A question of taste

Noel Carbonni has just released StarSpikes Pro plugin for Photoshop. Free trial period for anyone who would like to have a play with it.

actions.home.att.net/StarSpikes.html

I took an image of M39 the other night and my original process is here

farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/4006187596_dae25a1818_b.jpg

I then ran it through the new plugin the result is here

farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/4009505978_c54e5ca712_b.jpg


So rough poll time: Which image do you prefer and which image do you think the public would prefer?

Think I already know where Anto lies on this one

I prefer the first one.
As I have found myself from Noel's tools, the star spike action in PS just looks too artificial.
However, my guess is that Joe Soap may prefer the second image.

I reckon this is the answer you expected too Kieran.

Its no longer that simple though since this new software comes complete with the rainbow effect that is generated in real cases though TBH its still not quite 100%.

To me, it is the sharpness of it that is the problem.
It just looks too sharp.
Is there any way of adjusting that issue with it?

I prefer image one but image two looks aesthetically more pleasing.

Fiona (a surrogate Joe Soap) prefers image two and said the wider public would also prefer it.

Looking at the blurb for the plug-in, looks you can indeed alter the sharpness/softness of the spikes - along with a gazillion other adjustments! For $60 though, its only saving grace for me would be the euro/dollar value at the mo...

€0.02/$0.0297

There is a bunch of options including the ability to add up to 32 spikes around a star but I have to ask WHY?

As a piece of software its good for doing the pretty pic stuff, it highlights the cluster against the background more and some clusters like the beehive would be full of Xmas cheer with a quick spike treatment. It's Marmite time.

I've also noticed that Noel on PAIG has even added spikes to his potrait avatar.

E mail sent Michael.