reviews

Techbyter.com (5 out of 5)
Bill Blinn reviews Snap Art and shows us how to turn an ordinary photograph into a masterpiece. He says, “Had I been wearing socks when I spent several hours working on this review, Snap Art 2 would have blown them off. Professional photographers who have converted their workflow to digital will particularly appreciate the capabilities this $200 applications will provide, but amateurs who want to convert average images into real eye catchers will be interested, too.”

CreativePro.com (9 out of 10)
Jeremy Schultz has written an insightful review that describes how Snap Art 2 has improved since version 1. He also says that, “Corel Painter users who use that application for transforming photos into art should strongly consider Snap Art 2: it’s much less complex and makes beautiful results.”

About.com
Sue gives over 40 examples and says, “I've reviewed a lot of ‘photo art’ plugins and software over the years – some provide instant results but often have a distinctly computer generated quality to them, while others require more fine tuning but produce very realistic natural media effects. Snap Art seems to provide a nice balance between instant results and artistic realism.”

Foto Magazine
“I think that Snap Art 2 is a real hit, not least because it's good, clean fun. Furthermore, the effects are so convincing that illustrators, TV prop persons, comic strip producers and other image creators can make serious use of them. The price isn't prohibitive either, considering that you get ten distinctly different effects for 200 dollars. I warmly recommend Snap Art 2 for anyone with his or her playful mind still intact. The risk is that it may become an addiction.” Joachim Smith (translated from Swedish)

Photoshop User (5 out of 5)
“Snap Art 2 has matured into an excellent plug-in that I expect to become the industry standard for natural-media emulation.” – Dave Huss

Shutterbug Magazine
“Snap Art 2 (SA2) from Alien Skin Software can quickly make your images look like professional oil paint, pastel, pen and ink, watercolor, or even pop art. Whether you want to augment your own artistic expression or expand the services you offer to clients, SA2 makes it strikingly easy and quick.” – Howard Millard

Macworld.com (4.5 out of 5 Mice)
“It's easy to use and works very well. What more can you ask?” – Jackie Dove

Rangefinder Magazine
“I tried Snap Art 2 on a variety of my photographs—landscapes, portraits, pets and weddings—and I found that in each case I was able to achieve great results in very little time. By “great results” I mean an image that I can easily imagine clients being interested in and that I could proudly present to them. By “very little time” I mean a minute or two going through a few menus, moving sliders around to get the look that I wanted in the preview and then waiting for the image to render.” – Larry Brownstein

Professional Photographer Magazine
“I’m always curious to see whether a plug-in provides functionality that can be approximated using Photoshop itself (and if so, how easily). After spending a few minutes playing with the default filters in Photoshop, I gave up trying to replicate the sketch texture—I just couldn’t get it to match. For a quick filter application that creates a “work of art,” the Snap Art filters provide much more flexibility than those found in Photoshop.” – Betsy Finn

MacUser (4 out of 5 mice)
Steve Caplin of MacUser UK concludes with, “Snap Art 2 produces gorgeous, lush and authentic paintings from just about any image.”

Photoshop Café (5 out of 5)
Darren Winder provides numerous screenshots and examples of Snap Art 2 and describes the interface in detail. He rates Snap Art 5/5.

Mac Design Pro Review
“It's very simple to quickly figure out what the plugin can do for you. What's more, is that the result of the plugin looks fantastic.” – Ko Maruyama

DOCMA
Doc Baumann had good things to say about Snap Art in the July 2009 issue of the German magazine DOCMA (Doc Baumanns Magazin für professionelle Bildbearbeiter). Doc says (in German), “Snap Art from Alien Skin is certainly one of the best plug-ins that produces painted or drawn effects from photos.”

www.perpetualvisions.com
“This is the best plug-in I have ever used for creating natural or stylized media results quickly and easily. And they look good, too! Usually, most plug-ins of this nature create phony looking results or they are very hard to control. This is an asset to any tool box and I highly recommend it.” -Paula Sanders

Macity (in Italian)
If you speak Italian, this is a great review. The best quote I got from Google Translate was, “The results obtained are hardly distinguishable from real work in oils or pastels.”

Here are some great reviews of Snap Art 1:

Macerella – For the love of Mac
 “Snap Art is one of the best Photoshop plug-ins available for anyone who wants to bring out their artistic side, literally in a snap! This plug-in is so simple to use, and with literally a push of button, it does all the work for you. Cons: Really, there are none.” - Joyce Ling

Designorati (rated 9 out of 10)
"Snap Art by Alien Skin is a set of filters that do a much better job than Photoshop’s own artistic and sketch filters. Alien Skin is the gold standard in cool Photoshop plug-ins, and this one is no different..." – Jeremy Schultz

imaginginfo.com
"Alien Skin’s Snap Art is one of those great plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and similar image editing programs that lets you be as creative as the ideas you dream up.” – Diane Berkenfeld

Shutterbug Magazine
"Whether you want to expand the services you offer to clients, or explore your own artistic expression, Snap Art...enables you to do it, in a snap" – Howard Millard

Photoshop User Magazine
"Snap Art does a good job of mimicking traditional art styles: It's easy to use and delivers great results." – David Singer

Chicago Tribune (registration required)
"After working with Photoshop, you'll want Snap Art because it takes all of the artistic image editing and transforming tools and lays them out in a set of hundreds of options to emulate various styles." – Jim Coates, Binary Beat

International Press Association (Featured Product - 4 Stars)
"I found that many of my favorite photos really looked spectacular using Snap Art. I love the way it changes a [photo] into a true work of art, suitable for enlarging and framing."
– Len Rapoport

Macworld Magazine (4 out of 5 mice)
"Snap Art offers a painless way for consumers and professionals to create natural-media art from photographs. Its ease of use and variety of customizable effects make it an efficient alternative to Photoshop's native brushes and actions, and to full-featured art applications like Corel Painter." - Jan Kabili

DingBat Magazine (Editor's Choice award)
"Let's face it, the built-in filters in Adobe Photoshop are nothing to write home about...That's why Alien Skin's new collection of ten plug-ins—SNAP ART— should be greeted with high-fives and cheers. These filters produce stunningly beautiful natural media effects that will knock your smock off." – Derek Pell

PC-Review Online (5 out of 5 stars)
"Finally we have a plug-in that not only quickly turns an image in to a work of art, it does so in such a way that it really looks real and it provides you with a lot of customization tools so you can tweak the effect to your hearts content." – Robert Barnett

About.com (4 out of 5 stars)
"Snap Art seems to provide a nice balance between instant results and artistic realism." – Sue Chastain

3D Commune
"There is no better word to describe my initial reaction to seeing what this set of filters can do, other than WOW!"
– Kelley Henley-Edain

GFXReview.com
"The bottom line is that these are so good you may finally forgive yourself for never buying and learning Painter." – Lance Evans

The 3D Studio
"We absolutely recommend the Snap Art filters from Alien Skin." – Matt Anderson

MacUser UK Magazine (3 out of 5 mice)
"Snap Art's good stuff really is very good indeed." – Steve Caplin

On Computers
"We thought the Snap Art program from Alien Skin was worth the price." – Bob and Joy Schwabach

DT&G Magazine (Best of 2006 award)
"Add Snap Art to your arsenal and you'll never want for an artistic effect -- ever again." – Fred Showker

Digital Dingus
"Snap Art's ability to virtually take any image and render it into a natural media artwork presentation, will bring new life to images you thought were boring or just didn't have that certain something in them - highly recommended." – Jason Busch

Applelinks (4 out of 5 Applelink As)
"In short, Snap Art is fun." – Gary Coyne

Photographyvoice.com (highly recommended)
“If you've ever wanted to create a simulated painting from one of your photos and have been frustrated by the default tools included in your imaging software, then Alien Skin's Snap Art is a must have!” – Kevin L. Kitchens

The Digital Story
"What's different about Snap Art isn't so much the various effects such as colored pencil and watercolor, it's the amount of control over the effect that goes above and beyond the filters that come bundled with Photoshop." – Derrick Story

Cyber Aspect
Snap Art's interface is easy to use, the filters are pretty well self-explanatory, there's loads of options to play with and the results are pretty impressive. In fact, it's a snap and the product gets a definite thumbs up from me. – Julie Smyth

Cameratown.com
"After spending way too much time playing with different photos, filter styles, and even printing a few of them, the song "Fooled Around and Fell in love" came to mind. I got so excited about some of "my" transformations that I wanted to print them to really get a feel for how realistic they would look on a wall, up close, from a distance, etc." – Ron Risman

Epinions.com
'Previously, I have done a lot of artwork from my slide images using Adobe Photoshop or the GIMP trying to add effects that otherwise cannot be achieved in the field. It was a process that required patience and a willingness to experiment, meaning that a lot of time is invested; and depending on the degree of success, time could e viewed as wasted or well spent. Well, with Snap Art, the captivated effects can be achieved immediately without spending so much time put into it. The quality of the final piece of artwork is amazingly stunning.' – Paul Nong Laolam

TechByter Worldwide
"Alien Skin has a long history of turning out products that are both useful and fun to use. That record continues with Snap Art." – Bill Blinn

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