AKVIS Chameleon Plug-in v.5.0: A Breakthrough in Photo Collage Creation

AKVIS LLC releases version 5.0 of its photo collage plug-in AKVIS Chameleon. The new version is a true breakthrough in photo collage creation. The program offers a new mode that allows transferring a roughly selected object to a new background with a clean result. No precise mask tools are needed! Now the program has an interface and all in all three modes with different collage possibilities. The Macintosh version is now Universal Binary.

Creating photo collages with AKVIS Chameleon is fun! This ingenious software makes the process easy and entertaining. Earlier one had to thoroughly select an object for pasting into a new background; with this software this tedious part of work drops out. You can concentrate on the creative part and forget about complicated selection techniques.

Version 5.0 of Chameleon has an interface with three modes that offer three photo collage types. The new "Montage" mode allows copying an object, for example, a group of people, a monument, a flower, etc into a new background. The trick is that the selection does not need to be precise. You can take a rectangular part of the source image and then use two pencils - red and blue - to roughly indicate the parts that should appear on the resulting photo collage - for instance, a figure of a person, and the parts that should blend away - the rest of the background and irrelevant objects. Here is an example: http://akvis.com/en/chameleon-tutorial/montage/photo-hunting.php

The other two modes were available in the earlier version of Chameleon and it is thanks to them that the program received its name. In "Chameleon" mode the plug-in pastes a copied object into a picture in such a way that the object adapts to the new color range and blends with the background, the way chameleons do. In this way you can add clouds to a clear sunset landscape and the clouds will adopt a red tint. Or you can paste a new nose into a face and the nose will acquire the complexion of the "receiving" face.

The tool does not require precise selection of the copied object and can be helpful to home users who are not experienced in image editing. You can create customized postcards for your loved ones; make a wedding album using all kinds of photos and backgrounds; correct closed eyes (by implanting open eyes from another photo of the series), change the appearance of a person, etc. Check the Tutorial page at http://akvis.com/en/chameleon-tutorial/index.php to get a dozen of original ideas.

Designers will appreciate this tool as it allows them to combine images with entirely different color ranges or to create the effect of drawing on a texture surface (crumpled paper, wood, etc), and all that with only a mouse-click.

AKVIS Chameleon is compatible with Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, Corel (Jasc) Paint Shop Pro, Ulead PhotoImpact, Corel Photo-Paint and other popular software. AKVIS Chameleon V. 5.0 for Windows runs on Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista and the Macintosh version runs on the Mac OS X platform.

For a free trial, AKVIS offers 10 days of fully functional use. The users who tried the previous version of Chameleon and have their version expired, now have the opportunity to test the software again.

AKVIS Chameleon sells for $75 USD, downloadable from www.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 and Frame Suite) for USD $325 USD, a savings of $393 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.

The registered users can upgrade to version 5.0 by paying a charge of $15 US dollars for Home license ( $60 US dollars for Business license).

More information about Chameleon: http://akvis.com/en/chameleon/ index.php Download for Mac: http://akvis.com/download/akvis-chameleon-setup.dmg Download for Win: http://akvis.com/download/akvis-chameleon-setup.exe Screenshot URL: http://akvis.com/en/chameleon/screenshots-image- combination.php

Free evaluation license is available for the editor on request.