Photo/Graphic Edges can bring out the designer within

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I seldom have to do a piece that is strictly artwork. Whether it is an ad, brochure, article or blog, I deal with a great deal of text and some elements of artwork. However, I do find myself needing to be more of a designer sometimes, and deal with a lot of images and artwork, and I must confess that I lack in that realm. And I would like to be able to do more and more often. 

So, I was excited to take a look at the nooks and crannies of Photo/Graphic Edges as I had read the description and it sounded interesting. And when I actually got to the core of this feature-packed software, I discovered that the product more than lived up to the description. Pleasant surprise, to say the least.

I actually found the hardest part was deciding which effect to use first. One thing I ought to say up front that is really cool about this product is that when you order it, you receive both a stand-alone product and a plug-in. Both the stand-alone and plug-in versions of Photo/Graphic Edges allow you to load a mask that will be used as the selected area for an effect. To clarify a few things, if while using the software, you choose Exit while in the plug-in version, it cancels the plug-in and returns you to the host application without changing your image. Choosing Exit while working in the application version will quit the program. The application version allows you to open files while the plug-in version does not as it relies on the host application to provide the image information. However, unlike other plug-ins on the market, Photo/Graphic Edges allows you to save your file to disk while still in the plug-in itself. Most other plug-ins force you to apply back into the host application before you can save your work. The developer takes the stance that as you evolve your work, you should be able to save copies to disk at anytime and continue with your work without having to reload the plug-in or relaunch the application again. That means that they actually “get” us and the way we want to do things. Points tally right from the get-go for that insight.

The Preferences dialog is activated by selecting the Edit > Preferences menu option. The Preferences dialog allows you to customize the way Photo/Graphic Edges looks and works. It is here that you set preferences such as General (lets you control rendering and proxy options) and Alert Warnings. When Alert Warnings is activated, various alert warnings will be displayed. If you have already seen the warnings once and don’t wish to have them display in the future, then you can turn this off. A Show Filename Palette option is available if you want to show the name of the file you are working with. You use this option to turn this feature on or off as desired. The Show Information Palette provides information such as the current zoom level, width and height of the file. You can actually control the width and height display dimensions by changing the menu below this control option (choosing pixels or inches).

Additionally, there is a Show Tool Tips feature which can aid you in quickly understanding the many different controls and tools. They display automatically when you hold the cursor over a control for a few seconds. After you are familiar with the software, you can elect to turn this feature off. For those of you working in other languages, the developer has provided a Language button which lets you access a Select Languages palette allowing you to change the interface and tool tip language. Other cool little extras include:

• Flavor which allows you to change the color of the Photo/Graphic Edges interface to a color of your choice. 

• Desktop Textures which define the pattern that is used on the desktop behind the preview window. You can even mix and match Textures with Flavors to customize the tools the software provides to work with.

• Desktop Colors fills the desktop area behind the preview window with a color. This, too, lets you mix and match Colors with Flavors.

Under the View menu, you will find the preview size and zooming controls. Also, located here is the option to preview your work with different colored backgrounds. The developer was smart enough to know that there would be times when you want to preview your effect with a different background to see how it will look once it’s layered on top of a color. This was another unexpected goodie.

Layer Presets capture entire sets of layers and dynamically render them onto the currently open file. A layer preset can recreate complex visual effects allowing you to save time and reapply creative solutions to different images. The layer presets are resolution independent so you can apply effects on smaller ‘comp’ images and then reapply them to larger images later on. This dynamic resolution independent feature also lets you work with different sized files and reapply effects.

Now I have to talk about the Memory Dots control. The Memory Dot control allows you to take a snapshot of your work while you’re experimenting with different visual options and when you click on a Memory Dot, Photo/Graphic Edges remembers the exact way the effect looks, where all elements are positioned and will return you to this point if you click back on the dot. Easy to utilize, you just click on a dot to take a snapshot and the dot turns gold. Then, whenever you click on a gold dot, the Memory Dot loads back in the exact look from memory. I loved this and made use of this feature a number of times.

Photo/Graphic Edges features an advanced onscreen catalog that allows you to quickly preview and select just the right edge effect you want. The Edge Catalog (as with the other catalogs in this product)  can be resized to fit your screen. When choosing an edge to use, it will be highlighted in blue. Photo/Graphic Edges ships with multiple volumes of content. Keep in mind that some of the effects may only have one volume and others may have a dozen or more, depending on the volume. Each volume of content has folders inside it that break the number of edges down into a controllable quantity. To peruse the edges in a specific volume, you just click on the “plus” symbol next to the desired Volume name and the listing will automatically expand to show the various folders of edges it contains. All of the edges in a folder are presented as a preview (thumbnails) for you to check out so don’t waste time opening effects just to see what they are. 

There is a Favorites options that you can add content to by clicking on the content image you like and then clicking the Add to Favorites button (on the bottom of the screen). The effect will be added instantly to your Favorites tab for the effect you are working with. Keep in mind that Favorites from one effect do not appear under another effect but are specific to the effect you are working with. That too, adds to the manageability of the many effects.

Photo/Graphic Edges contains powerful Transformation Tools. For instance, the Object Transformation tool allows you to Select, Move, Scale, Stretch and Rotate effects and photos that are inside effects. They are intuitively separated into two types of tools—Transform Effect and Transform Photo. Both work pretty much the same way.

When the Transform tool is active, moving the cursor around the transformation handles provides you with options to control things like scale, stretch, rotate and move. To move an item, you just click to select it and place the cursor on the inside of the nifty transformation handles. The cursor will change into a four-sided move arrow and you can click and drag to move the item where you want it. The Scale, Stretch and Rotate Item options work basically the same way. When you drag to scale, the item is automatically constrained so it will keep proportional dimensions which is great.

All of the effects included are dynamically generated which means that they are created and rendered each time you make a change to them. Unlike layers in most image editing programs, these effect layers do not consist of pixels. Layers allow you to stack effects in a visually organized manner and reorder them to produce new results. As the effects are dynamic, you can generate a slew of looks by combining the effects together on the layers palette.

The Layers palette provides controls that let you 1) create new layers, 2) clone the selected layer, 3) create layer masks and 4) delete highlighted layers. An Opacity control adjusts the currently selected layer’s global opacity so that it will blend with the layer beneath it. A higher setting makes the layer contents more opaque and a lower setting makes the layer contents more transparent. The Effects Menu lets you add a new effect layer by choosing it from this conveniently located menu. Using the Layer Options menu, you can Save Layer Presets, Load Layer Presets, Append Presets and Clone Selected Layers. On the layers palette (next to any layer that is not the background or default Selection Layer), you find a Toggle control that allows you turn the layer off or on. Turning a layer off doesn’t delete the layer, but it does remove it from the rendering so it’s no longer shown as part of your visual. To move a layer in your layer stack, you just click to highlight the layer you want to move and drag the layer to the desired location. To clone a layer you can either highlight the layer and press the Clone Layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette, or you can hold down the Ctrl key (Command key on the Mac) and drag the layer. A new clone will appear wherever you drop the layer. Way cool!

If you want to add photos to your document, you will work with the Photo Layer controls. Photo Layers provide you with the ability to add multiple photos to your document and keep them separated using layers. You can easily transform the images to fit the design you need by doing things like stacking multiple images on top of each other and using masking layers to merge photos into shapes. Using the Masking Layers in Photo/Graphic Edges you can apply effects behind masked areas or apply effects to just the areas you have selected with the mask. When a mask is present an effect can target either the Foreground or the Background. This Masking Layer is great for selectively masking areas of your image. The Retraction/Expansion Brush is ideal for bringing the edges of a mask in or to push it out from the present location and I found it the most useful for cleaning up the edges of a mask automatically. The Mask Brush allows you to brush on where you want the mask to be placed and the Eraser removes areas where you have drawn a mask and want to brush away areas of it.

There is also a Brush Opacity slide. You will note that as you adjust the opacity control you’re presented with a brush attributes window which shows the actual size, opacity and feather attributes of the brush so you know how they will be applied. Some of the many other Mask controls include: Brush Size, Brush Feather, Masking Lasso, Straight Edge, Masking Marquee, Selection Color, Show Layers Above, Type, Invert Selection, Smooth Edge, Opacity / Softness and Anti-Alias. All are equally powerful and intuitive.

You can also adjust image colors to alter an image you bring into Photo/Graphic Edges using the Correction Layer feature. A correction layer is created by clicking on the Add New Layer icon on the Layers palette and choosing Correction Layer from the menu. A Correction Layer is then generated above your currently selected layer. You can use this  Correction Layer to adjust basic aspects of your image’s color. The Correction Layer does support Masking Layers and will adjust only those areas that you mask using the Masking Layer. Correction Layer controls include sliders that can adjust Red, Green, Blue, Brightness, Contrast, Hue and Saturation. I found them to more than satisfactory in adjusting my images and the slider set up made them easy to use as well.

Onto the Edges. There are tons of different edge effects and each has it’s own unique style of content. The developer makes the software easy to learn by keeping the controls for each effect consistent across the board. The Edges effects will place an edge, or border, around your photo and the edges work with transparency so if your image is on a layer in Photoshop, Photo/Graphic Edges will apply the edge back into Photoshop with transparency around it. A practical Border Width slider lets you quickly add a border to an edge effect and then softness sliders can be used to blend your image and edges together smoothly. Other controls include Border Color, Edge Softness, Inner Softness, Roughen, Size and Strength—all with the same functional sliders.

You can also customize your edge shape with powerful tools like Clone Edge. The Clone Edge tool is used to create copies of an edge shape that once created, can be used to reshape the edge. This was a blast to play around with and left me with limitless possibilites. It was also very easy to add a border to an edge and to blend the border and the image together to create a soft, natural look. I could visualize a whole host of situations where I would utilize this control. Even more cool was The Montage effect. This effect is similar to the Edges effect but goes a few steps further, and lets you place multiple edges (each with it’s own image) in a composition. You have the same wide array of controls when using this effect as well.

In further exploration of my design possibilities, I discovered how much I loved the Vignette option. It makes creating Vignette shapes a snap, letting you apply unique feathered vignettes with streaking edges and fading blends and offers enhanced options over a traditional feathered vignette. Sliders are provided for streak directions and size, distance, softness and feather. Feather radius and opacity are easily controlled as well.

Applying the provided effects with the software is a piece of cake. Many of the the effects use brushes (just like you are used to) and let you interact with the look by brushing on or off an effect. Applying multiple effects makes the possibilities endless. Combining extremely different types of effects gave me unpredented looks for my images. The Acid Etching was unbelievable and so easy, I felt like I added years to my design expertise.

A Transfer effect simulates a traditional photographic technique in which the emulsion is transferred from an image onto a piece of moist tissue paper and then worked with a brush until wrinkles and folds appear on the image. Transfer lets you brush over the image to form “wrinkles” and you can then gently push them into place and shape the resulting effect to simulate the traditional technique. This effect was sensational when using a sepia toned effect as they keenly recommended in the detailed manual.

One of my favorite capabilities of the software was the Edge Brush which lets you brush on edges using unique brushes that can make your images pop with very little effort. Edge Brush includes 230 unique brush styles to choose from and each brush stroke can have its own opacity, size and feather.

You can even brush to reveal an image through a brush shape and through the brush opacity using translucent blending. And what’s more, you can combine brush effects reinforcing my previous statement about the endless possibilities with this remarkably affordable software. Burned Edges effects as well as an Ambient Brush (which lets you brush on scratches, translucent objects and shapes) only served to add to my awe. 

The Photo Border effect lets you easily apply stylized paper borders around your photos. Paper cuts such as deckled, wavey or zig zag can be used to shape the border as you desire and then you can build on your effect through control of surface textures, dirt, custom lighting, shading and depth effects. An innovative Environment Controls Tab lets you do things like add a shiny surface to a border. You simply add a beveled depth to your image and you can have a surface reflect from the surface.

Want to implement an album look in some of your designs? The Photo Tabs effect allows you to add photo-realistic looking photo tabs around your image and the tabs can simulate different surfaces including metal, paper, beveled and flat. Over 18 additional controls exist for customizing the tabs, all easily applied. Although I had never dealt with album tabs in design work before, I certainly found myself brainstorming about where I could utilize this appreciable feature in the near future.

A Distort Edge effect gives you the ability to brush over the edges and distort the shape to form new edge styles wherever you brush. This effect is useful for breaking up and adding interest to edges on a localized brush on basis. The colorful pictures accompanying this effect in the manual made me want to play with the possibilities instantly. Detailed steps walked me through it and in a few seconds, I had transformed a Lake Powell photograph into something that belonged in an official visitor’s guide. Seriously. I began to consider the prospects of just what this software could do for me in expanding my design services. With the swiftness that I could apply these countless effects, I began to envision just how much more I could get done, all with great professionalism and confidence.

In playing with the awesome Putty Edges effect, which uses advanced deformation tools to allow you precise control over reshaping the edges as they are applied to your effect, I realized I can reshape any edge to better fit any photo. Putty Edges allows you to push, pull, twirl, enlarge, reduce and reshape the edge using deformation technologies.

A Smudged Edge effect allows you to give your edges a smudged appearance an you brush on this effect in just the areas you want affected. Just smudge and add interesting softer areas to any edge effect quickly and easily. 

Frame effects are included in Photo/Graphic Edges, too, only unlike other software available on the market, the frame effects are all customizable (like the other edge effects). Translation? You will never become bored with the collection. I could see that I would never need to wade through frame collections again, hoping there would be at least a tantalizing variety for me to use. I spent only a few minutes with this feature and produced astounding effects that had me excited about my next project which would have me utilising frames.

Light Tiles allow you to load up shading masks that can be applied to either the background or the contents of an effect (such as a photo inside an edge). You can actually have a different Light Tile applied for both the background and the effect, so this, again, left me without design boundaries. The Light Tile Orientation menu lets you rotate the light tile in directional increments you specify and you can also flip the orientation either horizontally or vertically. A useful technique they suggest in the manual with this feature, is to learn to apply the same light tile to the background as you apply to the effect but with different orientations and opacity settings which allows the shading to remain similar yet from a different orientation and opacity (strength).

Photo/Graphic Edges possesses powerful Lighting controls as well. These Lighting controls allow you to:

• Create lights and set their relative height, strength and color

• Adjust the ambient light that surrounds the effect

• Independently control multiple lights points

• Automatically or manually adjust shadows created by lights

• Create multiple shadows that are linked to lighting adjustments

• Independently control shadow color, opacity and softness

• Define the relative height by adjusting the shadows

In taking Photo/Graphic Edges for a test drive, I found myself reluctant to give up the wheel. I literally had to pull myself away from the superabundance of design choices it afforded me. And I have to admit that I will be slipping back behind that wheel soon. Adding Photo/Graphic Edges to my design cache opens up a new world of design for me and therefore, my clients. Huh....maybe I better get started on a new business card...

Windows

OS: 2000 / XP / Vista

Memory: 512 MB

Disk Space: 4 GB

Photoshop Support: CS4 - CS3 - CS2 - CS - 7.0

 

Macintosh

OS: OS X / PPC or Intel

Memory: 512 MB

Disk Space: 4 GB

Photoshop Support: CS4 - CS3 - CS2 - CS - 7.0