetitive and become a case of a distinction without a difference—at least they’re too subtle for me to see. You can view the Effects categories as a list or with timesaving resizable thumbnails that you can make large enough to easily evaluate the effect before selecting it.

When you single-click a thumbnail, the preview window will update your image with that effect until you single-click another preset. If you want to commit to an effect, double-click the effect to automatically apply it and create a new Empty Layer, to which you can apply additional effects. As you add new effects and layers, you can combine them with Blend Modes (click Options in the Effects Stack panel) globally or locally using masks. Your original image is on the bottom of the stack and is never changed, so you can always revert back to it.

Photo Credit: Frank Salas

PERFECT B&W

The new Perfect B&W is impressive for several reasons. First, the preset effects give you a wide range of styles to choose as a point of departure. My current favorite is an homage to Ansel Adams called Ansel in the Valley. But the true power of this new module is the amount of local control you have using the Brightness, Contrast, Detail, Targeted Brightness, and Selective Color Brushes.

I have two issues with Perfect B&W. First, there’s no ability to work in layers. Second, when loading a color image into Perfect B&W, a black-and-white conversion takes place but there’s no way to view this conversion against the black-and-white preset you choose. Toggling Before and After below the preview window will always show the original color image, and this isn’t an ideal basis for comparison.

Speaking of layers, I’d like to ask onOne to add the ability found in Photoshop that lets us hide the effect of a layer mask by clicking on the mask while holding the Shift key. Currently, you can only remove the mask.

There’s a new feature in most of the modules associated with the brush tools called the Perfect Brush. It’s a precision edge-detection tool that lets you paint in effects selectively with a meticulousness that leaves you smiling.

Photo Credit: Andy Marcus

PERFECT PORTRAIT 2

I don’t do a lot of portraits, but I recently used Perfect Portrait on a sizable job involving several portraits, and it really did a good job and was fast to boot. It automatically selects the faces in your image and targets priority features like the mouth and eyes for enhancement, placing an adjustable outline that allows you to tweak and correct them to your heart’s content. Perfect Portrait also allows blemish and color correction of the skin with a subtleness that looks real and not manufactured.

PERFECT RESIZE 7.5 PRO

Perfect Resize is a no-brainer. It works better than the Image Size function in Photoshop. It’s quite apparent, especially when going over 200%. I made several tests and all you have to do is compare the clarity of the edge quality to see the difference. Also, for people who work with canvas and make gallery wraps, Perfect Resize automatically extends the margins without any image loss.

I suggest you download the 30-day free trial. In a few days, I think you’ll see enough production and creative features to warrant buying Perfect Photo Suite 7.

Company: onOne Software
Price: Premium Edition: $299.95; Lightroom & Aperture Edition: $149.95; Standard Edition: $79.95 (upgrades available)
Web: http://www.ononesoftware.com
Rating: 4.5
Hot:  Impressively fluid and deep
Not:  Underestimated minimum requirements

CSSTurbo is an Adobe Photoshop extension that generates CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) code that’s automatically copied to the clipboard to be pasted at code level in a Web editor. The extension panel is accessed by choosing Window>Extensions>CSSTurbo – Copy Text CSS. Once the panel is open, select the text layer and set the text styles in the panel. Next, click the Copy Text CSS button, switch to your Web editor, and paste the CSS code into styles code.

When testing the extension, I used Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS5. The extension installed flawlessly and performed exactly as advertised. The only glitch I encountered was when I highlighted the text and launched the extension. The extension panel opened displaying the message “Initializing,” and Photoshop froze. In all fairness, the instructions do say to select the text layer and not the text.

I was particularly interested to see what would happen if I chose a nonstandard font that wouldn’t be available on most viewers’ systems. CSSTurbo generated the following warning: “Selected font not web safe. See http://www.cssturbo.com/help.php.” It was nice to see a warning and a link to more information. The user manual is a simple-to-read Google docs file.

I found that CSSTurbo performed well. I particularly like having the ability to set leading of my text in Photoshop and then having the CSS code generated for my style sheet in Dreamweaver. Developers who manually code using a text editor might also find this extension useful, as the code can be pasted into a text editor. The minimum requirements for CSSTurbo are Photoshop CS5 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Windows XP.

Company: CSSTurbo
Price: $29.99
Web: http://www.cssturbo.com
Rating: 4
Hot:  Easy to use
Not:  Can freeze Photoshop

To create photorealistic astral and astronomical designs, Digital Heavens offers an update to their Cosmic Pack action sets for Photoshop, bringing their offering up to version 3. Their jaw-dropping planetary and outer-space effects suite still does an impressive job of taking your designs where no design may have gone before, but with some stellar additions.

To improve the realism, new polar regions let your mind’s eye see what it might anticipate from your new home planet. The improvement to the creation of a sun is also a nice update; however, unlike some of the one-button effects, the galaxy action takes some additional finesse in order to seem realistic.

It would be nice to have an output resolution option for Web, print, HD, and custom options, given the default 20×20″ at 300 dpi for most effects that the actions create in a new window. Cosmic Pack 3 is taxing on the RAM and processor, but it’s still an improvement over the previous version. Having newer hardware is always a good thing if speed is the key, but like many actions sets, waiting as the scripts run through their routines is part of the process.

Once again, Digital Heavens is light years ahead of many similar products by making the creation of stellar, and even interstellar, images easier at a very down-to-earth price. Be sure to check out their add-ons, too.

Company:  Digital Heavens
Price: £29.95
Web: www.digitalheavens.co.uk
Rating: 4
Hot:  Easy setup; many options; beautiful results; expansion options
Not:  Processor-/RAM-thirsty

It’s easy to export a PDF from almost any program, but those same programs can’t open a PDF for editing—it’s a one-way street designed solely for output. However, PDF tantalizes us with the possibility of deconstructing it back into its original parts, especially when all you have is the PDF and not the original document it came from. Recently, help arrived in the form of Markzware’s new PDF2DTP, which can convert a PDF into an editable Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress file.

PDF2DTP installs as a plug-in for InDesign CS5, CS5.5, or CS6. To convert a PDF to InDesign, you simply choose Convert PDF from the Markzware menu. You can convert either an entire PDF, or only selected pages of that PDF. Using PDF2DTP’s preferences, you can control how images are saved, how to handle missing fonts, whether or not to create paragraph and character styles, how to convert tables, and whether to include items on the pasteboard, page numbers, and so forth. This is also where you control where PDF2DTP places your newly generated InDesign file and its linked graphics.

PDF2DTP is very fast—it took just a few seconds to convert my test files and extract the graphics as linked files. PDF2DTP can certainly save you enough time to justify its price, but don’t expect it to create a perfect copy of the original document. Layers are lost, hyperlinks are lost, and many page items will need adjusting. You’ll need the fonts that were originally used in the document, and if the pictures were downsampled when the PDF was created, you’ll also need the original image files. As long as you keep these things in mind, PDF2DTP can be a useful tool for reconstructing an InDesign document from a PDF—no matter what program originally created it.

Company:  Markzware
Price: $199
Web: www.markzware.com
Rating: 3
Hot:  Converts any PDF to a native InDesign document
Not:  Converted file requires lots of adjustments

AKVIS Magnifier can increase the size of an image to about 400% without noticeable artifacts or halos. When installing the plug-in, you have to choose between three licenses: two that allow you to use the plug-in for personal use, and one (the most expensive) that allows for commercial usage.

The plug-in’s speed is good, but nothing to brag about. The results are as good or slightly better than the resizing algorithm in Photoshop, but in order to get usable results, you’d better turn off GPU acceleration, at least if you’re on an iMac with a standard graphics card. I increased the size of the same Photoshop image using AKVIS Magnifier, Alien Skin’s Blow Up 3, and Photoshop. All three delivered comparable results, with Photoshop falling behind when going over 200%. AKVIS Magnifier didn’t work at first. There were streaks all over the image, as if someone had attacked the image with a knife.

I repeated the test several times without success, until I called support. After a bit of hand wringing and the repeated assertion that numerous customers are happy with the plug-in, my contact asked me if I could turn off GPU acceleration. That did the trick. Apparently, AKVIS Magnifier has compatibility problems with some graphics cards, but this isn’t mentioned anywhere on the site or in the documentation (which resembles a brochure for AKVIS’ other products more than a user guide).

When I finally got the plug-in to work, it offered acceptable results up to 400%.

Company:  AKVIS
Price: $89–249 (depending on license)
Web: www.akvis.com
Rating: 3
Hot:  It magnifies
Not:  Compatibility problems (graphics card); complex licensing

At this point, you’re undoubtedly aware of some of the latest lighting effect plug-ins on the market. These do everything from the more traditional cross-screen filter effects to creating dramatic depth through a variety of glistening, glamorous approaches. In this case, Topaz Labs provides the ability to either allow the software to find your highlights, or use a virtual brush to select and add the areas to include or exclude from your image.

Use of higher contrast images with a darker background definitely produces the best results, but use of anything other than the full image will not work, as there’s no support for an alpha transparency layer. Further, if you wish to replicate the last effect, simply pressing Command-F (PC: Ctrl-F) doesn’t duplicate the last use.

The presets included seem to use median settings, as they’re a bit too much as a starting point. Using these presets to see the type of effect you have is how they’re most useful; then, by adjusting the threshold up or down, it’s easier to see what settings produce the best results. After a bit of use, setting up user presets is easy and highly recommended. Topaz adds some nice new features to this update (now v1.1) with automatic light source detection and split view preview mode in their updated user interface.

At less than $30, Topaz Labs Star Effects is really a lot of fun to use on images with a defined, brilliant point of light, but it’s very easy to overuse these effects. For some sparkle, a little glow, a bit of cross-screen, or even dazzling science-fiction effects, this is an affordable, effective plug-in that just needs a few more minor things to be a real superstar.

Company: Topaz Labs, LLC
Price: $29.99
Web: www.topazlabs.com
Rating: 3
Hot: Lots of variations; brush controls affected areas; ease of use; quality
Not: No transparency support; no duplicate last settings shortcut

Most of us know that the world we work in is changing. If you’re a photographer, you’re probably learning about how to shoot and edit video with your DSLR. Just like in the photography world, the video world has a TON of plugins and stock special effects that you can purchase and use with your non-linear editing program. However, not all of the plugins and elements live up to their hype. In fact most don’t even come close.

A company that is working to change that is Rampant Designs Tools. Rampant has created over 40 different stock element packs and special effects that don’t require any special software to export them out and work with them. My favorite in their lineup is “Film FX”. Film FX allows you to give the illusion that light has leaked onto your film. It causes rays of light to appear for a moment and then vanish. The leaks can appear anywhere, from the top to the bottom or the sides. It comes with 50 different leaks you can use so the sky is the limit. They are simple to operate too. The leaks are movie files, so all you do is drop them on top of your clip and voila!

Rampant has also included 30 clips of digital film grain, dirt, and vignettes with their Light Leaks DVD. These additional effects will help you add that old feel of actual film stock. The lines of stock elements are vast, including “Film Dirt and Scratches” for that old film feel and “Glitch FX”, which gives your footage the feel of distorted digital noise and static used in many popular TV shows and Hollywood films. These are just a few of the over 40 different products they create.

Rampant not only creates video elements, but also elements for graphic artists, colorists, and sound designers. Imagine being able to not only film and edit your video, but also be able to score the video’s music, give it a stylized color feel, add explosions, gun fire, smoke, etc. You could literally explode a city inside of your editing program without ever setting off a real explosion. Technology has certainly come a long way and Rampant Designs Tools have definitely raised the bar in video stock elements.

If you’re a photographer who is expanding their craft into the video editing world, check these guys out. They can make most of your editing effects dreams come true and take your project to a whole new level!

Company: Rampant Designs Tools
Price: $79.99 and up
Web: http://rampantdesigntools.com/
Rating: 5
Hot: Reasonably priced and do not require special software to export files out.
Not:

With its advanced masking capabilities, layers with blend modes, histogram, and more than 60 adjustment parameters, the Film Stocks plug-in looks more like a complete image editor than a film simulation filter.

Film Stocks simulates 288 different color and monochrome photographic film stocks, motion picture film stocks, and historical photographic processes. In addition, users can modify stocks and create new ones. Film Stocks’ built-in simulations are very close to the originals they simulate, but it’s the customization functionality that puts this plug-in at the top of the list.

There are some 60 parameter settings users can change, but the intensity of all the effects combined can be set from 0–100 with the Amount slider. Parameters are categorized into eight groups. Color Correct uses saturation, gamma, and level sliders for each RGB color (red, green, and blue); Filter applies colored lens filters; Film Response is a curve setting; Sharpen applies edge sharpening; and Diffusion and Vignette can even be used to create light leaks. Grain alone has 12 options to set.

Film Stocks’ secret weapons are its layer, blend mode, and masking capabilities. By stroking inside and outside the area to be masked, users can quickly create accurate masks (called EZ-Mask)—even with hair—or they can brush or apply a gradient or spot mask. Individual filters and stocks can be applied to individual layers with different masks set. I actually found one flaw: there isn’t an overlay to help with brushing a mask.

Company: Digital Film Tools, LLC
Price: For Photos: $95; For Video: $195
Web: www.digitalfilmtools.com
Rating: 4.5
Hot: Endless combinations; EZ-Mask; ease-of-use
Not: No overlay view for brushing masks

Fans of Alien Skin products should be quite happy with this latest iteration of Exposure. Version 4 elevates this already popular plug-in to new heights with an improved user interface, better organization of the filters by type, some great new effects that include light leaks, and more presets.

As noted in the review of version 3 (Photoshop User, October/November 2010, p. 110), the opportunities for profitability in the world of the pro photographer are increased with the ability to offer seemingly aged or novelty-styled images. With version 4, Exposure allows the illusion of undoing photo restoration to create images that might work well in the movies, music videos, or magazine layouts that need to create a mood. A new favorite is the Wet Plate process emulation that looks fantastic. It makes newer photos seem like heirlooms that were found in an old cedar chest in the attic. On the other side, using Exposure 4 to correct digital images can help reduce saturation and produce a more lifelike image quality that doesn’t scream “digital.”

Exposure 4 includes all of the great film types and effects for scratches, aging, and so much more. From the inclusion of Kodachrome emulsions (beginning in 1936 to the most recent) to AGFA, Ilford, Fuji, Polaroid, and Technicolor, you may find yourself admiring the superfast previews. Your new look appears on its own layer, making for easy undos, and Exposure can also be used as a smart filter, making fine-tuning easy.

Given its $249 full-version price tag, Exposure was never considered cheap, but it’s a bargain given how many creative opportunities it provides. If you’re a young photographer searching for a retro effect, or an experienced photojournalist longing for the days of real emulsion and C-41/E-6 labs, then Exposure 4 may be exactly what you’re looking for.

Company: Alien Skin Software, LLC
Price: $249 (Upgrade: $99)
Web: www.alienskin.com
Rating: 5
Hot: Excellent emulation of analog film; interface; output; performance
Not: