Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Some photographs would really look best as paintings . But for those who are not artistically inclined with a brush and palette , there ’s Alien Skin’sSnap Art 2 . This Photoshop plug - in is a one - click wonderment that promises to instantly transform a mundane ( or even great ) photo into a unique work of art .
The programme uses advanced algorithms to simulate a massive array of brush stroke that turn your picture from , say , a humdrum landscape to a pictorial representation of that composition — a variation both unique and heart - catching .
Why not only use Photoshop ’s filter library for such a task ? Because it does not have virtually enough filter to make the range of effect that resides in the thinker ’s middle . I generally apply the Photoshop ( ) filter depository library for stirring , to give me an estimation of what I can or might desire to do with a picture , and , after that , I find a filter that can really manage the caper .
Snap Art’s interface is easy to understand and use. Here, I took a photo, applied a preset, and set a diagonal preview showing the difference between the original and the painting. If I don’t like this effect, there are many other presets to choose from.
Snap Art ’s male plug - in faculty consist of 10 instinctive media : oil colour paint , watercolor , pencil sketch , color pencil , Pen and Ink , Stylize , Comics , Impasto , Pastel , and Pointillism . Within those categories are a the great unwashed of pre - situated variations ( over 700 in all ) that will likely be enough to fulfil most esthetic caprice . But if they do n’t , you could always create your own unparalleled pre - sets that give you precisely the impression you want for each photo . There are literally an infinite number of combination .
Installation and use
Like most Photoshop plug - IN , Snap fine art can be installed with a mixture of Photoshop - compatible programme , including the two most late version of Photoshop , as well as with Elements ( ) , or Fireworks CS4 ( ) .
Immeasurably convenient is the CS4 gore that you’re able to download fromAlien Skin ’s Web internet site . While most nag - ins exclude down after every use or canceled command ( this one does too ) , having the panel seeable and accessible or docked as part of an existing panel group carry through you from the tedious task of having to establish the plug - in from the Filter carte every clock time you want to essay a fresh effect . This saves a passel of shiner clicks . you may preview your images in various sizes once they spread out in the nag - in : a fit in window size up to 1:1 , which enlarges it to show actual pixels . you could adjust the plug - in window gap to have as large a work area as your monitor will accommodate .
Updates
One problem with converting photograph to paintings is that often the genuine prototype is lose in a sea of simulated brush stroke that constitute , but do not describe , the actual picture you took ; this is particularly true for portraits . Snap Art 2 now has a dyad of ways to mitigate this going of reality . In this reading , most of the filters have photo realistic pre - sets that stylize and soften the picture without rendering it unrecognisable . So for example , in the Watercolor category ( and several other categories ) , there are four types of filter : Abstract ( depressed realism ) , Landscape ( temperate realism ) , Portrait ( most realism ) , and Vignette and Canvas , which vignettes the picture ( fading out the edges ) and offers pretending of the image on different type of report . Then , within each of those circumstance , there are tab with multiple sliders that allow you adapt major aspects of the word-painting with variations of large , intermediate , and small strokes . Within the Watercolor category for example , the tab are configurations , Basic , Colors , Canvas , and Lighting , each with numerous additional choices and slider that let you adjust your picture further . With that degree of choice , there are an unnumerable number of options available to the photographer ’s artistic eye .
Snap Art ’s port is easy to realise and use . Here , I take a exposure , applied a preset , and set a diagonal prevue showing the difference between the original and the painting . If I do n’t like this consequence , there are many other presets to choose from .
Snap Art 2 ’s new focal point ascendency countenance you shield region of your prototype from utmost paint deformation . This is mostly useful when you ’re make a portrayal into a painting , so that the face , for example , stays fairly recognizable while the balance of the picture is more lifelike . The focus region , which you could set with the Add New Focus Region clitoris , consists of two oval , both of which are adjustable . you could use as many focus region as you want to a photo , or you could use the selection tool in conjugation with the focus region to shift the shape of the region to accommodate different parts of the image .
Snap Art’s new focus control feature lets you protect facial features while still applying painterly effects to a portrait.
The master windowpane has both operational and analytical tools : a revert button lets you apace see the original picture ; a grabber hired hand prick lets you move a gravid ikon around the preview windowpane ; a Zoom tool lets you enlarge or shrink the image ; and Adjustment Tool let you adjust the centering part , if you have one . The 1:1 push button soar upwards the image to its actual sizing in pixels while the Fit button gets the total picture into the preview window . The puff - down Preview Split carte gives you various perspectives on your image . you could view it entirely as a painting , or divide it horizontally , vertically , or diagonally to take in the program ’s painterly result . A ready to hand Preview All Filters Gallery gives you an approximation of how your picture will look in each of the 10 filter .
Snap Art ’s raw focus control feature get you protect facial features while still use painterly force to a portrait .
Snap Art performed well , which is to say that it made comparatively straightaway work of its filtering job without crashing . I ’m using Snap Art on a comparatively high - level workstation — a Mac Pro with muckle of RAM . That configuration pass on the program mass of muscle so exploiter will expend comparatively piffling metre view a onward motion cake . Alien Skin notes that this rendering of Snap Art has been optimized for multi core processors so its carrying out has improved from the last interlingual rendition .
Macworld’s buying advice
No one pretends that using Snap Art will replace the artistry of folks who drive over each brush throw , but any story of photographer who hanker for a more painterly representation of their images , can easily recruit Snap Art 2 for the task . It ’s promiscuous to apply and works very well . What more can you involve ?
[ Jackie Dove is a Macworld senior editor . ]
