what are the coolest effects and plugins for making art?

[cubsterky]

I just downloaded a huge pack of plugins and I have no idea where to get started.

 

 

[TechnoRobbo]

I hope it wasn't Megalo

 

http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/28270-megalo-virus/?p=408155

[cubsterky]

Omg you're absolutely right!  How do I remove the megalo pack without losing paint.net?

[null54]

Delete the contents of your Effects and FileTypes folders, then run a virus scan.

[Ego Eram Reputo]

^ this +1

 

Always get your plugins from this forum. Never anywhere else.

 

I hope your system is Ok cubsterky. Please do take what null54 said seriously. A virus scan with a good scanner should be a priority right about now.

[Maximilian]

Once you solve any possible virus issues, never forget that this is the only place on the internet that provides safe plugin downloads.

 

Concerning your original question, it very much depends on what you want to achieve. I regularly do landscapes, for which I use plugins that allow me to create geographic features, such as TR's Third Dimension (the soils and mountains! ) and Red ochre's Furblur (to render grassy fields! ). But these are just two out of so many useful tools, and everything depends on each artist's expectations and creativity.

[Cc4FuzzyHuggles]

what are the coolest effects and plugins for making art?

 

What kind of art are you thinking about? Do you want to make photos look like paintings? Or do you want to make abstract art? Or do you just want to make anything that's cool, using paint.net?

 

I personally like the "Clouds" effect and the "Dents" effect. Combine the two for a simple but cool look, first run clouds, then run dents.

Furblur is also a cool effect. You can find the plugin here : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/27058-furblur-update-30th-july-2014/

[ScrapbookWithPDN]

83

 

 

What kind of art are you thinking about? Do you want to make photos look like paintings? Or do you want to make abstract art? Or do you just want to make anything that's cool, using paint.net?

 

I personally like the "Clouds" effect and the "Dents" effect. Combine the two for a simple but cool look, first run clouds, then run dents.

Furblur is also a cool effect. You can find the plugin here : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/27058-furblur-update-30th-july-2014/

Cc, I want to thank you for posting that, along with the link to where that actual plugin is. I didn't see it under "Plugins" and if I did there was simply so much to take in that I somehow didn't even see it.  I just installed it, along with the author's (Red ochre and "Red ochre plugin pack V9") pack all updated for PDN 4.06. and his link here: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/22500-red-ochre-plug-in-pack-v9-updated-30th-july-2014/

 

I, too, now love that effect and am glad I found it EASILY with you posting about it with the link.

I just downloaded a huge pack of plugins and I have no idea where to get started.

I have been using PDN for a few years, now. I figured out a lot by myself but there was and still is SO MUCH MORE that it does You see, so many features that I have and see all of the time, I just don't know HOW they are useful, what to even do with them, or how to work them.

 

I can't always use tutorials as some are for prior versions of PDN and in some cases have a different set of selections than it did have for using it. Also, some are no longer used. So, the thread you started is a good starting point for the latest version of PDN, or potentially a great starting point for a lot of people who wonder the same thing you shared; "Where to get started".

 

Since there is SO MUCH to sort through at this forum, I get bits and pieces here and there. I now also have a notebook I keep by my computer to jot down various functions, how I use it, what it does, how it is useful. With other functions, I either didn't realize it did this or that or it is simply a more recent addition to PDN.

 

It's normal that a newbie or person further trying to figure out PDN doesn't want to stay glued to the forum on any free time they have just to do what might be HOURS of reading to sort through so much, old and new, useful and obsolete information. Having stated that, it says so much about the selflessness of 98% of the moderators who ARE on this forum, night and day, all the time, in between their own daily life of obligations, family, friends, WORK THEY DO GET PAID FOR TO MAKE A LIVING, etc...and their patience (Let's not forget everyone has an off-day, off-week, goes through a not-so-great time period, etc). Some have the patience of Gandhi....or at least the wisdom to be classy, emotionally mature, and a professional about what they post as opposed to what first comes to mind when they read some of the stuff....all of this adds to how PDN, as in "the big picture" of PDN, is such a great software.

 

Pain in the butt it may SEEM to often have to come here a lot to learn more about PDN, the basics, more than the basics, updated plugins, what they do, how they function, etc, it's actually more like an interactive manual for PDN.

 

CstomBrushesMini:http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/18959-how-to-use-custombrushesmini-v19/

 

I just installed, AGAIN (why, if I had a dollar....), another FREE software comparable to PDN, it starts with a "G". "G" and I go way back. If "G" and I we were dating we never would have dated for any long duration--ever. "G" is more like a one night stand for me, few and far between. The only reason I "used" "G" is for the "brushes" function and with layers because it all works very smoothly in "G". One can also adjust the brush sizes in "G" larger than I have been able to in PDN using "CustomBrushesMini" (EFFECTS>TOOLS>CustomBrushesMini)----until recently, that is. In PDN, I now have figured out a way to use a brush, in it's largest form, using AbrViewer.Net (it's most recent version) info also at the link above this paragraph.

 

AbrViewer.Net extracts .png images from all of those endless free .abr files (brushes) saturating the internet. After I extract the .png images from the .abr file I open my selected .png image (brush image) in it's largest form, I then copy and paste it onto its own layer. Next, I choose a color I want it to be on my color palette. After that, go to ADJUSTMENTS on the Menu Bar--Top left area of PDN and select  "ALPHA TRANSFORMATION". One can play with the two sliders to get the result you want from that particular adjustment. (ADJUSTMENTS>ALPHA TRANSFORMATION) while using "Alpha Transformation" I also check the box (by clicking on it) that says:  "REPLACE RGB With Prime Color".....this process seems to also do the job, as long as the .png images are grayish and blackish, which they are 99.9% of the time. If they or any image is not black or is not gray to easily modify its colors, using "black and white" or "Desaturate" (or both?) (ADJUSTMENTS>BLACK AND WHITE...or ADJUSTMENTS>DESATURATE...or both) can make recoloring an image easy. These two ways are the only ways I have figured out how to use brushes within PDN. If there is, yet, another way, or a more simplified way, I haven't figured that out, but, to me, this is still simple. I'm just glad we can use brushes in PDN, and get it to not be merely a "clip art" stamp but to be able to show the depth and different shadowing levels of various brushes.

 

I am getting ready to uninstall and tell "G" to hit the road, again, because if I need to use a "pattern fill" (EFFECTS>FILL), I now know how with PDN. If I want to use a textured background, "G" was great, but now I seem to know how to do the same thing with PDN---almost. I'm 80% there. I'm still figuring that out a little more...and the FURBLUR tool is incredible....."G" also feels like it takes forever to load upon opening up the program. Before I do I am going to compare dropshadowing effects.

 

I also love an effect called DISSOLVE (Effects>Distort>Dissolve)

 

I'm still figuring out how to better use the texture effect (EFFECTS>ARTISTIC>TEXTURE)

 

 

The BlendModesPlus (EFFECTS>TOOLS>BLENDMODESPLUS) has been very useful for what I am now doing, as well. Once an image is selected to "blend" with another image a drop down menu can be used for NUMEROUS different effects....the only thing that would make it perfect is if an option could be used on the UI of BlendModesPlus to prevent the selected image from STRETCHING, often disproportionately, the same size as the image it is used with. I guess the thing to do is to find out the size of the image used in BLENDMODESPLUS then blend it with another image or colored layer the same size. It just takes slightly longer to go that route, but, hey, not a big deal.

 

 

Why not tell us what you would like to use it for, other than many things, naturally, but, what did you initially have in mind or pondered PDN usefulness for?

[ScrapbookWithPDN]

PS, only when posting on this forum I seem to have two digit and three digit little 'number friends' that refuse to leave me. I don't know what they are all about or why, but, for any who are wondering, you're not the only one but they have nothing to do with anything I type. I have ran virus scanner, the full Norton and then some....they still show up when I post here. Oh, well. I now ignore them.

95

[ospinag]

On 10/21/2015 at 10:10 PM, Cc4FuzzyHuggles said:

 

What kind of art are you thinking about? Do you want to make photos look like paintings? Or do you want to make abstract art? Or do you just want to make anything that's cool, using paint.net?

 

I personally like the "Clouds" effect and the "Dents" effect. Combine the two for a simple but cool look, first run clouds, then run dents.

Furblur is also a cool effect. You can find the plugin here : http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/27058-furblur-update-30th-july-2014/

 

Hi! I want to make a photo look like a painting! what is the appropiate plugin? I actually want to make the painting, but first I need a guide, so my idea was to create it with paint.net first. The are commercial services that could do this, but I want to know if I can do it with paint.net.

 

Thanks for replying!

[Ego Eram Reputo]

No plugins required! Try these steps,

1. Effects > Distort > Dents. Set the Scale to half of the default value (around 6.75). Set the Refraction to 15. What you're trying to do with these settings is to give any straight edges a bit of an organic feel by introducing a bit of "wobble".
2. Effects > Artistic > Oil Painting. Lower the brush size & set the Coarseness above 200. Actual values here will depend on the detail in your image.

If you want the image to be even more chunky. Apply the Oil Painting effect again using Ctrl and F.