Plug-In Mania 2001
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> Plug-ins
by
Don Herion
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The
advent of software plug-ins for popular graphic programs has been both a blessing
and a curse. The blessing of course is the availability of new tools and capabilities
for programs like Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and Illustrator. The curse comes in
two forms. The first is expense. Some plugins cost as much as the program itself.
The second curse is the makers of the base software program (i.e. Photoshop) are
reluctant to add some new features to their programs because it will step on the
toes of the plug-in manufacturers. But overall I would have to say plug-ins are
a big plus for designers. Keeping up on what plug-ins are available, what they
do and what they cost is not always easy. What follows is a list of plug-ins for
some major Web design programs.
Adobe
Photoshop compatible plug-ins
(Also possibly Corel PhotoPaint,
Macromedia Fireworks, JASC Paint Shop Pro, Canvas 7)
Photoshop is clearly
the leader in the number of plug-ins available. Often these plug-ins will work
with other paint programs like PaintShop Pro, Fireworks, Deneba Canvas and Corel
PhotoPaint. The plug-ins are listed in no particular order. (listings are in alphabetical
order by company)
Eye Candy 4000 (Alien Skin Software
- $168)
(Photoshop 4.0,
Paint Shop Pro 5.0, Corel Paint 8.0, Image Ready 1.0, Fireworks 2.0, Deneba Canvas
6.0)
22 special effect filters that are easily applied to images. These
include: anti-matter, bevel, chrome, corona, cutout, drip, fire, fur, glass, gradient
glow, hsb noise, jiggle, marble, melt, motion blur, shadowlab, smoke, squint,
star, swirl, water drops, weave, and wood.
Xenofex (Alien Skin Software - $119) (Mac only)
(Photoshop 3.04, Paint Shop Pro 4.12,
Corel Paint 8.0, Photodraw 2000, Image Ready 2.0, Fireworks 2.0, Deneba Canvas
6.0, Picture Publisher 8.0)
16 effects, with an emphasis on natural phenomena like lightning, electrify, constellation,
and fluffy clouds. Also includes distortion effects like baked earth, crumple,
distress, flag, origami, puzzle, rounded rectangle, shatter, shower door, stain,
stamper, and television.
