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Test drive the Xenofex 2 plugin for Adobe Fireworks CS4

In the previous versions of Adobe Fireworks, we were able to use a limited edition of the Eyecandy Plugin from the Alien Skin Software site . It was only limited to 3 filters  , but they were pretty good ones.  From the same company that created the Eyecandy plugin ,  let’s take a look at another plugin they made called  Xenofex 2.

It has 14 amazing effects to choose from  and best of all it’s totally compatible with fireworks cs4. You can enable / disable the filter in the filters panel, incase you made a mistake  and can apply multiple xenofex filters on an object. The plugin is not free though ( 129 usd ) , previous owners of Xenofex  can avail a discount upgrade, but if you want to just try it, you can download  a 30 day free trial.

Let’s use this image to test out the different filters.

Each filter has default settings you can choose from , or you can manually edit them if you want.

Burnt Edges

Classic Mosaic

Constellation – not only can it create stars, it can give your text or images some ” bling2x” .

Crumple – one of the best filters I have ever used, you can create a lot of textures with this filter.

Cracks

Little Fluffy Clouds – it’s some like the difference clouds in photoshop.

Flag – another cool filter, play around with the other settings.

Puzzle

Rip Open

Shatter

Stain

Television

Lightning – it’s a probably a tie between lightning and crumple

Since I like the lightning filter so much , lets try it again on a black background =)

Conclusion :

The Xenofex 2 filters offers some time saving effects to your images , most of them cannot be replicated using standard steps , and requires special filters like these. I recommend you to try the 30 day trial to  see how it helps on your projects  , if you like it then buy it =) I hope the next version of fireworks could use integrate a few of these filters….someday