FIGURE G


This gent turned out pretty interesting. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Recommendations
There is no doubt this is a fun product and effectively updates the Photoshop art filter sets for a modern era. However, at $149, this is not likely a product that most amateurs will buy for fun. And while I truly enjoyed playing with the effects, its not clear to me that many pro photographers will want to use the automated artsy features this product provides.

While fun and certainly a product we can recommend, at the $149 price, it may turn out to be a product in search of an audience.

There are some things to keep in mind, though. The edge detection in Snap Art is far better than that in the original Photoshop filters, so some truly interesting effects can be easily created. For example, there are some line drawing filter settings that makes it a snap to turn a photo into a line drawing.

We think this product is worth the $149 -- clearly Alien Skin put in a lot of work and a lot of innovation into Snap Art. We just think it might have gotten more traction among consumers at $49, rather than $149. That said, if you don't mind spending more than you spent on Elements or if you're serious about adding powerful tools to your pro photo toolkit, this is a very cool product. We give it four Van Gogh ears out of five.

OUR RATING: 4 of 5

David Gewirtz is the author of How To Save Jobs and Where Have All The Emails Gone? For more than 20 years, he has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com and you can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/DavidGewirtz.