REVIEW: Akvis Sketch plugin

[DannyRaphael]

2009 - September:

For NEW version 9 discussion see http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/pho...tml#post242779

===================

2006 REVIEW follows for old version

http://www.pbase.com/dannyraphael/akvis_sketch

My apologies in advance on the pBase format. pBase displays text "centered," not left justified. Download the .zip attachment below if you want an easier-to-read version in MS Word .doc format.

--------------------

In a nutshell I like this plugin a lot, but it's limited in functional scope and won't be for everyone. Download the fully functional 10-day trial and check it out yourself.

Comments, questions or examples of your own artwork using Sketch are most welcome. Post 'em below.

Cheers...
~Danny~

[Diane]

I missed out on the trial , I had the plugin installed but computer gave me problems and by time it was fixed, the plugin had expired. I really wanted to try the plugin *sighs*

[Bob Mc]

Great Review Danny,

I appreciate the info as to the various plug-in/filter combinations that generated better results.

? Have you had any feedback from the creators of the program - especially regarding some of the "cons" you mentioned?

As I said before, that watercolor scene with the trees in their fall colors was really outstanding

Thanks and regards,

Bob Mc

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Bob Mc

? Have you had any feedback from the creators of the program - especially regarding some of the "cons" you mentioned?

Thanks for the kind words, Bob.

No feedback from the developer on future plans. Companies typically keep this type of info pretty close to the vest.

However between the time I started using the plugin (September 2006) and the time I posted the review (November 2006), they upgraded ver. 1.05 to 2.0 in which the ability to record settings in Photoshop Actions and PSP scripts was added. That is something I yelped about early on, so it appears they "do listen," which is a good sign.

[gholmes1936]

I just found this thread about a week ago. Here is one example of what I managed to do using this plug-in. Thank you.

Originally Posted by DannyRaphael

See...

http://www.pbase.com/dannyraphael/akvis_sketch

My apologies in advance on the pBase format. pBase displays text "centered," not left justified. Download the .zip attachment below if you want an easier-to-read version in MS Word .doc format.

--------------------

In a nutshell I like this plugin a lot, but it's limited in functional scope and won't be for everyone. Download the fully functional 10-day trial and check it out yourself.

Comments, questions or examples of your own artwork using Sketch are most welcome. Post 'em below.

Cheers...
~Danny~

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by gholmes1936

I just found this thread about a week ago. Here is one example of what I managed to do using this plug-in. Thank you.

Nice job on this one, Gunner. How are you liking this plugin overall?

[gholmes1936]

Originally Posted by DannyRaphael

Nice job on this one, Gunner. How are you liking this plugin overall?

Love the plug-in. Nice for those of us who use the Mac platform.
It's on my personal Xmas shopping list. right along side ArtMaster. money, money, money. Wherefore is my money tree?

The first one I did is with the ArtMaster Pro demo. The second one with the ArtMaster demo just to see if and what the difference(s) may be. You tell me. the third one is the original. All settings were default and run with one click. Taken in San Antonio, Texas at a University of Texas Systems office, donated Ante Bellum house.

thanx,
gholmes

[gholmes1936]

Originally Posted by gholmes1936

Love the plug-in. Nice for those of us who use the Mac platform.
It's on my personal Xmas shopping list. right along side ArtMaster. money, money, money. Wherefore is my money tree?

The first one I did is with the ArtMaster Pro demo. The second one with the ArtMaster demo just to see if and what the difference(s) may be. You tell me. the third one is the original. All settings were default and run with one click. Taken in San Antonio, Texas at a University of Texas Systems office, donated Ante Bellum house.

thanx,
gholmes

Here is one done using only Photoshop CS2.

[DannyRaphael]

re: ...just to see if and what the difference(s) may be. You tell me.

Unfortunately the 100 kb file size makes it difficult for me to see much difference among these last three, but my eyesight isn't that good.

Very nice pic of the University of Texas campus, though.

[Trimoon]

Danny
This is an excellent review, most helpful.
Thank you
Steve

[fitz9016]

I just saw this thread, Danny, and found it interesting. I "borrowed" your youth baseball picture from your review and messed around with it. Certainly not a match to Akvis Sketch, but as close as I'm going to get.

http://www.pbase.com/fitz9016/image/74730373

Dave

[T Paul]

From the Akvis Website:

Sketch v.3.0: Convert Photos to Drawings
By popular request from our users we have released a new version of AKVIS Sketch that allows save/edit Presets. Registered users can upgrade the software for free. Read more about the changes in this plug-in for photo-to-sketch conversion...

February 12, 2007

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by fitz9016

I just saw this thread, Danny, and found it interesting. I "borrowed" your youth baseball picture from your review and messed around with it. Certainly not a match to Akvis Sketch, but as close as I'm going to get.

http://www.pbase.com/fitz9016/image/74730373

Dave

Hi Dave,

Nice job of "messing" and coming up with a very pleasing sketch effect. Based on what I've seen of your handiwork it's apparent you are blessed with with considerable PS skills. It's nice to have folks like you around.

Keep 'em coming.

~Danny~

[Andrew B.]

I guess I'm late to the party. I'm testing Sketch 3.0 now. It produces the most usable sketch pattern I've seen from a plugin. The sketch patterns work well with color blending techniques. It doesn't work on every type of image, but that's true of all art effect plugins.

As for its speed, it is so slow it discourages experimentation. What I ended up doing is saving a layer stack with examples of different settings to refer to, and then use it to try to predict settings in other pictures. This is not a good way to work. But I like what it can do, so I might buy this one.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Andrew B.

I guess I'm late to the party. I'm testing Sketch 3.0 now. It produces the most usable sketch pattern I've seen from a plugin. The sketch patterns work well with color blending techniques. It doesn't work on every type of image, but that's true of all art effect plugins.

As for it's speed, it is so slow it discourages experimentation. What I ended up doing is saving a layer stack with examples of different settings to refer to, and then use it to try to predict settings in other pictures. This is not a good way to work. But I like what it can do, so I might buy this one.

The tradeoff for impressive results is not-so-fast to render.

The good news - New features added since I originally tested the plugin:
* Sketch settings can now be saved as custom, easy-to-recall presets
* Photoshop users can apply Sketch with actions either to individual images or in a batch process.

So one could record an action to apply various settings... launch it and got get coffee... come back and compare results.