AAUG Reviews

by Simone Lange ,AAUG Member

ShineOff is a cross platform plug-in that takes away the shine from skin with just a slide to the left or to the right, while keeping the sparkle and luster on the lips, teeth and eyes.

System Requirements:
Photoshop 7.0 and higher
Photoshop Elements 2 and higher
PaintShop Pro 7 and higher
Max OS X and higher, Windows Vista, XP, NT and 2000
When using as a Photoshop plug-in it works in the following Mode-RGB, 8 and 16 bits.

To activate ShineOff select an image then go to Filter of your photo editing program and go to Image Trends Inc and choose ShineOff. An interface will appear. On the left side of the interface is the Image Preview where you can toggle back and forth between the before and after. The middle of the screen has the controller to zoom in and out of your image. On the right side of the interface you will see the Image Navigator with a bounding box that you can move around to see different parts of your image. Under the Image Navigator is the Plug-In Control that allows you to adjust the amount of shine you wish to remove. The system automatically defaults to 75%. So if you don’t like any of your choices you have made so far just hit the Default button and it will take you back to that and you can start over.

Once you have reached the levels that you desire hit the OK button and your image will be adjusted. As with any photo make a layer copy first if you don’t want your original image compromised. ShineOff provides the full effect with one shot so if you use it again you will not see any changes to your image. It’s one use for that particular photo unless you create another layer and do it again.

If you want to apply the effect to just specific areas or if you want to tweak that image a bit more. These instructions are for Photoshop since that is the program that I use you:
1 Open Image
2 Select Filter>Image Trends Inc>ShineOff
3 The interface will appear
4 Adjust the slider to your liking
5 Select OK
6 Select ‘History Brush Tool’ from the tool bar. Then select the box to the left of the ShineOff image under the History Tab (this sets source for History Brush to ShineOff). If you clicked in the correct spot an icon will appear in the “History Brush” tool to the left of the words ShineOff..
7 If you want to do this to the just opened image go back to the beginning of your history and select ‘Open’ this should be the image you originally opened.
8 Set the ‘Brush Diameter’ to a size large enough to brush over the selected skin area.
9 Set the ‘Opacity’ to around 40-80 % depending on how much you need.
10 Apply the brush to the areas that you feel need extra tweaking.

ShineOff can also be used as a Photoshop Action so you can apply the same effect to all the photos in a batch.

To create an action do the following:
1. Open an image in Photoshop
2. Then click on the Create New Action button at the bottom of the Actions palette. This will create and save the new action in the action folder you currently have selected.
3. Name the action ShineOff and click Record.
4. Run the Shineoff filter as you normally would. I think using the default setting of 75% should be good on most images.
5. Select File-Save As
6. Pick the format to save your images as .jpeg, .tiff, etc.
7. Set the Image Options – The quality you like
8. Click OK. The Save As function is now recorded as the Save step in the Action
9. In the Action palette click Stop Recording it’s the square button on the bottom left.
Your action for ShineOff is now created.

To use the Batch Command in Photoshop:
1. Put the photos you want batched into a new folder this way if it causes a glitch you don’t have to recreate those photos again.
2. Choose File>Automate>Batch
3. Choose the desired set and Action from the Set Action drop down menu.
4. For Source choose the Folder option and locate the selected folder and select Choose
5. Destination choose Folder from the drop down menu
6. Then select Choose and choose where you want the batched images to go
7. Select Choose again
8. Then select OK you will see the image very quickly flash on the screen as it batches thru your photos.

ShineOff was pretty easy to use and you get the hang of it quickly. So now instead of using multiple tools to remove facial shine like the clone tool and the airbrush tool, just use ShineOff it does it all very quickly with just a slide to the left or to the right.