What it does How to Install Controls Hints Versions How to Purchase Questions |  | Glitterato What it does Glitterato makes starfields with nebulas.You can make realistic-looking vistas or vivid, surreal skies. How to install Illustrated installation instructions are online. To use this software, you need a paint program which accepts standard Photoshop 3.02 plugins. Just put the plug-in filter into the folder where your paint program expects to find it. If you have Photoshop, the folder is Photoshop:Plugins:Filters or Photoshop:Plug-Ins. You must restart Photoshop before it will notice the new plug-in. It will appear in the menus as Filters->Flaming Pear->Glitterato. Most other paint programs follow a similar scheme. If you have Paint Shop Pro: you have to create a new folder, put the plug-in filter into it, and then tell PSP to look there. PSP 7: Choose the menu File-> Preferences-> File Locations... and choose the Plug-in Filters tab. Use one of the "Browse" buttons to choose the folder that contains the plug-in. The plugin is now installed. To use it, open any image and select an area. From the menus, choose Effects->Plug-in Filters->Flaming Pear->Glitterato. PSP 8, 9, X and XI: Choose the menu File-> Preferences-> File Locations... In the dialog box that appears, choose Plug-ins from the list. Click "Add." If you are using PSP 8 or 9, click "Browse". Now choose the folder that contains the plug-in. The plugin is now installed. To use it, open any image and select an area. From the menus, choose Effects->Plugins->Flaming Pear->Glitterato. Controls When you invo ke Glitterato, a dialog box will appear:
Quick start |  |  |
If you just want to see some effects quickly, click the dice button until you see something you like; then click OK. Using the dice is the easiest way to use Glitterato. If you want to hand-tune your own effects, it helps to learn the controls, which are arranged into two groups: Nebula Stars ...and a few other controls that affect the whole image. |  | dice |
1. Nebula |  |  |
Glitterato's nebulas have two layers. A in the back, and B in front. A sets the brightness of the first layer. Two color buttons set layer A's colors. B sets the brightness of the second layer. Where layer B is bright enough, it can replace the colors from layer A. Two color buttons set layer B's colors. The color-hex button changes all four colors, and leaves other settings alone. |  | color buttons color-hex button for randomizing colors |
Scale makes the nebulas larger and smaller. Texture adds small high-contrast details to the nebulas. |  | a nebula more texture |
Fibrousness add swooping streaks. |  | more fibrousness |
Contrast ranges from dim, smooth washes of gas to harsh, bright, isolated clumps. |  | more contrast |
Opacity makes the nebulas block out the stars. |  | more opacity |
2. Stars |  |  |
Density gives you sparse or plentiful stars. Brightness sets the stars' average brightness. Scale makes the stars small or large. Depth makes most of the stars small and dim, which makes it look like the stars lie at different distances from the observer. Color produces all-white stars at zero, natural "blackbody" colors at 50, and super-vivid color at 100. |  | some stars more brightness and scale more depth and color |
Other controls |  |  |
Dice The dice choose a random effect. Click as much as you want to see different effects. Reset Gives you the "factory settings." Export to PSD Renders the result to a a .psd image file, which can have custom dimensions. Glue mode popup menu Lets you combine the result with the underlying image in various ways. Modes other than "normal" produce special effects. The next-glue button advances to the next glue mode. Info Briefly explains of the controls. Make Gallery Builds a web page showing all the presets in a folder that you choose. Send to photo manager Sends the result to iPhoto (on Macintosh). Plus, % and minus buttons: These zoom the preview in and out. Drag the preview to move it. Load preset Boss Emboss comes with some presets, which are files containing settings. To load one, click this button and browse for a preset file. Save preset When you make an effect you like, click this button to save the settings in a file. Undo backs up one step. OK Applies the effect to your image. Cancel Dismisses the filter, and leaves the image unchanged. |  | dice reset export to PSD next glue info make gallery send to photo manager load preset save preset undo |
Memory dots |  |  |
Although you can save your settings permanently to files, you can also stash settings in memory dots. Click an empty dot to stash the current settings in it. Click a full dot to retrieve its settings. Hover the mouse over a dot to see what it contains. Option-click to erase a dot on Macintosh. Right-click to erase a dot on Windows. If a dot is orange, you are currently using that dot's settings. Dots remember their contents until you erase them. If you'd rather make a temporary dot that forgets when you exit the plug-in, control-click it. Temporary dots are square. When you start the plug-in, it puts the starting settings in a temporary dot. That way it's easy to start over without exiting. On Mac, you can drag-and-drop settings files from the central memory well. |  | memory dots empty full current temporary |
Hints If you don't need the nebulas, set A and B to zero. Glitterato will run much faster. Apply the filter two or more times, using the "screen" or "add" glue mode, to make extra-dense starfields. |  |  |
Version History Version 1.2 June 2008 Adds convenience features to the interface. The Mac version is resizable. Version 1.15 June 2007 Fixes a Macintosh problem where the plug-in could have bad settings or crash when installed on a machine for the first time. Version 1.12 March 2007 Universal binary for Macintosh. Preset files have icons. Works as a Smart Filter in Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh. Fixes a Windows problem where the plug-in wouldn't remember its registration when it was installed in one user account but activated in another. Version 1.1 May 2004 New glue modes. Works in 16-bit-per-component color. Version 1.06 December 2003 Recordable as a Photoshop action. Version 1.04 September 2003 Adds more glue modes and the next-glue button. Version 1.02 February 2003 Adds more glue modes and fixes a crash that could happen when using the menus under Windows XP. Version 1.01 December 2002 Adds new glue modes: Color, Luminance, Linear Light, and Pin Light. Fixes the appearance of text in the interface when running under Mac OS X 10.2.3 . Version 1.0 December 2000 The first public release. |  |  |
How to Purchase You can place an order online here. A secure server for transactions is available. If you do not wish to purchase online, you can use the "Register" program that came with the software. Questions Answers to common technical questions appear on the support page, and free upgrades appear periodically on the download page. Trouble with your order? Orders are handled by Kagi; please contact them at admin@kagi.com . For bug reports and technical questions about the software, please write to support@flamingpear.com .