The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In gives users a quick and powerful way of smoothing skin surfaces without blurring or affecting the detail of important facial features. The new plug-in enables users to achieve meticulous airbrush/retouching effects, automatically, without tedious, time-consuming masking and manual softening. The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In smoothes surfaces in digital images by reducing harsh shadows and highlights, minimizing the imperfections of skin and other surfaces, while fully preserving details like hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, and the true character of a subjects face. Several advanced control sliders allow users to customize the smoothing effects and intensity amounts at three levels of detail: fine, medium, and coarse.
The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In provides an effective and affordable solution for the amateur snap-shooter or the professional portrait photographer to bring out the real beauty in their subjects, reducing the distracting imperfections and smoothing unflattering highlights/shadows regardless of whether the subjects are older with wrinkles, teens with blemishes, or toddlers with already perfect skin.
The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In works with digital images from sources including; film scanners, flatbed scanners, digital cameras, picture CDs, and the Internet. It is compatible with Adobe Photoshop and other image editing programs which support the Photoshop plug-in architecture. The plug-in is available for Windows and Macintosh platforms.
This help document explains how to use the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In, gives solutions for common problems, and provides information regarding how to contact Technical Support. Click on the links below to jump to the section you are interested in and use the back button on your browser or the [Back to HELP Contents] link to return to the Contents.
· Overview
· About Digital GEM Airbrush Professional
The Digital GEM Airbrush Professional is a plug-in, which means it is an add-on that makes your image editing program more powerful, similar to the way a turbocharger enhances a car engine. Adobe has created a set of rules that allows plug-ins to work with any image editing program that follows them, so the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In can work with many programs other than Photoshop.
The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In works on almost any 8 or 16 bpp (bits per pixel) RGB image you can open in your image editor. If you have images in other formats, you can use your program to convert them to 8 bpp RGB mode before running the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In, then convert them back afterwards. The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In works with non-rectangular selections and layers, if your image editor supports them. The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In will work in scripts if your imaging application supports Photoshop style actions.
[Back to HELP Contents]Pentium II or better with 128 MB of RAM (For typical sized images. Very large images will require more memory)
Windows 98 SE, NT 4.0 (Service Pack 6a or higher), 2000, ME, XP Home, XP Professional
Monitor display resolution set for 800 x 600 or higher and for small fonts
Adobe Photoshop 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, or CS (may also work with other Photoshop plug-in compatible applications); Adobe Photoshop Elements 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0; Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition 4.0 or 4.1; Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0; Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7.0, 8.0, or 9.0
PowerMAC G3 or better with 128 MB of RAM (For typical sized images. Very large images will require more memory)
Macintosh OS 8.6, OS 9.X, OS X
Monitor display resolution set for 800 x 600 or higher
Adobe Photoshop 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, or CS (may also work with other Photoshop plug-in compatible applications); Adobe Photoshop Elements 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0; Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0; Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0
[Back to HELP Contents]The installer copies the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In file (DigitalAIRPRO.8bf) and this help document (DigitalAIRPROHelp.htm) to a folder on your hard drive.
Under Windows, the installer adds a key to the registry so the plug-in can find the help document, and creates a script that will uninstall the plug-in files. The Windows installer will try to detect some of the more popular image editing programs, and will let you copy the plug-in file to more than one folder if you have more than one program that supports plug-ins. The programs the windows installer can currently detect are:
· Adobe Photoshop 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, or CS
· Adobe Photoshop Elements 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0
·
Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home
Edition 4.0 or 4.1
·
Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0
· Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7.0, 8.0 or 9.0
If you have multiple programs, or a program that was not detected by the installer, you may want to choose a folder for your plug-ins (the "Other" option as part of a "Custom" installation), then configure your image editors to look for plug-ins in that folder. Usually the documentation for your program will explain how to set up a plug-in folder. For example, you can add another plug-in folder to Photoshop by selecting Preferences then Plug-ins & Scratch Disks from the Edit menu, checking the box next to “Additional Plug-ins Directory” and choosing the folder you selected in the installer. For most programs, including Photoshop, you will need to exit the program and reopen it before the plug-ins in the new directory will be listed.
On a Macintosh, the installer will give you the option of where to place the plug-in. The default location for the plug-in software is the Applications folder. If you choose the default location, you will need to drag the plug-in from your Applications folder into the Plug-ins folder of your host application, such as Adobe Photoshop.
[Back to HELP Contents]In the trial version of the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In, each processed image is watermarked with the words "UNREGISTERED Do Not Save". To prevent the watermark from appearing in future images, you need to purchase the registration code for the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In. Until you register your plug-in, a "Buy and Register" button will appear in the top left corner of the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In window. If your computer is currently connected to the Internet, clicking on "Buy Online" will launch your default browser and go to our website purchase page. The plug-in window will remain open. Follow the on-line instructions to complete your purchase. If your computer is not currently connected to the Internet, the browser will display a "Page not found" error message. Connect to the internet and try again.
After purchasing, you will be emailed registration information that you will use to register your plug-in. To register, click on the "Register" button to open the Registration window. Complete the entry areas using the Registered name, Registered email address, and Registration code you received by email. The easiest way to enter your registration information is to copy and paste it from the email, making sure there are no blank spaces before or after the code. Once you complete registration, the "Register" button will disappear.
You can also access the Registration window without opening an image from the "About" dialog if your imaging editor supports it. In Photoshop, you can open the About dialog by selecting "About Plug-In” then “DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In" from the Help menu.
The Check for Update Button will launch your default browser and open the Update site so you can check that you have the latest version of the plug-in.
The Preview window shows you the portion of your image you have selected in the Navigator Window. You use the Before Button and After Button to determine whether the Preview window displays the image as it appears before or after applying the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In. If you change the settings of the Controls, the preview window will reprocess the image accordingly.
The Before Button affects what is displayed in the Preview Window. Selecting the Before Button displays the zoomed area of the image before any processing has been applied. You can change the area displayed by moving the red navigator box in the Navigator Window.
The After Button affects what is displayed in the Preview Window. Selecting the After Button displays the zoomed area of the image after the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In has been applied. You can change the area displayed by moving the red navigator box in the Navigator Window.
The Detail Button shows the user what detail is currently being affected by the plug-in.
The Navigator window displays the entire image to be processed. Inside the Navigator window is a red navigator box. The area inside the red navigator box is displayed in the Preview Window. You can move the navigator box by clicking your mouse inside the box and dragging or by simply clicking on a different spot in the Navigator window. You can also change the size of the navigator box using the Zoom In Button and Zoom Out Button.
The Zoom In Button (+) will change the size of the area displayed in the Preview Window so that you can see more detail. The red box in the Navigator Window will show the area of the full image that is currently displayed.
The Zoom Out Button (-) will change the size of the area displayed in the Preview Window so that you can see more of the image. The red box in the Navigator window will show the area of the full image that is currently displayed.
The Blending slider controls the strength of the Digital GEM Airbrush effect. Setting the blending slider to 100% is the strongest effect and setting it to 0% is no effect. At 50% blending, the final image is half of the smoothed image blended with half of the original image.
If you are using Windows, you can move a slider in single increment steps using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard once you have selected it by clicking on it or using the tab key. You can also use the page up and page down keys to move the slider in larger increments, or the home and end keys to move the slider to the minimum and maximum values.
The Blending mode choices control how the smoothed image is blended with the original. Normal mode blends the images by averaging them, weighted according to the blending slider. For example, if the blending slider is set at 75%, the final image will be 75% of the smoothed image and 25% of the original added together. Normal mode is the best choice for images where the maximum amount of smoothing is needed. The Lighten mode blends the original and smoothed by choosing which is lighter, weighted by the blending slider. For example, if the blending slider is set at 75%, if the smoothed image is lighter than the original, the result will be 75% of the smoothed added to 25% of the original. Where the smoothed image is darker, the result is equal to the original. The lighten mode with the blending slider set at 100% is usually the best choice for portraits, because it preserves the highlights. The Darken mode works like the lighten mode, except the smoothed image is blended only in areas where it is darker than the original. This mode tends to be most useful for artistic effects, like smoothing a dark background. The blending modes and slider work very similarly to the layer blending modes and sliders in Photoshop.
The Detail sliders control how sharp a particular type of detail will be present in the final image. Setting a slider to 100% leaves the detail as sharp as it was in the original. Setting a slider to 0% will heavily blur that type of detail. Fine detail consists of very small features, and typically includes cloth texture, eyelashes or hair. Medium detail consists of larger features, and is where most of the harsh shadows on faces and rumples in clothing tend to occur. Coarse detail consists of the largest features. The type of features that are included in a level of detail depend on their size in the image. For example, in a group shot where the faces are small, the eyes may be in the medium detail, and in a portrait where the face covers most of the scene, the eyes will be in the coarse detail. Use the "detail" mode of the preview to see which features are being affected by a particular detail slider.
If you are using Windows, you can move a slider in single increment steps using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard once you have selected it by clicking on it or using the tab key. You can also use the page up and page down keys to move the slider in larger increments, or the home and end keys to move the slider to the minimum and maximum values.
The OK Button will dismiss the plug-in window and process your image with the current settings of the controls.
The Default Button sets the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In slider controls back to the default values.
The Cancel Button will dismiss the plug-in window without making any changes to your image.
The Help Button will launch your default browser to display this document.
[Back to HELP Contents]I did not see my image editing program listed in the installer and I'm sure that it works with plug-ins. (Windows)
Even though it may work with other programs, the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In only officially supports the following applications:
· Adobe Photoshop 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0 or CS
· Adobe Photoshop Elements 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0
·
Adobe Photoshop LE 5.0
·
Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home
Edition 4.0 or 4.1(Windows only)
· Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7.0, 8.0, or 9.0 (Windows only)
·
Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0 (Macintosh only)
For all other Adobe Photoshop compatible plug-in applications, you must tell the installer the folder in which to place the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In files using the "Other" option. With some image editing programs, you need to set up your options so that the program looks for plug-ins in the folder you choose. Consult your program's documentation for more information. Most programs require you to exit and restart the program before it will find plug-ins in the new folder.
I've installed the plug-in, but it is not showing up in my image editing program.
Your image editor needs to be configured to look for plug-ins in the folder Digital GEM Airbrush Professional is installed in. If the folders are set up correctly, the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In will appear under the Kodak menu. Consult your program's documentation to find out how to add plug-in folders. After you set up the plug-in folder, you will need to exit your image editor and open it again before the plug-ins in that folder will show up. If you installed the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In in a folder that was already set up and it still doesn't appear on the menu, make sure that the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In file is in the folder that you have configured in your image editor, then exit and restart your image editor.
I installed the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In, but nothing is happening.
You need to start your image editor, open an image, select Kodak from the filters menu, and then select Digital GEM Airbrush Professional.
I can't find the plug-in user interface
Open your host image editing application. Open an image file. If you are using PhotoDeluxe, make sure Advanced Menus is active. Click on Filter/Effects. Click on Kodak and select the ROC plug-in. The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In window will open - this is the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In user interface.
How do I register the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In after I have bought it?
After you purchased the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In, you received a purchase confirmation email. You will need the information in that email to complete your registration.
Open your host image editing application. Open an image file. If you are using PhotoDeluxe, make sure Advanced Menus is active. Click on Filter/Effects. Click on Kodak and select the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In. The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In window will open. Click on the Buy and Register button in the upper left of the window. The Enter Registration Information window will open. Enter the registration information from your purchase confirmation email into the appropriate areas. Be sure to copy your Registered name, Registered email, and Registration code exactly and do not introduce any extra characters or spaces. Click OK after you have entered all the correct information. A Thank you for registering window will open. Click OK in the Thank you window. The Thank you window and the Enter Registration Information window will close. Your DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In registration is complete.
I entered the registration information in the Registration window, but I get an error that says my registration information is invalid.
Make sure that all fields are filled in with the information in the email you received with your registration code. All fields are necessary to complete the registration. Also, the fields are case sensitive; make sure that you are typing the characters exactly as they appear in the email and make sure that there aren't any blank spaces before or after each entry, which might happen if you are copying and pasting in information. Another problem could be that you are using registration information for the wrong product. Confirm that you are using the right information for the product.
The plug-in is displayed in my image editing program, but I can't select it because it is grayed out.
The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In only works on RGB images. If your image is in a different mode, use your image editor's tools to convert it to RGB. In Photoshop, you can convert your image by selecting "Mode" under the "Image" menu.
After I run the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In, my image has "UNREGISTERED Do Not Save" text written over it.
You are running a trial version of the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In. If you have already purchased the full version, you need to click on the Buy and Register button in the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In window, then enter the registration information you received by email. Some image editing applications provide an About Plug-Ins option under the applications Help menu. If your image editing application provides this option, you will also find a "Buy and Register" button in the About window for the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In.
I once had the fully registered version of the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In, but somehow now I have reverted back to the trial version with watermarks.
Your registration information may be lost or corrupted. Press the Buy and Register button and re-enter your registration information.
I try to run the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In but get the error "Could not complete the Digital GEM Airbrush Professional command because there is not enough memory (RAM)."
You do not have enough free memory (RAM) to run the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In for the size of the image you are trying to run. The DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In performs a very sophisticated analysis of the image that requires more memory than simpler plug-ins. Try to increase the RAM or swap space available to your host application or reduce the number of pixels in the image prior to running the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In. The file size in MB doesn't affect the memory needed by the DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In; only the dimensions in pixels do.
[Back to HELP Contents]On-line technical support service is staffed Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm CST (GMT -06:00), except U.S. holidays. Our support web site also provides FAQs on each of our plug-ins. If you do not find the solution to your problem there, please contact technical support. All Plug-in Help Requests will be answered in a timely manner.
Web Site Address: http://www.asf.com
Plug-in FAQs: http://www.asf.com/support/plugins/pluginsupport.shtml
Help Request: http://www.asf.com/support/plugins/HelpReq.shtml
DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In
Copyright 2004 Eastman Kodak Company
All Rights Reserved