Pixiq

We all remember those star filters that we bought in awe and forgot the second day. Well, now we've digital stars, that we can place where we want. Topaz Labs courtesy.

It's true, the Topaz Star Effects is launched... and if you're like me you'll love it. I've packed my stars Cokin filters decades ago, never to think about them again. It was funny for the first two shots and then I could not take it anymore. Besides being too many stars at once, I could never seem to get them where I wanted, as much as I turned the filter.

Now, Topaz Star Effects is something else. It comes with presets for everything from Lamp Post effect to Sunset or Starry Night... I guess you know what I mean. The good thing is that all these presets can be cleaned, changed, overdone, so you'll spend hours playing with your little box of stars.

It's still stars, so I guess you'll not use it everyday, but at least now you can place the stars, the sunset rays and everything else where you want. You almost feel like a god when the program let's you define how many rays each star can have. My old Cokin filters never let me do that.

So, whether you're looking for a natural effect or a more graphical note on your photographs, Topaz Star Effects will do the trick, and it's much easier than being at Photoshop for hours until your eyes only see stars, without getting  things right.

The program automatically detects light sources and allows you to quickly select how many or how few of those light sources to enhance. Star Effects also includes a highly comprehensive toolset, offering the most flexibility and control for customizing your effects. Using the adjustment sliders, you can instantly change the appearance and characteristics of your selected light sources.

You have a lot of stars to choose from - traditional, starburst, cross star, hollywood star, vector and more - and you even have a Star Stack-a-bility via the Apply button which allows you to stack multiple effects. Added adjustment controls for color, temperature, secondary spikes, glow and ring flares - for a customizable workflow. And much more…

So, if you also want to reach for the stars, go and get the new program from Topaz. Until the 15th of February 2012 you can buy it for just $19.99, using the code TopazStars when purcahsing. The program works both on Windows running XP and above; Intel-based Macs 10.5 and above. Includes both 32-bit and 64-bit. Host: CS3-CS5.5 or PSE6-PSE10. iPhoto, Aperture and Lightroom users will need to update Fusion Express for use with Topaz Star Effects.