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Xenofex by Alien Skin
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Xenofex by Alien Skin
Reviewed by Roger Finks & Joyce Turner
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Everyone who creates graphics whether it be for print or for display on the web, has heard of Eye Candy. Eye Candy is a set of filters that creates some of the best effects available from filters. Now we have Xenofex, a new set of filters from the makers of Eye Candy, Alien Skin. These 16 new filters have the promise and uniqueness to become just as powerful as Eye Candy, especially when you consider the set of presets in each of these filters. Many more and varied effects can be achieved by adjusting the variables in each filter.
Description: Xenofex is a set of filters containing 16 very unique and powerful effects that can be applied to graphics. The interface remains the same as that of Eye Candy thus eliminating a big learning curve for anyone experienced with Eye Candy. The presets that ship with Xenofex are what give Xenofex the potential to approach and even surpass Eye Candy. For example, the Baked Earth filter has 10 presets ready to be used as starting points for achieving the desired result.
Cost: Special Offer! Alienskin has a special place in their hearts for user groups. Go to our special offers to see if there are any current special offers for our members on Xenofex 1.0 , Eye Candy 4000 and Eye Candy for After Effects. Demo version available for download at Alien Skin page: http://www.alienskin.com/xenofex/xenofex_demo.html.
System: Windows 95/98/NT 4 or higher:
System RAM: Minimum of 16 MB, 32 recommended
Graphics / Monitor: Color monitor with 24-bit video card
Any PowerPC Macintosh processor:
System RAM: Minimum of 16 MB, 32 recommended
Graphics / Monitor: Color monitor with 24-bit video card
System Software: 7.1.2
Platforms: Windows 95, 98 or NT 4 & Macintosh versions available.
Installation: Installation is relatively easy. You end up with an .8bf file which is installed in the plugin directory within Paint Shop Pro. There are very specific directions in the manual for both Windows and Macintosh and specific instructions for Paint Shop Pro users. Read these directions carefully so that you answer the installation questions correctly. There are easy to understand instructions with screen shots of all dialog boxes.
In addition to Paint Shop Pro 4.12 or later, Xenofex is ready to be used with Adobe Photoshop 3.04 or later, Corel Photo-Paint 7(Revision B and 7.663) and Photo-Paint 8, Adobe Image Ready 1.0, CiEBV PhotoLine 32(version 4.52 or later), SPG Color Works:WEB 3(version 3.004 or later), MicroFrontier Digital Darkroom 1.2, Microsoft Image Composer 1.5 or later, and Micrografx Picture Publisher 8 in windows.
In Mac, it is compatible with Adobe Photshop 3.0.4 or later, Adobe Image Ready 1.0, Corel Photo-Paint 8, MicroFrontier Enhance 4.01 and MicroFrontier Digital Darkroom 1.2.
Features: Xenofex is very similar to Eye Candy in both look and operation. (It loads from the plugin menu in Paint Shop Pro and the controls operate similar to those in Eye Candy.) There are sixteen filters listed below. To see examples of what the filters do, use, this Link.
The
Xenofex Filters
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All of the
presets can be adjusted after you use
the preset to get near the effect
which you want. When you open one of
the effects, it opens with the last
settings which you applied. This is
nice if you want to use it again or
forget what settings you used. I did
find that if you are applying the
filter to a small image, you may have
to adjust the presets a little to get
the effect to show. Usually I just
needed to nudge the top adjustment.
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| Baked Earth |
Baked Earth is a
filter I would classify as an overlay
type filter because for most settings the
filter overlays a sort of "cracked
earth" effect on top of the image
without significantly altering the
underlying image. One preset called
"Big Shiny Pieces" could almost be called stain
glass. The controls for Baked Earth are
Crack Length, Crack Width, Variation,
Random Seed, Highlight brightness and
Highlight Shapness, Lighting Direction,
and Lighting Inclination. |
| Constellation |
Constellation recreates your image as
points of light. Each point of light is
the color of the original image at that
point. Several of the presets manipulate
the original image so it's not
recognizable while other presets allow
some parts of the original graphic to
show through. There are four controls;
Star Size, Sharpness, Overdrive, and
Random Seed. |
| Crumple |
Crumple simulates the effect of
printing the image on paper that has been
crushed and then partially flattened out
again. Except for three, most presets do
not alter the original image but instead
does it's magic on the image's
background. there ae seven controls:
Crinkle Size, Distortion, Random Seed,
Light boost, Hightlight Brightness, and
Highlight Sharpness, Lightning Direction,
and Lighting Inclination. |
| Distress |
Distress creates an organic aging
and crumbling effect, as if something has
been eating away at the edges of your
selection. This is one of several filters
that requires a selection and displays an
error message stating that a selection is
necessary if you try to apply the filter
without a selection. The three controls
include Edge Width, Irregularity, and
Edge Type. |
| Electrify |
Electrify creates bolts of
electricity branching out from the edges
of your selection. This filter also
requires a selection before it works.
It's eleven controls include Arc Length,
Arc Spacing, Segment Length, Glow Width,
Branching, and Branch Spread. |
| Flag |
Flag provides realistic 3-D
rendering of rippling surfaces, adding
shadows and highlights to create a
windblown banner effect. Flag works best
when the object to be turned into a flag
is on a transparent layer by itself.
Controls include Ripple Thickness, Ripple
Strength, Random Seed, Light Boost, and a
full complement of lighting controls.
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| Lightning |
Lightning draws a
glowing lightning bolt across your
selection. This filter doesn't require a
selection but assumes the entire graphic
if no selection is made. Controls include
Segment Length, Glow Width, Jaggedness,
Meander, Branching, Branch Spread, Random
Seed, Direction, and Inner and Outer
Color. |
| Little Fluffy
Clouds |
Little Fluffy Clouds creates a wide range of
cloud shapes and cloud-like effects, from
slight wisps to threatening storm fronts.
This filter comes with fifteen presets
that create a range of modification, from
slight (can see most of the original
graphic) to almost total coverage. Among
it's ten controls are Puff Size,
Coverage, and Edge Sharpness. |
| Origami |
Origami cuts your
selection into small triangles and swaps
the positions of nearby triangles. There
are two controls (Fold Size and Random
Seed) and eight presets. The presets vary
from Fuzzy around the edges to Shards to
Big Bold Fold. |
| Puzzle |
The Puzzle filter
creates a jigsaw puzzle effect over your
selection. There are 6 controls (Columns,
Rows, Bevel Width, Highlight Brightness
and Highlight Sharpness, Lighting
Direction and Lighting Inclination) for
this filter. The 10 presets vary from a
picture puzzle effect to a radiator
effect. One can lighten them somewhat by
varying where the light is aimed. I have
included the Car Radiator lightened up as
well. Using layers, one can remove some
of the pieces and move them over to the
side. |
| Rounded Rectangle |
There are 8
controls (Corner Radius, Thickness, Solid
Center, Color, Surface Hardness,
Highlight Brightness and Highlight
Sharpness, Lighting Direction and
Lighting Inclination) and 10 presents. If
the image is small, you may need to
adjust the corner radius a little for the
effect to show. |
| Shatter |
With this filter
one can vary the effects from tiny angled
pieces of the picture to total
discombobulation. There are three
controls (Shard Size, Displacement and
Random Seed) and eight presets. |
|
Shower Door
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This filter offers
a wide selection of results varying from
a mild shower door effect to totally
unrelated sections. There are two
controls (Dot Size and Random Seed) and
eight presets. |
| Stain |
This filter was
designed to be used with selections.
Otherwise it will cover the entire
picture. There are four controls (Edge
Width, Irregularity, Internal Opacity and
Stain Color) and 10 presets. One can
achieve very realistic effects such as a
ring left by a glass on the image. |
| Stamper |
This filter
inserts tiles of the image itself or of
another image (The other image must be a
.tif) into the picture. There are three
controls (Stamp Width, Use Original Image
and Stamp Source) and one adjustment plus
the selection of the image to be tiled.
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| Television |
This filter has
seven controls (Scanline Strength,
Scanline Thickness, Curvature, Static,
Ghost Strength, Ghost Offset and Breakup)
and 10 presets. The results are very like
the old TV's of the 70's. |
Reviewer's Remarks: We found this program to be very adaptable. It can create a wide variety of effects with ease. And we love it's ability to work within Paint Shop Pro as a plugin!
What the PSP Users think about Xenofex by Alien Skin
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