AKVIS Frame Suite 2.5

Introduction

AKVIS Frame Suite 2.5 is a Photoshop-compatible plug-in that provides umpteen frames, edge effects, and textures. All these can be customized and you can then create your own presets and libraries.

AKVIS Frame Suite 2.5 is a new version of the same plug-in that we reviewed in the past. The updated version has several new and improved features.

The new features are:

• The new Texture effect: Allows emulating the effect of an image drawn on different surfaces, for example canvas, brick wall, corrugated paper, etc. 
• The Texture Library has new patterns.
• Works fast on both PowerPC and Intel Macs (also works on Windows).
• The program is available in two versions: as a standalone program and as a plug-in to a photo editor.

Frame Suite is from AKVIS, a company based in Russia that specializes in graphics programs. Apart from Frame Suite, AKVIS also creates other Photoshop-compatible plug-ins like Retoucher, Chameleon, Stamp, Sketch, Enhancer, Decorator, and Coloriage.

You can download a free 10-day trial version of Frame Suite from the AKVIS site.

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

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How To Use

Here’s how you can use the new Texture feature in Frame Suite 2.5 on a image.

1. Open any image in an image editor such as Adobe Photoshop.
2. Choose the Filter | AKVIS | Frame Suite option, as shown in Figure 1, below.
3. 
   Figure 1: AKVIS Frame Suite
3. Doing so will open the Frame Suite 2.5 interface that you can see in the Figure 2, below.
   
   
4. 
   Figure 2: AKVIS Frame Suite 2.5 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, the right side of the interface has the list of Effects and the settings.
5. Select the Effect list provided as shown in Figure 3, below. Then, and choose the Texture option.
6. 
   Figure 3: Frames
6. Once the texture is selected, you'll be able to tweak properties for the chosen texture, as shown in Figure 4, below.
7. 
   Figure 4: Texture properties
8. If you want to use another texture, double-click on the thumbnail to open the Texture library, as shown in Figure 5, below.
9. 
   Figure 5: Texture library
7. After selecting the texture, click the Run icon (see icon below).
8. 
8. This step applies and creates a preview of the image. If you want to make more changes, you can select another texture as required. You can preview the changed image in the After tab, as shown in Figure 6, below.
9. 
   Figure 6: The Before and After tabs
9. Once you’re done with the applying the texture, apply the result to the image by pressing the Apply icon (see icon below) to return to the image editor.
10. 
    

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Specifications

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