Vertus Fluid Mask

We would like to thank Gary Coyne & Apple Links for writing such an in depth review on Fluid Mask 3. We feel Gary has really put our software through its paces - over to you Gary…

“Photoshop is filled with redundant features. For every task there needs to be a variety of mechanisms to accomplish the same thing, because every image is different. And because every image is different, some tools work better in one image while other tools work better in other images. Amongst those redundancies, none of them have more redundancy than selection tools. I just made a mental count of about a dozen different ways to create a selection in Photoshop, and when it gets right down to it, that’s not enough. That’s why there are third-party solutions, and I have to admit that of all of the solutions I’ve seen, none creates as good of a selection as Fluid Mask 3. With great power comes great responsibility, however, and that means that Fluid Mask has a greater learning curve and is a bit more challenging to learn. But the results you achieve will be exactly what you wanted.” read the full article >>

We are delighted to announce our recent review on www.MacWorld.com

Here is an excerpt:

“Fluid Mask does an excellent job of isolating and cutting out objects that have high contrast or sharp edges from an image background. But the product really shines in difficult situations where foregrounds and backgrounds are similar, or where objects have soft, unfocused edges. Fluid Mask analyzes an image and creates outlines at the edges of areas with distinct color and texture, breaking the image into regions that you can choose to keep or to delete. It also blends image edges to avoid artificial-looking, hard-edged cut-outs. The initial edge analysis occurs automatically and without noticeable delay.”

To read more on the www.MacWorld.com review by Jan Kabili click here>> 

Posted by:
Jason Busch
16 August 2007
on DigitalDingus.com

Fluid Mask 3 is one of the best graphics editing programs I’ve used this year. It simply takes the labor out of editing images where a replacement background is needed. While Photoshop does an ok job at removing backgrounds with its Magic Wand tool, it is no match for Fluid Mask 3. In areas where Edge Blending has occurred, FL3 does a spectacular job of dealing with this very difficult issue.

I recommend a dual-core processor system for this application, however, I used FM3 on DD PC #1 just to see how it would run, and didn’t experience any problems except for the predictable slower processing times. FM3 is very stable.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED PLUS

Vertus has also created one of the best electronic manuals I’ve set my eyes on. Full color images, not the cheap black and white which I’ve experienced in several electronic manuals over the years. Color images are essential to a complete learning experience for a graphics program, and Vertus has impressed me.

Fluid Mask 3 also has a collection of recently uploaded tutorials which can not only be viewed online, but downloaded for later viewing at your own leisure.

One of the more difficult tasks in image editing has now been minimized, thanks to Vertus. Fluid Mask 3 welcomes the toughest images you have and will surprise you with its simple interface and will amaze you with its results.

[read full article...]

(original post: April 2007)

“If you are a digital artist who relies heavily on compositing, the decision to buy Fluid Mask is a no brainer. The time-savings it provides will quickly pay for the plug-in after only a few images. For the pro-sumer hobbyist or Photoshop prankster who likes putting people’s heads on other people’s bodies for a laugh, the decision is less clear-cut. However the controls on Fluid Mask are so straight forward that no one should be scared away thinking this tool is only for the pros.” [read full article...]

example image:

image source: http://macenstein.com
Copyright (C) 2007 Macenstien

(original posted by: Erik Vlietinck, Jul 15 2007)

Creating cut-outs for magazines or for the web is not an easy thing to do when the object you’re trying to cut out has hair or has details that interfere with a background (tree branches, for example). There are a number of cut-out help tools out there, that all make life a little easier, but if you want to get on with your life and not spend a whole afternoon making that mask perfect, you should give Fluid Mask 3 a try.

We’ve been following and covering Fluid Mask 3 since the two previous versions, and this is a Photoshop plug-in that has been improving ever since it came to market. With version 3, Fluid Mask’s developers, Vertus Technologies, have taken a step back in Mac OS X human interface compliance, but that doesn’t mean the program has become harder to use –quite the contrary, in fact. Much that you do when creating that cut-out, is automated in Fluid Mask’s workflow. And the results are nothing short of perfect. With Fluid Mask 3 you can create a perfect image object or cut-out in about a third of the time it takes with Photoshop or with competing products. [read full article...]