Every two weeks Quark VS InDesign.com and XChange International gives away 2 great prizes—an extraordinary xtension for QuarkXPress and an incredible InDesign plug-in. All you have to do to win is…

• [1] Become a Quark VS InDesign.com member (free), and;
• Throw your name into the giveaway hat at the bottom of this page.

That’s all. No purchase or song and dance necessary. A winner will be chosen at random from those who enter on this page.

This contest has ended. On 2008-01-27 we gave
Fluid Mask 3 from Vertus
To John B. of Chicago, IL USA

Congratulations, John! Get some prizes for yourself on our [4] Contests & Giveaways page.

The Photoshop Plug-In We Gave Away This Time

 
[5] Fluid Mask 3
Photoshop Plug-In from Vertus

Fluid Mask 3 is designed for photographers, image editors, graphic designers and all those who take digital image editing seriously.

In a streamlined interface and workflow, Fluid Mask 3 instantly shows key edges in the image and provides comprehensive easy to use tools that work with difficult-to-see edges and tricky areas like trees & lattices. Fluid Mask 3 (the professionals choice) takes masking to the next level. Quick to pick up and intuitive to use ­ get great results fast!

Fluid Mask promises:

• Fastest masking available today - from loading to final cut-out. Turn hours of tedious work into something that’s short to complete and fun to do…
• The best edge cutting technology available. Quick and easy to pick up, Fluid Mask 3 offers an intuitive workflow. Check out the edge guides that makes selecting the cut-out as easy as colouring by numbers and the always visible interactive help.
• Amazing edge quality. Always thought the pen tool makes cut-outs look a bit too artificial and clean? Now Fluid Mask 3 takes blending to a new level by preserving the edge data. In the final result, natural edge blur and contour is preserved for the best, most authentic cut-outs ever.
• Faster initial image processing For multi-core machines, Fluid Mask 3 runs its initial image processing up to 40% faster. With ever growing image file sizes our everyday image editing tools need to catch up ­ Fluid Mask 3 runs faster than ever.

Localised edge detection and blending
It¹s a true-ism when cutting out objects from their backgrounds that often 90% of the time is spent on 10% of the image ­ getting a difficult edge ³just right². Fluid Mask 3 now has a set of easy to use tools to isolate a difficult area (in a Patch) and apply alternative edge finding and blending techniques - making easy the tricky parts of image cutting.

Intelligent Edge Blending
Fluid Mask 3 not only finds edges but also understands the width and character of an edge. On edges which are largely free of noise and where there is some contrast between foreground and background, Fluid Mask 3’s intelligent blending is the only blending around to automatically extract the morphology (character) of an edge - remember there is no such thing as a 6 pixel feather on all edges in real life! Use feather blending where there is no contrast or lots of noise in an edge. Fluid Mask 3 will still find the correct edge width.

Great new tools for colour based selections Use the Colour Workspace and the Colour Sampler to make extremely fine colour based mask selections.

For Windows XP and Vista; Mac 10.2.8 and above. Works with Photoshop CS2 and CS3 as well as in standalone mode.

Sweepstakes Rules

No purchase necessary to enter or win. Sweepstakes is open to residents of all countries where it is legal to enter and win. Compliance with applicable laws in the entrant’s locality is the sole responsibility of entrant.

To enter the contest, you must sign up to become a member of Quark VS InDesign.com or sign in as an existing member of Quark VS InDesign.com. Your membership must be active and in good standing at the time of the drawing to be eligible to win. Entries must be received between 12:01 AM (PST) on 2008-01-14 and 11:59 PM (PST) on 2008-01-27.

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Prize will be awarded in a random drawing held from among all eligible entries received. Odds of winning depend on the total number of entries received.