Drop Shadow and other effects, KrisVDM's Plugin Pack (updated 2010-10-26)

[odalet 0]

I've just downloaded your plugins: in fact I was more interested in your source code than in the effects themselves.

And woh! I particularly appreciate the clever (or smart as you tend to prefer this word) use you make of delegates and lambda expressions, especially the definition of a Layer which is just beautiful!

[DRILL 0]

may be you add to drop shadow effect new regulator - transparency shadow,where we can make transparency of the shadow

[KrisVDM 14]

may be you add to drop shadow effect new regulator - transparency shadow,where we can make transparency of the shadow

You can get a transparent shadow with the current version already:

Depending on your exact needs, the first option is to blur the shadow. That blurs the edges of the shadow into full transparency. The shadow itself is not transparent though.

Your second option is to use layers. Copy the layer containing your "object" using the copy button in the layers window. Then select the bottom layer, i.e. the one you copied, not the one that contains the copy. Apply the drop shadow effect to this layer, but make sure that you turn the "Keep original image" option off. The layer will now contain a shadow only, not the "object" that created the shadow. That "object" is however still visible in the layer above it, i.e. the copy you created earlier. Now set the opacity of the layer containing the shadow, that will give you the effect you want. You can do so by editing the options on the layer. Double click the layer in the layers window, leave the blending mode to normal (or experiment with other modes!) and change the opacity.

Hope this helps.

[KrisVDM 14]

And woh! I particularly appreciate the clever [...] use you make of delegates and lambda expressions, especially the definition of a Layer which is just beautiful!

Thanks! You must be the first person to actually look at that source code. I love that you refer to it as "beautiful": I guess some people use paint.Net to create beatiful images, I used it to try to create beatiful code ;-).

[BlingBling 0]

After reading this thread many times, I finally get it to work!!! YAY!!!

I am new to Paint.net and I am a bit slow with getting it to work at frist. :oops:

Big thanks to you Kris!

[heythere 0]

LOL after seeing all the negative comments here I was confident it wouldn't work, but lo and behold I had no problems at all! (And I usually have a low first time try success rate for these kinds of errors.) Thanks, because I can't see why after all these months of using Paint.NET I hadn't gotten drop shadow.

(Oh and Aeonix's post above had me laughing, no offense to anyone)

[P1N3R 0]

Thank you so much for the work you've put into this plugin, it's a huge help

[bluescasters 0]

Very good I did do it and it worked.

[KrisVDM 14]

may be you add to drop shadow effect new regulator - transparency shadow,where we can make transparency of the shadow

Several people asked for this, so I finally decided to implement it. Version 3.3 of the Drop Shadow effect now has a shadow opacity setting.

I've also optimized the effect significantly. On big images with relatively small objects, the effect is now a lot faster, especially when using large widening and blur values.

One recommendation - maybe nonsense: I'd rather do Drop Shadow in the Object submenu, which is not built-in but common if you use popular effects like Feather or Outline Object.

I don't think Stylize is the appropriate place for it - considering the other effects in the menu. "Object" however comes better to my mind.

Makes sense, so did that too.

Download from my download page.

[Goonfella 220]

Just updated. Thanks Chris. I think it was a good idea to move the drop shadow and its always nicer to have separate dll`s. Nice one :wink:

[Sozo 22]

Just updated. Thanks Chris. I think it was a good idea to move the drop shadow and its always nicer to have separate dll`s. Nice one :wink:

Yes, separate DLL's is definitely a plus. Thanks for updating (whoever created this plugin)!

[KrisVDM 14]

whoever created this plugin

That would be me.

Glad you like it.

[Aethec 0]

Funny bug with 3.5 Alpha...

[KrisVDM 14]

Funny bug with 3.5 Alpha...

I haven't tested the effects under the alpha so far. I do intend to update all effects as soon as a 3.5 beta is available.

In the meantime, you might consider reporting this to Rick too.

Edit:

Turns out this was a problem with version 3.1 of my effects. Version 3.3 does not have that problem. If you experience the same problem, I suggest you upgrade to the latest version of my effects.

In fact, I suggest you upgrade even if you don't have the problem. The new version has more features and is a lot faster.

[Zac 117 0]

Thanks, this is really cool

[gosgirl 0]

So nice

[Tabou 0]

Mr. Kris V, You make good plug-ins (drop-shadow, smart-blur and duotones). Thanks

[Chris_Rulez 0]

I downloaded it right, but there is an error:

1 of 1

--------------

File: C:\Program Files\Paint.NET\Effects\Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects.Blurs.dll

Effect Name: Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects.SmartEffect

Full error message: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects.SmartEffect' from assembly 'Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.

[KrisVDM 14]

Could not load type 'Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects.SmartEffect' from assembly 'Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.

Like I said in my original post:

Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects.dll: You allways need this dll. It includes the framework used by the other dll's.

[Chris_Rulez 0]

Could not load type 'Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects.SmartEffect' from assembly 'Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null'.

Like I said in my original post:

Vandermotten.PaintDotNetEffects.dll: You allways need this dll. It includes the framework used by the other dll's.

So how do I get that dll?

[KrisVDM 14]

So how do I get that dll?

It's in the same zip file with the other dll's, and it should be placed in the same destination directory.

[Chris_Rulez 0]

I've done that and still the same problem. Nevermind though, It's not gonna work and I'm tired of taking forever trying to fix plugins :x

[spritemoney 0]

i'll try it now

[brun0 0]

I´m getting a 5-15 sec lag when starting Paint.net 3.5.1 in Windows 7 RC b7260 32-bit with the latest Vandermotten plugins (with all or a single dll). There´s no CPU usage and no plugin load errors, the app just doesn´t respond for 5-15 sec.

My rig:

Pentium Dual Core E2180

3GB RAM

160GB HDD

[KrisVDM 14]

in Windows 7 RC b7260 32-bit

Can you try it on a a released OS? Are you sure that the delay disappears when you delete (or move) the dlls from the effects folder?

So far, I have never seen such behavior, and I have tested on XP 32 bit, Vista 32 bit and Windows 7 64 bit. Anyone else seen this?