AKVIS releases AKVIS MultiBrush v5.0 for Windows and Macintosh. Version 5.0 is a major leap forward from previous versions. It not only offers tools for easily retouching and enhancing photos, but now also includes drawing tools and the ability to edit a photo in layers. It is available as a standalone application as well as a plug-in for the most popular photo editors. Since AKVIS MultiBrush is an enhanced version of AKVIS Stamp, owners of a Stamp license can upgrade to MultiBrush for free.

AKVIS MultiBrush is an all-in-one photo enhancement and portrait retouching solution. Its collection of healing and enhancement brushes and cloning and stamping tools help artists, photographers and home users enhance portraits, retouch image flows and remove unwanted objects from digital pictures. Available as a standalone product or a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, AKVIS MultiBrush can remove wrinkles, scars, scratches and enhances imperfect skin in portraits in a most natural way. Dust, spots and stains can be easily masked and removed. Version 5.0 includes these powerful tools and also a new Artistic Tools palette, with tools for creative people (Oil Brush, Roller, Felt-tip Marker, Chalk, Artistic Pencil, Artistic Spray and Artistic Eraser) which add amazing artistic effects to images.

PRESETS, NEW TOOL

It's also now possible to create new images with a choice of default presets (postcards, posters, etc.) or from a user's custom presets.

The Standard Tools palette has been expanded and improved. There is a new tool -- Spray -- and new parameters for selecting the color of pencils and brushes. You can change the shape of a pencil and the angle of brushes. Also the parameters of the Smudge tool have been changed.

LAYER, CHANNEL EDITING

MultiBrush now lets you edit an image in layers. In the Layers palette, layers can be added, reordered, their visibility can be switched on or off and they can be arranged in groups. There are two kinds of layers, raster and artistic, which can be edited by the standard and artistic tools, respectively. The layer Blending Options dialog window provides a collection of parameters for controlling how layers blend together. From that window one can select from 13 different Blend Modes which can be used to create a variety of effects. The opacity of a layer can be adjusted and individual color channels can be included in the blending process. This dialog also includes Blending by Brightness, which controls the visibility of layers based on the brightness of the active layer and the layers below it.

Customers who own a Home Deluxe or Business license can use the Channels palette, which enables an image to be edited in separate color channels (RGB, CMYK, Lab, Grayscale), along with raster layer transparency (the Alpha channel). A channel is a half tone image containing the brightness information of a component color.

HOTKEYS

The various tools and operations in MultiBrush can now easily be accessed via hotkeys. For example, to quickly switch between the Standard and Artistic tool palettes, press Q.

Since there are more palettes, it is now possible to hide/show their Hints and Parameters in the Settings Panel via the Preferences dialog, to free-up the workspace.

The installation program for Windows has been changed. To avoid problems, Win-users are asked to remove previous versions before installing this one.

The plug-in version supports 64-bit and is compatible with Photoshop CS4 64 bit.

FREE TRIAL

For a free trial, AKVIS offers 10 days to play with the fully functional program.

Users who own old versions of AKVIS MultiBrush or AKVIS Stamp (the old name) can upgrade to MultiBrush vs.5.0 for free. To do this please uses your old license key. Go here to learn more about licenses and features.

AKVIS MultiBrush sells for $49 USD. Home users can enjoy the full line of AKVIS plugins in the AKVIS Alchemy bundle (Sketch, Chameleon, MultiBrush, Retoucher, Coloriage, Noise Buster, Decorator, Enhancer, LightShop, SmartMask, ArtSuite, Magnifier and ArtWork) for USD $325 USD, huge savings over purchasing each separately. One license allows activating the software on two computers, for example, on a desktop and on a laptop.