Low-cost PhotoDeluxe plug-ins have some interface problems.
Marcie Shatz
Rating: Acceptable/Very Good (3.5 of 5 mice)
Stunning special effects on the cheap -- that's the promise of KPT Cool Effects. This set of powerful image-manipulation tools works with any application that accepts Photoshop-style plug-ins but is designed for users of Adobe's entry-level image-processing tool, PhotoDeluxe. KPT Cool Effects can provide professional results, but its awkward interface makes it less than a pleasure to use.
KPT Cool Effects dresses up borders, text, and backgrounds by creating lighting effects, textures, abstract patterns, and overlays. Image filters and pattern generators create faux wood picture frames, simulate neon type, and make photos appear more like paintings or professional "glamour" shots. Although 5 of its 26 effects are included with PhotoDeluxe, KPT Cool Effects is a steal that's hard to pass up.
KPT Cool Effects filters let you add "noise" or distortion effects to any selected part of your image, including type. Although they're a snap to apply, fewer than a fifth provide a preview window. And although most effects can be intensified or weakened on a scale of 1 to 10, if you choose your setting before pulling down the PhotoDeluxe Effects menu, you may lose the ability to undo. Save early and often. Also, watch out for the weather effects: The distortions of the breeze and wind effects are the reverse of what their names suggest.
The Gaussian Electrify and Gaussian Glow filters, which create subtle blurs that lighten or darken an image, are particularly striking, especially when applied to portraits and location shots. The first gives your photo an angelic look; the second makes it appear to have been shot in the glow of a neon sign.
In addition to the filters, KPT Cool Effects has four pattern generators -- Gradient Designer, Gradients on Paths, Fractal Explorer, and Texture Explorer -- which transform any selection into a modifiable pattern. As powerful as these generators are, their interfaces are cumbersome. Navigating them requires repeated scrolling through menus and submenus. What's worse, many preset patterns have unhelpful, self-consciously hip names such as Djungloid 2 and Killer Sweepoid that tell you nothing about what effect they produce. Luckily, all four pattern generators have helpful, although small, preview windows.
The help text for the filters and the pattern generators, which describes the less-than-obvious effect features, can be accessed only through the four pattern generators: Even if you want assistance with a filter, you must open a pattern-generator window to access help. The limited manual doesn't help much either. Fiddling around is the best way to discover what the filters and the pattern generators can do. However, when you finally do conjure up the perfect effect, it's hard to say that it wasn't worth the effort. The combinations of shapes and colors can be truly stunning.
The Bottom Line
If you have Adobe PhotoDeluxe, using KPT Cool Effects is a fun way to take your digital-imaging skills to the next level. There are enough accessible, interesting effects to keep you exploring for days. However, the quirky Undo function and the paucity of preview windows can be frustrating.
