Photoshop for Students. Get super savings at the Adobe Academic Store.
Read our review of Genuine Fractals (includes 10% discount coupon).
Buy. Download. Create. Get Photoshop CS3 now at the Adobe Store.
Page Curl Pro & Puzzle Pro Review - Photoshop Plugins From AV Bros.
Offered by AV Bros., Page Curl Pro (overview below) is an easy to use, user-programmable plug-in for Photoshop that enables you to quickly apply special effects to digital images.
By curling, folding and bending images, the plugin gives you the opportunity to easily recreate a wide variety of interesting and popular design effects. And with its solid capacity at digitally replicating reality (offering up to 25 different light sources), the plugin offers a powerful range of control over texture, 3D perspective and lighting effects.
Its moderate price makes Page Curl Pro a great addition to any graphic designer's toolbox, as it offers one of the most comprehensive filters of its category for its value. And to make the price even better, AV Bros. have sweetly given us an exclusive special offer that allows you to buy Page Curl Pro with a special 10% discount. Page Curl Pro lists at $49.95, and the Regular version at $29.95.
Also from AV Bros., Puzzle Pro (overview below) provides another special effects plug-in for Photoshop. While its main purpose is to create jigsaw-like effects, it can also be used to create any sort of effect that requires cutting an image, including creating mosaic or stained glass effects.
Similar to Page Curl Pro, this plug-in appears to be limited in scope at first glance, but actually offers a vast range of possibilities for innovation on its primary theme. As with Page Curl Pro, AV Bros. have given us an exclusive special offer that allows you to buy Puzzle Pro with a special 10% discount. Puzzle Pro lists at $49.95.
Also make sure to read our interview with Page Curl Pro co-creator Alex of AV Bros below.
AV Bros. Page Curl Pro - Overview
AV Bros. Page Curl Pro plug-in has the all new and unrivalled engine that lets you not only bend the image, using two types of bending (curling and folding), but also texturize it (using the bump maps), orient it in 3D space (including perspective distortions) and obtain total control over the process of lighting the image (including the option of dropping inner shadows).
Because Page Curl Pro is a multi-purpose plug-in it may be used not only as a page bender, but also as a texturizer and a lighting lab, as well as for many other design purposes.
The interface of Page Curl Pro is extremely user-friendly and has some unique features that make working with the plug-in easy and enjoyable. Here are the main differences between the PRO and the "Regular" version:
- The Multi-bend option: the ability to create several bends within the single session of the plug-in.
- The ability to orient the page in 3D including adjustable perspective.
- The ability to specify the Limit of the page turn and as a result the ability to create the "non-complete" page curling effect.
- The ability to make the bent part of the page to be cut into the remaining part of the page.
- The ability to use the Advanced Lighting mode for obtaining the total control over the process of lighting the page.
- The ability to drop the Inner Shadows with adjustable Opacity and Size.
- The ability to texturize either side of the page by using the grayscale images (called Bump Maps), with which you can manipulate inside the plug-in.
- Multi-level Undo option.
For more info visit the AV Bros. site where you can also find a free demo. Page Curl Pro lists at $49.95, Page Curl Regular at $29.95 — and this product is available through us at a special 10% discount.
AV Bros. Puzzle Pro - Overview
AV Bros. Puzzle Pro is a filter plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and compatible hosts. Puzzle Pro is an extremely high quality, powerful and flexible product, which can greatly increase your creativity and productivity.
Thanks to both the superb engine and the user-friendly graphic user interface, the plug-in gives you absolute control over the process of creating all your desired effects. And although AV Bros. Puzzle Pro is targeted to help you create a jig-saw puzzle effect, it also produces a plethora of other high quality image effects.
Puzzle Pro provides you with absolute control of a puzzle's shapes, delivers a large number of built-in effects for modifying the content of a puzzle's pieces, and gives you the possibility of not only being able to split an image into pieces, but being able to draw the splitter's shape too. Puzzle Pro includes an option to save the shapes in .EPS or .AI formats for using them in such applications as Adobe Illustrator, Flash, and CorelDRAW.
For more info visit the AV Bros. site where you can also find a free demo. Puzzle Pro lists at $49.95 — and this product is available through us at a special 10% discount.
Discount Codes (10% Off) From AV Bros. Plugin Store
The AV Bros. have given us special links where you can get a 10% discount on the purchase of their plugins. Just use the following links to purchase the individual products or packages at a discount.
AV Bros. Page Curl 2.0 for Mac OS X
AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.0 for Mac OS X
AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.0 for Windows
AV Bros. Puzzle Pro 2.0 for Mac OS X
AV Bros. Puzzle Pro 2.0 for Windows
Bundle A (Page Curl Pro 2.0 & Puzzle Pro 2.0) - cross-platform
Bundle A (Page Curl Pro 2.0 & Puzzle Pro 2.0) - for Mac OS X
Bundle A (Page Curl Pro 2.0 & Puzzle Pro 2.0) - for Windows
Interview With Alex Shalikashvili - Half Of The AV Bros.
Here's a short interview we conducted with Alex Shalikashvili, one half of the AV Bros.
Can you give us a little history of your company, and how you got started?
We developed our first plug-in for Photoshop back in 1999. It was our AV Bros. Page Curl 1.2. And a short time later, we released the first version (or better to say – version 1.2.) of our AV Bros. Puzzle Pro. You may ask why plug-ins, and why these particular effects?
We had a strong background in developing custom software, web graphics and desktop printing. As a result, we had a close connection with Photoshop and various plug-ins for this amazing application. And the pioneers of the plug-ins' development, such as Alien Skin (With their Xenofex 1.) and Meta Creations (With KPT3, of course!) were our favorites. And if Alien Skin's products were and still are (!) slick, useful and easy to use, the plug-ins from Kai Krause's team not only created cool effects, but had the stunning user interfaces (UI).
(We think that Spheroid Designer from KPT3 has the most attractive UI ever developed for any plug-in.) And, if we remember correctly, the turning page effect along with the puzzle maker were the most popular effects from those sets of plug-ins. But the folks from Alien Skin and Meta Creations were a hard act to follow! Therefore, we've set the following "problem" to ourselves – create powerful plug-ins that should produce high quality effects and which should have the convenient and cool-looking UIs. And we try to keep solving this task since our first plug-ins till the newest Page Curl 2.0, Page Curl Pro 2.1 and Puzzle Pro 2.0. Our customers will decide whether we have succeeded in this process or not.
Tell us how you came up with the company name?
Oh, simple question, actually. We (Alex and Vladimir Shalikashvili) are brothers. The conclusion is obvious, isn't it? :-)
What is your most popular plug-in?
Without any doubt – AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2 (2.0 and then, 2.1 versions).
Is the learning curve easy on your plug-ins? Or are some plug-ins harder than others to master?
Well, "the plug-in should be easy to use" statement has always been one of the most important to us. From the other side, it's obvious that when the product is extremely powerful and versatile, it's practically impossible to make it as easy to use — as for example Photoshop's Gaussian Blur plug-in. Though our Page Curl 2.0 is very close to this "standard". :-)
As for Puzzle Pro 2.0 and Page Curl Pro 2.1 – they just confirm the simple "rule" — if you want to invest in your productivity and be able to use ALL the power of the product, then you should "waste" some time in reading the manual. Of course, if the User Guide is good enough. ;-) Though, as our customers' feedback shows us — most of them successfully use our products even without any User Guides. :-) Well, we hope that this can be considered as the confirmation of the fact that the plug-ins are intuitive, rather than the fact that these customers are "lazy" :-)
Are you planning on releasing updates soon?
Yes, version 3.0 of Puzzle Pro will be released quite soon.
Do you have other plug-ins that you are working on? New creations?
Absolutely! Though the fact that AV Bros. is a small Company explains why our productivity is not as high as we would wished it to be. :-)
What is your favorite plug-in and why?
Nice question... At the moment – AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.1, but we're almost sure that when we finish Puzzle Pro 3.0, then it'll become our favorite. Why? This is probably because we were able to realize almost all of our ideas in the latest product. And because the produced effects are breathtaking! :-)
Thank you for the interview Alex, and we wish you continued success for your company.
Photoshop CS3 Upgrade Options And Bundles From The Adobe Store
Photoshop CS3 Extended is ideal for film, video, and multimedia pros and for graphic and web designers using 3D and motion. Get the full version for US $999, or upgrade for US $349. The standard version of Photoshop CS3 is available for US $649, or as an upgrade for US $199.
Photoshop Extended is also available as part of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium ($1,799/$440), which combines all-new CS3 versions of Photoshop, Flash Pro, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat 8 Pro. International options are available at Adobe's UK Store, Europe Store, and Australia Store.
Exclusive Special Offer - Fluid Mask 2.0 - $189
Fluid Mask 2.0 is based on breakthrough segmentation technology inspired by the way the eye, optic nerve and brain perform visual processing. When an image is loaded, Fluid Mask's segmentation engine analyses the distribution of colors, finding the natural groups within the image. Together with information calculated about edges, gradients and textures, a model is constructed which divides the images into objects.
Vertus Software is offering Fluid Mask at the special 'friends and partner' discounted rate of just $189 - PLUS free upgrades for the next 6 months.
This is an exclusive offer to visitors of PhotoshopSupport.com. To qualify, visit the Fluid Mask Discount Price page. Find out more about Fluid Mask on our special Fluid Mask Page.
Exclusive 20% Discount On Select Total Training Products & Bundles
To redeem our exclusive discount coupon, use promotion code save20pss in your shopping cart. You could save hundreds of dollars. Use this special link to see the full offer.
Total Training for Adobe Photoshop
Learn Adobe Photoshop with 21 hours of interactive Adobe Photoshop tutorials. This is training for real-world situations and includes additional tips and techniques used by the pros.
Regular Price: $299.99 (take 20% off with coupon)
SiteGrinder 2 - Photoshop Plugin
There often seems to be a strict division of labor within the world of web design and development. Creative professionals tend to stick to the Photoshop domain, while those well-versed in scripting are left to the task of implementing their work. Indeed, the two realms are quite different from each other, to which any of us even vaguely familiar with either can easily attest.
Essentially, Photoshop is a no-holds-barred design studio, offering the artist a seemingly endless array of creative options. On the other hand, HTML, CSS, Java and the like follow strict rules of engagement, requiring the developer to take any number of esoteric concerns into consideration in order to ensure that designs are properly displayed on the web.
Turn Photoshop Into A Complete Web Design Tool
SiteGrinder 2 seeks to bridge this gap between design and development. Basically, this program turns Photoshop into an easy-to-use and fully functional web design tool. With SiteGrinder 2, designers will now have the freedom to totally let their creativity loose and then, without skipping a beat, transfer their designs to the web. Bringing esthetic concerns together with more practical considerations, this program is an amazingly powerful tool that would make a fantastic addition to any web designer's bag of tricks.
Generate Your Web Pages Directly From Photoshop
By generating web pages directly from Photoshop, you'll be able to spend much more time on the creative end of the spectrum, since you'll know right off the bat how well particular designs will translate to the web. No more going back to the Photoshop drawing board after getting a phone call from your development team, telling you that what you had envisioned doesn't have a chance of being displayed on the web. You can immediately visually and interactively test your designs, which permits you to then make changes to either esthetics or functions while it's still relatively early on in the design process.
Pricing and Availability
Mac OS X and Windows versions of the SiteGrinder unlockable demo are available now via download. SiteGrinder 2 can be ordered from Media Lab's online store.
Photoshop Book - Photoshop CS2: Essential Skills - By Mark Galer And Philip Andrews
An inspirational and user-friendly guide to creative image editing, Photoshop CS2: Essential Skills provides direction for photographers and designers alike who have ventured into the realm of the 'digital darkroom.' The book offers a progressive curriculum to guide you through Photoshop with a series of clear, step-by-step projects designed to place knowledge into a practical context.
Whether you simply want to retouch an image, create a glamour makeover or create a highly sophisticated montage - this book will give you the essential skills to complete the work to a professional standard.
The accompanying CD-ROM and website, www.photoshopessentialskills.com, offer additional teaching and learning materials which form a library of indispensable supporting resources including:
• All of the images used in the text
• Over four hours of QuickTime movie tutorials to support the practical projects
• A range of presets (including layer styles, curves, shapes and gradients)
• Camera RAW files
• Free extra chapters in e-book form.
For a free sample chapter see our How To Sharpen An Image In Photoshop tutorial.
Photoshop CS2: Essential Skills (Amazon.com - save 34%)
