AKVIS announces the release of ArtWork version 4.0. ArtWork transforms photos into paintings using various techniques. An ordinary photo can be turned into a work of art. ArtWork is available in plug-in and standalone versions for Windows and Mac.

Version 4.0 introduces the linocut style. Photos can now be converted to an image in the style of a linocut print.

AKVIS ArtWork is the perfect tool for expressing your artistic imagination. It uses advanced painting techniques along with an artistic touch to create a work of art from your photos.

Your digital photos can look as if they were real oil paintings. The program applies brush strokes naturally using the contours of the original photo as a reference. You can add your own creative touch by selectively changing the direction of the strokes using the stroke direction tool. These strokes can be saved to a file and loaded at a later time. When guiding lines are loaded, their size is adjusted automatically to the image.

ArtWork also has ready-to-use presets for the Oil Painting style which help you create a painting in various brush techniques. User created lists of presets and can be imported/exported.

In addition to Oil Painting, ArtWork offers three more painting techniques: Comics, Pen&Ink, and now Linocut.

With the Comics style you can emulate the style of famous comics artists with just a few clicks. Comics reduces the color tones of the photo to create an image that looks similar to comics art. It looks like the effect created by rotoscoping, a filming technique used in the animated film “A Scanner Darkly”. Make a comic strip from your party photos or create an original poster. Let ArtWork unleash your creativity.

Pen & Ink style simulates a technique in which colored inks are applied to paper with a pen, creating an image ranging from a drawing made by a modern pen to that done by a quill dipped in an inkwell. The color of the ink as well as that of the background can be changed.

Introduced in version 4.0, the Linocut style emulates a print made through the linocut process. A linocut is made by carving a raised pattern into a piece of linoleum, which is then used with ink to print that pattern onto paper. Linocuts are known for their characteristic expressiveness, strong contrast between black and white, and rich, exuberant strokes. It is an ideal effect to use with photos of architecture or nature scenes. Some famous artists, such as Picasso and Matisse, worked with this technique.

A work of art is not complete until it has been signed. ArtWork provides a large choice of canvas and text style options to make your painting a finished product, ready to be printed poster-size and hung on a wall. Give your loved ones the perfect gift - a work of art you have made yourself!

Akvis Artwork 4.0's Linocut effect: Before (left) and After (right) demonstration. Images provided by AKVIS.

Professional artists have already come to appreciate ArtWork's possibilities. Dale McGee, BFA, an art teacher from Canada, found a new use for the program as a helpful tool for art students:

“AKVIS ArtWork is absolutely ideal for use in planning a painting. One of the most common problems that can sabotage a painting is when an artist concentrates too much on small details Using AKVIS ArtWork could provide students with an immediate understanding of how realism can be reduced to the beauty and simplicity of line, form and color.”

ArtWork gives its users a unique opportunity to create realistic paintings from photos taken with any kind of digital camera, from a professional digital SLR, a point-and-shoot, or even a cellphone. The abundance of options opens the door to many different styles and painting techniques.

Many photo editing enthusiasts have already expressed themselves using ArtWork’ s features. Take a look at these Examples.

AKVIS ArtWork is available as a stand-alone application, as well as a plug-in to a photo editor. It is compatible with Photoshop CS4 64 bit and CS5 64 bit on Windows and Mac, as well as with Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter, Corel Photo-Paint, and Paint Shop Pro, ACD FotoCanvas, and Corel PhotoImpact. AKVIS ArtWork runs on Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Win 7 and on Macintosh Mac OS X 10.4-10.6, PowerPC/Intel.

AKVIS ArtWork Home License (plug-in or standalone) sells for $72 USD, downloadable from akvis.com. Registered users can upgrade to version 4.0 for free. Just download the program and reinstall it. Please use your license key to reactivate the program after reinstallation.

Home users can enjoy the full line of AKVIS plugins in the AKVIS Alchemy Bundle (ArtWork, Sketch, Chameleon, MultiBrush, Retoucher, Coloriage, Noise Buster, Decorator, Enhancer, LightShop, SmartMask, Magnifier, ArtSuite) for USD $325 USD, a huge savings over purchasing each separately.

AKVIS ArtWork is also part of the AKVIS Artistic Bundle (Sketch, ArtWork, and ArtSuite), which sells for $149 for the plug-in version or $169 for the standalone version. This is a savings of $44 when compared to the price of these three programs purchased separately. Visit the official website to see prices for alternate versions of this bundle.

One license key grants activation of the software on two computers, for example, on a desktop and a laptop.

For a free trial, AKVIS offers 10 days of fully functional use. A fully featured free evaluation download of AKVIS ArtWork is available at akvis.com.

AKVIS specializes in development of image processing software and scientific research. The company was founded in 2004 by IT professionals having considerable experience in programming and software development. Since then the company has released a number of successful programs.

About the program: akvis.com/en/artwork/index.php

Screenshot: akvis.com/en/artwork/screenshots-painting-effects.php

Download: akvis.com/en/artwork/download-painting-effects.php

Tutorial: akvis.com/en/artwork-tutorial/index.php

Graphics: akvis.com/en/company/graphics.php