Adobe Photoshop is the leading graphics editing program for the Mac. If you're involved with graphics, chances are you use it regularly. I use it almost every day. And while I'm not an accomplished artist, I have used Photoshop to retouch scanned images, create graphics for my web site, illustrated books, and generated and manipulated screen shots. So this week's column is about three things - a collection of plug-ins, a book, and a series of videotapes -- that make using Photoshop better. (If you don't use Photoshop, sorry -- I'll talk to you next week!)

First up is Kai's Power Tools 5, a set of ten plug-ins for Photoshop. And what a set of plug-ins it is. Like other programs with MetaCreations founder Kai Krause's name on them, all ten modules sport a unique interface. If you didn't like other Kai interfaces, you may like this one anyway, with its new numerical sliders and fast previews.

Among the most interesting of the plug-ins is KPT FiberOptix, which lets you grow "fibers" on your images that resemble real hair or fur. You control the growth, density, color, and lighting of the fibers; it's really cool. Another winner is KPT Blurrrrr, which gives you a vast array of blur styles -- Kraussian, Camera Optics, Hi-Speed, and many others far beyond the built-in blurs that come with Photoshop. And KPT ShapeShifter creates 3D objects with bevels, colored lighting and glows, and automatic masks, quickly and easily. If you're a Photoshop addict, you'll love what Kai's Power Tools 5.0 can do for you.

Second is an inexpensive but still indispensiable book called Photoshop Visual QuickStart Guide for Windows & Macintosh by Elaine Weinmann and Peter Lourekas. If you're just getting started with Photoshop, this is as good a guide as I've seen. Logically organized, it uses a task-oriented approach to getting your work done. Like all the Visual QuickStart books, it uses lots of pictures and step-by-step directions to show you what to do and how to do it. A comprehensive index makes it a snap to look up what you need. It's the first place I look when I can't remember how to do something in Photoshop.

Last but by no means least are a series of videotapes entitled Photoshop Inside & Out, by David Biedny and Bert Monroy. The first and second tapes (titled appropriately enough "Welcome to 5.0," part one and part two) feature special-effects superstar (Spawn and Terminator 2: Judgment Day to name a few) Biedny and focus on maximizing your productivity in Photoshop intermingled with extensive coverage of many cool undocumented features and hints. Tapes three and four (Illustrating with Photoshop, part one and part two) feature the awesome photo-realistic illustrator Bert Monroy, and teach photorealism techniques, advanced compositing, perspective matching and much more. They also focus on the synergy between Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

Both Biedny and Monroy are masters of Photoshop, so each of the two hour tapes is like spending some time observing an accomplished artist revealing exactly how he uses his tools to achieve specific effects. If you're a serious Photoshop user, these tapes provide some of the best Photoshop instruction I've ever seen. While they're somewhat pricey at $59 each, they're worth every penny.

Kai's Power Tools 5. $199 (upgrades $99). MetaCreations. 805-566-6200.
www.metacreations.com.

Photoshop 5 Visual Quickstart Guide. $19.95. Peachpit Press. 800-283-9444 or 510-524-2178.
www.peachpit.com.

Photoshop Inside & Out Videotapes. $59.95 each or 2 for $99.95. IDIG, Inc. 8779443-4477.
www.photoshopio.com..

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