AKVIS ArtSuite 6

Introduction

AKVIS ArtSuite 6 is a Photoshop compatible plug-in that provides photo effects along with an impressive collection of photo frames (edge effects). All the photo frames that come with ArtSuite can be customized, and you can change the color of the frame, alter the brightness and the intensity, and even create a frame with ragged edges, a scratched surface, page curl, etc. You can also create your own frames.

AKVIS ArtSuite 6 includes several hand painted frames -- these frames can only be used within the AKVIS ArtSuite standalone program, and not the plugin. The standalone program is included as part of the plug-in. In addition, AKVIS provides an additional free pack with 30 frames, and also Wedding and Travel packs, that include 50 frames each.

ArtSuite 6 is from AKVIS, a company based in Russia that specializes in graphics programs. Apart from ArtSuite, AKVIS also creates other Photoshop compatible plug-ins like Retoucher, Chameleon, MultiBrush, Sketch, Enhancer, Decorator, Coloriage, etc.

You can download a free 10 day trial version of ArtSuite 6 from the AKVIS site.

My contact at AKVIS for this review was Kat Kharina, thank you Kat.

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How To Use

Follow these steps to use AKVIS ArtSuite:

1. Open any image in an image editor such as Adobe Photoshop.
   
   
2. Choose Filter | AKVIS | ArtSuite, as shown in Figure 1.
   
   
   Figure 1: AKVIS ArtSuite
   
   
3. This opens the ArtSuite 6 interface, that you can see in Figure 2 below.
   
   
   Figure 2: AKVIS ArtSuite interface
   
   
4. The interface is divided into two parts: the left side is the preview window where you can see the picture and the changes made, and the right side of the interface has the list of frames and effects with their settings.
   
   
5. Select any frame from the list provided as show in Figure 3. Each frame has properties which can be customized.
   
   
   Figure 3: Frames list
   
   
6. Figure 4 shows the list of Effects.
   
   
   Figure 4: Effects list
   
   
7. Choose any frame or effect, and you can preview the changed image in the After tab (refer to Figure 5 below).
   
   
   Figure 5: Preview in After tab
   
   
8. Once you’re done, apply the result to the image by pressing the Apply icon (see icon below) to return to the image editor.
   
   

Although the instructions above showed how you can use AKVIS ArtSuite 6 as a Photoshop plug-in, the product also works in the same way in standalone mode -- but one important difference is that the free hand painted frames only work in the standalone program. Figure 6 below shows some of the samples created using the hand painted frames.

Figure 6: Hand painted frame samples

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Specifications

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