Alien Skin Software (www.alienskin.com) has announced Eye Candy 7, the new version of its graphic design effects plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. It will be available next month for US$199.

Eye Candy 7 renders realistic effects that are difficult or impossible to achieve in Photoshop alone, such as Fire, Chrome, and the new Lightning, according to Terence Tay, the designer of Eye Candy. The redesigned user interface lets you quickly browse all of the software's effects through icons and instant previews.

Eye Candy 7 contains the new Lightning, Electrify, and Cloud effects. There are over 1,000 presets that handle situations from slick Web interfaces (Chrome, Glass, Perspective Shadow) to logos (Bevel, Brushed Metal, Extrude) to spectacular titles (Chrome, Corona, Fire). Realism sets Eye. Effects like Animal Fur, Smoke, and Reptile Skin are rendered in exquisite detail down to individual hairs, turbulent wisps, and shiny scales.

Owners of any previous version of Eye Candy may upgrade for $99 USD. Free upgrades will be automatically sent to all users who purchased Eye Candy 6 directly from Alien Skin Software in September 2012 or later.

Eye Candy 7 is a plug-in and requires one of the following host applications: Adobe Photoshop CS5 or later; Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 or later. It runs on Mac and Windows systems. On the Mac it requires Mac OS X 10.7 or higher.