TrevorOutlaw

I also tried this approach and it didn't work. The plugin wouldn't register in the Effects>Tool menu.

Just a heads up. This plugin doesn't work with the Store version.

@toe_head2001 and @BoltBait Thanks for your advices.

That's not good! Especially if I'm trying to write a plug-in and I need to be able to tell Visual Studio to references the four Paint.NET files. Yeah, that's what I did.

Question for Rick or anyone who can help out. Tonight, I was downloading a stock photo, and I had always instructed Firefox to open the image in Paint.NET, however, tonight was the first time I could not find the executable file to tell Firefox to open the image in Paint.NET. I tried to run a search on my C drive. For clarification, I have the Store version as I saw $4.99 as a great deal for a one time purchase. Edit: BoltBait, could you also tell me how to add Paint.NET resources to be used as a reference in Visual Studio with the Store version as well?

Thanks to everyone who has commented on the mixed media manipulation. Here is a simple photomanipulation based on some trendy geometric photomanipulation. Enjoy!

Why have I never seen this plug-in!? This is like Photoshop's Transform control!

@toe_head2001 That looks sweet!

PDN has 1 developer while other software have more than 1 which makes breaking up tasks manageable.

I appreciate the clarification.

Question for you Rick...is that a one time payment for the right to use PDN through the Store or will I have to make recurrent payment whenever PDN has a new update released? I ask this because some software makers charge for even having updated version.

Here is a tutorial that walks you through downloading Photoshop brushes, converts them into usable files for usage in Paint.NET. The only difference is I would use the BrushFactory plugin instead of CustomBrushMini. The BrushFactory offers more control and adjustments than CustomBrushMini.

This is great! The amount of details in the General Store, completed even with florescent lighting, is incredible! It's old West meets 21st century.

New update...mixed media manipulation. Still not satisfied but art is progress.

@Seerose Very nice attempt. Two suggestions: try not to make it obvious you used liquify the model, and where you want the dispersion effect to start, make it looks like the witch is dissolving. @welshblue Very nice! I especially like the crack across the face, it gives that surreal feel to it. I agree that it would be easier in Photoshop, which is why I am patiently waiting for someone to make a plug-in as requested here.

Because I'm lazy! Seriously...I have found, purely by accident, that sometime the brush leaves a bit too much on the canvas, and I thought that by reducing it a wee bit would be quicker than having to add a black or white layer below the brush. Efficiency is what I aim for in many of my projects. It's the electronic technician in me, I guess. By the way, nice job with the effect in your image. I think if you had erased a bit of the backside, the effect would be more pronounced.

@Seerose @lynxster4 Thank you for your comments. To be honest, the dancer manipulation left a lot to be desired...it felt like it lacked pizazz and I spent some time looking through dA to find some inspiration, but ended up with what I finished. I have seen some impressive manipulation of a photograph of a person being dispersed into a bird or a bird "flying" out of the person. That was the effect I was going for but ... ah well...art is progressive.

@LionsDragon Nice execution. One thing...is the woman being transformed into a tree or the tree transformed into the woman? @Ishi I would like to see the effect in play as you described. A picture is worth a thousand words. Big shout out to @Ego Eram Reputo and @Woodsy for the PDF!

@LionsDragon @welshblue @Seerose @lynxster4 Thank you all for your comment! New photomanipulation, inspired by a YouTube video which featured a city skyline coming out of the back of a young lady. This is my interpretation using PDN's eraser set at 0% hardness, and @pyrochild gradient mapping plug-in (my personal favorite plug-in). Edit: Added another photomanip on page 1.

@Ego Eram Reputo It was time I contributed something back to this fine community of PDN users. @AndrewDavid Now, that's trippy. I'm glad to have helped. For some people, alpha masking is very troubling, so the technique I hope will open the door to potentials unleashed. @LionsDragon Let see what you come up with.

This tutorial is available as a PDF. Click here to view or download it The introduction of the Brush Factory has opened up PDN to being able to create the dispersion effect that is really cool and nifty. While it is not the perfect method to create the effect, the purpose of this tutorial is to teach you to use Brush Factory and Alpha Mask import plug-in to create an effect like below. Required plug-ins -> Brush Factory, Liquify, and Alpha Mask Import The latest Brush Factory now support Photoshop brush such as disintegration style. A word of advice: Drill into your head this simple instruction, white is to "keep" and black is "erase", when it comes to using brush and masking as it will be revealed in the steps below. I will not be teaching you how to cut out your model of choice in Paint.NET, there are tutorials on the forums that sufficiently shows you different technique to separate the model from background. I decided instead of doing the whole body of the model, I focused on the upper torso to make it easier to teach this technique. With no further ado, the lesson begins. Step 1) Create a total of five layers. For the sake of this tutorial, the naming convention is merely a teaching guide, so when I refer to what layer, you will know what layer I am working on! Step 2) On the layer named "Dispersion", go to Effects>Tools>Liquify and exaggerate the model left's body. I set the size of brush to 100, pressure to 100%, and density at default. Some might be thinking, "Why?" You will see. Now the creativity starts here. NOTE: I have personally found it to be faster to select the entire layer by using the Move Tool and clicking once outside the canvas area and click on copy. Step 3) On the "Erase" layer, copy the model, and hide the "Dispersion" layer for now. Next, click on the layer "Full Opacity" and launch the Brush Factory. When the plug-in loads, right-click for the mouse menu and click "Use clipboard for background." This is a handy feature that I love about the Brush Factory. It will make this step a doozy. Click on the brush folder to select the brush effect you want to use. The choice is up to you. Now, this is very important, click on "Color" and select black. See the screenshot if you are confused. Step 4) This step is absolutely crucial that you pay attention to what you are doing, otherwise alpha mask won't work right. While on the "Full Opacity" layer, activate the paint fill tool and switch to white. On the toolbar, make sure "Sampling" is set to layer. One handy feature I didn't notice until playing was the use of the tolerance slider with the paint bucket tool, and it is nifty to use. For clarity's sake, I included the following screenshot so you will get it, I hid the "Erase" layer so you can see what I am teaching you. Step 5) It is now time to mask and "erase" portion of the model. With "Full Opacity" layer still activate, use the Move Tool and click once outside the canvas area to select the whole layer. Click on copy, then click on deselect, and hide the "Full Opacity" layer. Finally, activate the "Erase" layer and run alpha mask. Make sure to check on "Mix Alpha" and tada! If necessary run alpha mask again to erase further if you wish, I did. Still with me so far? Good! Let's keep the creative juice flowing. Step 6) Unhide the "Dispersion" layer, using the Move Tool, click once outside the canvas to select the whole layer, copy it, and activate the "Transparency" Layer by clicking on it. Now, launch the Brush Factory again. Again, "Use clipboard for background" to be your guide. Using the Brush folder, click on "Add Brush" and select a different brush to use. Change the "Color" to white because we want to keep some of this exaggeration. A word of advice: instead of keeping the same size, play with different size and brush rotation. Make it creative and interesting. Uniformity is boring! I tried to recreate a "wavy" dispersion effect like the titular graphic. Step 7) Now here comes the magic! While still on "Transparency" layer, bucket fill the layer with black. Play with the tolerance slider. Nifty, nifty feature...thanks Rick! Step 😎 Select the "Transparency" layer by the method you have learned, hide this layer, and activate the "Dispersion" layer. Run alpha mask and behold your effect! This technique was used in the creation of the two images below.

OBJ files are used for 3D applications such as 3dsMax, C4D, or Blender. I would recommend you use PDN to create the height map and import those into a 3D program of your choice (I personally recommend Blender as it is free) and use the node set up to create textures of the OBJ file you want to manipulate. While Photoshop does have a 3D plug-in, it cannot really manipulate in real time like specialized 3D applications such as Blender.

It still sounds like the OP was complaining about how PDN computes the overlay mode, which was why I suggested the BlendModes plug-in to see if the OP could find the different blending mode that would work for the OP.

Question for the OP...have you tried the BlendModes plugin?