Saturday, February 21, 2009

REVIEW: Alien Skin Image Doctor 2

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I was very disappointed with Image Doctor 2 because much of its functionality is better handled in native Photoshop CS3 or greater. I just couldn't see any value in this program, and definitely think that onOne's ColorTune or SkinTune are going to be more helpful for things like restoring old photos and fixing skin than what this product offers. Here's a quick rundown of its filters and what they do:

Blemish Concealer

If you don't have the healing brush, this might be cool, but for CS3 and beyond this is a VERY cumbersome way to touch up skin because you must make a selection and then open this dialog:

ImgDoc_Blemish

I can't see any benefit to this filter in current versions of Photoshop.

Dust & Scratch Remover

Once again, you are expected to select the dust or scratch prior to running this filter and when you do you don't get a chance to fine tune your adjustments (ala U-Points in Nik Software products).

JPEG Repair

By now I was started to get annoyed with this product because try as I might, I couldn't find a single image where this feature made a difference. I'd love to show you a sample of how great it is, but if you want to fix your JPEG's use their brilliant Blow Up application - not this!

Skin Softener

Either set Clarity to a negative value (up to -100) in Adobe Camera Raw 5.x or Lightroom 2.x or use the Gaussian Blur filter in Photoshop to accomplish the same thing. All this seems to do is ruin your image by putting a Guassian Blur on it without an overlay mode or a mask. What's the point?

Conclusion

The good folks at Alien Skin Software make some good stuff, but this isn't it. Unless you are using Photoshop CS2, I can't see why you'd want this software. If you are itching to spend money though, consider Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete or onOne Software Plug-in Suite instead.

Disclosure

I was provided an evaluation copy for this review. I also get a commission if you use this link to purchase Image Doctor. Please use this link and support the blog – thanks!

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