The Bottom Line
PhotoArtMaster Gold requires practice and experimentation, but there's nothing else like it for turning photos into art prints. And, unlike some similarly advertised products, the images you create in PhotoArtMaster really are your own unique creations—not like one-click computer-generated "art." This software can give you a lot of satisfaction from your everyday photos.
As of November 2007, Fo2Pix is out of business and the company assets are in liquidation. Unfortunately, there is no way to purchase Fo2Pix products at this time. [reference]
Pros
- Nothing else like it for turning photos into art.
- Fun and easy, once you know the basics. PDF user guide with tutorials helps you get started.
- Generates twice as many sources as PhotoArtMaster 1.0.
Cons
- Same skimpy selection of brush sizes and shapes as 1.0.
- Steep memory requirements; very slow if multitasking or working with larger images.
- Annoying default settings; always starts with a medium-size picture.
Description
- Turn photos (even mediocre shots) into interesting art that doesn't look computer-generated.
- PhotoArtMaster generates hundreds of sources for color, line, and tone by simplifying the photo.
- Sources are combined using mixers and tools to create an artistically pleasing version of the photo.
- The preparation editor allows you to crop, rotate, de-skew, and make color adjustments.
- Art is created in the Studio using the mixer, brushes, fill tools, color picker, & contrast picker.
- 21 tabs provide 300+ sources: sketches, monochrome & color palettes, highlights & under-paintings.
- Print your completed art work directly in the program, or save as JPEG or PhotoArtMaster project.
- New in Gold version 1.5: twice as many sources, retouch tab, mounts & masks, custom textures.
- This is a stand-alone program for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP. Requires 500 Mhz processor; 256 MB RAM.
- Other versions are available at different price/feature levels. Gold is currently the most advanced.
Guide Review - PhotoArtMaster Gold 1.5 from Fo2Pix (Windows)
With PhotoArtMaster Gold you can transform ordinary—even boring—photographs into something you'd be proud to frame and put on display. PhotoArtMaster provides starting points and tools, but you create the magic. This upgrade provides more flexibility in the mixers, more sources in more categories, and deeper undo/redo. The interface quirks I mentioned in 1.0 seem improved, but I wish it had a "preferences" option for setting program defaults. The fixed window size of 1024x768 pixels really bothered me until I found an ini file where I could change it. Despite the quirks, there's nothing else like it. Plus, it's fun and very gratifying to work with. To see examples, visit my PhotoArtMaster galleries in the "Related resources" links below.
