Want to introduce the third dimension – depth – into your Photoshop creative process? There are, of course, many ways to do this kind of thing, some of them effective and some less so, but none can do it so easily and spectacularly than Andromeda's Perspective filter.
   Using a virtual camera in three-dimensional space, the Perspective filter allows the user to tilt, swing and zoom an image. The effects can be amazing. Best of all, the user interface, while elegant, is also extremely intuitive – you click on buttons to move the virtual camera up and down, side to side, in and out. Your results are seen in real time, so you can tweak the interface to your heart's content, adding drama to what were once "flat" images.
   We took a simple flat banner that we developed as a "header" for an email newsletter we produce. This is the original, which was done entirely in Photoshop 6.0. For what it is worth, note that we were able to use the new layers manipulation tools to produce the bevels on the main text.
   But the key here is that the main text is also on its own layer. So when we fire up Andreomeda's Perspective filter, we're able to operate on a single level, in this case, the one with the text.
  We fiddled with the filter's controls. What we were looking to do was to manipulate the main text in 3-D space while leaving the basic banner alone. While this is an ability Photoshop gave us, the filter itself was able to recognize what we were doing and confine its operations to the layer rather than the whole image. A major bonus.
   Note from the interface screen shot how simple, yet powerful, the controls are in the filter. In less than half a minute we were able to produce a truly dramatic effect with the main text.
   We liked the way this effect looked, so we saved it for the future – another bonus with the Perspective filter. This would allow us to produce a series of similar graphics with the same look.
   The end result was a truly neat graphic that looks vastly different from run-of-the-mill banners. It is something that will grab attention. And all it took was 30 seconds with Andromeda's Perspective filter.
   The filter comes with a large library of presets, many of which will do just fine for what you want to do. In addition, they offer starting points for a tweak here and there. And when you've got what you want, you can save it.
   Tons of uses? You bet. Here's a filter that's a must-have for anyone who wants to create dramatic and interesting effects.

   Connect to the Andromeda web site.