February, 2007 - AKVIS LLC announces the release of AKVIS Sketch plug-in v.3.0 for Windows and Macintosh. By popular request, the possibility to save user presets for subsequent use has been added. Besides, new to version 3.0: compatibility with Windows Vista, new installation method on Macintosh, bugs fixed. Upgrade for registered users is free.

AKVIS Sketch is a plugin for conversion of photos into pencil sketches and watercolor drawings. You can make any photo look like B&W or color drawing, imitate the technique of graphite or color pencil, charcoal or watercolor painting.

Photo-to-sketch conversion can be a lot of fun and open for you new ways of creativity. If you have always been wondering how to draw or paint, now you can embody your ideas with AKVIS Sketch.

Many photo editing enthusiasts have already appreciated the Sketch' s features. You can see a gallery of examples (many created by users) at http://akvis.com/en/sketch/examples-pencil-drawing.php

AKVIS Sketch also enjoys attention of professional designers. The program was awarded "Best Image Editing Software 2006" by "DT&G Magazine".

New to version 3.0 of AKVIS Sketch: By popular request, the possibility to save/edit user presets has been added. Now it is possible to save favourite settings for subsequent use. The new version fixes the bug that caused false display and processing of an image in the plug-in's window after layer transformation/movement. Version 3.0 offers a new installation method on Macintosh: just drag the folder AKVIS Sketch from the Installation Wizard into the Plugins folder of your photo editor. Compatibility with Windows Vista has been added.

You can use Sketch in many ways. Surprise your friends and relatives by presenting them their pencil portraits. Make a watercolor drawing out of a photo from your last nature shooting to decorate your room. Convert your own photo into a color sketch to print on a T-shirt. Create a comic out of your party videos.

The program can be helpful to designers who need to quickly bring images to one style for a web-site or an advertisement booklet.

In contrast to the similar standard filters (like the built-in filters in Photoshop or PSP) that offer an approximate sketch, AKVIS Sketch provides a convincing result that comes very close to hand-drawn works of a human artist.

AKVIS Sketch has a simple interface with a few sliders. At first you can process the image with the default settings and then touch up the photo adding color, or trying different techniques - from pencil to charcoal or watercolor. You can make the hatching denser or finer and change the pitch angle of strokes.
Using batch processing in Photoshop or Paint Shop pro you can even convert a film into a cartoon. Like here: http://akvis.com/en/sketch-tutorial/cartoon-film.php

Demonstrations of the plugin's features are available at http://akvis.com/en/sketch-tutorial/index.php

For a free trial, AKVIS offers 10 days of fully functional use. Details are available at http://akvis.com/en/sketch/index.php

AKVIS Sketch plugin is compatible with Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter, Corel Photo-Paint, and Paint Shop Pro, ACD FotoCanvas, and Ulead PhotoImpact. AKVIS Sketch runs on Microsoft Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista and on Macintosh Mac OS X 10.4, PowerPC G3 and above.

AKVIS Sketch sells for $72 USD, downloadable from http://akvis.com . Home users can enjoy the full line of AKVIS plugins in the AKVIS Alchemy bundle (Enhancer, Chameleon, Stamp, Retoucher, Coloriage, Noise Buster, Decorator, Sketch, LightShop) for USD $320 USD, a savings of $343 over purchasing each separately. For business licenses consult the official web-site. One license key allows activating the software on two computers, for example, on a desktop and a laptop.

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