SolarCell

What it does

SolarCell is a plug-in filter for paint programs. It draws suns in a fantasy style. You can make suns with coronas, halos, rainbows, and swirling surface detail.

How to install

Illustrated installation instructions are online.

To use this software, you need a paint program which accepts standard Photoshop 3.02 plugins.

Just put the plug-in filter into the folder where your paint program expects to find it. If you have Photoshop, the folder is Photoshop:Plugins:Filters or Photoshop:Plug-ins. You must restart Photoshop before it will notice the new plug-in. It will appear in the menus as Filters->Flaming Pear->SolarCell.

Most other paint programs follow a similar scheme.

If you have Paint Shop Pro: you have to create a new folder, put the plug-in filter into it, and then tell PSP to look there.

PSP 7:

Choose the menu File-> Preferences-> File Locations... and choose the Plug-in Filters tab. Use one of the "Browse" buttons to choose the folder that contains the plug-in.

The plugin is now installed. To use it, open any image and select an area. From the menus, choose Effects->Plug-in Filters->Flaming Pear->SolarCell.

PSP 8, 9, and X:

Choose the menu File-> Preferences-> File Locations... In the dialog box that appears, choose Plug-ins from the list. Click "Add." If you are using PSP 8 or 9, click "Browse". Now choose the folder that contains the plug-in.

The plugin is now installed. To use it, open any image and select an area. From the menus, choose Effects->Plugins->Flaming Pear->SolarCell.

Controls

When you invoke SolarCell, a dialog box will appear:

There are several controls for each of the five elements in a sun...

The sun

Flares

Diffraction spikes

The halo

The bow

...and a few other controls that affect the whole image.

1. The sun
The sun's disk is normally filled with fiery swirls, but it can also be a flat color, or black like an eclipse.  Sun disk popup menu lets you choose the sun disk type. Color Button This button lets you choose the sun's color. Radius The size of the sun. The remaining disk controls only affect the fiery-swirls disk. Cold/Hot Biases the sun's color toward cold (blue) or hot (red) hues. Swirl count Swirls in the lumpy pattern make it look more like fire. This control set the number of swirls. Swirl Size Set the size of the swirls. If the swirls are large enough to overlap, interesting patterns appear. Setting this slider to a high value may take a very long time to produce a result. Smear Larger values produce longer streaks in the swirls. Detail Sets the overall scale of the lumpy pattern on the sun's surface. Monopoles and Vortices: You can have two types of swirls. Monopoles are streaks radiating from a point. Vortices are spiral whirlpools.		sun disk popup color button monopole vortex

2. Flares
The flares are jets of flame shooting out from the edge of the sun,  Color button Sets the flares' color. Count Sets how many flares there are. Radius Sets the size of flares. Width Sets the width of the individual flares. Detail adjusts the lumpiness of the flares. Brightness Adjusts the overall brightnes of the flares. Orientation control Determines the clustering of the flares. It works like the control for the diffraction spikes, explained above.		sun with flares

3. Diffraction spikes
In real-life photographs, diffraction spikes appear around bright lights due to flaws in the optics. SolarCell draws these spikes to produce the illusion of glaring brightness. Color button Sets the color of the spikes. Count Sets the number of spikes. Radius Sets the spikes' length. Width Sets the spikes' width. Brightness Sets the overall brightness of the spikes. Gamma Changes the contrast of the spikes to produce a softer or harder appearance. Diffraction For a more realistic appearance, this control lets you add stripes of subtle colors across the spikes. At zero, there are no stripes. At 100, the stripes are at their most prominent. Diffraction Scale Sets the width of the color stripes.		sun with spikes
Orientation control Adjusts the direction and grouping of the spikes. It works like this: Spikes will tend to lie along the same angle as the control's blue line. The further the blue dot is from the center, the more the spikes with line up. For example: if you place the blue dot in the center of the control, the spikes will be dispersed all around the sun. If you drag the blue dot all the way to the edge of the circle, then the spikes will all cluster together at the same angle. Experiment and see.		orientation control

4. The halo
The halo is a bright circle of color around the sun. It helps to convey an impression of brightness and of air between the sun and the observer. Color button Sets the halo's color. Radius Sets the width of the halo. The radius is added to the sun's size, so you can change the size of the sun and the halo will move with it. Brightness Adjusts the contrast of the halo so it can taper off slowly or rapidly.		sun with halo

5. The bow
The bow is a rainbow around the sun. When it's bright, it produces a fantasy-like effect. When it's dim, it lends a subtle variation of hue.  Radius This is the bow's radius, but it is not added to the sun's radius. The bow radius can be less than the suns' radius. This way, the bow can overlap the sun, which is sometimes useful. Width The bow's width. Bow brightness Sets the brightness. Bow Blur Sets how much the colors blur together. When this control is turned up high, the bow will have subtle colors like those seen around the moon on a partly cloudy night. The checkbox Reverses the order of colors in the bow.		sun with bow

6. Other controls
Dice This randomizes the settings. Click it as much as you want to see different effects. Random seed. This changes only the arrangement of all the random elements, like the spikes, corona jets, and the sun disk surface. MasterBrite A master brightness control for the whole image. Position of Sun Reposition the sun by clicking anywhere in the preview area. Glue mode Lets you combine the sun with the underlying image in various ways. Modes other than "normal" produce special effects. "Composite" makes the sun opaque, and everything else brightens the underlying image. Plus, % and minus buttons: If the selected image area is larger than the preview are, these buttons will let you zoom in and out . You can also reposition the preview by dragging it around; your cursor will turn into a hand. Auto Preview When this box is checked, the preview automatically updates whenever you move any control. Turn it off if you want to save time. Load preset SolarCell comes with some presets, which are files containing settings. To load one, click this button and browse for a preset file. Save preset When you make an effect you like, click this button to save the settings in a file.  Undo un-does the last change you made to the settings.  Three more buttons: OK  Applies the effect to your image. Cancel  Dismisses the filter, and leaves the image unchanged. Register Allows you to type in a registration code.		dice random seed glue mode load preset save preset undo

Hints If all four color controls -- sun, spike, halo, and corona -- are similar, then results are realistic. Using vivid, unrelated colors produces a surreal effect. Updates and hints are online at http://www.flamingpear.com/solarcell.html .

Version History Version 1.6 June 2007 Fixes a problem where the plug-in wouldn't remember its registration when it was installed in one user account but activated in another. Version 1.5 May 2004 Works in 16-bit-per-component color. Version 1.35 December 2003 Recordable as a Photoshop action. Version 1.32 February 2003 Fixes a crash that could happen when using the menus under Windows XP. Version 1.31 December 2002 Fixes the appearance of text in the interface when running under Mac OS X 10.2.3 . Version 1.3 September 2001 Adds an Undo button. Version 1.2 December 2000 The Compositing glue mode now works properly in layers.  Version 1.1f January 2000 Fixes a crash that sometimes happened with ImageReady on Macintosh.  Version 1.1e  November 1999 Fixes strange bow colors that may appear when SolarCell is used with some paint programs.  Version 1.1d  July 1999 Improves compatibility with non-Photoshop paint programs.  Version 1.1c  May 1999 Fixes a bug which sometimes caused the color buttons to crash.  Version 1.1b  May 1999 Fixes a slow startup bug which caused SolarCell to run very slowly the first time it was used. Version 1.1  April 1999 The first public release.

How to Purchase

You can place an order online here. A secure server for transactions is available.

If you prefer, you can place an order offline by using the "Register" program that comes with the software.

Purchasing the software removes the time limit. You will get an unlocking code by email in a message titled "Thanks for your payment."

Questions

Answers to common technical questions appear on the support page, and free upgrades appear periodically on the download page.

Trouble with your order? Orders are handled by Kagi, which can be reached at admin@kagi.com .

For bug reports and technical questions about the software, please write to support@flamingpear.com .