NKS5 Natural Media Tool kit

This amazing toolkit is for Adobi, Photoshop, CS5 and CS6. You can select what you need from an extensive panel of ‘natural media, texturing and production tools’. It’s free, but you are invited to donate towards the creation of more and better stuff.

Clicking on the link will take you to the site, where you will find a couple of videos, one on how to install the pallet and the other demonstrating how to use the different tools.

http://nkurence.com/blog/2012/06/nks5-natural-media-toolkit-for-photoshop-cs5-cs6/

The tools are grouped into categories depending on what they do. You can watch the video and get some ideas. There is no sound, so don’t go looking to turn up the volume, like I did. You can create watercolour paintings on watercolour paper, or spray paint a gritty wall. Flip, rotate, and choose different foundations for your creations.

Staying on the topic of tools, there is Paint.net. This is free image and photo editing software for computers running Windows. It was created as a free replacement for Microsoft Paint.

GIMP (GNU image manipulation program) is a versatile graphics manipulation package.  Mac download or Windows (http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/gimp_portable). GIMP is a simple paint program, and can also be used to expertly retouch photos, be used as an online batch processing system, or a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.

Inkspace is also free giving you pencil and ink, shapes and text tools. One advantage is that Inkscape emphasises keyboard accessibility. Most all commands and actions, through to transforming objects, can be done on the keyboard. Here is the basic tutorial.

Comipro Plus (http://uze.mandxa.com/) for Mac, was created by Asobi systems (Japan) helps you combine and modify pictures to create cartoons.

Google SketchUp  is for a wide range of 3D applications. For the people at SketchUp drawing is thinking, some of us may agree. You can watch the video tutorials here.

You can turn photos into models, check on camera angles with the advanced camera tools. SketchUp is available for free and there is also the Pro version.

With DAZ studio you can select from thousands of 3D people, critters, buildings, anything you want and dress, pose, rotate, populate your images. Perfect for the surrealist in you. Everything you create belongs to you to keep or sell.

-Val Cameron/Dreamlight

PS: Want to make your photos and renders POP? Master Photoshop and become a 2D Postwork Master HERE. 

Val Cameron