OPINION • SEPTEMBER 5 , 2000
Roundup: The Best of Seybold
[Page 2 of 3]

Best Plugins

Best Illustration Plugin
FILTERiT 3
http://www.cvalley.com
I've never been a big fan of illustration programs. FILTERiT 3, from CValley, changed my mind. I haven't had a chance to play with it myself yet, but what I saw demonstrated at the Seybold show blew me away. This package includes 82 filter effects for Adobe Illustrator 8 and 9, as well as some real-time effects that allow the designer to manipulate objects, including text, on the fly, with changes applied live as the objects are edited. Amazing stuff. We'll have a full review of it soon. You can read more about it here.

Best Graphics Plugin
Eye Candy 4000
http://www.alienskin.com
Eye Candy has done wonders for those of us who create original content in Photoshop. And now, in its latest generation, Eye Candy 4000 does even more. And it does it better. We saw the full beta at the Seybold show, and it produced some impressive effects. The filters carried over from previous versions, such as smoke, fur and shadow, have gained in functionality. There are also some new filters, like marble, melt and drip. Great stuff. You can read more about it here. There's a limited beta available for download at the company's site. Definitely get it.

Best DTP Plugin
Smart Styles and Smart Layout for InDesign
http://www.woodwing.com
This was a company I had never heard of before this year's Seybold show. But as soon as I saw what they had to offer, I almost wished I were back in print. Smart Styles brings a styles palette to Adobe InDesign that can automatically format the content of any text box—headlines, bylines, body copy, captions, etc. It's intuitive, and it makes repetitive tasks a snap. Styles can also be saved to the palette just by dragging a block of text onto it. (The block of text can contain multiple styles as well.) Smart Layout is just as impressive. It keeps all the elements of a story together, even graphics and separate text boxes. And it does it automatically and intuitively. When you draw the first text box, the plugin assumes it will be your body copy. The box will automatically wrap around any other elements on the page, and columns automatically adjust based on your layout. The next box you draw becomes your headline element. Then your deck. Then your graphic. Then your caption. However you want it to work, it works. If you work in publishing and use InDesign, buy these plugins.

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