Software Reviews
AutoFX, Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0
Reviewed by d.a.w DESIGN
AutoFX, Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 is a suite of 60 effects (22 of which are new) in 9 sections. It can be used as a stand alone application or a plug-in with Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Corel Draw. It is designed to help amateur and professional photographers enhance their photos. The effects can easily be applied to an entire image (globally) or you can brush-on the effect in selected areas, this give’s the user precise control over the results.
• AutoFX Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 has with a new user interface which is streamlined, it is easy to navigate and understand the preset effects.
• The User Interface (GUI) is easy to use and its previews are a good size.
• The interactive help information appears when the mouse is hovered over a button.
• Includes over 300 instant preset effects that give a quick start to transform your photos instantly or you can choose an effect and customize the settings.
Figure01 – The new Improved Interface.
A control called Memory Dots (in all of Autofx software), saves a snapshots of an effect applied to a photo at different states, allowing you to see changes in the photo when working with an effect. To save a snapshot of an effect, press a memory dot, the dot goes from silver to color. Add more effects to your photo if you’re not happy with the new effects, just press the color memory dot to go back to the save snapshot.
Figure02 – Memory Dots.
Dynamic rendering allows the user to combine an unlimited number of filter combinations to enhance your photos in a non-destructive way.
AutoFX Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 still support’s Smart Layers™ to build and combine your effects onto the image and Memory Dots to store snapshots of your work while you go and try the different options. These functions are the same in all the Auto FX software.
Figure03 – The layers.
AutoFX Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 NEW ADDITIONS:
Portrait - that improve skin color, brush over skin that shows pores, blemishes, wrinkles, and gradually smooth them out, bring out the natural highlights and color in hair, accentuate facial and body features by making them larger or smaller.
Lens Filters - graduated and polarizer’s to enhance color and tones.
Sharpening - provide great sharpening of details.
HDR - enrich the colors, saturation and tonal depth of photos for a realistic look.
New Color Effects - Afternoon Sun, Moon Glow, Color Tone, Soft Sepia and High Key Blast giving the photographer more power over what the finished photo will look like.
Figure04 – Effects List.
Color Effects
Antique Photo - add distinctive antique appearance.
Afternoon Sun - gives a photo the warmth look.
Black and White - converts color photos into rich grayscale with smooth tones.
Color Bleach - adds extended highlights.
Color Contrast - increases contrast in the darker areas of the photo.
Cool Colors - cools down colors in a photo.
Color Mixer - lets you blend the different colors in a photo to create some very interesting looks.
Color Tone - reduces colors in a photo.
Green Foliage - enriches and boosts the color tones of green in a photo.
HSB Adjust - adjusts the hue, saturation or brightness.
Moon Glow - gives a photo, a cool atmosphere and moody look.
RGB Adjust - adjusts the overall color balance in an image.
Saturate Colors - boost a photo with vibrant colors.
Sepia - adds rich, lustrous tones and hints of colors to a photo.
Warm Colors - adds warm color contrast to photos.
Vitality - improves a photos contrast.
Tinting
Blue Sky - enriches the blue sky colors in a photos.
Hand Tinting - brush and blend colors to photos.
Gradient Tinting - blends color tints to photos.
Under Color - paint colors under the darker tonal values in photos.
Cool Gray - converts color photos into a rich black and white with cool gray overtones.
Warm Gray - converts color photos into a rich black and white with warm gray overtones.
Tonal Effects
Dark Contrast - gives photos a deeper, richer contrast that affects only the darker areas of the photo.
Darken Colors - gives darker, richer colors with deep tonal detail.
Deepen Tones - extends and balances the midtones, highlights and dark areas of a photo.
Enriched Black - gives a richer, deeper black and darker tonal values.
High Key Blast - gives control over dropping out the lighter tones in a photo.
Level Adjustments - can make parts of an image lighter or darker with smooth results.
Multiply Darks - makes the photo darker in areas that are already past a certain threshold in value.
Over Exposed - simulates a photograph taken with traditional film that has been overexposed.
Darken and Sharpen - automatically adjusts the black-point in a photo making it darker and richer.
Under Exposed - produce’s low-key styled images from a normal photo.
Washed Out - creates high-key color images.
Lens Filters
Polarizer Filter - increases the color depth and tones in outdoor photos.
Graduated Filters - enhances a photos colors and tones across a gradual curve and taper of color. Just like a traditional lens filter.
Sharpening
Sharp Posterize - compresses the color gamut of a photo while sharpening the details.
Lighten and Sharpen - lighten and brighten the image while sharpening the details.
Sharp Contrast - sharpens and adds a level of contrast across the tonal range you define.
Sharpen Details - sharpens the details of photos.
Special
Image Brush - a brush for working with multiple effects.
Smoothing
Soft Sepia - gives your image a unique sepia blend of colors and focus.
Soft Black and White - converts a color photo to a soft black and white.
Soft Contrast - increases the contrast values, softening the look and feel of a photo.
Hard Posterize - can give portrait shots a great airbrushed appearance.
Soft Posterize - gives a soft highlighted appearance.
Soften Details - softens the photo details.
Smooth Depth - smoothes the tonal depth in a photo, balancing out the light and dark values.
Smooth Range - adds diffusion to the target tonal range values in a photo.
Portrait
Smooth Skin - brush over skin that shows pores, blemishes, wrinkles, and gradually smooth them out.
Skin Color - brush on and blend in natural looking color to remove or reduce freckles etc.
Flesh Tone - enhance the natural colors of the skin.
Enhance Eyes - brings out the natural color of the human eye.
Enhance Hair - brings out the natural highlights and color in hair.
Enhance Lips - lets you remove wrinkles and smooth out lips while adding a touch of color.
Reshape - use this tool to reshape noses, lips, eyes, eyebrows.
Enlarge / Reduce - lets you accentuate facial and body features by making them larger or smaller.
HDR Filters
HDR Color Pop - exaggerates the colors in a photo, give’s a surrealistic look. Great for nature and landscape photos.
HDR Contrast - saturates and hardens the contrast of a photo, give’s a surrrealistic look. Great for nature and landscape photos.
HDR Darken - creates HDR-like images with a darker contrast and an optional smooth soft-tonal effect.
HDR Black and White - creates a rich, dynamic range black-and-white effect.
Conclusion:
You can quickly apply high quality effects to photos with ease by using the presets, but why stop there when you can customize the presets and it lets you save your customize effect so you can have it as a preset.
It does make life a lot easier and faster to apply great looking effects to your photos. This is a very strong collection of photo filters.
Feature Highlights:
• Effects are resolution independent effects
• Includes over 300 instant preset effects
• Experiment without changing the original image because it’s non-destructive
• Users can stack effects using Effect Layers then save the combination as a Layer Preset that can be applied to other images allowing the user to create their own custom library of effects
• Supports Adobe Photoshop Actions, Layers and Last Filter Commands
• Free Training Videos are provided online Mystical TTC 2.0 Training Videos
• Free Tutorials are provided online Mystical TTC 2.0 Tutorials
Installing:
AutoFX Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 works as both a plug-in and as a stand alone application…
Just run the disk and follow the on screen information, if you want it to work as a plug-in point to your plug-ins folder. I recommend making a plug-ins folder outside of Photoshop, just in case you have to un-install Photoshop, that way you don’t have to reinstall every plug-in you have again. The first time you launch the program it will ask you for the serial number. All the AutoFX software comes with the Mac and PC versions on the same disk.
System Requirements
Windows
2000 / XP / Vista
Memory: 1 GB
Disk Space: 75 MB
Photoshop Support: CS4 - CS3 - CS2 - CS - 7.0
Macintosh
OS X / PPC or Intel
Memory: 1 GB
Disk Space: 75 MB
Photoshop Support: CS4 - CS3 - CS2 - CS - 7.0
Purchase Upgrade for $129
Purchase Full Version for $249
Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0 is available for download and a physical CD.
Click here for Examples
AutoFX, Mystical Tint Tone and Color 2.0.
Marks: - 
www.autofx.com
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