Leading third-party developers today announced plans to create plug-in applications designed to extend the functionality of the new version of the world-standard photo-design and production too, Adobe Photoshop 4.0. Adobe Systems began shipping Photoshop 4.0 for Windows and Macintosh today with dramatic user productivity enhancements, improved integration with Adobe's graphics products and extended creative control (see "Adobe Photoshop 4.O for Windows and Macintosh Now Available" press release for more details). Industry-leading companies including Alien Skin, Altamira Group, Chroma Graphics, Eastman Kodak, Extensis, MetaTools and Vivid Details committed to bring Photoshop 4.0-compatible plug-ins to market by the end of 1996. Plug-ins designed for Adobe Photoshop from Chroma Graphics and MetaTools will be demonstrated at Comdex (November 18-22) in Adobe's booth, #L4802, Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Adobe Photoshop software developers kit (SDK) allows third-party developers to extend the functionality of Photoshop through plug-in software, providing expansive opportunities into vertical markets. The SDK for Photoshop 4.0 now allows developers to create even more powerful plug-ins by allowing them to extend the capabilities of new product features, including defining complex selections and task automating. For more information regarding the Photoshop SDK, developers may call 408-536-9000.

Developer Community on Board for Photoshop 4.0 Support

Alien Skin "Eye Candy 3.0" -- Eye Candy 3.0 replaces and improves upon The Black Box 2.0, Alien Skin's award-winning filter set for Adobe Photoshop software, Eye Candy 3.0 contains a total of 20 filters. Eye Candy includes ten popular filters from The Black Box 2.0, which now features more parameters and improved speed. Some of the new filters include Fire, Fur, Chrome, Polygon, Antimatter, Vibrate, Warpo and Water Drops. Along with having advanced previewing capabilities, Eye Candy 3.0 features a resizable and zoomable preview, as well as a thumbnail which moves the preview to any part of the original image. Users can also save and restore settings for each filter, making it easy to consistently reproduce specific special effects. Eye Candy 3.0 will be available by the end of the year and will support both Version 3.0 and 4.0 of Adobe Photoshop.

Altamira Group "Genuine Fractals Plug-in" -- This plug-in brings the power and flexibility of resolution-independent fractal image format (FIF) files to Adobe Photoshop. FIF files compress RGB image shapes and colors into scalable equations that can be rendered at any resolution from 64 x 64 pixels to infinity, based upon available computer memory and resources. Users can now open and save FIF files in Photoshop directly from the File Import and Export menus, and display them in 24-bit or 8-bit color. The Pro Graphics option enables Photoshop users to save time by working on smaller original files that can then be rendered at various sizes for multiple output formats with superb image quality, while the Web Graphics option produces small files for quick display over the Web.

Chroma Graphics "Chromatica" -- This plug-in, the first in a series to be introduced by Chroma Graphics, extends the object selection and recoloring capabilities of Adobe Photoshop. Chromatica features two plug-ins, ChromaColor and ChromaPalette. ChromaColor lets users select objects instantly, recolor with added precision, and blend edges automatically. With ChromaPalette, users can recolor an image with all of the colors from another image. ChromaPalette is ideal for creating spectacular color effects and recoloring objects that have a broad color range, such as skies, grass, fractals, and textures.

Eastman Kodak: Batch Acquire from Photo CD(TM) and Kodak Digital Cameras/Color Management Support -- Kodak provided the software component that enables Photoshop 4.0 users to perform three new functions on Macintosh and Windows workstations. They can automatically open and color-correct batches of images from Photo CD discs or from high-end Kodak digital cameras; and they can convert Kodak device color profiles from the industry-standard ICC CMYK format, to the separation tables used by Photoshop. To make the conversions, users can employ the Kodak color management module on the Windows version of Photoshop 4.0. The device color profile conversion plug-in is integrated in Photoshop 4.0, and the Kodak batch-acquire plug-ins are expected to be available to users on the Adobe Web site by the end of 1996.

Extensis "PhotoTools" -- This professional-quality collection of productivity tools and effects for Adobe Photoshop automates the creation of the most commonly used special effects, such as drop shadows, bevels, glows, strokes, and embossing. PhotoTools also offers tools such as PhotoText, a powerful text-editing module for creating and modifying type at the character level, including font, style, size, color, tracking, leading, width, kerning, spacing, and more. PhotoTools includes enhanced versions of popular components from other Extensis products, including customizable toolbars, Tips & Tricks and Intellihance Lite, an intelligent, automatic image-enhancement tool.

MetaTools "Kai's Power Tools" -- Kai's Power Tools 3 provides graphic designers, photographers, computer artists, web designers and production artists with a comprehensive set of creative imaging tools. This plug-in includes hundreds of built-in graphic presets, real-time previews and a versatile collection of extensions to enhance Adobe Photoshop and give graphics professionals the power to create diverse visual effects. With its direct approach to powerful imaging techniques, KPT 3 makes it possible to create an endless variety of complex blends, textures, gradients and ray-traced spheres that otherwise would be extremely time consuming, if not impossible, to design. MetaTools continues to support new versions of Photoshop with tools to encourage creativity and leverage new Photoshop 4.0 features.

Vivid Details "Test Strip" -- This plug-in makes color-correction and proofing within Adobe Photoshop easier, faster, and more precise. Test Strip borrows a time-tested concept from photography that divides an image into sections containing different color choices. Users can alter the orientation and the number of strips that are displayed, and colors can be added or subtracted in as little as one percent increments. Users can save any Test Strip view, and then output it to any device (MatchPrint, Iris, 3M Rainbow, Fiery, NovaJet, etc.) for accurate customer approval prints, or as a guide for final color-correction. Vivid Details' Test Strip is a shortcut for achieving accurate color reproduction, and reducing the high cost of today's digital and traditional color proofing methods.

Adobe Photoshop Version 4.0 supports Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, Macintosh and Power Macintosh platforms, and is currently available from Adobe Authorized Resellers and from Adobe for the suggested retail price of $895. Version 4.0 ships on CD-ROM (floppy disks available upon request for a nominal charge), and includes an interactive tutorial CD-ROM, stock photography, sample plug-ins a digital gallery and Adobe tryout software. Registered owners of any previous full version may purchase the Version 4.0 upgrade for $149. Upgrades from Photoshop LE to the full Version 4.0 are $199. For more information, customers may call 800-49-ADOBE.

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