Eye Candy 5: Nature
Photoshop Filters from Alien Skin

Copyright © 2005 by John Passarella

Introduction

Alien Skin Software is in the process of splitting their popular Eye Candy Photoshop plug-in filters into three separate filter packages, divided by category. First came Eye Candy 5: Textures (see my 2004 WindoWatch review), which produced a wide variety of seamless, texture effects, including snake and lizard skin, fur, brick, stone and wood. The current release is Eye Candy 5: Nature, with effects ranging from fire to water, with smoke and rust in between. (Note: The final upgrade, Eye Candy 5: Impact, is set for release in the summer of 2005. For now, if you need chrome, bevels, shadows and other classic effects, hold onto (or buy a copy of) Eye Candy 4000.

EC5: Nature is a collection of ten Photoshop filters that create, naturally enough, natural phenomena, including Corona, Fire, Drip, Icicles, Ripples, Rust, Smoke, Snow Drift, Squint, and Water Drops. Note that you are not limited to those ten effects. EC5: Nature includes 500 presets to provide many variations on each basic filter. And, if that’s not enough, you can tweak the settings and sliders to create unique variations of your own. You can save and share custom settings with other EC5: Nature users.

New and Improved

EC5: Nature comes with four new effects and improvements to six classic Eye Candy filters. Belying the “Alien” in the company name, the goal of these effects is to simulate very natural, earthbound effects. However, the presets include more than a few bizarre surprises. The folks at Alien Skin couldn’t resist throwing in some weird effects that might just mimic something found on an extraterritorial landscape or in some bleak apocalyptic vision of the future. Without further ado…

SNOW DRIFT (New Filter) piles snow on any object, selection or text. Simulate deep, wet snow or a light dusting of frost. By combining Icicles (below) with Snow Drift, you can quickly winterize text or photos.

My latest novel, Wither’s Legacy takes place during winter and replete with snow storms and a ravenous winter demon, so I gleefully applied snow and ice effects to the cover image and title text of the book.

Below, I selected only the right half of the cover to apply (additional) winter effects, Snow Drift and Icicles, so you can see the change from the original -- already wintry -- image. I have to admit, I prefer the ‘fangs’ unencumbered by the less-threatening icicles.

ICICLES (New), a great complement to Snow Drift (as you can see in the title text above), Icicles adds icy stalactites to any selection and glazes surfaces with realistic ice. In addition to creating wintry text, this filter lets you make any object look positively frigid.

RIPPLES (New) creates the ripples-on-the-pond-surface effect, from gentle to turbulent. Below: it only seems appropriate to add a Ripples effect to the title of my novel, Wither’s Rain.

RUST (New) can help you age photos of metal or street signs. Employ Nature’s powers of corrosion and decay, including iron oxide, tarnished brass, mold and mildew to accelerate the effects of entropy. Organically decay text, backgrounds and photographs.

For the following image, I’ve combined a wood background (from Eye Candy 5: Textures) with the EC5: Nature Rust filter, after applying a Fireworks MX 2004 emboss filter to the text.

DRIP helps you simulate anything from a drippy, “wet paint” (domain name) sign, to the melting clocks of Dali’s Persistence of Memory, to melting wax faces.

SMOKE runs the gamut from wispy tendrils of steam to violent, volcanic eruptions and practically every variation in between. Below, I’ve added a Smoke-y surface to the cover of my first novel, Wither.

And, where there’s smoke, there’s…

FIRE, another classic filter that should be in every photo manipulator’s digital toolbox, simulates anything from flickering matches to the fury of a rocket exhaust. Below I’ve added some smoldering flames beneath the cover of my novel, Wither’s Rain.

CORONA renders wispy, ghostly auroras or radiant solar flares. I’ve added a funky, electric corona to Dark Notes from NJ, which features my first ever Wendy Ward short story.

WATER DROPS come in drips, drops and splatters, simulating condensation, perspiration, rain drops, puddles and more, including liquid text. Large and very refractive water drops appear to mar the cover of the Italian edition of Wither.

SQUINT helps you create those brilliant light streaks from shiny highlights that make you, well, squint when you see them.

Conclusion

Once again, Alien Skin Software continues their trend of creating useful (and, arguably, necessary) filters, combining ease of use with an interface that lets you experiment without distracting you from the natural workflow of your favorite photographic preparation software. If you’re serious about your photo and text manipulation needs, you simply must have Eye Candy 5: Nature.

Pricing

Eye Candy 5: Nature has an estimated street price of US $99. Upgrades are $49 for registered users of previous versions of Eye Candy. Visit Alien Skin Software online at http://www.alienskin.com.

Host & System Requirements

Eye Candy 5: Nature is a plug-in; it must be used with a compatible host program.

Read the Eye Candy 5: Textures Review

Read the Eye Candy 5: Impact Review

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