London, U.K. & Boston, MA – February 10, 2009 – Vertus, Inc., a graphics and imaging software developer that creates simple and highly specialized software solutions, today announced the availability of its highly-entertaining new image composition application, Play With Pictures™. The most fun and easy alternative to intimidating professional graphic design programs, Play With Pictures enables users of any age to take ordinary photos and turn them into unique and imaginative compositions, then print or save them for use at home or on social networks.

The simplicity of Play With Pictures makes the whimsical a reality – you can turn the family dog into the winner of the Westminster Dog Show, or resurrect that horrible hairdo from the high school years! Social media users like those on Facebook and MySpace can enhance their online interactions by posting creative images for their profile pictures, and can easily update, remake, and share those images in mere moments. These often humorous creations are perfect for creating fun pictures to share with family and friends, making greeting cards and invitations, letting school projects come alive, and more.

Easily mastered within minutes, Play With Pictures lets users cut out an unlimited number of people and props from images using a straightforward technique that resembles paint-by-numbers. The cut-outs are then layered onto a background of choice using a set of tools that are not only easy to use, but incredibly fun.

“The idea of using software to create humorous cut-out images isn’t a new concept, but eliminating the complicated mechanics of Photoshop and other intimidating design programs will, for the first time, make once complex techniques available to entirely new audiences,” said James Carr-Jones, president and CEO of Vertus. “Play With Pictures is the only application that’s so simple and fun to use that grandparents and grandchildren alike can create imaginative, heartwarming and inventive images that can be so much more than just an ordinary keepsake. There is no limit to the human imagination and Play With Pictures breaks down the barriers that keep everyone – of all ages and skill levels – from expressing their creativity.”

Because layering portions of multiple images together often makes the composition look disjointed, Play With Pictures provides an automatic blend tool which smoothes over any hard edges and provides a seamless transition between background and foreground layers. To further assimilate cut-outs into the final image, simple slider tools can be used to adjust the transparency of each cut-out, as well as its color tint. Additionally, a quick copy button will duplicate the cut-outs as many times as needed.

To personalize compositions, Play With Pictures adds a text box to the image to provide titles and captions, or simply insert pieces of text throughout the image. Also, a single click can add a speech bubble to provide dialogue and the font and text color, as well as the speech bubble and its transparency, can all be independently adjusted for the perfect look.

Additional features which will soon be available in Play With Pictures, and accessed through free and routine software updates, include one-click image morphing to literally bend portions of the image into new and exciting shapes, and easy share options to upload images directly to popular social network profiles. Tools which will soon be added to the software include a slider to alter image warmth and a contrast tool to adjust image brightness.

Free trials of Play With Pictures are available for immediate download at http://www.vertustech.com/playwithpictures where the software can also be purchased for the introductory price of $39.95.