This CD-ROM version of Eye Candy 7 Photo Editing Software for Mac and PC from Alien Skin Software is a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements that renders realistic effects which are difficult or impossible to achieve in Photoshop alone. Examples include Fire, Chrome, and the new Lightning, Electrify and Cloud effects. Animal Fur, Smoke, and Reptile Skin effects are rendered in rich, fine detail, down to individual hairs, turbulent wisps, and shiny scales.
Eye Candy helps you quickly explore and design looks. Effects are chosen through easy to recognize icons rather than text menus. Presets, of which there are over 1000, are rapidly previewed by simply mousing over them. The user interface in general has been made more intuitive. The theme is less clicking and more visual browsing. Eye Candy conveniently scales effects to match the size of your artwork.
The software is compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 or later or Windows 7 or later, and requires one of the following host applications: Adobe Photoshop CS5 or later or Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 or later.
What's New in Version 7?
Even Easier
Alien Skin has completely rewritten the Eye Candy user interface to make it easier to explore. The theme is less clicking and more visual browsing. Eye Candy 7 is now a single entry in Photoshop's filter menu. That means that you can explore all of its effects without leaving the Eye Candy window. Instead of choosing an effect category by reading a text list, you'll see icons that show typical uses of each effect
New Effects
Lightning, Electrify and Cloud effects have been brought over, by popular demand, from Alien Skin's discontinued Xenofex product. They've been rewritten for the Eye Candy 7 framework, which provides faster previewing, better preset management, and easier experimentation
More on Lightning
Lightning is possibly the most realistic effect in Eye Candy. You can adjust start and end points for your lightning bolts, choose from a wide variety of different styles, and adjust attributes such as arc thickness, jaggedness, branching, branch spread, and glow intensity via sliders
Navigator
Once you choose an effect, you can explore presets fast using the navigator, which is a small preview that instantly updates. You don't even have to click. Just mouse over preset names and the navigator shows how the effect will look in your design
Preference
In the preference panel you can choose how the effect is rendered in a new layer. If you prefer the Eye Candy 5 approach, you can have the new layer include just the effect and not a copy of your original artwork
Transparency
Many Eye Candy effects use transparency, so the transparency display control has been moved out of the preference panel and placed under the main preview. This lets you quickly switch the background between checkerboard, black, white, or a custom solid color
Additional Features
Realistic Effects
Eye Candy helps designs look natural and organic. Effects like Animal Fur, Smoke, and Reptile Skin are rendered in rich, fine detail, down to individual hairs, turbulent wisps, and shiny scales. Additional effects include: Backlight, Bevel, Chrome, Corona, Drip, Extrude (a 3D effect), Fire, Glass, Glow, Icicles, Motion Trail, Rust, Shadow, and Snow for Shape effects; and Brick Wall, Brushed Metal, Diamond Plate, Marble, Ripples, Star, Stone Wall, Swirl, Texture Noise, Water Drops, Weave and Wood for Texture effects. Shape effects help you dress up objects, text and selections, and require an object with distinct edges. They're primarily used on logos and titles. Texture effects are used to fill an object or an entire layer and don't require a shape. Once you choose your effect, explore the presets to choose variations. Customize your effects on the right-hand side of the screen using scroll bars for the specific attributes of the effects, such as smoothness, contrast, or highlight brightness. Some effects, such as Extrude, have extra controls in the preview for direct manipulation
A Multitude of Choices
Eye Candy has grown over 19 years to handle a huge range of graphic design tasks, from subtle extruded edges to glitzy chrome. There are 32 effect categories, over 1000 presets, and controls to let you create a virtually limitless number of your own styles
Scaling Modes
Eye Candy scales effects to match the size of your current artwork. That makes it less likely that you will have to tweak a preset to make it look good. This means you can apply a preset to a low-resolution image, and when you apply it to a high-resolution image, the effect looks correct. Choose from either Adaptive or Fixed scaling modes. In Adaptive mode, every slider that controls a distance or size is expressed as a percentage, so changes made are proportional. In Fixed mode, sizes are expressed in pixels, so changes made are absolute. When you switch scaling mode, you won't see any immediate change--you'll notice the difference when you apply the preset to an image of a different size. Using Animal Fur as an example, when you apply the preset to an image of greater size in Adaptive mode, you keep the same number of spots, which now appear larger. When you do the same in Fixed mode, the spots remain the same size and there are now more of them. For most applications, Adaptive mode works best
Non-Destructive Editing
Effects are drawn into a new layer, leaving your original artwork untouched. Eye Candy can also work as a Smart Filter, which lets you modify or remove the effect later. You can save presets to consistently recreate your favorite looks
Ready for Professional Applications
Eye Candy can handle images in CMYK mode and 16-bits/channel, which are needed for professional print work