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Vertus has released a public beta version of its Fluid Mask 3 software for image masking and blending. The new version offers faster image processing and improved edge detection and blending capabilities. According to Vertus, one of the upgraded software's greatest benefits to users will be in separating fine details -- such as human hair and tree leaves -- from their backgrounds. Fluid Mask 3 also comes with improved help features and direct links to Fluid Mask tutorials.
New blending features include a slider that switches between Vertus's Smart Blending and standard feather blending, and special hair blending algorithms that handle difficult areas such as highlights and hair with varying strand colors.
Additional new features include a Save Settings option that enables users to recall edge-detection, blending, and resolution settings from a previous session; a Color Sampler that lets users select a specific color in an image and detect other locations in the image where it appears; and a 2-D color map that enhances the accuracy of color selection. There are also new brushes and a Patch system that permits changes to be made exclusively to areas of an image that are selected with a highlighting brush. A new pressure-sensitivity control for use with Wacom tablets regulates brush size.
The Fluid Mask 3 public beta is available now to Windows XP and Vista users as a 30-day free trial or a $199 purchase from the Vertus Web site. Vertus says a Mac version will be available in early June 2007. The price is set to increase to $239 on July 2, 2007, just before the program is taken out of beta. Fluid Mask 3 can be used as a Photoshop plug-in or as a standalone program for working with image formats such as TIFF and PNG that accept transitions to transparency in 8-bit RGB color.
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