Lacquer

Flaming Pear Software

What it does

How to install

Quick start

Controls

Things to Try

Other controls

Memory dots

Hints

Versions

How to purchase

Questions

What it does

Lacquer produces shiny, glittery, glossy, sparkly results from nearly any image,
with results that range from metallic to resinous to wet to weird.
How to install

Illustrated installation instructions are online at [Link]/[Link] .

To use this software, you need a paint program which accepts standard
Photoshop 3.02 plugins.

Just put the plug-in filter into the folder where your paint program expects to
find it. If you have Photoshop, the folder is Photoshop:Plugins:Filters or
Photoshop:Plug-ins. You must restart Photoshop before it will notice the new
plug-in. It will appear in the menus as Filters->Flaming Pear->Lacquer.

Most other paint programs follow a similar scheme.

If you have Paint Shop Pro: you have to create a new folder, put the plug-in filter
into it, and then tell PSP to look there.

PSP 7:

Choose the menu File-> Preferences-> File Locations... and choose the Plug-in
Filters tab. Use one of the "Browse" buttons to choose the folder that contains
the plug-in.

The plug-in is now installed. To use it, open any image and select an area. From
the menus, choose Effects->Plug-in Filters->Flaming Pear->Lacquer.

PSP 8, 9, X, XI, and X2:

Choose the menu File-> Preferences-> File Locations... In the dialog box that
appears, choose Plug-ins from the list. Click "Add." If you are using PSP 8 or 9,
click "Browse". Now choose the folder that contains the plug-in.

The plug-in is now installed. To use it, open any image and select an area. From
the menus, choose Effects->Plugins->Flaming Pear->Lacquer.

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Quick start

When you invoke Lacquer, a dialog box will appear.

If you just want to see some effects quickly, click the dice button until you see an
effect you like; then click OK. Lacquer's controls are explained below.

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Controls

Lacquer builds a 3D surface from the brightness of

your image and then lights this surface in several ways.

Blur controls the shape of the surface. Large blurs

produce a smoothly rolling surface; small blurs
produce sharper details.

original image

a basic effect

Detail controls the amount of fine detail in the surface.

more detail

Bulge controls how high the bulges are. Generally,

small values of bulge will make all the lighting effects
more subtle.

more bulge

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Glass makes the surface look glassy.

more glassy

Prism produces rainbow reflections.

more prismatic

Gradient produces metallic reflection.

with gradient

The Grad colors buttons specify the hues of the

metallic reflections. The left button is the color of the
reflection on upward-facing surfaces, and the right
color button
button is the color of downward-facing surfaces.

Flat color controls the amount of the original image

that appears in the output.

less flat color

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Sparkle produces colored highlights.

more sparkle

Glitter makes shiny white highlights on the surface.

more glitter

Edges produces bright lines that follow the curvature

of the surface.

more edges

Lucidity gives stark contrast and more saturated

colors.

more lucidity

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Light Direction is the ball-shaped control. Changing
the light direction will make the highlights and sparkle
move around in response.

different light direction

Things to try

Try loading the settings files that come with Lacquer to

see what it can do, or click the dice until you see
something you like.

Here are some example effects that you can do. Open a
favorite picture for these examples -- you won't see
anything if you start with a blank canvas. Select part of
the picture, and invoke Lacquer.

original mage

Metal

Set Blur to 40, Detail to 100, Bulge to 100, and

Gradient to 100. Chose pale yellow for both grad
Colors, and set all the other sliders to zero.

This gives you a basic metallic reflection. If you want

smoother reflections, reduce Detail and adjust Blur to
your liking.

metal

Simple embossing

Set Blur to 40, Detail to 100, Bulge to 100, and Flat

Color to 100. All the other sliders should be zero.

Your picture should have an embossed 3D look. Adjust

the Blur, Detail, and Bulge sliders to tune the
appearance.

embossing
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Glitter

Use the settings from example #2 above, but then

turn up the Glass, Gradient, Sparkle, Glass, and
Glitter sliders.

You will see a glossy result. Move the ball control

around to change the lighting.

glitter

Strange patterns

Click the dice button a few times until you see any
glossy, smooth, lumpy effect. Apply it to your
image.

Then re-apply four or five more times. Feedback

will produce rows of smooth ridges which will
gradually obliterate the original image if applied
enough times.

strange patterns

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Other controls

Dice: This randomizes the settings. Click it as much as

you want to see different effects.
dice

Reset: Gives you the factory settings.

reset

Glue: Lets you combine the result image with the

original, instead of replacing it. The next-glue button
advances to the next glue mode. next glue

Send to photo manager: Sends the result to iPhoto (on

Macintosh).
send to photo manager

Export to PSD: Renders the result to a .psd file.

export to PSD

Make Gallery: Builds a web page showing all the

presets in a folder that you choose.
make gallery

Plus, % and minus buttons: If the selected image area

is bigger than the preview, these buttons let you zoom
in and out. Drag the preview to move it.

Load preset: Presets are files containing settings. To

load one, click this button and browse for a preset file.
load preset

Save preset: When you make an effect you like, click

this button to save the settings in a file.
save preset

Undo backs up one step.

undo

Info: briefly explains the controls.

info 9
Three more buttons:

OK: Applies the effect to your image.

Cancel: Dismisses the plug-in, and leaves the image

unchanged.

Register: Allows you to type in a registration code and

remove the time limit from the demo.

Memory dots

Although you can save your settings permanently to

files, you can also stash settings in memory dots.

Click an empty dot to stash the current settings in it.

Click a full dot to retrieve its settings.

Hover the mouse over a dot to see what it contains.

Option-click to erase a dot on Macintosh.

memory dots
Right-click to erase a dot on Windows.

If a dot is orange, Lacquer's currently using that dot's

settings. empty

Dots remember their contents until you erase them. If full

you'd rather make a temporary dot that forgets when
you exit Lacquer, control-click it. Temporary dots are current
square.
temporary
When you start Lacquer, it puts the starting settings in
a temporary dot. That way it's easy to start over
without exiting the plug-in.

On Mac, you can drag-and-drop settings files from the

central memory well.

You can build a web page showing how the current

image would look with every memdot setting. Just
option-click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) on the big
memdot image.

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Version history

Version 1.8 December 2009

64-bit version for Windows.

Version 1.72 July 2008

Fixes stripes that can appear on large images.

Version 1.7 May 2008

Adds convenience features to the interface. The Mac version is resizable.

Version 1.6 June 2007

Fixes a Macintosh problem where the plug-in could have bad settings or crash
when installed on a machine for the first time.

Version 1.55 April 2007

Universal binary for Macintosh. Works as a Smart Filter in Adobe Photoshop CS3
Macintosh. Fixes a Windows problem where the plug-in wouldn't remember its
registration when it was installed in one user account but activated in another.

Version 1.4 July 2004

Works in 16-bit color.

Version 1.3 December 2003

Recordable as a Photoshop action.

Version 1.25 September 2003

Adds more glue modes and the next-glue button.

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Version 1.22 February 2003

Adds more glue modes and fixes a crash that could happen when using the
menus under Windows XP.

Version 1.21 December 2002

Adds new glue modes: Color, Luminance, Linear Light, and Pin Light. Fixes the
appearance of text in the interface when running under Mac OS X 10.2.3 .

Version 1.2 February 2002

Adds previews in the preset browser.

Version 1.1 September 2001

Adds an Undo button.

Version 1.0 September 1999

First release.

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How to purchase

You can place an order online here. A secure server for transactions is available.

Questions

The software, documentation, and supporting materials are made by Flaming

Pear Software. Answers to common technical questions appear on our support
page, and free updates appear periodically on the download page.

Trouble with your order? Orders are handled by Kagi; please contact them at
admin@[Link] .

For bug reports and technical questions about the software, please write to
support@[Link] .

©2009 Flaming Pear Software

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