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This article is from July 17, 2009, and is no longer current.

Plugin Galaxy Version 2 Released

The Plugin Site has released Version 2 of Plugin Galaxy for MacOS X. Plugin Galaxy 2 is a plugin for creating special effects and enhancing images with the help of more than 160 basic effects. It works in various graphics applications including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Fireworks, Photoline, GraphicConverter and Illustrator. It supports 8bit and 16bit RGB and grayscale images.
New in Version 2
Version 2 of Plugin Galaxy was reprogrammed from ground up in order to provide enhanced functionality and performance. It is now available as an universal binary that works natively on Intel-Macs. It offers all effects in a new resizable dialog and renders more than two times faster. The new Layers and Blend features lets you apply multiple effects to the image in one session and create sophisticated effect combinations that were not possible before. The new batch processing option applies the same effect to hundreds of images with a few clicks. Saving and opening filter settings as preset files is now supported, too.
Ten new effects, many new effect features and 400 presets are included. The new Play button generates random slider values, which are displayed as preview animations. Support for the alpha channel of image layers was greatly enhanced and the preview now also works correctly for selections. The new Constant Size check box makes sure that the same output is rendered for different image sizes.
Effects Overview
Plugin Galaxy 2 provides filters for transparency manipulation, blurring, texture and pattern generation, noise creation, mirroring and warping. It also includes metal, chrome, neon, pop art, glass, page curl, rainbow, sunshine, sunset and star effects and lets you enhance, colorize, add edges to your photos and even encrypt them. There are also effects like feedbacks, grids or zooming. Additionally Plugin Galaxy includes presets for creating fire, rain, snow, water surface, metallic text, contrast and frame effects as well as rendering cosmic scenes.
Unlimited Possibilities
All Plugin Galaxy 2 effects are accessible from a single dialog. Thousands of potential effects can be created with the help of sliders, check boxes, color boxes, preview coordinates and blend modes. The Play button (known from Harrys Filters 3) generates random animations in the preview for exploring the possibilities of the 160+ main effects and the Jump button produces random filter settings. With the Layers feature you can also apply multiple effects to the image without leaving the Plugin Galaxy dialog. Additionally you can save filter settings as preset files and open them for later use. 400 presets are already included with Plugin Galaxy. Many Plugin Galaxy effects also affect the transparency of image layers, which offers further possibilities.
For Beginners as well as Experts
Plugin Galaxy 2 offers four modes for adjusting the effects from the simple Novice Mode to the sophisticated Expert Mode. The Classic Mode is very similar to the previous version of Plugin Galaxy and the Manual Mode makes all essential controls available without switching between tab sheets. You can also apply the same effect to a large number of images by batch processing them in Cloak Mode.
What Makes It Special
Unlike many other effect collections you can select all Plugin Galaxy 2 effects from a single dialog and apply multiple effects without leaving the plugin, which saves a lot of time. The Play and Jump Buttons can give you new effect ideas with the help of random settings. The more than 160 basic effects can be used to create unlimited effect variations with the help of various controls and by combining and blending the effects with each other. All in all, Plugin Galaxy also offers many useful effects and features in a package with a low price.
Availability & System Requirements
Version 2 of Plugin Galaxy is available for MacOS X as well as Windows. Plugin Galaxy 2 sells at $69.95 (Regular License) or $39.95 (Academic/Educational License). It can be purchased at https://www.thepluginsite.com/products/plugingalaxy/. A demo version with a few free effects can be downloaded at the same URL.

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