The Wood effect, while it takes time to master, can create very realistic-looking surfaces and, again, when combined with the Extrude settings, can produce boxes that you want to run your hand across to feel the virtual grain.Īnother favorite effect was always Glass, and, as it does a far better job than Bevel & Emboss or most actions in Photoshop, the presets include some reflections and translucent-looking drop shadows for some stunning output. For example, the Extrude effect, when combined with the Chrome and Reflection effects, makes logos pop and text come to life for everything from advertising to page layout. There are some favorite combinations, as well, to really make this plug-in the leader of the pack. In real use, Eye Candy 7 performs well, even with poster-sized image elements. Besides that, the only thing on my 'wish list' that wasn't included in this new version is that the Drop Shadow and Reflection effects remain in the same preset. The actual effects are far superior to that of their icon. Version 7 not only makes leaps forward in performance and output quality, but also adds a new graphical user interface, as well as some new effects.īeginning with just a pet peeve, while Alien Skin adds a super-simple, icon-based navigation menu to Eye Candy, the icons aren't quite indicative of the effects. Eye Candy has always been more than just effects in that it strived for photorealistic looks for design professionals. Eye Candy 6 earned a 5-star rating back in the April/May 2010 issue of Photoshop User, so it was a high bar to hurdle for Alien Skin with this new release.

As one who's reviewed every version of Eye Candy since beta 1, expectations were high with the announcement of version 7.

1st eye candy plugin version