MetaTools, Inc. (1996) KPT Vector Effects Product Info. www.metatools.com/vex/vexinfo.html
KPT Vector Effects is a collection of plug-in modules that work with both Illustrator and Macromedia FreeHand, versions 5.0 and later. Originally developed under the name Sree’s Cool Tools, the 13 Vector Effects filters go well beyond the largely uninspired and underpowered plug-ins that Adobe distributes with Illustrator 5.5. Few Illustrator users will want to miss out on this imaginative and thoughtful collection of object-oriented plug-in tools, and though FreeHand folks derive slightly less benefit — one Vector Effects filter (ShatterBox) is incompatible with FreeHand and a couple others duplicate functions already found in the venerable draw program — KPT Vector Effects is still a worthwhile purchase.
Interface of Your Dreams
The Vector Effects interface is easily the most thoughtful I’ve come across in any new program this year. I’m not talking about screen fluff — like the animated buttons — but rather the extraordinary care that’s been taken to anticipate your needs and address a wide range of working habits. Each filter dialog box contains a wire-frame preview of the selected object, which you can zoom and scroll. Like Illustrator and FreeHand, Vector Effects offers multiple levels of undo and redo, going so far as to implement the keyboard equivalents native to the host program. As with KPT Convolver, you can adjust numerical values by dragging from buttons that serve as invisible slider bars. But the values are absolute, not relative, giving them real meaning and providing you with a point of reference. Better still, you can edit the values from the keyboard by tabbing from one option to the next, and you can display all numerical values at once by pressing option-tab.
But that’s just the beginning. As with Kai’s Power Tools, you can select from predefined settings inside many filters and save your own settings for later use.
Unlike any previous filter collection, however, Vector Effects lets you preview predefined effects in a graphical pop-up menu. You can even preview the effect of the settings on selected objects by pressing the key. And for those folks who appreciate built-in help, Vector Effects provides balloon help right inside the dialog box (though, alas, there is no keyboard equivalent). The balloons even point you to specific pages in the documentation.
The Filter Lineup
The filters themselves are varied and generous, taking up where your illustration application’s native capabilities leave off. The Warp Frame filter, for example, allows you to bow selected objects inward and outward, an effect sometimes known as enveloping. The Vector Distort filter lets you apply multiple distortion effects, including twirling, spherizing, and zigzags. You can even integrate saved effects created with the Warp Frame filter. Both Warp Frame and Vector Distort work their magic without adding a single point to your paths. Rather, they distort the segments by intelligently modifying the positions of Bezier control handles. This is object manipulation at its best.
Other Vector Effects filters offer 3-D rotating, perspective, and beveling effects, as well as automatic shadows, flares, and calligraphic outlines. But Illustrator users will probably most appreciate the point-positioning and color-correction filters. Using the Point Editor plug-in, you can specify the precise coordinate location of any point in any path. You can even reposition control handles. The ColorTweak filter brings Photoshop-like color-modification controls to the world of objects. You can change hue, saturation, and brightness, and even convert a color illustration to gray scale. You’ll never have to redraw a blend again. (For the record, FreeHand 5 provides all the coordinate-point-positioning options you need, as well as a fairly robust collection of color-correction commands.)
If you find any fault with Vector Effects, it will likely he in the areas of previewing, gradients, and grouping. Vector Effects’ preview capabilities are good but leave room for improvement. Only a couple of dialog boxes permit you to view effects in the context of deselected artwork. Most filters are limited to wireframe previews, and the ShatterBox filter doesn’t even go that far. Some folks may also be disappointed by the fact that the filters ignore gradient fills. For example, you won’t be happy with shadows created against gradient backgrounds, and you can’t edit gradient fills with the ColorTweak filter. The filters don’t always group objects as you’d expect. For example, if you apply the ShadowLand filter to grouped objects, the shadows become part of the group. I’d prefer the shadows to be a separate group — perhaps within a larger group that includes the original objects — so you could transform the original objects and the shadows independently. Another filter. Sketch, would save steps if it grouped interior shapes separately from traced outlines so you could easily manipulate the colors of each later on. And finally, like Illustrator’s Pathfinder filters, KPT Vector Effects requires that your Mac be equipped with an FPU. But these are minor flaws you can anticipate and work around.
The Last Word
Blessed with an inspired interface and a wealth of helpful and well-executed capabilities, KPT Vector Effects brings a new level of functionality to the drawing experience. It lets you edit objects with the same degree of flexibility that you previously may have associated strictly with pixel-based images. I find these filters more useful than any other filter collection I’ve seen. Adding Vector Effects to your favorite draw program brings as many new features as a whole-number upgrade, and that’s saying a lot.
McClelland, Deke. (October 1995). KPT Vector Effects 1.0. Macworld. (pg. 72).
MetaTools, Inc.
Applications
out of 10 (0 vote)
56 / 
2014-04-14 / 
eaa61f689cd78e39b7422d7f324de8473225fa31 / 
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vector_effects_1.0.sit
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
SheepShaver
