Chameleon Software

Chameleon Software by AKVIS is a digital collaging product that works as a plugin through photo editors like Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and Corel PhotoPaint, Ulead Photo Impact and such. It is touted as an “efficient tool for photo collage creation.” It certainly is all that. It was hard to break away long enough to write this review.

The plug-in offers three modes of manipulation, montage, chameleon, and blend. The montage technique allows the insertion of an object onto another background with 100% opacity and seamless blending of edges. Chameleon works the object into the background by adjusting its colors to match the background, while retaining most opacity. The blend mode takes it to the next level by blending edges, adjusting the colors and making the object mostly transparent, blending the placed object into the background more completely.

Installation is easy. It is important to register the product while on line; this activates it quickly by dropping the license agreement directly into your file. If you register by email you must insert the license agreement into the proper Windows folder.

The learning curve is fast. There are few steps to a finished product.

  • In Photoshop I opened my original hand-pulled print image to use as a background.
  • Then I opened my flower photograph and did a quick mask, deleted the background and de-selected the object.
  • Next move – Filter – AKVIS – Chameleon – Grab Fragment
  • After a few moments a box pops up with “Fragment Saved Successfully”
  • I minimized the flower so the background is on top
  • Then back to Filter – AKVIS – Chameleon – Make Collage
  • I placed the flower – then selected the “red pencil” – the flower is circled in red
  • Next I selected the “blue pencil” and drew a line inside the red
  • I selected Montage from the dropdown box and clicked on the green arrow at the top to run the process
  • When it finished I clicked on the check mark icon to return to my Photoshop screen with the completed project.
  • I could have stopped there, but wanted to see the other two on the same work.
  • With the work still in place I returned to Filter – AKVIS – Chameleon – Make Collage
  • The AKVIS screen returned with the flower on top the background. I grabbed it and placed it next to the montaged flower.
  • I clicked run, then apply and back to Photoshop with a completed work.
    • A control panel is on the desktop displaying instructions for each of the modes as you choose options; this is very helpful as a learning tool.

    AKVIS’s Chameleon is pretty slick. It makes the process of digital collaging infinitely easy. The selection doesn’t need to be perfect, so time-consuming tedious work is replaced by creative energy. The learning curve is short and sweet with great instant results. I love Chameleon and I’m ready to create.

    NOTE: Adobe Photoshop shows as Not Responding while the AKVIS is open. You must exit out of Chameleon completely using the green check mark (apply) or the red (exit) to return to an active Photoshop.

    NOTE: Using montage requires that you use the red and blue selection pencils before you can access the green apply button. Chameleon and blend will work without the using the selection pencils.

    NOTE: The before / after tabs only function after you have run the program.

    AKVIS LLC is a software development company focused on producing innovative digital imaging solutions with the primary emphasis on quality and simplicity of use. We have a team of talented programmers and designers having considerable experience in programming and software development. The company’s highly successful product family includes AKVIS Retoucher, AKVIS Chameleon, AKVIS Enhancer, AKVIS Stamp, AKVIS Coloriage, AKVIS Decorator, AKVIS LightShop, AKVIS Frame Suite, AKVIS Noise Buster and AKVIS Sketch.

    The official web-site http://AKVIS.com offers examples and tutorials for the software.

    Title:
    Chameleon Software
    Publisher:
    AKVIS
    Reviewer:
    Mary Kuster D-MAG.org
    Rating:
    5 of 5