PhotoTools by Extensis is so multi-faceted, so powerful that, sometimes, unfortunately, what I consider its main feature gets lost in the shuffle. So, at the risk of having some very talented programmers at Extensis shake their heads over this review, I want to make sure you understand that the  raison d'etre of PhotoTools is its PhotoBars.
   What do PhotoBards do? They totally reconfigure Photoshop so that every function, menu and  command can be placed on a toolbar or toolbars for simple one-click use. Think about this for a moment: the "simple" process of reversing a mask in a "naked" Photoshop requires you to click a couple of times and select menus and menu items. With PhotoBars, it is one click – on the icon, period. Do this the countless times you access menus and commands in any Photoshop session and you'll quickly save the price of this outstanding package in your time from this one thing alone.
   Anecdote: I removed PhotoTools 2 to install PhotoTools 3 and got a frantic call in the middle of the process for a "quick change" to "just onme thing" in a project. I popped into PhotoTools-less PhotoShop to make the change. Big mistake. No PhotoBars. Time to complete the 5 minute job: about 20 minutes.

   OK, so we've established that PhotoBars is outta sight. Well, so's the rest of PhotoTools 3. This program has so much going for it, that I'm going to suggest you read our earlier review of PhotoTools 2 to get some great info on the "older" features. What I am going to deal with here, basically, is new features and enhancements.
   Maybe the best new feature is a lovely one called PhotoGroove. What does it do for you? For one thing, it really lets your creative juices flow!
   You know how you do something like this? You just type in with a font in Photoshop, call up the PhotoGroove application from within Photoshop, and start manipulating the bevels, materials, lights and the like.
   Bevels? There are, of course, a bunch of standard ones, but you can make your own. With a window which looks a lot like a ramp histogram, you just move points around and see – in real time! – how things change. You know, you really don't have to be a designer to use this stuff. Just start making changes and watch what they do. You will have something really cool like the image above in a couple of minutes.
  How easy is this? Look at these before and after images.   The one on the left was placed in PhotoShop with a standard font. The one on the right was PhotoGrooved from that standard font. Is this amazing? Yes it is.
   It is also easy, fast and very, very effective, as you can see. And what can you use this technology with? Anything you can select in Photoshop! Let the good times roll.
   Also new to PhotoTools3 is PhotoTexture, a full-feature texture editor which creates absolutely seamless georgeous textures. This application, also, works on selections, One of the truly neat things about PhotoTexture is that you can create textures from scratch using the standard Photshop tools such as the bruch, pencil, stamp and, even, the gradient. Then, just make a texture with PhotoTexture. Needless to say, the possibilities are endless.
   Also new to PhotoTools is PhotoAnimator. There are two things about this application I really like: first, it is vastly different from many animation packages you see in that you do not have to create every single frame of the animation itself. Just make the first frame and tell PhotoAnimator what you want to do. It does it.
   Second, PhotoAnimator automatically optimizes your antimated GIF files. That's one of the bugaboos of making files of this type, you create it and then its huge. "Regular" optimization programs can't do anything about the size of these antimated files. PhotoAnimator can and does as part of the regular creation process!
   Well, everyone does drop shadows these days. Even Photoshop has added them in version 5.0. But, as usual, Extensis goes everyone one better with its PhotoCastShadow application because it not only does drop shadows, but cast shadows as well.
   See the two shadows? These are cast-ed shadows. Is this cool or what? Look carefully at the shadow on the right: see how it gets fuzzier and fuzzier as it gets further and further away from the object? That is known as a perspective blur, and I have never seen anything like it in any program. It gives real realism to your shadow effects.
   What's best, though, is you create shadows interactively, by draging a box which represents the dimensions of the shadow. No fooling with numbers, y and x coordinates. Just drag it. You get just what you want in an absolute minimum of time. Amazing.
   There are so many features to PhotoTools 3 it is impossible to do the program total justice in a review of any length. However, one general addition to the program should be mentioned, the ability to undo, redo and reset your effects. This most-asked for feature added to Photoshop 5 is a part of PhotoTools 3 as well, within PhotoTools itself.
   When we reviewed PhotoTools 2, we said if you bought no other plugin-type program for Photoshop, the one to spend your money on was PhotoTools. What was true yesterday is even more true today. Get this outstanding program today!

   Link to the Extensis web site.