Alien Skin Software has been a leader in
PhotoShop plug-in filters for
some time now, with BlackBox filters and the like.
NEWS FLASH: BlackBox is dead.
But Eye Candy 3.0.1, a set of 21 filter plug-ins for PhotoShop 3.0.4
and higher, rises from the software shelves like a Phoenix from the
ashes of BlackBox.
Bummer!
Let me say off the bat that two things
disappointed me about Eye Candy 3.0.1. First, it is only a
Photoshop plug-in; you can no longer use these filters with any
version of ColorIt. Believe me, I know; I tried, and they do not even
load in ColorIt. Second, it is PowerPC only; no support for 680xx
machines. This is a sad trend that is starting to happen in the Mac
software world; one nice thing about Macintosh has been the high
level of backwards compatibility, but this is disappearing.
There are also several known conflicts, including some versions of After Dark prior to version 3.0d, some of the utilities in Now Utilities, and any version of CIC handwriting recognition software.
So What Good Is It?
If you're a user of PhotoShop 3.0.4 or
higher, Eye Candy 3.0.1 has 21 different filters: 10 from the old
BlackBox, including Cutout, Drop Shadow, Glass, Glow, HSB Noise,
Inner Bezel, Outer Bezel, Carve, Motion Trail, and Swirl; and 11 new
filters, named Antimatter, Chrome, Fire, Smoke, Fur, Jiggle, Squint,
Water Drops, Weave, Star and Perspective Shadow. This makes Eye Candy
3.0.1 one of the most comprehensive filter sets on the PhotoShop
filters market.
The various filter effects are stunning. There are filters for whole areas and layers, such as Weave and Water Drops; there are filters that allow a selection to be altered with spectacular results; and when several filters are combined you can produce effects that would take hours or even days in PhotoShop with hand tweaking. You can use these filters on text, on portions of an image or a selection within an image, or create entire new images from the filter set's various effects.
Here in this review I could show you several effects that these filters can achieve, but the Alien Skin web site already has some very good examples of each effect, as well as a few examples of combined filter effects.
In a Nutshell:
If you own and use PhotoShop 3.0.4 or higher
and need special effects to enhance your images, or if you are a
beginner at PhotoShop and are not yet familiar with PhotoShop's
complex commands and features, then EyeCandy 3.0.1 is for you.
Eye Candy 3.0.1 is a feature-rich set of filters that have many uses, both professional and just for fun, and it would be an excellent addition to your PhotoShop toolbox.
If you use some other image editing program, such as ColorIt, try to find a copy of Alien Skin's BlackBox 2.0; otherwise, you'll just have to make do in finding other methods of reproducing the effects, which are quite complex, on your own.
Price:
System Requirements:
Macintosh with PowerPC Processor (or, if you must use a Windows machine, 486/DX or better.)
Technical Support:
Reviewer's Grade: 
A note about my rating for Eye Candy 3.0.1 -- It would probably have received a 5-watch rating if it had some backward (non-PowerPC) compatibility, and worked with programs other than Photoshop. Other than that, it is a killer set of filters!
Copyright © 1997, WilliamLH , All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.
WilliamLH's reviews can be viewed at WilliamLH's Reviews, and he is the creator of The Mac Trading Post (tm).
