The Auto FX Plug-in Suite Gen 1 comprises a number of different suites and plug-ins. When you download the suite, there are four main downloads:

In this review I will discuss all of the components. I will be reviewing this using Adobe Photoshop CC under Windows 7, 64-bit. The entire suite sells for $499.00 with an upgrade price of $299.00.

You can purchase the whole Auto FX Plug-in Suite Gen 1 or separate packages: AutoEye Gen 1, DreamSuite Gen 1, PhotoGraphic Edges Gen 1, or Mystical Suite Gen 1 (or any one of the three products that comprise Mystical Suite Gen 1). By purchasing the Auto FX Plug-in Suite Gen 1, you save a large amount of money over purchasing the components separately. It is an incredible value.

Auto FX Plug-in Suite Gen 1 $499.00
AutoEye Gen 1 $129.00
DreamSuite Gen 1 $199.00
PhotoGraphic Edges Gen 1 $249.00
Mystical Suite Gen 1 $399.00
Mystical Tint Tone and Color Gen 1 $249.00
Mystical Lighting & Ambiance Gen 1 $199.00
Mystical Focus Gen 1 $149.00

The system requirements are:

Windows

OS: XP / Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8, 32 and 64 bit Versions

Memory: 2 GB, Disk Space: 3.7 GB

Photoshop Support: CS, CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6 and Creative Cloud

Macintosh

OS: Mac OS X 10.4 - 10.8.4, (including Lion and Mountain Lion)

Memory: 2 GB, Disk Space: 3.7 GB

Photoshop Support: CS, CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6 and Creative Cloud

To me, as an owner of the earlier version of the programs, one of the most important aspects of this new version is that it installs directly into Photoshop CC. With the prior version, I had to sort of "make it work."

There are constants to all the components such as the interface is structured in the same manner. When you hover over an icon, information about the purpose of the icon will appear. This makes both learning and using the program easy. The different Effect menus change. Some have more options than others. In the various menus are blue bars. When you click on these, you open choices or presets. Again, these vary with the chosen Effect. You can work globally as well as applying the Effect to a particular area of the image through brushes using the Brush Palette. You can stack various Effects using the Layer Palette and control their opacity.

Mystical Suite Gen 1

Let's start with a screenshot of the interface. It has been slightly redesigned since the previous version of Mystical Suite. When you download the Mystical Suite Gen 1, you get the three components which also can be purchased separately. The components are all Gen 1. Having all the components in one interface allows the user to stack or layer Effects and control their opacity. One can work globally or brush on the Effects where desired. This gives incredible flexibility. Thus, for example, one can create a global lighting Effect and, then, add a tint to certain parts of an image. With the plug-ins one can work directly on the image for exact control and placement of the Effect.

One unique aspect is that you can layer different Effects on top of each other, change the opacity, and change the layer order. On the image below, I globally used Misty Light and Warm Colors and, then, brushed on the focus (changed the focus on a portion of the image) with the Focal Brush Effect.

Below are listed the individual filter in the plug-ins. Remember each plug-in can be purchased separately, but you save a lot, by purchasing the suites. Personally of the three components, I use the lighting part of Mystical Lighting and Ambiance the most and have for many years. When I switched to Photoshop CC and decided which filters and plug-ins to install, this was a must for me. However, as I stated previously, I couldn't just install it directly so I had to do a "work around."

New features for Mystical Lighting and Ambiance Gen 1 are some new added filters and some improved ones such as the Rain and Snow Effects. Now you will have "greater control over the size, shape, and depth of each snowflake. With the Rain Effect you can easily control the distance and intensity of each raindrop which now gives the user the ability to add puddling to the ground for a more realistic Rain Effect." In Mystical Tint Tone and Color Gen 1 and in Mystical Focus Gen 1 there is a new "improved foundational code to stabilize its ability to handle images over 7000 pixels."

Each Effect has its own controls and by creating new layers you can mix global and brush on methods. The combinations you can achieve are almost endless. Conceive it-Create it!

One of the improved filters is Rain. The rain effect in the image below was created very quickly. I could have refined it more, but I wanted to show how easy it was to transform a sunny image into a rainy one.

There are many choices available to customize the rain.

Below are the choices available for the Warm Sunlight Effect. This should give you a good idea of how many components can be manipulated. Here you have Light Color, Beam Style, and Atmosphere. The controls in Atmosphere are used to change how the light interacts with the atmosphere and much more.

 

DreamSuite Ultimate Gen 1

As with the Mystical plug-ins, with DreamSuite Ultimate Gen 1 you can work on the whole image (globally) or on parts (with a brush). Below is a list of the Effects that are possible. You can stack Effects and control the layer stack opacity.

These are the originals I will be using to demonstrate some of the Effects.

Below is an example of a Watercolor Effect.

You can determine the surface of the paper as well as the style of the brush in many of the Effects. Below shows Oil Impressionism.

The next gives an example of an image with the Oil Traditional Effect applied.

And lastly the Photo Depth Effect demonstrates how one Effect can have many variables. - Effects, Surface, and Lighting.

While one can create interesting Effects, especially by layering and using a combination of global and brush work, I can't get as excited by Dream Suite Ultimate Gen 1 as I can about Mystical Lighting and Ambiance. I tried out many of the Effects and was not really satisfied by the "Artistic Effects." Here there could be more controls. Also, the response time for an Effect to be created was slower than with other components of the Auto FX Plug-in Suite Gen 1.

AutoEye Gen 1

AutoEye Gen 1 is a program designed to enhance and correct images. "AutoEye Gen 1 now includes improved foundational code to stabilize its ability to handle images over 7000 pixels. AutoEye Gen 1 was created for one click automation. This product does not use standard curves and histograms to adjust images on a global basis within the RGB or CMYK color parameters. As a result of our unique methods the digital image enhancements are easier to attain and yield a higher quality result." [From information on the Auto FX website.] It can be used to automatically rebuild lost data and correct for poor lighting and camera shake. When you look at the last image of Zippy - my wild rabbit - you will see how the detail of his fur has been enhanced enormously.

You work with three panels that have multiple choices.

The image on the left is the original. The image on the right has been enhanced automatically 2 times. Even though this image really didn't have any major issues, AutoEye Gen 1 did perk it up.

However, the Before image below was taken through my glass patio doors of Zippy under the stairs. It was obviously very flat. The After image is created only using the defaults of AutoEye Gen 1. You can see the vast improvement just using the defaults. Actually, until I added this photo of Zippy to the review, I didn't realize how much AutoEye could easily improve an image just using the defaults.

PhotoGraphic Edges Gen 1

PhotoGraphic Edges Gen 1 offers many Effects to add to your finished image. Not only can you add frames, borders, and edges to your image, but you can texture and add Effects to the image itself. PhotoGraphic Edges Gen 1 contains 300 pre-made layouts, 32 of which are new. You can transform the size of your image as well as fit the frame to the image. Thus you can move the image around in the frame. Backgrounds can also be added around edges for a complete package. As with all the other plug-ins, you can stack layers and control their opacity. PhotoGraphic Edges Gen 1 is a lot of fun to use and very versatile.

The various areas offer many choices as well as presets. The first example I will be using will be Burned Edges on an old photo. Once again, notice the number of components that can be manipulated to customize the effect.

Below is an old photo of my grandparents.

Below are two more examples. One basically has choices that will effect both the frames and the image.

The biggest factor for me, since I already owned prior versions of the programs, for switching to Auto FX Plug-ins Suite Gen 1 and its components was the fact that it integrated easily with Photoshop CC. It ran flawlessly. All the plug-ins except DreamSuite Ultimate Gen 1 were very quick to respond. This version is very similar to the previous collection. If you are running Photoshop CC, I recommend that you consider upgrading if you already have the collection. My personal favorites are the Mystical Suite Gen 1 and the PhotoGraphic Edges Gen 1. These two offer unique elements not found easily elsewhere. If you don't own any of these AutoFX Software products, the price of these two alone is greater than the price of the whole suite so you basically get programs for free. For more information and to download a trial version, go to the Auto FX website.