Digital Anarchy has released a free update to its ToonIt! Photo plug-in. ToonIt! 2.5 creates cartoon-like images from photographs, freeing artists from time-consuming techniques such as hand-painting and masking. The software offers a cel-shaded ‘toon’ effect automatically, and gives users a great deal of control for customizing a cartoon with different paint styles, shading, and outlines, according to the company.
The 2.5 update expands ToonIt!’s cartoon outline effect with three new styles: Woodcut Outlines, Conte Outlines, and Scratchboard Outlines. There’s a new option called Supersmart Blur for more stylization of the cartoon color fields. The Preset Manager now ships with more cartoon presets. ToonIt 2.5 also sports an improved interface that rearranges controls into more intuitive groups, and a Caps Lock disable command that lets you turn the ToonIt! preview on or off to hasten the design process.
“We are very proud of the reception that ToonIt! has found in the Photoshop and photography market,” said Jim Tierney, president of Digital Anarchy. “We feel it’s a great product but there were some additional features that we had wanted to add before ToonIt! 2.0 was released in December 2008. A year later, we have completed those features and are happy to give them to folks who already own the product, as well as ship an improved product.”
ToonIt! Photo for Photoshop is normally $159. Version 2.5 will be on sale for $99 until February 7, 2010. ToonIt! runs in Photoshop 7.0 through CS4 and in Photoshop Elements 5.0 through 8.0. The plug-in is also available for Aperture 2.0 and higher.
The plug-in runs on Mac OS X 10.3.9 through 10.6. Demo filters and samples are available at the company’s Website.
Current owners of ToonIt! 2.0 are advised to contact Digital Anarchy for free update instructions.