Topaz Labs – Star Effects – A Lighting Enhancement and Star Creation Software

Topaz Labs announced today that they have just launched a new plug-in…Topaz Star Effects. I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to play around with the beta version this week and this really is a handy tool to have in your post processing arsenal of tools.

Topaz Star Effects allows you to create unique star effects by manipulating and enhancing the various light sources within your digital images. With just a few clicks you can easily transform points of light within your image to create stunning lighting and star effects, supplement existing light sources, change or enhance image mood, add shimmering effects to things like water and jewelry, and much more.

Some of the unique features you can expect ot find in Star Effects are:

• Selective Brush. Intuitive selective adjustment brush that allows you to select the light sources in your image that you want to add (or remove) star effects.
• Star-Type Selection. Choose the type of star you want.
• Star Stack-a-bility. Features an apply button allowing you to create various layers of star effects with different characteristics.
• Color Adjustments. Allows you to adjust the color characteristics of your added star effects.

Star Effects has the same, easy to navigate, layout as the rest of the Topaz Labs suite. The beta version had 13 presets but more will be added. The presets are a good starting point but there are hundreds of variations to the effect you can produce by using the adjustments tools.

“Star Effects™ is the most customizable and inclusive star filter out there right now.  With adjustments like star type, glow, ring flare and color controls, the program allow for users to create effects from realistic sun flares and glowing water to more obvious, artistic additions,” said Nichole Paschal, Senior Marketing Specialist for Topaz Labs.  “Plus the ability to selectively add and remove these effects, in a single click, is easy to understand and an important aspect to Star Effects™.”

Here’s an example of 2 different ways you can use this plug-in. Click on the images to see a larger, more detailed version.

This is the original tonemapped version using 3 brackets

I used Topaz Adjust 5 in this version to make the scene darker and more foreboding.

Here I used Star Effects to add a sun flare through the trees

 Click on the images to see a larger, more detailed version

This is the original shot. You can see the star flares on the lights leading up to the church which is a result of an aperture of f/22

Using Star Effects I added light stars on the church and the lamp post near the trees on the right.

Topaz Labs is offering a special introductory price of $19.99. Just enter coupon code “TopazStars” when purchasing.

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