Corel KnockOut 2 [Old Version]

by Corel

Product Features

• Sold Individually

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 2 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000094ADH
• Item model number: KO2ENGPCM
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,916 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

KnockOut 2 speeds up the design process and dramatically increases the quality of your photo composites by letting you preserve fine image details that were once impossible to mask precisely. An ideal plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Corel PHOTO-PAINT, or Painter 8, KnockOut 2 fits seamlessly into your workflow.

Unparalleled precision

• New! CMYK color support: work directly with CMYK images instead of converting to RGB and losing color accuracy. This new feature helps ensure that KnockOut 2 fits into any workflow
• New! Zoom tool: gain greater control and flexibility by zooming in on an image at predefined zoom levels using a drop-down list
• New! Touchup tools: perform detailed corrections to masked images with the brush and eraser tools, ensuring your cleaned-up images are virtually indistinguishable from the originals
• Enhanced! Polygonal Line tool: mask large, complex images faster and more easily by using the polygonal mode to define your selection by points or freehand
• Transition Complexity: utilize four settings to describe the amount of detail in the foreground and background area of an image, and create a more precise mask by choosing the setting that’s appropriate for the image

Exceptional speed and productivity

• Enhanced! Adobe Photoshop compatibility: as an Adobe Photoshop plug-in, KnockOut 2 features shortcut keys, menus, and commands similar to those in Adobe Photoshop. This makes the software more intuitive for those who have made Adobe Photoshop an integral part of their tool set
• New! Designed for Mac OS X: KnockOut 2 is designed to run natively on Mac OS X and features the intuitive new Aqua interface. It also runs on Mac OS 8.6 to 9.1
• New! Revert File options: return to an earlier version of an image whenever you want to discard unwanted changes. If the image has never been saved, KnockOut 2 will retrieve it from the host application or file and discard the current image. If the image was previously saved, KnockOut 2 will revert to the last saved state
• Retain the fine details of transparent objects such as fire, glass, and ice.
• Select image elements that were previously impossible to capture including hair.
• Preserve the transparency of shadows and highlights to create truly realistic images.
• New! Multiple Undo/Redo: with up to 99 levels of Undo/Redo, you can go back to different stages of your work rather than starting from scratch. Specify how many Undo or Redo levels you require, and select which shortcut keys you prefer to use for Redo
• Automatic error correction: avoid costly or time-consuming mistakes before they happen. KnockOut 2 automatically prevents you from making selections that will cause errors

Powerful new masking tools

• New! Property Bar: take advantage of quick access to commonly used tools. Auto Outside Object, for example, lets you automatically create an outside selection after having created an inside selection on the image
• Background insert: insert Adobe Photoshop, JPEG, Macintosh PICT and TIFF images as a background after processing the foreground of an image. KnockOut 2 also includes a library of images that can be inserted, or you can import your own images
• Inside Object and Outside Object tools: use the Inside Object tool to draw the marquee selection lines that define the color in the interior of the transition area or the foreground object, and use the Outside Object tool to draw the lines that define the color in the background of the transition area
• Underlay Color Palette: see your masked image on different colored backgrounds by displaying the foreground of a processed image against various colors

Product Description

Knockout 2 speeds up your design process and improves the quality of your digital creations! The simple user interface and easy-to-use keyboard shortcuts speed up your workflow and enhance your design time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty lame software, not what I had in mind, November 28, 2003

By 

Chuck70 (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Corel KnockOut 2 [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

I maintain an online retail catalog. I often take my own photos of the products. I needed image editing software that could isolate objects from their background, so that I could replace the background with something snazzy and showcase the product more professionally. This software sounded like the answer to my dreams. To listen to their propaganda, this is the simplest, most advanced solution to that "Holy Grail" of image editing tasks--cleanly removing main objects from their original settings.

The trouble is, this is a pretty cumbersome, ineffective, and even "unintelligent" program. You go through the correct motions, after slogging through the woefully inadequate online tutorial and manual, and the darn thing fairly butchers the mask/isolate process; it chops up the foreground object as if it had no clue about how to distingush white pixels from light gray. And I am using a high-end graphics tablet with a pen and skirting the edges of the image objects using Knock Out's magnify tool, with surgical precision. The bottom line: the results are poor, and I have better luck simply using the "magnetic lasso" tool that comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements, and even conventional "paint bucket" and "paint brush" tools, combined with a steady hand and the graphics tablet, yield more accurate and predictable results. Maybe one day I'll get the hang of this software, but from where I stand, this thing fell way short of its advertised function. I feel like I was somewhat duped by this rather sloppy-to-use and rather expensive software add-on program.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nightmare - but it works, October 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Corel KnockOut 2 [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

I have been struggling with this thing for 4 days.

1. Book is poorly written. It talks about things you can do, without clearly explaining how. (No details, or examples given!)
2. Help is just the book - again.
3. Tutorial is cumbersome, worst one I have ever come across.
4. However, 30 days phone support is included. The problem is that the techs are not up to speed on this program either. After a phone call, I was able to use the program, in its most basic form. As far a using multiple re-dos, Corel techs didn't know anymore then I did. 5. When a knocked out image is sent back to photoshop - you don't see it as knocked out - you have to drag it into another screen. This is one of those "little" things that the instructions don't cover, that drove me crazy.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Stick with PhotoShop or Paint Shop Pro editing tools, June 3, 2006

By 

W. Fish (Midwest United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corel KnockOut 2 [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

This product is advertised as a "powerful masking" tool that lets you "isolate and separate a detailed foreground object from an image." It is, however, an expensive tool that does not work as well as the tools built into Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. The selection tools within Paint shop, including the magic wand, are far more discriminating than Knockout and require far less touch ups. I can isolate and separate objects from graphics with Paint Shop Pro in 1/10th of the time as Knockout allows and with 10 times the accuracy.

We all want a simpler way to isolate objects from graphics but this just isn't it. Save your money and spend it on other photo editing software plug-ins.