Filters / Plugins Manual for Photoshop, PSP, Painter etc PC

Introduction

graphic xtras

Andrew’s Plugin’s Documentation

Plug-in 8BF installation

Introduction

Hope you find this set of plug-ins of interest and use. The plug-in set documentation is the same for all the plug-ins in the series, so you will see the same for the full collection as well as the individual plug-ins as well as the demos. The plug-ins ‘Andrew’s Plug-ins’ series are all plug-ins based on the excellent FilterMeister plug-in. If you wish to find out more about plug-in development, the FilterMeister website is a great place to start. Other places to check being the Adobe’s SDK site.

The series is a follow on from the ‘Andrew’s Filters’ series.The plug-in series is only for the PC Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 etc. The plugins are now for 32bitand 64bit versions. Find out more via the graphicxtras video channel on Youtube.com as well as via our video tutorials on Tipdesk.com Andrew Documentation last updated: September 2015 The key files in this set are all 8BF format files. The INI / PDF etc can all be ignored if you wish. (the ini files are only for the 32bit) Plug-ins: Please place in the application’s plug-ins folder. The plug in folder varies from application to application. Some make it easy and obvious to find, some don’t. Some allow the folder to located in a user-preferred folder. Some allow multiple folders. A few of the standard plug-in folder locations are listed below. The plug-in folder can also change from version to version so you might find the plug-ins should now be installed in ‘effects’ instead of ‘plug-ins’. Please just check your application’s documentation, written or electronic or otherwise. Another good place to check is google or another search engine: search for ‘plug-in installation <application name goes here>’ The process of installation is not automatic, simply copy the files from the 64bit folder to the program files folder. With the 32bit ones, copy them to the Program files (x86) Photoshop ® CC 2015 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2015\plug-ins\...]

Photoshop ® CS4 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4\plug-ins\...]

Photoshop ® CC 2015 32bit [c:\program files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2015\plug-ins\...]

With Paint Shop Pro, the plug-in location can be changed via the file > preferences > file locations; you can also use this to find the exact location of the plug-in folder.

Other applications. There are 100s of applications that support the plug-ins. The list below of other applications is limited. Also, Canvas etc have now moved on many versions since the plug-in folder listing. The plugins should still be fine in those versions as they were in the earlier application version. Not all future applications support plug-ins as they change in functionality (Expression is a case in point) Canvas 6 [c:\program files\Canvas 6\Canvas Tools\plugins] Painter 2016 [c:\program files\Corel\Painter 2016\Plugins\Support files\Plugins] Painter X [c:\program files\Corel\Corel Painter X\Plugins] Painter IX [c:\program files\Corel\Corel Painter IX\Plugins] Illustrator CS3 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS3\plug-ins] Expression 3.3 [c:\program files\Expression 3\Plugins] PhotoImpact 8 [c:\program files\Ulead\Ulead PhotoImpact 8\Plugins]

If the application allows for this, a useful location for the 8BF plug-in files is a sub folder of the plugins folder. You can then isolate all the graphicxtras 8BF files in a particular location. Adding them to a single folder means you can always just delete the plugins in a single stroke (especially useful if demos and you want nothing more to do with the plugins!) as well as the ability to copy them quickly to a new version of the application

Installation of other files INI files (32bit only) Most, if not all, of the sets come with INI files. The INI files contain presets generated by graphicxtras for a variety of different effects.

They have been created to show off some of the features of the plug-in set as well as just general settings. As the plug-ins have literally countless possible settings, the presets can only show a limited selection of those. If you don’t want to use the settings files, simply ignore them as they are not essential to the running of the plug-in set.

You can open the ini files via the open button on all the plug-ins. If you wish, place the INI files in the same folder as the 8BF plug-ins but if you prefer not to include all the files in the same folder, put them in an adjacent folder as this will make the searching for the files less tiresome. Use the ‘open’ button to access the files.

PDF files / documentation The plug-ins do not reference the documentation, so no tooltips. You can place the documentation anywhere. The documentation is not included in the set but is available online via http://www.graphicxtras.com/manuals.htm and that all points to the graphicxtras section on issuu.com which includes all our documents.

That way, you will always have the most up to date information. Also, you can always check out the other documentation for shapes / brushes etc.

The documentation is in Adobe Acrobat reader PDF format. You will generally need the most up to date version of the reader to check out the documentation (though in general the format is saved as 1.4 PDF but it could also be in Portfolio etc format) The documentation is for all the plug-ins, so please just refer to the general sections (such as this) as well as the required plug-in volume section.

Another great source for information for the plugins is our video tutorials http://www.youtube.com/graphicxtras as well as tipdesk.com TMP files (32bit only) Not included with the set but generated by the plug-in set. All the plug-ins create temporary files, they are generated now in the temporary Internet folder. You will see them as tmp format files and can be deleted (if they are not deleted by automatic processes). The tmp files hold the data for resetting the plug-in as well as temporary randomized data for the dialog to actual output of the plug-in.

TXT Serial number files etc, please store away for future use. The serial number is not required during the installation of the plug-ins or the expanding of the zip file. Find in ‘serial numbers’ folders for individual sets; for the collection, in the file ‘updates and serial numbers’ ZIP files This is the download set. You will need an application to unzip the ZIP files. Vista etc should have no problem with zip files. A quick search of any search engine ‘zip unzip pkunzip’ should display countless applications to unzip zip files. Stuffit epander from Smith Micro is a very good tool.

Removal of files If you wish to remove the set Delete all the GX*.*BF files Delete all the related *.INI files (if using 32bit version) Delete all the related *.tmp files This is a manual process, there is no de-install tool Once the GX* 8BF plug-ins have been removed from the plug-in path, the plug-ins will no longer appear in the filter menu of Photoshop / Paint Shop Pro etc The plug-ins have no impact on the system registry so there are no keys etc to delete there

Trademarks / Images Trademarks Photoshop and Illustrator and Adobe are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated Paint Shop Pro and Corel are registered trademarks of Corel Corporation Painter and Photo-Paint are trademarks of Corel Corporation Microsoft and Windows and Vista and XP are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation Any other trademarks and registered trademarks are owned by their respective trademark owners. We have no connection whatsoever with any of these companies Screenshots Any screenshots showing Illustrator or Photoshop or After Effects or Fireworks or Flash are with kind permission of Adobe Systems Incorporated Any screenshots showing Paint Shop Pro or Painter or Photo-Paint and PhotoImpact are with kind permission of Corel Corporation.

All screenshots are purely shown as reference and are in no way to be interpreted as a recommendation of the product or plug-ins or companies. Please contact us if there are any errors noted in the documentation and we will do our best to correct them Backups Please make a backup of the plugins and purchase links onto CD / DVD etc.

Website To find out more about the plugins on graphicxtras.com, please check out http://www.graphicxtras.com Find out more also via our video tutorials section http://www.youtube.com/graphicxtras where you can find out how to install, load, use them in different color modes and more Contact details To contact graphicxtras.com, please e-mail support@graphicxtras.com or call UK 01622 688 375 Copyright The plug-ins vary in copyright, see the about box for each plug-in. The documentation is (c) 1999-2015 Andrew Buckle / Abneil Software Ltd Company All the plug-ins are supplied by Abneil Software Ltd, a registered UK company.

Plug-in updates Updates The updates are currently free, this may or may not change in the future If you purchased the plug-ins via shareit.com you will have not received the update links. Please contact graphicxtras.com for the most update update links for the plug-in(s).

If you purchased the plug-ins via the paypal links on graphicxtras.com and they were the individual plug-in sets, please store the link as you will be able to use this in future to download free updates. Also, please store the included serial number as the actual location of the link might vary in the future If you purchased the plug-in sets as part of a collection set, please contact graphicxtras.com for the update links for the plug-ins included in that set. The links are not automatically sent out but we are happy to send them on upon request (please include the serial number / purchase information with this request especially if the order was some time ago) Version The plug-ins are often updated with new features and settings as well as bug fixes etc. The web site plug-in pages list the latest version and release date of the plugin set, check here to see if there is an update available Twitter Also, you can check out the latest news by following our Twitter page, graphicxtras https://twitter.com/graphicxtras

Application support Key application The plug-ins are for Adobe Photoshop, they use the Photoshop plugin format. All the features of the plug-in set are specific to Photoshop. The support by other applications varies and some features will not work or are ignored. Even versions of Photoshop differ and earlier versions will not support all the features of the plugins The plug-ins work in Photoshop CS4 CS5 CS6 CC 2015 2014 Photoshop CS3 Photoshop CS2 Photoshop CS1 Paint Shop Pro 8 9 X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 Painter 11 Painter X Painter IX Canvas Photo-Paint PhotoImpact Note, the plugins are in 64bit and 32bit versions - put the correct set into the plugins folder for the 64bit version of the app or 32bit The plug-ins also work in many other applications. The website includes many demos (full versions in many cases) for you to check out and see if they work fine in your favourite application: be it PhotoImpact, Carrara, Illustrator, Fireworks etc Not all applications are listed. For a more comprehensive list of plugins, please check out the FilterMeister list on the FilterMeister site.

Some things like scripting etc will definitely not work in other applications, issues also abound with the access of the color from the foreground and background toolbox palette Windows versions I would suggest that you check the demos to see if the plug-ins work on your OS and application. As I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have all the versions of the OS and apps, perhaps some will work and some wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Advanced settings / errors The plug-ins work in CMYK Grayscale LAB color modes etc as well as 16 bit color mode but some of the features will not work or will not work as expected.

16 Bit settings will not work relating to any inverse etc settings as they expect a maximum value of 255 for the pixel color. In these cases you will generally just see a white screen or black screen The plug-ins should generally work in LAB / CMYK but the default format is RGB 8 bit. Some applications do not use these color spaces so please ignore this information in those cases.

If the plug-ins are not enabled in the filter menu then you can safely assume that they do not work in that color mode.

Basic use - Menu Filter menu Access the plug-ins via the filter menu of the application. This varies from application to application. Sometimes the filter menu is along the top bar or the filter menu might be tucked away as a sub menu. The third party plug-ins such as the Andrewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Filters might be accessed via a sub-sub-sub menu, it really does vary from application to application.

With Photoshop, access the plugins via the filter menu. Please consult your productâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s documentation to find the correct menu for the plugins.

AP [Blur]

AP [Color]

AP [Distort]

The plug-ins are all displayed in themed categories, so you will see the blur related plug-ins in a category AP [Blur] in the filter menu; the other plug-ins might be in AP [Color] AP [Distort] etc. The plug-ins are named by their category and unique name, so they are called blur - maxmin, blur - shake etc if they are blur plugins; or color - coloringset if they are for the color category. The category is a very loose term as the plugins in general do a lot more depending on the various output or effect mode etc setting

AP [Dots]

AP [Edge]

AP [Gradients]

You cannot change the name of the plug-in in the menu (without the use of a resource editor). The plug-ins cannot be renamed by plugin commander etc as with the filter factory themed plugins

AP [Lines]

AP [Noise] blur - bars

AP [Paint] blur - blowing

AP [Patterns]

blur - blurs

blur - burnt

blur - cross focus

blur - fragment

Basic use - Color modes

R

The plug-ins work in RGB 8 bit color mode by default but you can access them also in CMYK etc. In the case of LAB, the red channel should be interpreted as Lightness, G as the A channel, B as the blue channel; with CMYK, the red channel for cyan, green channel for magenta, blue channel for yellow etc The plug-ins also can be used in a single channel, so select the red channel and then apply the plug-in to that channel. The plug-in can also be used in a single channel mode in CMYK or LAB

G

B

The plug-ins are designed for use in 8 bit color modes but they can be used in 16 bit etc color modes. Not all the color functionality works well in 16 bit as there are issues with limits on the maximum value (255) in some of the code. If the plug-ins are purely working on manipulating pixel values without reference to the inverse or thresholds of color then the plug-ins will work fine in the 16 bit color modes etc

Basic use - Buttons

XTREME

COLOR

BLEND

OPEN

The plug-ins include buttons to perform basic tasks. Not all plug-ins have the same buttons and not all the buttons perform exactly the same tasks.

Xtreme button (or tumble) This randomizes the current settings to a totally new value. Not all the controls are changed but most are. The button is useful for trying out a range of different settings and seeing many of the possibilities of the plug-in set. The end result may be a blank screen if the settings are too extreme for the effect, reducing all the pixels to a single color setting.

To restore the values after using the Xtreme, click the reset button.

Some settings such as the post settings or the effects modes etc are not touched by the Xtreme button. You can also just use ALT-X Color button Color button randomizes only the color sliders in the bottom center of the dialog, the small red green and blue sliders. The sliders are added post effect / pre output to the image. If you want to create a red output, move the red slider to the right. To create an orange color output, move the blue and green to the left and the red to the right Blend button The blend dropdown includes 100 different output settings such as apply output as inverse or a tile. This randomizes the blending / output option used.

Open Preset button (32bit only) Opens a preset settings file. All the controls will be updated with the settings stored in that file.

SAVE

RESET

Save preset button (32bit only) Saves all the current settings. If you are using a plugin called Noise_RandomTimes, I would suggest saving the preset (ini) file to a folder marked 'noise' and then to a file marked 'randomtimes' or 'noise_randomtimes' and ended with the effect type, say 'golden glow' 'warped' 'blue 1' etc Reset button (32bit only) Reset to factory default 100% 50% buttons Set preview to 100% (slow in some cases..) or 25% (quicker but less accurate)

100%

POST-RND

Post-Rnd button Use this to randomize the color and gradient settings for the post output settings. If the dropdown is set to ignore, then clicking this button will have no effect. This setting is post the color and blending and effects modes. ALT-n Others Plug-ins have other buttons such as tweak etc, these vary from plug-in to plug-in.

Basic use - Dropdowns 1

Options

option option option option option option option option option option option option option option

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Dropdowns / combos allow the user to explore 100s of different settings. The plug-ins all come with a number of general dropdowns as well as dropdowns only for that particular plug-in and functionality.

You can run through the dropdowns by selecting the dropdown control and using the up and down arrows on the keyboard or just display a large number of dropdown items and select the required entry Blend dropdown / output dropdown Controls the final output of the effect. If set to the first entry, the effect is as is without any modification (other than the color sliders). If the dropdown is set to inverse, the output effect is applied in inverse, and so on. Most of the blend options blend the effect and a color channel or effect such as tweaking the red channel or applying a solarisation or posterization to the effect. The dropdown is found next to the red / green / blue slider/trackbars at the bottom of the dialog Some of the blend options include a border effect or frame so you get the original and the effect but only in the border.

Some of the blending or output options are tiling or mirror options and should work in 99% of cases but some of the plugins modify the pixels and source in many different ways and the complexity of the distortion doesn't allow for any tiling of the output. The tiling options include tiling from different corners (as a tiling of the left corner in some cases might lead to a blank screen or an uninteresting image) Some of the blend options include edge or sketch like effects such as 'dark edge' [BLENDING OPTIONS] Output effect without modification [INVERT] Output the effect but invert the effect [WRAP] Wrap the color. Normally the color is clamped at 255 or 0 (in the other direction). The color wrap wraps the color around the 255, so if the output effect is 300 or so, the end result would be 50 (dark) Can be used to create some very useful color effects especially in combo with the color sliders [BOUND] This uses the foreground and background color palette to limit the range of the color. This sometimes will not work in some applications as the color information is not returned to the plugin [HI CONTRAST] Output the filter result with high contrast.

[TILE1234] Take one of the corners and tile to create a seamless tile, great for patterns [MIRROR] Reflect the image around the vertical center.

[LINEAR1] Output the effect but only as a subtle change to the original pixel information similar to the fade command in Photoshop [LINEAR2] A similar fade of the effect [LINEAR3] A variant fade of the effect

Basic use - Dropdowns 2 Options

option option option option option option option option option option option option option option

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Effect dropdown The dialogs have an effects dropdown and this changes the mode of the plugin. The basic mode (or first item) in the dropdown applies the effect as is.. a randomization or edge plugin. If you set the dropdown to tone or shift etc then the effect is used as a source for tone settings or blurs or shifting of pixels etc. The strength of the application being set by the mode slider (generally beneath the dropdown). Each effect mode uses the mode strength in different ways, so shift extreme, it is best to have a 0 or close to 0 setting but the blur or tone etc might have no effect if less than 100.

[BASIC MODE] Default mode and displays the effect without any change or blur or shift [TONE MODE] Apply the output to the original pixel information but input as a tone effect.

[SHIFT SUBTLE] A paint like / distortion / shifting of pixels of the original based on the information from the effect. Modify the strength of the effect via the [MODE SLIDER]

Layers dropdown/transparency All the dialogs have a layer dropdown (click the advanced button to see it). The layer dropdown is only used if you are working on a layer or if you are working in CMYK mode. If you are in CMYK, the dropdown modifies the black element of the image. If on a layer, you can modify the layer transparency. The options include setting the transparency to the average of all the channels, use none, invert the mask, etc. Once you have applied the effect and you can then manipulate the layer via layer styles etc as normal or apply transformations or apply additional effects or add to the layer / subtract from the layer Post dropdown This post effect is applied after all the effects / blending / plug-in effect: the last thing before final output to the image. The slider beside the dropdown controls the strength of the post-effect, to the right the image will be darker, to the left, it will be lighter (in general). If the setting is marked as a gradient effect then you will need to click to the post-rnd button to randomize the underlying gradient overlay. The threshold settings also use the post-rnd button in some cases. The post-rnd is ignored for source / bicubic etc. The different gradient and gradient blend settings apply a gradient in a variety of ways to the effect. The gradient may totally dominant the image or blend with the image effect.

The gradient effects are either applied as grayscale or in color, using either radial / linear / diamond / quadrant etc gradients as well as varying number of lines and blending (difference etc) with source / effect / gradient.

[POST - IGNORE] Just apply the effect, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t apply any additional modification to the output [SOURCE] Modify the output of the effect using the source image, likewise with the BICUBIC [GRADIENT 1] Apply a grayscale gradient as an overlay [GRADIENT 3] Apply a colorful gradient as an overlay

Other dropdowns These depend on the plug-ins. The dropdown modifies one or more aspect of the plug-in effect. Instead of creating 1000s of plug-ins with the basic underlying effect, the dropdown enables a single plug-in to work like multiple plug-ins. The gradient plug-ins were originally 10 or 20 different plugins, they are now all bundled into one single plug-in because of the addition of a single dropdown / combo

Basic use - Ignore color By default, all the color channels are output (though they might be modified in some way). The top right set (the location in the majority of plugins) of checkboxes can be used to ignore the calculated output and replace it with the original pixel information.

If you set the R checkbox, then only the G and B channel information for the effect will be used, the R (Red) channel will be replaced with the original red.

If you click all to ignore, then the basic effect will be ignored (and the only output information to be available would be the output of the transparency information if available and selected).

If in LAB mode, then the R is replaced by L (lightness) etc

Basic use - Foreground Some of the plugins (not all) use the foreground and background color settings in the current color palette to limit the color range of the effect.

The gradient plug-ins generally use the foreground and background color settings to fill the gradient start and end points.

BACKGROUND

The pattern plugins also use the foreground and background color settings to control the white / black relationship / replacement of color.

FOREGROUND

Changing the foreground and background setting can, though not always, totally change the application of the plug-in effect and the end result. If the plug-in generally results in color without any reference to the source image, then you can always experiment with changing the color of the foreground and background and use the re-apply plug-in option without re-displaying the dialog Some applications do not supply the BG and FG color information to the plugin and the plugin will fail in these instances or just fill the screen with black or white only The foreground and background color settings vary from application, some display the settings in the toolbox (such as in Photoshop), others in their material palette etc. To change the foreground in Photoshop, go to the toolbox and double click on the foreground color icon.

TOOLBOX

The foreground and background colors are not saved in any presets so when you re-apply a preset, the end result might vary for this reason (if you suddenly say... hang on, this effect was blueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and now it is red, then that might be one of the possible reasons

Basic use - Presets This refers only to the 32bit versions, sadly because of functionality change the presets and reset are not available with this version with the 64bit plugins.

The plugins all come with presets or settings files. They are stored in INI files. You can use or totally ignore the presets if you wish.

The presets can be opened via the OPEN button and you can save your own via the SAVE button.

If you are using Vista, you may or may not have access to the current default location for the presets. The solution to this is to save the presets to your user area such as documents or some similar folder.

The presets files just include 100 or so values, and a lot of zero values.

Each of these values is a reference to one of the sliders or dropdowns etc.

The presets files can be edited manually, though it is not recommended as this might corrupt the file and you will lose the original effect. If the file it corrupted it should (!) have no effect on the plugin other than a failure to read the file.

You can use a preset file from a different graphicxtras plugin as all the files are all in identical format, you might find the effect of interest.

The preset files do not save color settings such as the color of the pixels or the foreground and background settings or other settings such as the current layer or color mode. So if you use the plugin with a green / blue foreground / background color setting on a layer and in CMYK and then save the result and then try the same setting on a RGB image with a different foreground etc setting, the end result might be different.

Likewise the plugin settings do not save image information: image size, image appearance etc so if you have a large image and a highly contrasted image, the saved settings applied to a small image and a dull looking image may result in a totally different effect Now the plug-ins also include scripting support, the presets may not be so useful but as some applications have no scripting, the presets will probably still be of some use

Basic use - Scripting

Action

step A

step B

step C

REC

The plugins now support scripting to some degree. This is mainly of use in Photoshop. Basically, you can save the effect as an action. You can combine multiple effects into a single action As with any action, start the recording process via the action palette.

Use a plug-in, use another, etc and then stop recording and give the action a name. The actions rely on the image / size so an action that works well for one image will look dire in another.

The actions can also be applied in batch processing, so the plug-in effects can be applied to multiple images Related to this, the plugins can be used with smart objects to create smart filters which can be used once, twice, etc as well as disabled and enabled and combined with other filters in Photoshop

Basic use - Dialog skin This is only valid with the 32bit plugins 0

0

255

255

The plugin will be displayed with a gray background by default. However, if you want to change the background, please copy the 'Andrewsplugins_background.bmp' file to the PATH folder The PATH folder is not the real name of the folder, generally the PATH folder is 'c:\windows' but it can be 'c:\winnt' etc or a number of other possible settings. Please check your control panel for the current path setting in the system properties (advanced tab and environmental variables). Please consult your windows documentation for any updates to this. If it is just the c:\windows (in XP it is), then just copy the Andrews plugin file into that folder. It is a bitmap file and can be any image.

A number of variants have been supplied as well _1 _2 _3 and so on, please feel free to use these instead.

0

255

You can also create your own by using the bitmap file as a template.

The size is based on the proportional size of the basic dialog. The dialog can be stretched, as can the plug-in background. You can create basic backgrounds or stunning or garish ones or use perhaps an image of your favourite footballer or a photograph of your family. Any kind of image will work as long as it is a bitmap RGB with the same proportions as the template.

Basic use - Preview The preview screen generally starts with a fairly small image (depends on the size of the original image). You can increase the zoom by clicking the zoom slider (+ and -).

Hold the shift down as you click to set instantly to 100%.

If you set the preview to 25% or 12%, the end result might or might not match the preview, the 100% setting is the best match but also the slowest. Some of the plugins can be very very slow at 100% setting though this depends on the size of the original file.

Use the mouse to select the position in the preview by dragging the preview position.

100%

25%

If you right-click the preview, any sliders marked with [R] will be modified based on the position and the size of the dialog. This is more an experimental option and useful way of trying out a wide range of varying effects by right clicks to the preview screen. Some of the dropdown options work in the same way if indicated by a [R]. Some of the [R] options are based on the current color at that point or the position from the top left of the dialog.

Plug-ins - Controls Some controls (sliders, etc) are repeated throughout the plug-ins and do basically the same in all the plug-ins i.e. noise sliders, mix sliders.

So instead of repeat mentions throughout the remaining document, here are the general sliders / dropdowns

0

0

0

255

255

255

Red / Green / Blue sliders (adjacent to the blending dropdown). This adds color to the channel combined with the output / blending. Red adds to the red channel etc. If in LAB mode, then the red slider adds to the lightness channel (or subtracts if set negative) Gradient dropdowns. Generally a list of variant gradients. Sometimes the gradients have an actual name, sometimes just a reference number.

Instead of repeat plug-ins with a subtly different gradient algorithm, the gradient dropdown combines all the gradient plug-ins into one big plug-in (in earlier versions of the plugins, they were separate plug-ins) Center [R]: Center of the gradient / edge etc effect. In most cases by default, the center of the preview but the center slider (horizontal and vertical) allows you to shift the center used by the plug-in for the gradient etc. The R is there to indicate that you can right click the preview box to center interactively.

Factor: Applies a factor to the effect. Set to 100 for the basic effect, set greater to apply more of the effect, set to less for less of an effect.

Generally split across channels so you can modify the red and green etc independently Link R-G-B: Links some (but not all) of the red and green and blue sliders so you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to adjust all three, just one of them Mode: Modifies the strength of the mode effect. If set to blur, the mode slider modifies the blurring strength.

Noise / grain: This is the noise added to the effect, whether color or some other setting. Adds to the randomness of the image. Useful for gradients etc to remove banding. Noise is displayed sometimes as E.Noise, C.Noise etc and this is E or C refers to another control on the plug-in such as the edge or the control.

Color: Adds or modifies the color channels in some way dependent on the plug-in Direction: Changes the direction of the effect in the horizontal or vertical. Sometimes combined with direction options which add variation to the direction strength Mix: In most cases, mixes the original source image and the effect (the settings vary from plug-in to plug-in) but generally fades in more or less of the effect based on the image or gradient or pattern etc. The mix sliders are sometimes also combined with a source slider, this is for the ratio of the source / effect mix Cutoff: This applies a threshold or cutoff to the effect. If the result is more or less than the threshold settings, then more or less of the effect result is passed through and more or less of the original image is used.

The threshold / cutoff are generally set to the mid value of 125 and

Plug-ins - Controls range from 0 to 255 Quantity: Generally this is for the number of items to generate or lines to create or how many dots to create in a plugin effect Intensity: Overall â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;brightnessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the effect (similar to the factor in most cases but generally an overall control and not one for individual channels) Black / White: Bounds for the plug-in effect. Set to 0 and 255 by default, you can use the controls to limit the range / contrast Shift: Normally related to distortions or wave effects etc, this shifts (offsets) the pixels of the original or effect relative to the original or effect.

Plug-ins - Volume 1 PLUG-IN: Blur - Fuzzy A plugin to create a camera blur shudder effect. The plugin's main control is the [BLUR SLIDER] and this shudders the image.

The image can be further modified and lightened by a combination of [ADD SLIDER]and [INTENSITY SLIDER] settings (these tweak the lightness in subtly different ways). The noise or grain of the image can be modified by the [NOISE SLIDER]. A number of different fuzzy operations can be applied by using the top dropdown [FUZZY MIX OPTIONS], these all apply to the mixing settings so if the sliders are set to 0 and the option is set to 'sketch2' you will see the pure form 'sketch mode' (black and white), changing the mix sliders will bring in more or less red green or blue.

PLUG-IN: Blur - Shudder A plugin to apply blurring over red and green and blue channels.

The strength of the blur effect is controlled by the [BLUR SLIDERS] (increasing the red above blue and green will create a red blur halo in the current direction). The direction of the blur / shake is controlled by the [DIRECTION OPTIONS] dropdown (horizontal, diagonal, up down, ..). [FACTOR SLIDERS] control the strength of the shake / blur overall creating a smoother or more jarring shake effect in the direction of the shake / shudder. [MIX SLIDER] mixes the source with the effect (if set to 255, the original image will be displayed).

The plugin comes with a number of dropdown options: [COORDINATE OPTIONS] The first dropdown controls the coordinates to be used for the blurring, by default, basic x and y coordinates but others include radial and angular coordinates for extreme blur distortions. [TRANSFORMATION OPTIONS] The transformation dropdown flips, rotates by 90 degrees, and applies other transformation to the output. [BLEND OPTIONS] The third dropdown are the basic blend options for the blurring and original image. [BLUR OPTIONS] The fourth dropdown modifies how the blurring is applied. [OUTPUT OPTIONS] The output options modify the output color settings and combination (this has really been superseded by the output options at the bottom of the dialog but has been left as it can be used to create unusual color effects in combo with the newer output options).

[DIRECTION OPTIONS] The direction options apply the blurring effect to a particular direction such as horizontal or up / down or basing the direction of the shudder on the source pixel information.

Combining the dropdown settings in a variety of ways may result in a masterpiece or a total mess.

Many amazing settings can be created such as using the reducer blur option + output 3 option + sourced direction option. Clicking the [TYPE BUTTON] will randomize all 6 of the dropdowns so you can run through many combination types without manually changing each dropdown.

PLUG-IN: Color - Add Plugin to add color to an image. By default, nothing is added, so the image will be the same as no effect added.

To add to the red or green or blue channels, move the r [ADD SLIDER]. To add to the red channel move the red slider. For additional noise the image, use the [NOISE SLIDER]. [FACTOR SLIDER] is used for only some of the dropdown options. The color is added to the image and applied depending on the current [COLOR ADD OPTIONS] dropdown settings. The dropdown options include percentage applies, linear applies based on the original image and color settings, color applied across the image from left to right. The plugin works well in other color modes such as LAB or grayscale or on a particular channel. Set the color mode from RGB via the image - > mode command in Photoshop to LAB and modify the color channel [ADD SLIDER] (Red being Lightness; green being the A channel and the blue channel the B channel). Tweak the color settings (as well as the output dropdown) to create unusual color effects before returning to RGB color space.

PLUG-IN: Color - ColoringSet A plug-in to tweak the color channels.

The plug-in settings require the setting of various dropdowns. The red [COLOR SLIDER] works in combo with settings such as R=r or the inverse R=r [RED OPTIONS] along with the apply settings [COLOR APPLY OPTIONS]. Changing the [APPLY OPTIONS] modifies how the overall color is set and the combination of the color channels, the [RED OPTIONS] [GREEN OPTIONS] etc controls the individual channel settings for red / green etc. The color channels are tweaked in infinite ways to create surreal as well as subtle color shifts. [CUTOFF SLIDER] sliders work in combo with the [REPLACEMENT OPTIONS] dropdown. The higher the [CUTOFF SLIDER] the more of the output is modified by the [REPLACEMENT OPTIONS], so if set to black (second option), the image will be replaced with more and more black. [GRAY SLIDER] is only used for some of the [APPLY OPTIONS] such as a threshold or actual setting. [INVERSE SLIDER] is only used for some of the [APPLY OPTIONS] [RED OPTIONS] etc, in most cases it will have little effect. The dropdowns [RED OPTIONS] containing 'inverse' use the inverse setting. The inverse is generally for 255 - color channel, where the 255 is replaced by the inverse value to modify the inverting color.

PLUG-IN: Color - Flow Plug-in to add a subtle gradient or color overlay to an image.

The plug-in adds value to the pixels using different combos of [APPLY OPTIONS] [FLOW OPTIONS].

[FLOW OPTIONS] controls the type of gradient or color modification, the [APPLY OPTIONS] controls how the [ADD SLIDERS] values are applied. to the selected gradient. The [FLOW OPTIONS] includes horizontal, vertical, left corner, etc and these change how much or how little of the add is added, the [APPLY OPTIONS] controls if the value is added, subtracted etc from the original pixel information.

[QUANTITY] is only used for a number of dropdown settings such as burst [APPY OPTIONS].

PLUG-IN: Color - InverseTime Plug-in to create a negative or inverse effect.

The user can further tweak the color channels to create subtle variants of the negative image. By default, the invert works on the original pixel information and sets the output to 255 - original. You can change the 255 to another value by changing the [INVERT SLIDERS] for red, green, and blue. The [INTENSITY SLIDERS] are applied as a factor to the inverted image. [GRAY CHECKBOX] sets the output to the average of all the channels. [INVERT OPTIONS] modifies how the original channel and inverted information interact, the [OUTPUT OPTIONS] modifies the final output inversion resulting in different combinations of output inverted color such as grayscale or brighter or darker output or a gradient output

Plug-ins - Volume 1 PLUG-IN: Color - Nightmares A plug-in to create nightmarish combinations of an image.

The nightmare plugin distorts, scales, rotates, turns, twists, shears, and then blends the effect with the original image via the [NIGHT SLIDERS] [ANGLE SLIDER] [RADIUS SLIDER] and [ANGLED SLIDER].

The plug-in can be used to create garish color shifts. Create unique nightmare effects from any image.

The plug-in works best if the image is a full color image.

PLUG-IN: Color - PosterPaints Posterisation or color limiting effect.

[POSTERIZATION OPTIONS] modifies how the posterization is applied such as applying as an inversion or cartoon effect or as a grayscale effect. This controls the overall apply of the color effect. The [RED DROPDOWN] etc manipulates the application of the [RED SLIDER] information, creating emboss effects and more. [DIRECTION OPTIONS] are used only for some of the [RED OPTIONS] [GREEN OPTIONS] such as the emboss setting. The direction modifies how the embossed or pixel shifting is applied and in which direction such as diagonal or horizontal or as lines. [REPLACEMENTS OPTIONS] are only used if the pixel value is less than the [CUTOFF SLIDERS] for the red / green / blue. The [REPLACEMENT OPTIONS] value is used in the posterization calculation instead of the original pixel information.

PLUG-IN: Color - Posters Variant posterization color-limiting plug-in. Edged based posterization effect. The plug-in limits the color of the image and creates the effect based on the edge setting. The plug-in is useful for creating more colorful poster-like effects

Modify the overall brightness of the image via the [ADD SLIDER] . The [INTENSITY SLIDER] adds to the brightness but via the posterization. An additional edge to the image is modified via the [EDGE SLIDER]. The [POSTERIZE SLIDER] modifies the posterization of the image which in turn depends on the [POSTERIZATION OPTIONS]

PLUG-IN: Distort - Cutting Edge Plug-in cuts and distorts an image in a variety of radial themed ways.

100s of different image cuts can be created, generating rippled effects and more. The plugin works well on full color images as well as applying many styles of cut to text. Simply type some text and then apply the cutting edge plugin (works best with the document flattened)

[CUTTING OPTIONS] varies the cutting effect applied such as a ripple or corner edge effect or a linear cutting distortion. The strength of the cutting effect is modified by the [CUT SLIDERS] creating thinner or wider slices in the image. The [SHIFT SLIDERS] shift the 'cut' part of the image, set to 0 there will be no cut. The [CENTER SLIDERS] modifies the position of the center of the cut (though this depends on the actual option being used). Right clicking the document will position the 'center' of the effect, this might not visually be the center of the perceived ripple but it will be the center of the process to generate the effect. If you wish to randomize the cutting effect, just click the [MODE BUTTON].

PLUG-IN: Distort - ShiftMesh Plug-in to apply a mesh or set of lines in a variety of patterns in combination with shifting the source pixels. Many different type of shifts or distortion can be created from subtle line based effects to zigzags or mesh or grid paper line effects.

The plugin comes with a variety of direction styles such as vertical or horizontal lines or back arrow or zigzag [MESH OPTIONS]. The lines can be further modified using the type of line such as thin line, thicker line, x variant line and more [MESH WEIGHT OPTIONS]. You can also randomly select the type of lines to use by clicking the [MODE BUTTON]. The line or the source can be shifted using the checkbox [TO LINE CHECKBOX] in combo of [SHIFT SLIDERS] and this can be controlled over all three channels via the [RED SHIFT SLIDERS] etc.

PLUG-IN: Distort - Sliced Turn A rotation / twisted / sliced plug-in. The plugin by default splits the source into slices.

The lower the [SLICE SLIDER] setting, the more slices are applied (the slice setting being the size of the slice and not the number of slices). To create bigger chunk slices, set the slice setting to a high value. The [PUSH SLIDER] controls the scaling of the twirl effect. If you wish to apply the twirl effects without the slicing applied, please set the [SLICE OR NOT CHECKBOX] to OFF. If this is set, the slice slider will have no effect. Use the [TURN SLIDER] and [PUSH SLIDER] and [CLW SLIDER] sliders to create a wide variety of twirled and jarred image effects. The twirl effect is further modified by [TURN OPTIONS] dropdown and these have options for 'truly warped' 'outer twirl' and others creating a variety of twirled and turned effects.

PLUG-IN: Distort - WavyCity A cut up plug-in. The plugin by default cuts the image up into waved slices, alternate slices are turned upside down.

The plug-in comes with a variety of slice types such as a checkerboard effect, diagonals, zigzags, rings, and waves [WAVE OPTIONS]. The slices can also be varied, rotating 180 or by counter clock wise, shifted, and scaled via the [IMAGE OPTIONS] dropdown. The wave size can be modified via the [WAVE SLIDERS]. The image can be shifted using the [SHIFT SLIDERS]. The [CENTER] sliders work with a number of the [WAVE OPTIONS] but not all. In particular, the 'vertical' element in most cases will be ignored. The wave effect can be scaled via the [HORZ SLIDER] and [VERT SLIDER]. The wavy part of the image can be colored by using the [FACTOR SLIDERS]. The plug-in can be used to create distortions as well as embossed or watermark effects. The [WAVE OPTIONS] [IMAGE OPTIONS] can be randomized either by clicking the [MODE BUTTON]. Run through a number of variants of the wave settings via the [TWEAK BUTTON]

Plug-ins - Volume 1 PLUG-IN: Distort - WavyCut A cut up plug-in but instead of rotations, the plugin applies just a basic pixel shift. The plugin slices the image and shifts the source and output effect.

Modify the strength of the wave via the [WAVE SLIDERS]. Shift the cut image via the [SHIFT SLIDERS] . The plug-in can create stunning image breakup effects; 3D like effects; sheet distortions; surreal overlapping of images; glass distortions; and image shatters. The plugin comes with 28 wave options and these can be randomized by click the [MODE BUTTON]. The wave types include lined / rippled / waved / ringed waves. Click the [TWEAK BUTTON]to randomize the wave settings to explore a wide range of distortion variants.

The settings can all be set by hand to create subtle to extreme distortions. The plug-in also has the standard set of color features and output options and these can be used to create limited color distortions or raw color images and other color effects as well as basic overlays and color channel overlays (scattering green glows throughout your image). As with all the plugins in the series, the plugin can be used in conjunction with Photoshop's own blending modes and fade options. Or use the distortions in combo with the art history and paint history brush.

PLUG-IN: Edge - Edgeworks Edge revealing plug-in.

The plug-in comes with a variety of edge or line effects [EDGE OPTIONS]. The plug-in is also useful for emboss effects as well as scratchy pencil effects or faded images. The plug-in line effect is controlled by the combination of [RED RANGE SLIDER] etc and [RED RANGE DROPDOWNS] etc on a channel basis. The type of edge is controlled by the sliders at the bottom of the dialog and these control the color of the line, the line style such as randomized grain or embossed. A variety of different line styles can be generated using a combination of channel-based dropdowns. The 'edge' direction and size is controlled by the edge dropdown. The factor settings are active only for some of the edge dropdown settings. The [OUTPUT OPTIONS] sets the resulting output line such as inverted etc [SOURCE OPTIONS] modifies the type of source coordinates to radial etc

PLUG-IN: Edge - Edgy Dark edge effect plug-in. The plugin creates chunky 'paint' influenced edge effects. Great for poster / cartoon - like imagery.

The main control being the [EDGE SLIDER], set to low value and the edge is thin, larger settings will result in wider chunkier lines. [ADD SLIDER] adds to the color channels. [WHITE SLIDER] limits the color channels (by default set to 255). [EDGE OPTIONS] sets up variant edge effects such as using the edge settings for the red channel or using the combination of red an green or the maximum of the channels. [MIX SLIDERS] modifies the mixing of edge and channel information. If all the sliders are set to 255, the [EDGE OPTIONS] will have no effect.

PLUG-IN: Edge - Edgy2 Dark edge variant plug-in. The plugin creates chunky 'paint' influenced edge effects. Great for poster like imagery.

The main control being the [EDGE SLIDER], set to low value and the edge is thin, larger settings will result in wider chunkier lines. The plug-in mixes the original image or variants via the [EDGE MIX OPTIONS] dropdown using [MIX SLIDERS] per channel. The mixing options only work if the mixing values are not the default settings. Additional noise is added via the [NOISE SLIDER] and the image is lighter if the [ADD SLIDER] is reduced. The color range of the edgy effect is reduced by changing the [WHITE SLIDER] and [BLACK SLIDER]

PLUG-IN: Edge - EmbossPic Emboss plug-in creates basic emboss effects

Variant such as grained emboss, jagged edged emboss, top to bottom emboss, and B/W emboss [EMBOSS OPTIONS] The emboss effect is controlled by the direction sliders [EMB SLIDERS] The emboss style is changed using the emboss [EMBOSS OPTIONS] and this can be randomized using the 'emboss' button. Add to all the channels [ADD SLIDER] creating a whiter or darker emboss. Additional noise can be added via the [NOISE SLIDER]. Mix the emboss effect and original image via the [MIX SLIDERS]. The emboss can also be colored using the color sliders [RED SLIDER] and the final output further tweaked to create a negative emboss or a FG / BG color bound emboss via the [BLEND OPTIONS]

PLUG-IN: Lines - SilverLining Line-generating plug-in.

The plugin applies lines across the image in a variety of ways (using the [LINE OPTIONS] - 'vertical' by default but the lines could be 'horizontal' or 'diagonal' or 'jittered lines' or 'grids' or 'dashes'). The distance between the lines is set by the [GAP SLIDER]. The color of the lines can be modified via the [COLOR SLIDERS] This can be modified by right clicking the document. The line slider is used as an additional factor for a number of the line settings (the line slider has no effect for vertical etc. but is used with 'mesh' and 'line pattern'). If you wish to reverse the gap/line, click on the [CREATE LINES NOT GAPS CHECKBOX] (setting it to off), this will generally fill most of the screen with solid color but it can be used for additional line effects. The [CUTOFF SLIDER] is used to bring in more or less lines into the image based on the underlying color pixel value and this can create unusual SF effects and break through styles.

PLUG-IN: Noise - Gritty Plugin adds a grainy gritty edge to an image. The plugin can be used to create unusual grained color effects such as smeared grain effects and edge grain effects. Removing the grain, the plugin displays the image

Plug-ins - Volume 1 offset from the original image.

A grainy edge can be added via the [EDGE SLIDER]. The [RED SLIDER] [GREEN SLIDER] [BLUE SLIDER] modify the randomization channel used for the grain. Setting all the channels to a single channel setting reduces the grainy effect to a single grainy color. The range for the [RED SLIDER] is only between 0 to 2 for the color channels. The actual grain is applied using the red and green and blue [NOISE SLIDERS]. The greater the setting, the greater the grain and noise and less of the original image. The type of gritty effect applied can be varied via the [NOISE OPTIONS] dropdown, creating a grayscale gritty effect or embossed etc gritty effect

PLUG-IN: Noise - RandomTimes Grainy / noise / randomization plug-in.

Different types of noise can be applied via the [NOISE OPTIONS] dropdown such as vertical noise, horizontal noise, diagonal, averaged.. The noise is set on a channel by channel basis using [RED NOISE SLIDER] [GREEN NOISE SLIDER] [BLUE NOISE SLIDER]. The noise can also be set to mono by setting the [MONO CHECKBOX]

PLUG-IN: Pattern - Gridway Op art dotty plug-in. The plugin creates stretched dots across the image. The plug-in can be used to create intense dotty images or vague blurry dots. Tryout creating unusual combinations of dots using different blending modes (such as difference blending mode) and reapply the effect or use on different layers and then combine using blending modes or opacity settings The number of these dots / patterns is controlled by the [QUANTITY SLIDER] The type of dots or pattern is varied via the [GRIDWAY OPTIONS]. The higher the [QUANTITY SLIDER] setting, the smaller the patterns and more of a gird, a lower setting creates a close up of the pattern and may result in a blocky display. The dots can be shifted using the [SHIFT SLIDERS] though this has minimal effect and will only be helpful for subtle alignment of the dots. The sharpness and brightness of the dots can be modified using the [INTENSITY SLIDER] and [SHARPEN SLIDER]. To sharpen the dots, set the sharpen slider to close to 0. To create blurry dots, set the sharpen slider to the maximum. [SPLIT SLIDERS] apply color and blurring to the dots for each channel to create unusual color dot combinations. If the dots are very sharply defined, the split channel settings will not modify the color of the dots. [FACTOR SLIDERS] can further manipulate the appearance of the dots / patterns depending on the [GRIDWAY OPTIONS] set.

PLUG-IN: Pattern - Lightshow Dotty plug-in / pattern generation plugin

The [MIX SLIDERS] modify the mixing of two internal patterns and not the combination of the image and the pattern (this can be done via the fade command in Photoshop 速) The plug-in creates dots but the dots can be smeared into pulses via the [MIX SLIDERS]. Different types of patterns can be generated via the [LIGHTSHOW OPTIONS] dropdown. The lines and dots can be shifted up and down or sideways using the [SHIFT SLIDERS]. The number of the dots is set by the [QTY SLIDER]. A wide variety of emboss, intense dot, color dots, light smears, and other effects can be generated.

PLUG-IN: Pattern - OpArt The plug-in can create an infinite variety of weird and wonderful op art designs.

The factor controls are the key and the default is only use the first set of entries (marked as A), ignore any of the B and C settings. If you set the B factor to something other than 0 then the B settings can be used. The A and B and C groups of op art polarize in a variety of ways to create different shapes and forms. The grouping controls (the wave 1 2 3) sliders control various aspects of the wave and depend on the wave related dropdown, so the wave can be a 'squeezy' or 'bend' type and this will generate a different kind of wave and use the 1 2 3 settings in different combinations. Combining [ABC SLIDERS] [ABC DROPDOWNS] and the various wave factors for each grouping and many 100s of different wave types can be generated. The wave entry values can also be modified from being x-y coordinate space to radial or mirrors or other types of wave type. [WARP SLIDER] has little effect unless a setting is marked as 'warp' or is a warp type wave. The [SMOOTH SLIDER] smoothes or blurs the waves. [FACTOR SLIDERS] settings work with various other dropdowns to tweak the warp. The [REPLACE OPTIONS] ' dropdown uses various internal threshold checks, if the effect pixel is above this threshold, the effect color is replace with this color (or effect, such as an emboss).

PLUG-IN: Utility - BothSides Invert / positive image mirror effect. The plugin inverts the left side of the image and keeps the right side as is.

The [RIGHT SLIDERS] scale the right side of the image, shrinking or increasing the horizontal scaling of the image. The inverted image is scaled via the [LEFT SLIDERS]. [INTENSITY SLIDERS] control the overall darkness or lightness of the image for their respective sides. The output is further modified by the output options and output red and green and blue sliders. The plugin can create unusual mirrored effects by repeat applies and modifying the scaling settings for each side.

PLUG-IN: Utility - Reflections Image reflection and pattern plug-in.

Splits the image in two and reflects in a variety of ways. The image can be further tweaked using various combinations of the scale factors. To link the scale settings, click the [LINK SCALING SIDES A-B CHECKBOX]. This might make it easier to manipulate both sides of the mirror (instead of individual tweaking the settings). A number of options or mirror types are available and these can be randomized by clicking the [MIRROR BUTTON]. The [MIRROR OPTIONS] include basic tiling as well as mirror effects. Some of the [MIRROR OPTIONS] have also been included in the output options. [SCALINGA SLIDER] refers to the right side of the preview, [SCALINGB SLIDER] refers to the left side. The [TWEAK BUTTON] randomizes the scaling settings only

Plug-ins - Volume 2 PLUG-IN: Blur - Bars Bars / Blurred reflection plug-in. Plugin splits the image and blurs (in different directions) each alternate slice.

The plug-in controls the overall blur on a channel by channel basis by the [BLUR SLIDERS]. The direction of the blur is set using the [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The number of bars is set by the [BARS SLIDER]. The [WAVE SLIDER]is only used if a dropdown setting matches a wave or wavelike option.

The blur bar overall direction is modified further by the dropdown up-down etc [DIRECTION OPTIONS]

PLUG-IN: Blur - Blurs Camera shudder direction plug-in.

The plug-in blurs or camera shudders on a channel by channel basis [BLUR SLIDERS]. The direction is also modified on a channel by channel by the [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The plug-in is great for creating unusual camera shuddered color effects.

PLUG-IN: Blur - Mirror Split blur mirror plug-in.

The plugin splits the image in two and blurs both sides and blurs in the direction specified by the [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The effect is mixed with the original image using the [IMAGE MIX SLIDERS].

The [CUTOFF SLIDER] is only used for various threshold dropdown settings (on a color channel basis and the threshold test is used to decide whether to apply a certain effect or color change). A number of options are available via the [DIRECTION OPTIONS] for the red and green and blue channel. The source for the mirror and the type of mirror such as vertical etc can be modified via the [SOURCE OPTIONS] and [MIRROR OPTIONS] dropdowns. To experiment with the range of options, click the mirror button. The plugin creates subtle as well as intense color effects and distortions.

PLUG-IN: Color - Psych Color shifting in the extreme. Create subtle color shifts or weird psychedelic ones. The plugin can be used for weird and wonderful as well as subtle color/hue shifts. Great for those 60s posters..

Use a combination of [PSYCHDELIC SLIDERS] to generate unusual color effects. For more extreme color shifts, set the factor to a large value and the factor+ to a low value. Even further color effects can be achieved using the color and output settings. A number of different types can be generated using the [PSYCHDELIC OPTIONS]

PLUG-IN: Color - SolarCity Solarisation plug-in. Grayscale solarisation effect.

The plug-in has a number of sliders to tweak the image to create subtle to unusual solarisation effects as well as extreme color shifts [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The image and effect are mixed using the [IMAGE MIX SLIDERS]. The solar effect is modified using the [INVERT COLOR SLIDERS] and [SOLAR THRESHOLD SLIDERS].

PLUG-IN: Color - SolarFire Solarisation plug-in. Colorful solarisation.

The effect is modified using the [INVERT COLOR SLIDERS] and [SOLAR THRESHOLD SLIDERS]. The image is mixed with the effect using the [IMAGE MIX SLIDERS]. The image is shifted using the [SHIFT SLIDER]. The [WAVE SLIDER]is only used when one of the dropdown options matches a wavelike option. Likewise the [CUT OFF SLIDER] is only used if a threshold setting is matched and then the image is tested for greater than or less than the threshold setting. A number of different types of effects can be set by using the dropdowns such as 'darken' and 'solar' and how the application is applied such as a grid or mirrored effect or mosaic. [SOLAR OPTIONS] [SOURCE OPTIONS] [APPLY SOURCE OPTIONS]

PLUG-IN: Distort - Bars Image line splitting plug-in. The plug-in comes with a huge variety of different splitting options. The default being a bar or strip. The distortion type and sub-distortion can be randomized using the distortion button.

The [BAR SLIDER], [DIRECTION SLIDER]and [WAVE SLIDER] control the displacement effect applied to the image. These are further modified by the [DIRECTION OPTIONS] and [SOURCE OPTIONS]. The [WAVE SLIDER] has no effect for a number of non-wave options. The image can be mixed on a channel by channel basis by the channel sliders. The [CUTOFF SLIDER] is used for a variety of operations that result in an action being done or not being done on the basis of the image pixel value being greater than the threshold setting. The threshold value is only used for some of the dropdown options.

PLUG-IN: Distort - BlurredWay Camera shudder plug-in. The plugin has a wide selection of blur and direction features.

The blur is set on a channel by channel basis via the [BLUR SLIDERS]. The direction of the blur is set using the [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The effect is mixed with the source via the [IMAGE MIX SLIDERS].

The [WAVE SLIDER] is only useful for 'wave' or wave type dropdown options so the xy setting is not affected by the wave but the crossfire and wave options are modified. The [CUT OFF SLIDER]is only used for various dropdown settings such as 'threshold' and doesn't work for the default dropdown options. The [DIRECTION OPTIONS DROPDOWN] modify the shudder type / direction on a channel by channel basis, from

PLUG-IN: Distort - BlurWave Distortion / wave and blur plug-in.

The plug-in blurs the image on a channel by channel basis [BLUR SLIDERS] to a direction supplied by the direction sliders [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The plugin creates colorful blurred effects. The plug-in also adds a wave to the image and this is modified by the wave sliders. The wave effect is randomized using the wave button [WAVE SLIDERS]

Plug-ins - Volume 2 PLUG-IN: Distort - Gradient1 The plugin by default distorts images based on a number of underlying gradient setups. The gradients are a mix of linear, radial, and distorted color maps for the distortion. This plugin can be used to create stunning distorted as well as painted color effects.

The gradient center can be modified by using the [CENTER SLIDERS] and the application of the distortion is modified by [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The gradient can be changed via the gradient dropdown [GRADIENT DROPDOWN]. The gradient set is also extended by selecting the gradient variant mode (radically changing the style of the distortion gradient) [GRADIENT VARIANT MODE BOX]. The plugin creates weird and wonderful distortion effects. The plugin can be extended to applying differing distortion effects, blur effects, color tone effects, sepia color effects and more via the mode dropdown.

If you wish to only have a single color distortion, use the [RED CHECKBOX]. The plugin sets the pixels from outside the image to black [BLACK CHECKBOX] by default or uses the pixel information from the edges of the image. Additional grain can be added to the image via the [NOISE SLIDER]

PLUG-IN: Distort - Rotator Image rotation plug-in.

The rotator plugin is similar to the twists plugin, it also twists plug-in but also adds in additional scaling features and image mixing via the mix sliders [IMAGE MIX SLIDERS]. The plug-in works on a channel by channel basis. Many different rotated and scaled color shifts are possible using a combination of the [BLUR SLIDERS] [DIRECTION SLIDERS] and [ROTATE SLIDERS].

PLUG-IN: Distort - Twists Twisting variant plug-in of the rotator plugin. Twirls and twirls the image.

The effect is controlled by the [TWIRL SLIDERS] [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The color can be modified by the [COLOR FACTOR] sliders

PLUG-IN: Distort - Waved Picture split and cut up plug-in. Plug-in splits up and rotates the split part and wave distorts the image.

A vast number of distortions and color options can be applied to the cut up parts and how they overlay the image via the [WAVE DROPDOWNS]. The waves are controlled using the wave setting (two waves are involved for various clashing purposes). The effect is shifted using the [DIRECTION SLIDERS] settings. To experiment with the large number of wave types and variants, click the [WAVES BUTTON].

The source image is used if the [SOURCE CHECKBOX] is set

PLUG-IN: Patterns - ColorOp Opart dotty plug-in. Creates dots and smeared dots effects (blends).

The color of the dots are modified using the [COLOR FACTOR SLIDERS] as does the [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The actual application is further modified by the [DIRECTION DROPDOWNS]. The image is mixed with the original image using the [IMAGE MIX SLIDERS]. The relative number of dots is set by the [DOTS SLIDER] . The plug-in comes with a wide range of different dot types and options [PATTERN OPTIONS DROPDOWN]]. To experiment with a number of these options, click the tweak (to tweak the current dot type) and randomize the dot type, click the dots button (alt-D) - some of the complex dots type might mean the preview fails to match the output so it is best to check the dots using the preview slider at 100%

PLUG-IN: Smear - BrightDays Color smear plug-in.

The plug-in overlays a color blur onto the image. The blur is controlled by the [BLUR SLIDERS]. The color applied is modified using the [ADD COLOR SLIDERS]. The direction of the overlay is set by the [DIRECTION SLIDERS]. The image and effect is mixed using the mixing sliders. [CUTOFF SLIDER] controls the application of image to blur and the amount of pixel information to the blur. The plugin comes with a selection of [DIRECTION OPTIONS DROPDOWNS] for the color channels to apply different mixes of blur effect such as a mosaic effect or wave color effects.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - Smeared Smeary threshold heat plug-in.

Image is smeared and dragged using the [SMEAR SLIDERS]. The image and effects are mixed using the [IMAGE MIX SLIDERS]. The greater the [CUTOFF SLIDER], the redder the image. The image is set to black and white by setting the [BLACK WHITE SLIDER] to on. Great for posters and very basic color image effects.

Plug-ins - Volume 3 PLUG-IN: Blur - Inverse Inverse and blurring plug-in in one.

The plugin inverts the image and applies basic blurring to the image. The image and the effect can be mixed and blended in a variety of ways across channels to create a wide range of different color combinations: from fuzzy blurred images; solarized blurred images; dark gloomy low-contrast imagery; to blurred shimmered pictures.

PLUG-IN: Blur - ShakeMix Jarred / shaken plug-in. The plugin applies a jarring blur effect to the image.

The plug-in mixes in additional features such as grayscale options (the ignore grayscale must be turned off) and a thread like blur effect option (shiftsssss set to on). If the plug-in is using the grayscale dropdown (set the ignore to OFF), the image will display a variety of gray combinations such as darkened gray, grainy gray, threshold gray; and color channel influenced grays. If the plug-in is set to ignore the gray options, then any change to the dropdown is ignored. The shake blur is blended into the original depending on the mix settings and this can be used to create colorful emboss effects or intense blur or red blurs (without any modification to the green

PLUG-IN: Color - Grayscale Huge selection of different grayscale mixing / color averaging plug-in.

The plug-in supplies a huge selection of different grayscale or average mixes (you can randomize the grayscale options by using the gray button) such as grained grayscale, pop art grayscales and more.

The grayscale setting can be further tweaked by using the add settings to add additional color to the grayscale, and the mixing settings mix the image and the grayscale. The bottom sliders also add (and this plugin is the only one with two rows of color sliders at the bottom) a random noise grain addition on a channel by channel basis.

PLUG-IN: Color - Mixup Blur and color channel mixing plug-in.

Mixes the color information using the mix and add sliders and combines a blurring effect. The plug-in is useful for subtle color shifts as well as surreal colored blurring. The plugin now also has a number of addtional modes such as 'tone' and 'posterize' and 'contrast' 'saturation' and these are accessed via the pluginmode dropdown at the top of the dialog.

PLUG-IN: Color - PercentAdd Color plug-in, adding color based on a percentage of the original color settings. The plug-in adds color (or reduces) to an image based on the percentage of color per channel.

The add% settings control the percentage of color applied. The default image rarely looks different from the original. The image and effect can also be further mixed on a channel by channel basis. The percentage add also has additional dropdown options such as 'gray boost' and 'difference' and these will add the channel information in different ways.

PLUG-IN: Color - PhasedOut Oddball color phase out / color reduction plug-in. Plug-in applies an unusual color mix.

The threshold points for the effect are the white and black settings (which can be controlled on a channel by channel basis). The phase and mix apply the intense color effect based on the threshold settings being met.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - GradientCombo The earlier set 3 contained a number of gradient plugins, this plugin combines all the gradients into one single plugin tool. The plugin also has a few 'advanced' settings and these are accessed on the 'second' page of the dialog (> or < buttons). The intensity settings as well as warp and shift and distort settings can be accessed on this page.

Instead of creating a gradient, the plugin applies the gradient as a shift or distortion or tone effect or blur and more.

The gradients can all be accessed via the gradient plugin dropdown along the top of the dialog. The xtreme buttons and others only modify the center etc settings and not the plugin dropdown. The gradient center (two gradients are modified and combined so there are two center combinations). A vast range of different gradient effects can be created using different gradient plugins and different combinations of sub-gradient settings (as well as variations of center). The plugin also has the same output options as other plugins as well as color sliders to apply to the output. The plugin comes with a selection of tiling and mirror output options to create unusual tiled gradient effects.

PLUG-IN: Noise - Reverse Invert and grain plug-in.

The image is inverted and grain added to the image. The plug-in also mixes the effect via the mix sliders and the original image on a channel by channel basis to allow for a vast range of channel mixing and image color settings.

PLUG-IN: Utility - Sharper Plugin to sharpen images.

PLUG-IN: Vignette - Framer

Plug-ins - Volume 3 Frame / border plug-in (though doesn't support frame files...!)

The frame color is modified by the frame sliders. The frame and the original is mixed using the mix sliders. The frame is set to mono color if the mono checkbox is set to on, though some of the frame options ignore this and the output color settings also will disregard this. The radius of the frame is set using the radius sliders, creating smaller or bigger frames by subtle adjustments to the radius settings. The style of frame is set via the frame styles dropdown (such as burst or jagged or an inside out frame). The frames are further extended using a variety of output options. The frames can also be repeated applied, modifying the radius settings as well as the apply modes. This plugin does not use the frame JPG files, it is purely a pixel tweaking effect

Plug-ins - Volume 4 PLUG-IN: Blur - Burnt Burnt and shimmered image plug-in.

The burnt / out of focus effect is initially centered but the shift (x) and (y) sliders can move the blur effect center to different positions in the image (darkening the other areas). This is useful for emphasising a certain area of the image. The effect is useful for blur effects but it can also be useful as a blurry frame plugin (as the outer pixels tend to black, the effect can be used as a source for frame plug-ins). Blur and intensity can be used in combo to tweak the brightness of the blur effect. Interesting effects can be set by varying in the horizontal to the detriment of the vertical, or vica versa.

Combining colors and output options can also make unusual bleary blurred effects.

PLUG-IN: Blur - CrossFocus Grayscale diagonalout-of-focus plugin.

The plug-in creates a bleary out of focus effect. The diagonal blur is set by the diagonal (1) (2) sliders.

The intensity of the blur (or brightness) is set by the intensity slider. The image and the blur is mixed using the mixing settings on a channel by channel basis.

PLUG-IN: Blur - RGBCircular Blurry RGB circular plug-in.

The plugin takes the pixel and blurs to the radius supplied (on a channel by channel basis) and the blur effect is concentrated using the angle settings (again, on a channel by channel basis) The image and blur is mixed using the mixing sliders (for sharpening and surreal color shifts) note: the mixing also flips the image but this is great for some truly surreal images along with sharpening..

PLUG-IN: Blur - Starshine Blur/starlight plug-in - great for sparkles and intense sunlight effects.

Plugin creates shimmery starlight blurs.

The radius of the blur is set by the radius slider. The intensity of the blur is set by the angle slider. The max slider breaks the distortion. Zap changes the contrast of the effect. The plug-in create unusual shimmered blur effects. Useful with images as well as text.

PLUG-IN: Blur - TriBlur Triangle/square blur mix plug-in, also great for sharpening effects.

Plug-in blurs the image using either a square or triangular algorithm or mix of. The strength of the square blur is set by square setting and the triangular blur is set by the triangle setting. The overall blur intensity is set by the blur. The plug-in can be used to create unusual blurry imagery. The plug-in can also be used for sharpening of images and image enhancement.

PLUG-IN: Blur - VHFocus Vertical and horizontal blurring plug-in. Up-down and sideways blurring plug-in.

The plug-in generates a blurry grayscale image by default. Color can be brought back into the image by changing the mix sliders settings on a channel by channel basis. By setting the blur (vertical) to a high value the image will be spread up and down throughout the image instead of by default, across.

PLUG-IN: Distort - Breakup Image breakup plug-in.

Splits the image into blocks and places these blocks throughout the image as well as flip fragments.

The number of splits is set by the quantity sliders (horizontal and vertical). An alternative breakup can be used by click the ALT checkbox. If you wish to link the horizontal and vertical settings, click the link x-y checkbox.

PLUG-IN: Dots - Patch Dotty patch hatch plug-in.

The number of dots are set by the quantity slider. The angle slider defaults to diagonal but can turn or the stretch the dots vertically.The dots are mixed using the mixing sliders. The dots can be used to create hatch patterns, subtle glows, and grids.

PLUG-IN: Dots - Print Dotty print effect plug-in.

The plugin features two sets of lines (at an opposing angle). The number of lines (or dots) is set by the quantity slider. The L1 grouping is mixed with the L2 grouping using the mixing sliders. The plug-in can generate many variations of dots and lines combinations by varying the L1 and L2 settings as well as the mixing combo. The intensity of the lines is set by the intensity slider. The round checkbox offers an alternative dot style. As with many plug-ins, the plugin comes with a selection of buttons. The extreme sets most of the sliders (except the output options dropdown) to give a full range of possible effects from the subtle to really extreme. The color button tweaks the sliders at the bottom of the dialog and these are the output color sliders, giving the image a red or green or blue look. The tweak button just tweaks the L1 and L2 settings and ignores any color options.

PLUG-IN: Emboss - ChangePad Embossed lines plug-in.

The default is a set of embossed columns. The number of lines is set by the quantity slider. The lines can be converted into dots or extended dots by modifying the angle of the lines. The angled dots and lines can be coarse at certain angles. The emboss is modified by the emboss channel sliders, these can be tweaked per channel or linked (use the link checkbox) to create varying color effect embosses. The image and the emboss lines can be mixed using the mix sliders. The emboss effect extends beyond the zero (black) and 255 (white) settings so if you wish to clamp the settings to the black and white settings, click the clamp checkboxes (no relation to the excellent Clamp manga...). Clamping the emboss range creates subtle variants to the emboss effect, dibing a more realistic '3D' effect. The emboss comes with a selection of different emboss types and these can be accessed via the emboss

Plug-ins - Volume 4 dropdown. The plugin canbe used to create stunning 3D embossed as well as unusual color effects.

PLUG-IN: Emboss - Flatlands Emboss images, mixed with grain / noise plug-in.

The plug-in adds noise to the emboss image creating unusual embossing. The shift slider modifies the embossing height. The mixing slider blends the emboss and source image. The add (R) (G) (B) adds additional color to the emboss, generating a red or green or blue emboss. The flatness tweaks the overall emboss look, flattening the result.

PLUG-IN: Emboss - Pads Emboss padding / dots / patterns plug-in.

The plug-in creates dots but these dots are embossed. The emboss level is set using the emboss setting. The relative number of dots is set using the quantity setting. The image and emboss mix is set using the mix sliders. The options slider is a variant of a dropdown and supplies a dozen or more different types of emboss dots type such as a square or grid or radial emboss option.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Bar Colorful gradient plug-in for textures / overlays / patterns - subtle to extreme gradients and many variations in between.

The plug-in effect fills the image with a colorful blend of the foreground and background palette color.

The gradient center can be shifted to create a wide range of different gradients. The color sliders further tweak the underlying gradient structure. The mode checkbox offers an alternate gradient effect based on the default. The Link checkbox links the color sliders so any change to the red slider is reflected in the green and blue slider. Change the toolbox colors to change the gradient colors

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Corner Colorful gradient plug-in for textures / overlays / patterns - subtle to extreme gradients and many variations in between.

The plug-in effect fills the image with a colorful blend of the foreground and background palette color.

The gradient center can be shifted to create a wide range of different gradients. The color sliders further tweak the underlying gradient structure. The mode checkbox offers an alternate gradient effect based on the default. The Link checkbox links the color sliders so any change to the red slider is reflected in the green and blue slider. Change the toolbox colors to change the gradient colors

PLUG-IN: Lines - BreakThrough Line dash effect (based on underlying source luminance) plug-in.

The plugin creates line effects based on underlying imagery. The threshold being the primary slider for the line threshold. The number of lines is set by the lines. The angle of the lines is modified by the angle slider, creating up and down lines. The mixing sliders control the image/line mix. Criss slider adds additional line tweaking.

PLUG-IN: Lines - LineBurst Intense line plug-in.

The plug-in applies a smooth set of bars (and dots) diagonally across the document (by default). The number of lines is set by the quantity (though this is a relative value). The intensity or brightness is set by the intensity slider. The angle of the lines is set by the angle settings (0 sets the lines upright). The mix (L) settings mix the 'two' opposing lines, without changing this setting you would never 'see' the secondary line set but the plugin also combines a secondary set of lines to clash and polarize with the key line set. The lines can be mixed with the source using the mix sliders.

PLUG-IN: Lines - Waved Wavy line/blurred plug-in

Plug-in is a variant of the lines plugins and creates a wave line. The plugin line quantity (a relative value) is set using the quantity. The intensity of the lines is factored using the two intensity settings.

The angle of the waves is modified using the angle setting, 0 for up and down (with little wave). The strength of the wave is set using the wave slider. The range is a blurring mechanism and creates a mix of waves and distortions.

PLUG-IN: Smear - CircularSmudge Circular based smudge effect plug-in

Dark smudged plug-in. The radius sets the distance from the original pixel of the smudging, the angle sets the intensity or pixels smudged. The angle max reduces the effect of the angle setting and creates more broken smudged effects. The white setting controls the contrast of the image. The plug-in is useful for creating those dark cabaret 1920 nightclub looks/prints.

PLUG-IN: Smear - Smeared Colorful channel offset smear plug-in

Blurry smeary shift plugin. The smeared image is shifted vertically and horizontal by the shift sliders (y) (x) respectively. The lightness of the image is set by the intensity slider. The smear is set on a channel by channel basis by the smear sliders. The plug-in creates weird and wonderful color shifts and smears as well as subtle color enhancements. As with all plugins, the output dropdown can be used to blend the smear effect with the original source image in many different ways such as tiling or mirror effects or edge and posterization effects

PLUG-IN: Smear - Smudged Smudge and darken-line plug-in.

The plugin emphasizes the line, darkens the line, smudging the image. The smudge direction is set by the direction sliders vertically/horizontally. The smudge strength is set by the smudge slider. The plug-in is wonderful for a variety of unusual line effects and image-darkening creative images.

Plug-ins - Volume 5 PLUG-IN: Noise - BasicGrain Basic noise plug-in.

The grain and image are mixed using the mix settings. The brightness of the image is controlled by the intensity settings. The grain applied to the image is set by the noise and the Xtra settings. Factor settings apply a factor to the red and green and blue channels The plug-in creates a basic grainy / noise effect.

PLUG-IN: Noise - CrissCross Diagonal random scratched smeary image plug-in.

The noise (noise setting) is smeared by the smear setting, increase the smear setting and the streaks of grain totally diffuse the image. Xtra is extra grain added to the image. The image and effect are mixed using the mixing settings. The default direction of the smearing is from top left to bottom right and bottom left to top right, the smear directions can be set to up-down using the up-down checkbox. Factor settings apply a factor to the red green and blue channels

PLUG-IN: Noise - DarkCity Dark grained pen smudge sketch plug-in. A dark smudged crosshatch pen effect.

Turns the image really dark and thick grained. The smudge slider controls the darkness as well as the strength of the crosshatch effect. The noise setting is the source of extra color and noise into the image and smudge and this is added via the noise slider. The image and effect are mixed using the mix sliders. Factor settings apply a factor to red green and blue channels

PLUG-IN: Noise - DarkSmear Fuzzy grained pencil / pen sketch plug-in. Grayscale smear effect.

The smear slider controls the strength of the crosshatch (diagonal). The noise adds to the color + grain of the smear. The higher the threshold cutoff setting, the darker the image and less of the smear and image is visible (for best, 125). Xtra slider adds additional noise to the image. The image and effect are mixed using the mixing sliders. The plug-in creates intense as well as subtle crosshatching as well as faded and intense color effects. The factor settings apply a factor to the red green and blue channels

PLUG-IN: Noise - Diffuse Diffused shimmer light grain plug-in.

A lighter, more diffuse effect but still combining elements of smear and grain. The grain and noise are added via the noise setting. The diffuse grain is lightly smeared using the smear slider creating a diffused colored pencil effect. The brightness of the image is set by the intensity slider. Additional noise is added to the image using the noiseXtra setting. The image and effect are mixed using the mixing sliders. Factor settings apply a factor (such as doubles the red) to the red green and blue channels

PLUG-IN: Noise - FaintLine Subtle line grained plug-in.

Applies a subtle grainy line across the image. The noise can be smeared (or blurred) by using the smear slider. The noise in the vertical and horizontal is modified using the E noise (x) and (y) settings.

Extra noise is added to the grain by using the Xtra slider. Mixing sliders mixes effect and image. Factor sliders apply a factor to the red green and blue channels

PLUG-IN: Noise - Fuzzy Fuzzy noise plug-in.

Fuzzy or diffuse noise effect. The plug-in adds noise via the noise and Xtra sliders. The noise is smeared using the smear slider. The grain is also diffused further using the smear. The higher the threshold, the clearer the image but with a fuzzy background to the image. The image and effect is mixed using the mixing sliders. Creates an unusual hollowed out surreal effect to an image.

PLUG-IN: Noise - Lightburst Starlight shimmered beautiful light effect plug-in.

Intense diagonal star burst stream effect. The burst is set by the smear setting, the noise added to the smear is set by the noise setting. The effect is mixed with the original by using the mixing sliders.

Additional tweaks added using the extra and xtra settings. Additional color noise is added via the C Noise. Additional types of smear can be applied via the smear noise dropdown and these include smears based on the red channel, green channel, blue channel as well as randomized smears and darkening based on the underlying image; use to create unusual paint like light burst effects. The plug-in creates stunning hiimpact light burst and stand out images.

PLUG-IN: Noise - Phazed Fuzzy misty effect.

The noise is set by the noise slider. Smear (via the smear slider) is added but if only visible if the threshold setting cutoff slider is to a higher setting than the default (125). Additional noise is added via the Xtra slider. The image is mixed with the effect using the mix sliders. The plug-in creates misty blurry effects as well as noisy paint effects. Factor sliders apply a factor to the red green and blue channels (before applying any effects mode or output settings to the result)

PLUG-IN: Noise - RandomLines Subtle grain plug-in.

The grain effect is applied without reference to the original image. Noise slider adds a general smattering of noise. Xtra slider adds a background subtle grain. The L noise (x) and noise (y) sliders increase (or decrease) the number of lines /elements of noise added but in lines and columns. The lower the value, the higher the noise. The plug-in is useful for basic background textures with scratchy random lines and noise. The plug-in is useful in combo with other plug-ins such as motion blur and

Plug-ins - Volume 5 warping plug-ins. Factor settings apply a factor to the red and green and blue channels; if the red value is 2 and the pixel is 100 then the end result will be a red channel setting of 200.

PLUG-IN: Paint - DarkDays Abstract / cubist image plug-in. A smeary / blurry variant of the SquaredPic plug-in, superb for creating unusual abstract line and rectangular effects.

The number of rectangles is set by the quantity slider. The size of the squares is set by the size sliders (these can be linked), the smear (or blur) is controlled by the smear slider and the overall brightness is set by the intensity setting. Factor settings apply a factor to the red green and blue channels.

PLUG-IN: Paint - SquaredPic Paint lines / blocks / rectangles plug-in based on underlying image. The plug-in creates squares based on the underlying image.

The squares or rectangles can be sized using the size (x) and (y) settings. The blocks and image can be mixed using the mixing settings. The number of blocks can be set relatively using the quantity slider. Clicking the color blocks checkbox to on will set the block to random colors instead of basing the square on a pixel value.

The size sliders can be linked by clicking the link checkbox. The plug-in is useful for creating dramatic abstract and cubist imagery. Factor settings apply a factor to the red green and blue channels

PLUG-IN: Smear - Campaign Dragged smeary diagonal plug-in. Blurry smeared grain effect.

The noise is blurred and dragged (using the drag slider). Smear is set using the smear slider but additional smear is added using the extra slider. The image and the smear effect is mixed using the mixing sliders. The image is dragged vertically using the drag slider. Factor settings apply a factor to the red and green and blue channels (such as reducing the pixel values by half or doubling them) Useful plug-in for unusual grainy blotches and general bleary imagery

PLUG-IN: Smear - Chunks Chunky block random noise paint plug-in

More a smudge perhaps, a general darkness plug-in that creates a clunky chunky line mix to an image.

The smear direction is set using the smear sliders, this means that hatching as well as more singular direction smearing is added. The noise is added via the noise and Xtra sliders. The white slider increases or lowers the contrast of the image. The mixing sliders mix the image and effect.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - CutThrough Threshold oddball smeared painted plug-in.

Very unusual smearing and noise effects. Lower the threshold / cutoff slider, the brighter the image and the more intense the smear. Increase the threshold cutoff for darker more abstract images. The noise slider adds a scratched look to the image. Additional noise is added using the xtra slider. The black and white sliders control the pixel color range. The image and the effect is mixed using the mix sliders.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - Lineup Grayscale line smeared / grainy painted effect plug-in. Up down hatch.

The plug-in creates a grayscale smeared image.

The grain is set using the noise slider. The smear slider scratches the image more. The cutoff slider controls how much of the effect is getting through or not. The lower the setting, the more threadbare the image. Higher settings of threshold cutoff make grim thick ink like print effects. Additional noise can be added using the xtra slider. The black and white points are set using the black and white sliders changing the contrast of the image. The image and the grain smear is mixed using the mix sliders. The plug-in creates a wide selection of unusual print effects.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - Patch Grained grayscale ink screens drawing plug-in.

The plug-in creates an unusual cut out threshold grained effect. The noise is set by the noise slider.

The overall brightness of the image is set by the intensity slider. The image is brought in or out by the threshold cutoff setting (the less the setting, the more faded the look). Additional noise is added using the Xtra slider. The color of the grain can be tweaked using the factor sliders. The plug-in is useful for created interesting melted wax emboss grained imagery

PLUG-IN: Threshold - Smear Grayscale smear /grain plug-in.

A faded grayscale threshold plug-in effect. Noise is smeared using the smear slider. The image is brought in or removed using the cutoff slider. Grain is added to the image by the noise slider. The image and the effect is mixed using the mix sliders. Factor settings apply a factor to the red and green and blue channels. The output image is a smeary gray diagonal criss crossed image

Plug-ins - Volume 6 PLUG-IN: Blur - Thread Unusual blurring thread plug-in.

Blur plug-in effect, the strength of the blur is set by the blur sliders. The effect is best used (perhaps) in conjunction with the factor sliders for colorful shimmery blurred images.

PLUG-IN: Paint - Lined Sketchy rain / drawn line plug-in.

Draws thin lines at an angle (though this is the default, the direction of the line can be modified using the factor slider (x) and factor slider (y) settings). The length of line is set by the length slider. The relative number of 'rain' lines is set by the quantity slider setting. The background color is set by the color sliders. The lines can also be inverted, bound to a certain color (depending on the foreground and background color settings). The plugin works well on its own but additional effects can be created by red-oing the plugin effect with different blending and length of line. Additional color grain is added to the image via the C.Noise slider. The start point for the image color is set by the start slider; the higher the setting, the grayer the image

PLUG-IN: Paint - ShudderLines Blurry paint fragments plug-in.

Blurry fragmented lines are generated, the relative number being set by the quantity slider. The size (or width) is set by the size slider, so the lines can be stretched horizontally for additional colorful displays. The blur or shudder is set in the vertical and horizontal blur sliders. The plugin can be used to create unusual abstract paint effects. Additional color grain is added to the image via the C.Noise slider.

The start point for the image color is set by the start slider; the higher the setting, the grayer the image

PLUG-IN: Threshold - BasicBW Basic black n white threshold plug-in.

Plug-in creates very basic black and white images. By increasing or decreasing the noise, the image can be given a b/w grained look instead of cleaner lines. The initial black point (0,0,0) can be modified by the black slider, making the image lighter as the black increases. The white (255,255,255) can be decreased and used to reduce contrast. Swapping over the black n white settings will invert the B/W effect. The plugin is great for creating pop art cartoon like images. Black and white noise is added via the G.Noise slider; color noise is added via the C.Noise slider

PLUG-IN: Threshold - BlurNoise Heat / Blurred noise effect plug-in.

The plug-in applies an edge/blur/camera judder via the edge slider. The image and effect mix is controlled by the threshold cutoff slider; the higher the threshold, the less of the image show through.

Lower the threshold cutoff slider and the image approaches white. The black and white values can be modified using the black / white sliders (the black and white settings change the overall contrast of the image and if the black setting is great than the white, the image will be inverted). The grain is set by the C.Noise slider.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - ColorLite Screened threshold grain color plug-in.

Printed standout grained image effect. The primary setting being the cutoff slider, this cuts the image effect away from the source. Additional color is added via the color control and noise is added on a channel by channel basis via the noise sliders. The plug-in creates unusual grained images with subtle color shifts.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - ColorPhase Smeary dark threshold color plug-in. Smeary black & white image plugin.

The effect primary control is the cutoff slider. The lower the cutoff, the lighter the image. If you want only subtle smears of light to pass through, set the cutoff to a higher value. The smear is set by the smear slider. The smear edges colors are set by the factor sliders. The white and black point of the image is set by the black and white sliders, controlling the contrast, crossing the white/black sliders, inverts the effect (making unusual inverted smears)

PLUG-IN: Threshold - CuttingThrough Film noirish screen plug-in.

Film noir like effects. This plug-in generates a cut out of the image. The cutout is smeared using the smear slider. The cutout is controlled by the cutoff slider setting. The lower the cutoff setting, the less of the original image gets through. The black and white points are set by the black and white sliders.

Crossing the Black & white sliders, inverts the effect and creates an unusual grayscale shadow invert.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - DarkDays Crisscross smeary threshold plug-in.

The direction of the smear is set by the direction sliders (x) (y) creating diagonal smears or up / down smears. The smear is set using the smear slider. The lower the threshold setting, the less image appears. The edges of the smear are modified using the factor sliders. The intensity or brightness is set using the intensity slider. The black and white points are set using the black and white sliders and control the contrast and invert the effect if the sliders cross. Variants of the effect for color channels are set using the dropdown.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - DarkDrift Grained cutout plug-in for surreal.

Surreal cutout effect, filling the cutout background with grain and noise shaped by the underlying image. The drift/smear of the grain and cut is set using the drift sliders. The cutout is controlled by the threshold cutoff slider. Grain is added using the noise slider and this creates an embossed / 3D effect.

Plug-ins - Volume 6 The factor sliders modify the cutout and the direction of the cut and smear.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - DarkGloomy Color screen plug-in.

The smear is set using the smear slider. The image cuts through original image based on the cutoff slider setting. The Color is set by the factor sliders (this can be modified by via right clicking the preview screen - [R] marked against the control).

PLUG-IN: Threshold - HeatHaze Scratchy heat haze plug-in.

The lower the cutoff slider, the clearer the image and the whiter the output. The higher settings of cutoff slider turns the image into a darkened heat haze. The noise added to the image is set by the C.Noise slider. The edge slider applies a fuzziness to the heat haze. The black and white sliders setting controlled the black and white minimum and maximum, setting the effect contrast. The factor settings add additional scratchy / haze to the effect. Blast slider adds an additional intensity to the effect.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - Newspaper Light faint newspaper smeared plug-in.

Smear lined grayscale plugin effect. The smear is set using the smear slider setting. The threshold cutoff slider allows more or less of the smear through. The white and black sliders control the effect contrast. The image and effect is mixed using the mixing sliders. You can experiment with the smear and threshold settings by clicking the tweak button, the grain and the smear vary the image in many different ways.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - RandomChannels Dark scratched grainy plug-in.

A scratchy pencil grayscale effect. The smear or sketch is set using the smear slider. More or less of the image appears using the threshold cutoff slider. The black and white sliders control the contrast.

Inverting the black and white sliders, inverts the image to create a shadowy sketch effect.

PLUG-IN: Threshold - RGBSmear Smeary threshold abstract plug-in. The plugin creates a smeary chunkier grained effect.

More or less of the image appears depending on the threshold cutoff setting. The direction sliders control the direction of the smear, the smear setting, the strength of the smear. The black and white sliders control the contrast. The C.Noise slider added additional color grain to the image. To tryout wide range of smears/directions (and these can totally change the image), click the tweak button. Apply additional color to the image via the factor sliders

PLUG-IN: Threshold - Shift Shimmery threshold effect plug-in.

A blur is applied using the thread slider. Additional noise is added to the smearing via the S.Noise slider The threshold of the effect is applied using the threshold slider, the lower the setting, the more pastel-like the effect. The white and black points are set using the black and white sliders to control the contrast (on a channel by channel basis). The image and the effect are mixed using the mixing sliders.

Plug-ins - Volume 7 PLUG-IN: Gradient - GradientCombo 7 Use this plugin to create gradients / colorful overlays / textures and patterns and more.

The plugin comes with a number of gradient types as well as variant combinations of those gradients (this is found in the 'gradient type, color, center' section of the dialog. The overall 'gradient' for the A and B gradient combination can be selected via the gradient A and B dropdowns beneath the type and color. The plug-in works using the foreground (FG) and background color setting (BG). Change the use of the FG BG via the color dropdown. The 'center' of the two variant combinations can be changed via the cntA and cntB sliders. The [R] means the center 1 can be modified by right clicking the preview at the required center position (found in the 'center gradients A + B' section of the dialog). The gradients are mixed using the mix sliders across color channels red green and blue (found in the 'mix gradients' section of the dialog) The mix is combines the gradient A and B channels in varying amounts. If you see no contribution from either gradient A or B then you may have to modify the slider setting for the mix, try the extremes of settings to see how the mix modifies the combination of A and B gradients.

Add in noise to create less banding in the gradient (found in the 'additional noise applied' section).

Factor applies additional red, green, and blue to the image. Spatial modifies the horizontal and vertical settings of the gradient (found in the 'color and spatial factors' section of the dialog). To create many 1000s of different gradient colorful combos, generate a gradient using one set of values say using gradient 1 and then generate a second gradient using gradient 12, and use the fade option to change the apply mode to multiply or difference allowing for some part of the original gradient 1 to be seen (as below). Instead of using the fade command, apply the gradients to different layers and use the blending modes. Using layers allows for additional effects to be applied as well as duplicates of layers and also interweaving additional effects layers.

PLUG-IN: Pattern - PatternMagic Creates patterns based on the FG (foreground color) and BG (background color).

A variety of designs can be created using a combination of the pattern and the sub pattern options (found in the 'pattern type, style' section of the dialog). The quantity controls the size of the design (found in the patterns section of the dialog). The shift sliders modify the internal overlay position of the pattern (found in the 'shift patterns 1 + 2' section of the dialog). The noise slider adds grain to the image (found in the additional noise applied' section of the dialog). Many different patterns can be created such as the square pattern below. Many different designs can be created using combinations of the pattern type and style (variants)

PLUG-IN: Utility - VerticalStretch Stretching plug-in (vertically).

The plugin stretches (and attempts to squeeze an image into a defined space using fine tuning of the image scaling in the vertical). Stretch dropdown modifies the application of the stretch settings creating different types of squeezed or stretched imagery such as triangular or radial as well as linear stretches of the original image (found in the 'stretch apply' section of the dialog). The plugin comes with a selection of controls to set the scaling, yFactor slider being the primary by very very fine tuning can be done by tweaking the a and b sliders. The stretch plugin comes with a few variant stretch effects and the xtra slider is used in combo with some of those settings (depending on the stretch dropdown setting) (found in the 'stretch, division, xtra' section of the dialog). The color of any gap is replaced with the back (R) (G) (B) color. The image below is the original but modifying the yFactor (first slider) the image is stretched or squeezed. Changing the stretch dropdown will apply different stretch effects such as radial or triangular stretching

Plug-ins - Volume 8 PLUG-IN: Blur - Blowing Light wind stream color plug-in.

The blur (of the noise) is set by the blur (horizontal and vertical) sliders. The image and output is mixed by the mix sliders. The noise slider adds the blowing / grain. The color per channel can be further modified by the factor sliders

PLUG-IN: Gradient - GradientCombo Gradient plugin that uses the current foreground and background palette color.

The plugin comes with a number of sub plug-ins such as the diamond cutter gradient and alpha gradient (the plugins were originally separate plugins) and are accessed via the top gradient dropdown.

The center of the individual gradients can be modified (radically changing the image) via the center sliders. The color of the gradient can be varied via the two color slider sets (for each channel). Grain can be added via the noise slider (creating a slightly more realistic and less blocky gradient). The plugin, by default, creates a gradient based on the FG and BG colors; the FG and BG color can be changed via the toolbox or materials palette depending on the application. Setting the output modes can also just display the gradient as an overlay or frame or tiling pattern etc

PLUG-IN: Noise - ColorGrain Colorful grain effects - useful for screens effects.

The plug-in creates dark and interesting screened grains effects. The grain quality can be controlled using the various intensity, mix, threshold, and color sliders, changing the grain and image contrast or adding brightness. The cutoff slider controls the level of grain or noise added; the higher the threshold, the less speckles will be seen. The noise sliders add additional noise/grain to the image.

PLUG-IN: Smear - Cut Surreal image blurring emboss plug-in.

Ghostly inverted embossing effect. The smear is set for the vertical and horizontal using the smear sliders. The mixing of the effect and image is set by the mixing sliders. Additional noise is added using the noise slider. The plugin creates an oddball emboss or line effect. The intensity of the effect can be modified by the intensity slider; the color of each smear effect can be modified by the factor sliders.

Changing the slider settings for the mix and smear and the image becomes an unusual smear glow effect.

PLUG-IN: Smear - MistyBlock Misty blocking plug-in.

A fragmented variant of the mistyHV plugin, creating a glass distorted fragmented mist, the effect being controlled by the block slider. The channels can be modified to be redder or bluer using the factor sliders

PLUG-IN: Smear - MistyHV Smear / misty plug-in (vertical/horizontal).

The plugin mists or smears the color of the pixels vertically (by default) and the color added to the mist is set by the color sliders. The mist is by default vertically but by clicking the horizontal checkbox to on, the mist is horizontally applied. The lined checkbox sets the mist to mist alone and no blend with the image. Different color blends can be applied by using the color sliders and output dropdown. The color sliders can be linked by the link RGB

Plug-ins - Volume 9 PLUG-IN: Blur - Fragment Fragmentation effect plug-in.

Fragments the image in the vertical and horizontal directions (sliders: distort (y) and (x)) creating a glass distortion or fragmentation effect. The factor sliders modify the color on a channel by channel basis. Different fragment options are available via the fragment dropdown (such as darken / smudge)

PLUG-IN: Blur - Lightenup Burn/blur effect plug-in.

Applies a blurry burn effect to center of an image. Increasing the blur settings darkens the image, the intensity via the intense slider applies a glow to the center of the blur effect. The plug-in is great for out of focus effects. The plug-in also works well on text. Factor sliders modify the color on a channel by channel basis

PLUG-IN: Distort - Lineup Displacement / blur line glassy distortion plug-in.

The image distortion is set by the distort (x) and (y) sliders and the relative number of lines is set by the quantity slider. The factor sliders modify the color on a channel by channel basis. The default direction is vertical but the direction can be changed by the distort apply options dropdown (such as horizontal lines instead of vertical)

PLUG-IN: Gradient - GradientCombo Colorful gradient plug-in for textures / overlays / patterns - subtle to extreme gradients - many variations.

The plugin comes with a number of sub gradient plugins and these are accessed via the top dropdown gradients list. The plug-in effect fills the image with a colorful blend of the foreground and background palette color. The gradient center can be shifted by the center sliders to create a wide range of different gradients. The Link checkbox links the color sliders so any change to the red slider is reflected in the green and blue slider. By changing the foreground and background color, many different gradients can be created. The FG BG colors need to be different, green-green etc. will result in no gradient effect. The factor sliders modify the color on a channel by channel basis. The default gradient is only the starting point. Clicking the color button will add or subtract from the gradient, creating many different gradients. The extreme button is useful for creating 100s of variant gradients. The mode dropdown changes the mode from the default gradient options to applying the gradient as a blur or smear or tone. The strength of the mode is set by the mode slider.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Rings Rings gradient plug-in (this does not use the foreground and background color palette by default).

A number of variant ring plugins have been included and these are accessed via the ring plugin dropdown including intense ring designs, dappled light effects, ripples and many more. The center of the ring (rings) can be changed by the center sliders. The number of rings is modified on a per channel basis by the rings sliders. The ring's colors can be set to the bounds of the foreground and background via the squeeze checkbox. Factor sliders modify the color on an individual channel basis The gradient is the default mode but by setting the mode dropdown to tone or shift or blue, the gradient can be used to modify the image in many different ways creating unusual blurs or art effects. The strength of the gradient mode applied is modified by the mode slider.

PLUG-IN: Noise - Crossing Inverted scratch plug-in. Diagonal line smear effect.

The smear and noise are added to the image using the smear and noise sliders. The direction of the smeared line is set by the direction sliders. Additional noise is added using the xtra slider. The image and effect is mixed using the mixing sliders. The color used to invert the image is set using the invert slider. Setting the noise slider to a low setting, darkens the image and creates 'bronzed' imagery.

Increasing the invert slider, brightens the overall image sparkle. Factor sliders modify the individual color channels Noise drop down modifies the overall application of the effect applying different noise / pastel etc effects

PLUG-IN: Smear - LineSmear Glassy smeary color effect plug-in.

The plug-in creates a glassy smeary look (after a drunken evening...) The smear is shifted by the shift sliders. Different smear modes such as lighten or darken can be applied to the image using the smear drop down. The smear slider controls the overall light smearing of the image. The colors of the image are intensified by this plug-in. Factor settings modify the color for the RGB (or LAB or CMYK) channels

Plug-ins - Volume 10 PLUG-IN: Color - Mod Scattered broken distorted plug-in.

The plug-in shifts and distorts the image. The color effects are set by the mod (R) (G) (B) and the color sliders. The image and effect are shifted using the shift sliders.

PLUG-IN: Color - NegativePrint Low contrast negative plug-in.

The plug-in generates a negative image. The color of the original image is modified by the max, channel switch and the inverse settings.

PLUG-IN: Lines - Lined Line effect plug-in / intense line effect.

The image is shifted using the shift settings. The line's color is modified using the various color sliders.

Additional line variation is added using the quantity sliders.

PLUG-IN: Noise - BadTV 'Terrible TV' image plug-in. The plug-in creates ye-olde TV picture.

The number of lines is modified by the qty settings, the image and lines are shifted by using the shift and move settings. The image and the effect is mixed by the mix settings.

PLUG-IN: Noise - ColorGrain Column color grain plug-in.

Scratchy column grain heat haze effect. The level and mode settings add grain and columnar grain to the image. The image is mixed using the mix sliders. The noise is also added using the noise sliders.

The plugin creates coarse color grain and scratched imagery

PLUG-IN: Noise - GrainedLines Vertical grainy lines plug-in.

The plug-in generates lines of noise. The lines are set using the factor and noise settings. The image and noise are mixed using the the mix sliders.

PLUG-IN: Noise - RoughPrint Rough image plug-in.

Negative rough image effect. The plug-in applies lines using various factor sliders. The image and effect is mixed using the mixing sliders and additional noise is added to the image using the noise sliders. The overall look is 'rough'

PLUG-IN: Overlay - DotFlow Dots overlay plug-in.

The plug-in creates a subtle to extreme flow of dots across the image, which can be used for shimmering dot displays or subtle patches of light across an image or object. The dots are controlled by the flow sliders. The image and effect are mixed using the mixing sliders.

PLUG-IN: Overlay - Dotted Dots overlay / color halftone plug-in.

The plug-in generates color dots which shifted on a channel by channel basis, creating 100s of unique color dot combinations. The dots can be shifted vertically (y) and horizontally (x) for the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) channels. The dots and image are mixed using the mixing sliders. The lower the qty setting, the larger the dot

PLUG-IN: Overlay - Lines Lines overlay plug-in.

The plug-in generates two overlapping lines. The number of lines for each 'line' grouping is controlled by the qty sliders. The lines plug-in can be used to create 100s of different style lines effects. Great with text as well as normal images.

PLUG-IN: Overlay - RadialBurst Colorful radial line burst plug-in.

A radial pattern is applied starting in the top left corner of the image. The angle and the radial (bands) settings can be controlled on a channel by channel basis along with the mixing of the original and the effect. Great for unusual colorful overlays in 100s of different ways

PLUG-IN: Overlay - Satin Flowing overlay line plug-in / line warped plugin.

The plugins draws lines across the image in warped (satin-like) waves.

The direction and settings are changed by the factor and warp settings. Additional color shifts are tweaked by the color sliders and this create subtle color distortions to the overall satin pattern. The image and the satin effect are modified using the mixing sliders

PLUG-IN: Threshold - Cutouts Color threshold plug-in. Intense cut out solarized threshold effect.

The plugin can be modified to create unusual color shift effects. Combining noise and grain (these are mixed in with the original image and the average/grayscale of the image)

PLUG-IN: Vignette - Framed

Plug-ins - Volume 10 Framing plug-in.

Vignette frame plugin generates frame using the vignette frame and factor sliders settings (on a channel by channel basis) and mixes with the original using the mix sliders.

Plug-ins - Volume 11 PLUG-IN: Blur - Grainy Dark intense grained blur plug-in.

The plug-in creates intense dark grained image or bitty grained effects. The noise nearly obliterates images. The noise levels can be modified in the horizontal and vertical directions as well as overall.

Increasing the blur removes the noise, leaving the image with a snow-white surreal glow. The factor sliders modifies the color of the pixels on a channel by channel basis. The + noise slider adds even more colored noise to the image

PLUG-IN: Blur - MinMaxCross Zigzag/criss cross shimmered blur and smudge plug-in.

The plugin by default applies a blur based on a zigzag / criss cross pattern but by clicking the darken checkbox, the effect is more a smudge. Many of the plug-ins have a Link R-G-B checkbox and this can be used to link the red, green and blue (in this case, factor) sliders together. If set, the intensity or factor applied to the pixels is all based on the red slider setting, if not, the colors of the blur can be modified to make the blur bluish or greenish. Create unusual shimmered blurs. Great with many types of image, busy images to basic text.

PLUG-IN: Blur - ShiftZag A directional blur plug-in.

The plug-in blurs an image up and down and left to right using the shift sliders. The underlying blur algorithm is a zigzag but the plugin generally creates blurry shuddered color shifted surreal image effects. Perhaps more useful if used with the link R-G-B on.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Pyramid Pyramid gradient plugin (this does not use the foreground and background color palette by default).

A number of variant pyramid creating plugins have been included and these are accessed via the pyramid plugin dropdown. The center of the pyramid can be changed by the center sliders.

The number of pyramids is modified on a per channel basis by the pyramids sliders. The pyramid's colors can be set to the bounds of the foreground and background via the squeeze checkbox. The gradient is the default mode but by setting the mode dropdown to tone or shift or blue, the gradient can be used to modify the image in many different ways creating unusual blurs or art effects. The strength of the gradient mode applied is modified by the mode slider.

PLUG-IN: Overlay - BlendCombo Colorful gradient overlay plug-in, useful for subtle color touches. Plug-in to apply a colorful overlay to an image.

The plugin uses the current foreground and background palette color to control the gradient color. The color can be tweaked using the color (R) (G) (B) sliders. The center of the gradient and overlay can be moved by setting the center (x) and (y). Wonderful for soft light effects, not as garish as perhaps a basic gradient overlay. The plugin comes 9 sub-plugins (originally separate plugins). The plugin set comes with additional modes (via the mode dropdown) to apply the gradient as a blend or as a tone or blur or shift or other types of gradient apply. The strength of the blend mode can be modified by the mode slider.

PLUG-IN: Utility - Colorize Grayscale/colorizer plugin.

Tweak the color of any image and create a colorized image. Set the image to a bluish or ye-olde look.

The color is set via the color (R) (G) (B) sliders. The color sliders are linked via the link R-G-B checkbox and this can be used for adding lightness or darkness to a grayscale image.

PLUG-IN: Utility - Intensity Brighten / darken plug-in.

Brightens an image based on the overall intensity slider setting, but the other channels are tweaked using the intensity (R) (G) (B) sliders. The sliders are linked using the the link checkbox.

Plug-ins - Volume 12 PLUG-IN: Blur - GradientBlur1 Blur - gradient based plug-in.

The plug-in uses an underlying gradient to generate different strengths of blur in different parts of the image. The gradient is set by the foreground and background palette color. The center of the gradient is set using the center (x) (y) settings and the underlying (but not seen) color of the gradient is changed by the color slider settings, this is linked to the blur applied at a particular pixel. The actual strength of the blur (modified by the gradient) is set by the blur sliders on a channel by channel basis.

The various color sliders are linked by the link checkbox. The blur plug-in creates surreal as well as subtle blurring and smearing of color. The factor sliders multiply the pixel's color, so 200% factor for red will make the output result twice as red.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Burst Burst gradient plugin (this does not use the foreground and background color palette by default).

A number of variant starburst creating plugins have been included and these are accessed via the burst plug-in dropdown. The center of the starburst can be changed by the center sliders. The number of burst lines is modified on a per channel basis by the burst sliders. The burst's colors can be set to the bounds of the foreground and background via the squeeze checkbox.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - GradientCombo Colorful gradient plug-in for textures / overlays / patterns - subtle to extreme gradients - many variations

The plug-in effect fills the image with a colorful blend of the foreground and background palette color.

The gradient center can be shifted by the center sliders to create a wide range of different gradients.

The color sliders further tweak the underlying gradient structure. The mode option offers an alternate gradient effect based on the default. The link checkbox links the color sliders so any change to the red slider is reflected in the green and blue slider. By changing the foreground and background color, many different gradients can be created. A number of different gradients can be accessed via the gradient dropdown. The FG BG colors need to be different, green-green etc. will result in no gradient effect. The default gradient is only the starting point. Clicking the color button will add or subtract from the gradient, creating many different gradients. By default the plugin applies a gradient but by changing the mode dropdown to shift, blur, and others, different effects can be applied using the gradient as the source. The strength of the effect can be modified by the mode slider.

Plug-ins - Volume 13 PLUG-IN: Distort - CrizCroz Scar and smear distortion plug-in. The plug-in creates unusual shifted grained image distortions.

The key slider is the smear control which extends the range of the brushed strokes added to the image. The S.noise slider add the character and general brightness to the image. The C.Noise slider adds some additional color grain. The extra slider is an additional smear feature. The plug-in also mixes the effect and source using the mix sliders. Color can be further modified using the factor sliders for each channel; if red is set to 200 then the red channel is double the original effect setting. The crizcroz plug-in can be used for paint effects, great with text, excellent for adding a raw distortion to any image.

PLUG-IN: Distort - GradientShift Weird painted shift plug-in.

Pixels shifted by an underlying gradient (so the distortion can be modified by changing the foreground and background palette color) creating weird and wonderful surreal (as well as subtle) distortions and paint effects. The plug-in can smear and distort, creating stunning visual effects. The distort can be controlled on a channel by channel basis using the distort sliders. Different gradient colors can be applied using the color dropdown. Additional color grain can be added using the C.Noise slider. The center of the underlying gradient can be modified using the center x / y sliders

PLUG-IN: Distort - GridSource

Distortions (mottled, ripples...) plug-in. The plug-in shifts pixels and distorts based on a distortion grid and the distort settings. A large number of distortion types are supplied via the distortion dropdown The distortion is applied via the distort / Xtra sliders. Additional noise to the distortion is applied via the D.noise slider; additional color grain via the C.noise slider. The color of the distortion can be further modified by the factor sliders

PLUG-IN: Distort - Streaks

Line streaked plug-in. The plugin takes the source pixel and draws a line from that pixel to the maximum of the supplied length setting. The length of line depends on the source pixel value across all three channels. The effect is a smear or distorted brush across an image. Instead of just uniformly applying this, the plugin only shifts the pixels with settings between the minimum and maximum pixel range, so if the pixel is black, that won't be distorted or painted if the start range is set to 100. The range can be limited or it can be set to the limits. The lines can be drawn either vertically or horizontally depending on the setting of the horizontal checkbox. The higher the strength length setting, generally the greater the appearance of the streaks of pixel paint. The distortion can be pretty extreme. Additional noise can be added to the streaks via the S.noise setting (negative will turn the streak image blacker); additional color grain can be applied via the C.noise slider

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Star

Star gradient plugin (this does not use the foreground and background color palette by default). A number of variant star creating plugins have been included and these are accessed via the star plugin dropdown. The center of the star can be changed by the center sliders.

The number of star points is modified on a per channel basis by the stars sliders (set the red and green and blue star settings to different values to get more color into the image). The star's colors can be set to the bounds of the foreground and background via the squeeze checkbox. The gradient is the default mode but by setting the mode dropdown to tone or shift or blue, the gradient can be used to modify the image in many different ways creating unusual blurs or art effects. The strength of the gradient mode applied is modified by the mode slider. The center of the star is controlled via the center sliders.

Many different star gradients can be accessed via the plug-in dropdown The color of the star can be further modified by factor sliders. Additional noise can be added to the star lines via the S.noise slider; additional color grain can be added to the star via the C.noise slider

PLUG-IN: Lines - Metal

Metallic like effect plugin. Modify the number of lines using the qty slider. Lighten and mix the lines using the mix and intensity sliders. Change the angle slider to create variant line patterns. Factor sliders further modify the overall color of the metallic effect

PLUG-IN Pattern - Dots

Dots/grid pattern plug-in. The plug-in creates dots (though using the invert, a grid) as well as many colorful variant dot effects. The number of dots is set by the qty quantity slider (though this is a relative value) The factor sliders modifies the color of the dots. C.Noise slider adds additional color grain to the dots

PLUG-IN: Pattern - Fragments Abstract pattern plug-in.

The plug-in creates a smooth star themed pattern. The distort slider has no effect if pattern checkbox is set to on. If the pattern checkbox is clicked off, a different pattern is used and the direction of the pattern is modified by the distort slider. The pattern size is modified by the quantity slider. The patterns can be stretched and distorted to great effect.

PLUG-IN: Utility - Lighter Lighten or darken image plug-in.

Lighten or darken an image (using the light slider).

PLUG-IN: Utility - Sharper

Sharpening tool plug-in for image enhancement.

Sharpen using the sharpen setting

Plug-ins - Volume 14 PLUG-IN: Lighting - Glow Lighting or glow plug-in / wipe-out glow effect.

Modify the glow using the two glow sliders.

PLUG-IN: Distort - GridEdge Distortion / paint effect plug-in based on the contrast of an image.

The plug-in applies various distortion types to image such as mottled and rippled. The distortion effect is set by the distortion and the distortXtra sliders and the application to the image is modified by the edge slider (the greater the slider setting, the more color distortion). If you wish to experiment with a range of distortion settings for a particular distortion type, click the tweak button. To experiment with the range of distortion types (without changing other settings), click the distort button. A large selection of distortion types are available. The plug-in can create paint effects, paint slapped onto an image and other paint effects such as pastel or pen strokes. Useful for creating abstract images based on an original source image.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Lines Lines gradient plugin

A number of variant lines creating plugins have been included and these are accessed via the lines plugin dropdown. The center of the lines gradient can be changed by the center sliders. The number of lines is modified on a per channel basis by the lines sliders. The line's colors can be set to the bounds of the foreground and background via the squeeze checkbox. The gradient is the default mode but by setting the mode dropdown to tone or shift or blue, the gradient can be used to modify the image in many different ways creating unusual blurs or art effects.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Motion Colorful gradient plug-in for textures / overlays / patterns - subtle to extreme gradients.

The plugin comes with a selection of different gradients via the gradients dropdown. The center of the gradient is set by the center sliders and the color tweaked on a channel by channel basis by the color sliders (modifying the foreground and background color). The colors are linked by the link checkbox.

The colors of the gradient are set or limited by the current foreground and background color palette.

The default mode of the plugin is gradients but the mode can be changed via the mode dropdown to blurs or shifts or color effects.

PLUG-IN: Paint - Blocked Square blocky plug-in, blocks based on underlying image.

The plug-in creates a square based on the underlying image and can be used to create unusual blocky squared abstract images. The relative size of the blocks can be controlled by the size slider. Grain can be added to the blocks by using the C.Noise slider. Large block size creates more abstract imagery, smaller block creates blocky painted images.

PLUG-IN: Paint - Patchy Scratchy/cross/patch plug-in.

This plug-in is a variant of the windblast and combines the vertical and horizontal. The patch or size of the line added is set by the patch slider

PLUG-IN: Paint - WindBlast Wind effect based on underlying image.

The plugin creates a line and applies this line (a paint effect) to the image depending on the wind slider. The line by default is vertical but the wind or line is horizontal if the horizontal checkbox is set to on. The lines can also be shifted in red green and blue channels via the shift sliders. The color can be modified further by the factor sliders

PLUG-IN: Threshold - BW Black and white plug-in.

A fairly basic threshold effect. The threshold cutoff setting if set to a low value creates a darkened image, the higher the threshold, the less of the image and more white is displayed. The white and black value (default 255 and 0) is set by the color sliders. If the black slider is set to greater than 0 then the image is grayer. Additional threshold effects are set via the threshold dropdown, examples being mixing in more red into the threshold mix or apply the threshold setting with the emphasis on the right of the document.

PLUG-IN: Video - Repeats Zoom effect plug-in.

Plug-in takes the original image and scales it and repeats it and scales it down and down and approaches the top left of the image (the default center of the scaling). The scaling center is changed by using the center sliders. The higher the repeat setting the more of the scaled images are placed overlapping towards the center. The greater the inset value, the quicker the scaling and bigger the gap between the scaled images. The start slider modifies the start point of the inset (so instead of starting the scaling from close to the edge of the document the scaling can be started at 50% of the size of the document. In this plug-in, the sliders at the bottom do not tweak the color of the document but the background space left over (by the start slider). This plugin is great for amazing zooming effects, either left to right or up and down or towards the center of the document.

PLUG-IN: Video - Repeats4 Pattern creating plug-in based on underlying image (useful for seamless surreal zoom patterns). The plug-in is a variant of the repeat plug-in but instead of a single repeat, it repeats the scaling four times from each corner to the middle of the document (the default center).

Plug-ins - Volume 14 The center is modified using the center sliders. The repeats slider repeats the duplication from all four corners and the inset is the same from all four corners (scaling change). The start setting starts the inset pattern closer to the center. Inset increases the zoom The plug-in is useful for surreal pattern effects as well as creating unusual seamless patterns (though it doesn't have to create seamless, really depends on the zoom and the center). The color sliders are used if there is any background displayed

Plug-ins - Volume 15 PLUG-IN: COLOR EFFECTS The color plugin applies color filter effects to an image as well as combining an internal gradient mix to the image for additional color overlays and mixes The plugin has a number of components such as dropdown box and combinations of combos (originally option boxes but increased to include new features), sliders to manipulate the color channel, intensity, center of the gradient. and the mix of the 'color' effect and gradient to output Panel dialogs The plugin is spread over 5 different dialog panels, filters / grad1 / color / Grad2 / effects The main functionality of the plugin can be accessed via the filters panel but additional effects can be set by going to the grad1 (additional linear gradient added), color (channel and grain and factors) and grad2 (additional gradient setup mixed with the grad1 and filter) Filters dropdown (Filters dialog)

The image effects such as posterization, inversion, combinations of average, hue, saturations, foregrounds combos and more are all available via this dropdown. The filters dropdown is the core of the plug-in. Some of the filters have <FG> and gr tags. The <FG> means the filter uses in some way the foreground color on the palette (which can be set to anything in RGB range) or the gradient information (gr)

Grad / Pic - Mixing gradient and image (filters dialog)

To display the gradient1 and mix the gradient1 and image effect, set the grad / pic mix settings to something other than the defaults, otherwise the gradient will be just ignored (though if you set the gradient factor to on or the filters marked as 'gr' then the gradient information will be used)

Filter blending mode options (filters dialog)

The default is a normal blend and just use the mixing information to blend the gradient (grad1) and image/filter result. There are a number of options such as join, combo, etc and these mix the result in a variety of ways. Some of the options are marked with a * and these do not use the mixing information

Intensity setting slider (filters dialog)

This is a factor applied to the output (1000 is the default, making no modification to the output) Greater than 1000 then the picture will be brighter, less than 1000, darker.

Grad/pic mixing slider (filter dialog)

Blends the image and the gradient1 (though this ignored if the blending mode is set to options marked by a *) The gradient mixing can be used to create a subtle blend of the gradient with the filter output as well as an extreme mix /saturated form of the gradient. If the mixing is set to 255,255 then the gradient1 generally will have no effect, if you set the gradient mixing to 0,255 then the gradient will be final output.

Center [R] sliders (filters dialog)

This modifies the center of the gradient, by changing these settings the gradient can be shifted up or down or the center of the gradient shifted. Some of the gradient types such as pulse use the center information to also create additional gradient effects. If no gradient (grad1) is involved in the display, the center settings will be ignored.

<FG> combo (filters dialog)

This is ignored if the filter is not set to a <FG> option (in the filters drodown you will see a number of items marked 'filter 1' 'filter 2' but some of them also have <FG> beside them. If <FG> is indicated, the plug-in will use the current foreground color in the filter process (in some way or other) perhaps as a factor or as an inverse or an addition.

The dropdown is by default off and the FG is used without any randomization. If the option is set to 0 FG then the FG color used throughout the image is a randomized value between 0,0,0 and FG (RGB). A number of other options are included such as 255-FG (so the range is reversed); totally random; and a jitter option which jitters the randomization roughly around the current FG

Plug-in gradients

The gradient is a linear gradient by default though there are a number of variants of the linear theme indicated by gradient 1, 2, 3... in the gradient dropdown but they are all generally linear in theme. The gradient is 'color controlled' by the foreground and background color palette so set these before (or after in the case of a re-apply) A black n white gradient combo will be generally different from the result of a red / green or yellow / purple or light green / dark green combo

Gradients (grad1 dialog)

Set the gradient used. If the mixing is set to the default and the various options for gradient are off, the gradient information is not used. To display the full gradient, set the mixing to 0,255. The gradients use the FG and BG settings. The gradients are generally all linear variants and work by default in the

Plug-ins - Volume 15 horizontal direction (x) but the gradient type/direction can be set to vertical as well as radial or diamond and a number of other gradient types to create a wide range of color overlays and effects If the gradient factor dropdown is set to on (the default is off though), the current gradient will be factored into the image result.

Gradient type dropdown (grad1 dialog)

This dropdown is ignored if none of the color features use options such as mixing set to 255, 255 and gradient factor is off. If used, the default is a linear gradient. A number of different gradient modes are used such as radial, diamond etc but these are used as input into the actual gradient and maybe used in many different ways and the diamond effect or linear effect maybe less pronounced from gradient 1, 2, 3.. and this type is also dependent on the gradient center (or not)

FG/BG gradient dropdown (grad1 dialog)

If gradients are not used then this is ignored. The gradients use the foreground and background color palettes (though this varies from application to application, this information might not be available or modified or called different things such as a fill or stroke color). If a gradient is used then the start point uses the foreground color and the end point uses the background and the rest of the gradient is calculated using the gradient and gradient type and the coordinates for each pixel.

The dropdown includes a jitter option to jitter the randomization of the gradient FG and BG, also randomization from black to the FG and BG, as well as randomization from the FG / BG to white, total randomization, as well as a reverse or swap of the FG/ BG information

Gradient factor on / off dropdown (grad1 dialog)

The gradient information is used as a factor to modify the image/filter output, if set to on. This is used with respect to the FG/BG information and the gradient and gradient type and is mixed on the side of the image/filter during the gradient/image mix. This will be extended in future versions to include different factorization

Factor slider (color dialog)

Apply an additional color channel factor (red green or blue) to the output of the grad1 and filter and grad2

Grain slider (color dialog)

Additional grain / noise added to the output, generally improves the application of the gradient.

Red gradient options / green / blue dropdown (grad2 dialog).

An additional gradient to add to the image / filter / grad1. If the mix is set as default, the gradient dropdowns are ignored. The red gradient option changes the gradient applied to the red channel, the green dropdown to the green, and the blue dropdown to the blue.

Repeat slider (grad2 dialog)

Same for all channels, repeats the number of lines in the grad2 gradient.

Shift slider (grad2 dialog)

Shifts the center of the grad2 gradient (if radial etc)

Filter / grad2 mix dropdown (grad2 dialog)

Blends the filter / grad1 and the grad2 gradient. If the mix is set to the default settings the blend is ignored (unless there is a * against an entry and then the mix settings are ignored and the blend dropdown is in control)

Mix slider (grad2 dialog)

Mixes the grad1 and filter with the grad2 gradients. If default and the grad2 blend is not a * marked, then you won't see a grad2 gradient. Change the mix settings to display more or less of grad2

Plug-ins - Volume 16 PLUG-IN: Gradient - PowerBlend A plugin to apply a color blend using the foreground and background color and combination of additional color and color modification settings such as radial and star designs Tab 1: G1

The plugin's initial gradient is changed by [GRADIENTSTYLE1 OPTIONS] and modified further by [TYPE 1]. The color of the gradient initially comes from the foreground and background color palette but this can be further modified by the [FGBG1 OPTIONS] to include randomization. The actual color is displayed beside the dropdown. The gradient can be squeezed by the [FACTOR SLIDER], the 'center' of the gradient can be modified by the 'SHIFT SLIDER] and additional noise can be added to the gradient via [NOISE SLIDER]

Tab 2: G2

The plugin's secondary gradient is changed by [GRADIENTSTYLE2 OPTIONS] and modified further by [TYPE 2]. The color of the gradient initially comes from the [COLOR 2 OPTIONS] (setting the color to yellow-green etc) but this can be further modified by the [FGBG1 OPTIONS] to include randomization.

The actual color is displayed beside the dropdown. The gradient can be squeezed by the [FACTOR SLIDER], the 'center' of the gradient can be modified by the 'SHIFT SLIDER] and additional noise can be added to the gradient via [NOISE SLIDER]. The gradient is only displayed if the mixing is set to allow the 'gradient2' to appear or if one of the mixing options is indicated by a * and the mixing is ignored and the gradient 1 and 2 are combined in a variety of ways.

Tab 3: G3

The third gradient is a new addition to the dialog. To see the third gradient, please change the mixing settings to display the blend of the gradient 1-2 and gradient 3. Again, some of the options allow for direct access to the gradient 3 (marked * in the mix dialog) The type of gradient is set by the [GRADIENTSTYLE3 OPTIONS] to radial etc. The number of 'rings' etc is modified by the [REPEAT SLIDER] and the 'center' is modified by the [SHIFT SLIDER]. As with some of the other styles / type / variants of gradients, the shift might have an effect or not

Tab 4: Mix

If the mixing is set to the default, only the G1 gradient is displayed. Modify the blending of the gradient 1 and 2 gradient's via the [BLENDING12 OPTIONS]. In most cases the end result depends on the mix sliders as well but in some cases, the mix settings are ignored (marked by a *). The mixing of the gradients is controlled by the [MIX SLIDERS] The G3 gradient is blended into the end result via the [BLENDING3 OPTIONS] and [MIX SLIDERS]

Tab 5: RGB

The output is modified by the red / green / blue factor slider [FACTOR SLIDERS]. Set to 120 for [RED SLIDER] will result in a redder image. [IGNORE RED CHANNEL] and other ignore checkboxes have been mentioned before and these can be used to simply use the original source channel instead of the plugin effect.

PLUG-IN: Distort - GridEdge1 A distortion / warp / paint plug-in. This plugin can be used on its own or in combination with the powerblend. The plugin can be used to create truly wow and unique warping and paint designs.

Tab 1: Warp

The plugin's warp is modified by [WARP1 OPTIONS] and further modified by the [WARP2 OPTIONS].

These two are combined depending on the mode [LINK OPTIONS] and the strength of the warping is modified by the [WARP SLIDER] and [XTRA SLIDER]. Create different warping effects from large warps to very subtle intense localized warping using these sliders. Click the [DISTORT BUTTON] to randomize the settings

Tab 2: Mode

The plugin by default uses basic x and y coordinate system, so if the image is 400 by 400 and the middle of the image is at 200 200. Using a different warping system, the middle might be -200 130 and the other coordinates are varied accordingly. This can result in some truly odd warping [SOURCE OPTIONS]. The first dialog has two distort dropdowns, how these are linked and combined depends on the [LINK OPTIONS]. These can radically modify the warping.

Tab 3: RGB

The image is colored by the [FACTOR SLIDERS], setting the [RED SLIDER] to 120 will make a redder image. The [IGNORE RED CHECKBOX] clicked to on would mean the original source pixels for the red channel are used instead of the effect.

Tab 4: +W

The fourth dialog is an additional feature to modify the warping coordinates used. The factor is added etc to the coordinates via the [FACTOR OPTIONS]. The type of factor is controlled by the [WARP1 MODIFY OPTIONS] and by default this is set to ignore or none. If set to none, the repeat etc are ignored and the plugin will ignore this dialog. The warp1 settings modify the first warp, the warp2 modify the second warp. Depending on the [WARP SLIDER] and [XTRA SLIDER] and the type of warps, the warp factor may have more or less effect. This is definitely one for some experimentation. You can create some truly weird warping modification. The [REPEAT SLIDER] modifies the source warp, creating more or less lines or spokes etc and the [SHIFT SLIDERS] modify the center, though for some [MODIFY OPTIONS] this will have no effect, but for radial etc, the center will be changed. The [FACTOR SLIDER] is an additional modifier of the warp modification, creating more or less impact.

Plug-ins - Volume 17 PLUG-IN: Glow - Starburst Dark Edge / sketchy / pastel / emboss / glow plug-in. The plug-in creates rough pastel like sketches along with intense glow effects.

The pastel/glow is controlled by the radius and angle sliders. The overall impact is modified by the max and zap sliders, damping the overall intensity. The edge slider adds a roughness to the pastel strokes. The threshold cutoff slider allows more or less of the image depending on the effect pixel value. The overall color can be modified via the factor sliders.

PLUG-IN: Edged - Darkforce Dark Edge / sketchy / emboss plugin. The plug-in creates sketchy / edge effects.

The plugin controls consist of an edge (the edge being the difference between close proximity pixels, so if the image is fairly flat and dull, the end result will not have much of an edge). The impact of the edge (the intensity against the background pixels) is controlled across three ink channels sliders. The overall background color is controlled by the back slider settings, setting them to the far right will result in a white background for the edge/sketch and this might be more useful for standout edge effects. The plugin comes with a selection of dropdown blend settings such edge settings / colorxtra and these can be seen as an output or blending mode (in some cases) of the final output.

PLUG-IN: Edged - Impact Bleary/Jarred grainy noise edge effect. The plug-in creates a variety of edge effects. The default effect is a smeary blurred effect.

Changing the add slider setting will turn the image from positive to negative and combines with the mixing sliders to create a wide variety of color variation to the edge effect. The mixing is combined in a variety of ways via the dropdown mixing options and mixing sliders.

PLUG-IN: Edged - SourceEdge Dark Edge / sketchy / emboss but influenced by the underlying source information plugin. The plug-in creates sketchy / edge effects.

The edge is controlled by the edge slider. . The impact of the edge (the intensity against the background pixels) is controlled across three ink channels sliders. The overall background color is controlled by the back sliders, setting them to the far right will result in a white background for the edge/sketch and this might be more useful for standout edge effects. The plugin comes with a selection of dropdown settings such edge settings / colorxtra and these can be seen as an output or blending mode (in some cases) of the final output. This plugin is a variant of the darkforce plugin and uses the original source information in a different manner.

PLUG-IN: Gradient - Coarse Overlay color plugin. The plug-in creates hi-impact color overlays with a rough sketchy feel. The color is, like all gradient plugins in the series, controlled by the current foreground and background color settings. If you have white-white then the image will generally be white, a good mix is something like red-yellow / blur-green etc.

The gradient effect is a combination of two gradients drop downs. A vast number of gradient combinations can be used (and even subtle modifications of their centers can create different color effects) - so a gradient 1 and gradient 20 will vary from a gradient 2 gradient 22 combination. The plugin also offers a variant mode option and this changes the gradient's linear approach to a radial style for even more gradient combination and creative options. The edge slider controls the overall sketchiness of the image. The plugin also can be changed into a blur / smear plugin by changing the current mode, the gradient controlling the blur and smear effect. The strength of the mode being controlled by the mode slider.

PLUG-IN: Noise - DarkEdge Dark edge smudgy paint effect. The plug-in creates a smudged paint noisy grain effect. The smudge slider darkens the image and smudges the pixels out diagonally.

Edge slider and mix sliders combine the image and edge and smudging to create highlights in the painting. Additional color is applied via the factor sliders

PLUG-IN: Paint - Dots Dots based on image plugin. The plug-in creates an image of dots based on the underlying original image.

The greater the quantity slider, the more dots are generated and these dots are based on the source.

The size or radius of the dots is controlled by the radius slider, the greater the value, the bigger the dots. Jitter is also added to the size of the dots, to get a greater variation of size of dots, set the radius to fairly low and set the jitter to high; if you want only subtle variations of the size, then set the jitter to low and the radius as required. The scale slider is a factor applied to the size of the edge dots, the higher the value, the smaller the dots at the edge of the image (more a radial effect than truly working on the edge). The image and the dots are mixed by using the mix sliders. Reversing the sliders will turn the picture into a white image with the dots popping through. The color bits option removes the connection with the underlying source and sets the pixels to random colors. The grayscale dots checkbox sets the pixel info to grayscale, though the end grayscale-ness of the image also depends on the 'blending' mode and the color settings which are added into the mix afterwards, so if you set the image to grayscale, only in the default blend and color settings will the image be gray.. if you tweak the red slider to redden the image, the image will still redden whether grayscale is on or not

PLUG-IN: Paint - Ringed Creates a rings-based image plugin. The plug-in creates an image of

Plug-ins - Volume 17 rings based on the underlying original image.

The greater the quantity, the more rings are generated and these rings are based on the source. The size or radius of the rings is controlled by the radius slider; the greater the value, the bigger the rings.

Jitter is also added to the size of the rings, to get a greater variation of size of rings, set the radius to fairly low and set the jitter to high; if you want only subtle variations of the size, then set the jitter to low and the radius as required. The inner radius slider of the rings by default is set low, leaving only a smallish hole in the 'dot' (yes, the plugin is a variation of the dot plugin). Increasing the Inner radius setting will reduce the ring to a thin ring, if you increase the inner radius to greater than the radius of the ring, the ring will vanish (it doesn't reverse the ring...). The jitter is applied equally to the rings, there is no inner and radius jitter, they both use the same value. The scale slider is a factor applied to the size of the edge rings, the higher the value, the smaller the rings at the edge of the image (more a radial effect than truly working on the edge). The image and the rings are mixed by using the mixing sliders. Reversing the sliders will turn the picture into a white image with the rings popping through.

The color bits checkbox removes the connection with the underlying source and sets the pixels to random colors. The grayscale checkbox sets the pixel info to grayscale, though the end grayscale-ness of the image also depends on the 'blending' mode and the color settings which are added into the mix afterwards, so if you set the image to grayscale, only in the default blend and color settings will the image be gray.. if you tweak the red slider to redden the image, the image will still redden whether grayscale is on or not

Plug-ins - Volume 18 PLUG-IN: CarnivalColors Panels The plugin is spread over four panels: gradient, mixing, xtra and flags.

The basic functionality is in the gradient panel Buttons

There are multiple buttons to modify various settings or randomize settings.

Gradient - Modifies the two gradient combos, randomizing gradient 1 and 2 GModes - Modifies / randomizes the gradient blurring and gradient blending dropdowns.

Tweak - Modifies / randomizes the lines as well as the mixing settings Coord - Modifies / randomizes the coordinate space.

Gradient panel

Red Lines 1 2: Modifies the number of lines by the gradient for the red channel. Right click (using the mouse) on the preview to vary the number of repeat lines to use for the red (as well as the green and blue channel).

Green Lines 1 2: As above but for the green channel Blue Lines 1 2: As above but for the blue channel Gradient 1 Dropdown: The gradient type used for the gradient 1 such as diagonal, linear, radial etc Gradient 2 Dropdown: The gradient type used for the gradient 2, as with 1.

Gradient Blending Dropdown: Blends the gradients 1 and 2 using different blending modes such as multiply or difference. Once you have clicked ok you can also modify the 'fade' blending mode or perhaps modify the blending mode of the layer (if on a layer). Combine the gradients to display more or less of gradient 1 and 2. The mixing (second panel) also affects the final blend Gradient Blurring Dropdown: Modifies how the blurring (or multiple applies of the gradient blends are blended). This depends on the blurring setting in panel 2. Use to create truly unusual gradient blends.

Mixing panel

Center 1 (Horizontal / Vertical): Modifies the center of the gradient, depends on the type of gradient Center 2 (Horizontal Vertical): Modifies the center of the second gradient, again, depends on the type of gradient.

Blurring: Number of applies of the gradients (change the blurring dropdown to modify how the gradients re-applies are blended) Mix Gradients: Mix factor for the two gradients Mix Blurring: Mix factor between each level of gradient apply. Depends on the panel 1 blurring options.

Coordinates Dropdown: Instead of using basic x / y horizontal / vertical up / down, the plugin uses different sets of coordinate spaces, creating truly unique color gradients even from basic gradients.

Xtra panel

'Red Factor / green / blue: Increase or decrease the red / green / blue of the gradients.

Warp Image: Use the gradient to apply a warp / distortion to the image instead of displaying the gradient Repeat Options: Break the gradient output into different chunks / sections. Use to create truly intense color displays as well as fragmented imagery

Flags panel

Link R - G - B Repeats: Link the red / green / blue line settings. If you wish to keep the red and green and blue line / repeat settings linked, set this field to ON and modify the red slider to modify all.

Randomize gradients: Randomly pick a gradient type such as radial or diamond. The actual setting is not stored in a preset, only the randomize flag.

Randomize xy factors: Randomize the horizontal / vertical center position, again, not stored in the presets ini file Randomize gradient blend: Randomize the blending of the gradients Randomize variant gradient: Randomize gradient Randomize repeats: Randomize the lines used from 0 to the value set.

Note: There is no shuffle button but a quick way to randomize the 'randomize' settings (if the flags are ON) is to click the zoom buttons as they modify none of the sliders or dropdowns but the preview is re-displayed with the new randomized settings

Plug-ins - Volume 19 PLUG-IN - CIRCUSDAZE The following describes each of the dialogs and the settings on each.

Most of the settings have an image associated but the image will only show a single example. A slight change to the setting may result in a totally different image Coordinates (Daze dialog) Use this dropdown to set different types of coordinate systems, instead of using just x and y (horizontal and vertical coordinates), use radial variants and mixes of horizontal and vertical to create stunning unusual hi-impact image Daze (Daze dialog) Modifies the nightmarish factor and extreme settings. [R] means the setting can be modified by right clicking the preview Angle / radius / angled (Daze dialog) Modifies the radial elements of the circus daze plugin and the combination of radial and angular effects Block (Daze dialog) Adds a blocky effect / rough look Mix (Daze Dialog) Mixes the source and radial elements into different combinations Red factor green factor blue factor (Color dialog) Apply an additional color factor to the plugin over the three color channels. If in LAB mode, the red becomes lightness etc Ignore red channel etc (Color dialog) Check to remove the effect for a particular channel Mixing option (Color dialog) Mixes the image in a variety of ways to create unusual and surreal imagery Warp (Warp dialog) Warp strength Warp dropdown (Warp dialog) Warps the effect before output (ignored if warping is 0) - uses warp dropdown. The warp dropdown offers a large range of different types of warp.

Post (Warp dialog) Warp strength for post processing Post warping dropdown (Warp dialog) Warps the image post output and uses the warp output settings (ignored if post is 0) - uses the post warping dropdown. Creates an imprint across the daze image. The post warp dropdown offers a variety of different warp options.

Red grain (Grain dialog) Adds red noise to the effect Green grain (Grain dialog) Adds green noise to the effect Blue grain (Grain dialog) Adds blue noise to the effect Red gradient dropdown (Grad dialog) Gradient added to the red channel effect Green gradient dropdown (Grad dialog) Gradient added to the green channel effect Blue gradient dropdown (Grad dialog) Gradient added to the blue channel effect Repeat (Grad dialog) The number of repeats of the horizontal etc for all the color channels Shift (Grad dialog) Moves the center of the gradient Daze / Gradient blend dropdown (Grad dialog) Blend the daze effect and the gradient. In most cases, the gradient and daze require a modification of the mixing setting i.e. increase mix 1 to the middle to see the gradient but some of the dropdown settings ignore the mix if marked by a * Mix (Grad dialog) Mixing the daze and effect. By default, no mix. Increase the strength of 1 and decrease 2 to display more of the gradient.

Plug-ins - Volume 20 PLUG-IN - CONTRASTED Plug-in for stunning contrasted and grained imagery [Contrast setting] Modifies the contrast of the image in the red, green and blue channels, creating intense contrast imagery or low contrast image effects and everything in between. [Mix settings] Controls Mixes the contrast + random / grain with the original image in the red, green and blue channels. [Noise settings] Adds grain / noise to the image. Invert the noise setting by checking the invert noise box. The application of the noise setting is modified by the noise dropdown, creating linear noise and other noise effects or reduced noise application. [Invert settings] Inverts the noise, if the noise lightens the image, the invert will darken the application of the noise. [Original setting] The source image is added to the noise / contrast image. The amount of the original source applied is modified by the original slider, the style of application is modified by the dropdown / combo to the right of the slider.