AKVIS Points Review: Features, Workflow, and Best Settings

AKVIS Points Review: Features, Workflow, and Best Settings

Overview

AKVIS Points is a digital pointillism/artistic effect plugin and standalone app that converts photos into images made of discrete dots (points) resembling pointillist painting. It focuses on simulating hand-placed dots with control over dot size, shape, placement, color sampling, and texture to produce painterly or stylized results.

Key features

• Point generation controls: Adjust dot size, density, and randomness to vary the level of detail and grain.
• Shape and stroke options: Choose circular dots, irregular blobs, or custom shapes; control orientation and rotation where available.
• Color sampling modes: Use exact source colors, averaged sampling, or palette-based remapping for stylized color schemes.
• Edge preservation: Settings to emphasize image contours so facial features and important edges remain legible.
• Background and canvas effects: Simulate paper/canvas textures and blend points with underlying backgrounds.
• Masking and selective processing: Paint masks to protect or target areas for point effect application.
• Multiple presets and batch processing: Ready-made presets for common looks and batch export to process many images.
• Integration: Available as a standalone and as a plugin for Photoshop and other editors (version-dependent).

Workflow (step-by-step)

1. Open your image in AKVIS Points (or call it from Photoshop).
2. Choose a preset close to your desired look (e.g., fine detail, painterly, bold dots).
3. Set overall dot size and density — smaller, denser dots for detail; larger, sparser dots for painterly effect.
4. Adjust shape and randomness to avoid mechanical patterns.
5. Fine-tune color sampling: exact colors for photorealism; averaged or palette-mapped for stylistic results.
6. Enable and tweak edge preservation to keep important features clear.
7. Add or edit masks to selectively apply the effect (e.g., keep eyes sharp, make background softer).
8. Choose canvas or texture options and set blending or opacity with the original image as needed.
9. Preview at full size, make iterative adjustments, then apply.
10. Export or continue editing in your host app; use batch mode for multiple images.

Best settings (recommended starting points)

• High-detail portrait: Dot size 2–4 px, density 70–90%, low randomness, edge preservation high, color sampling exact or slightly averaged.
• Painterly landscape: Dot size 6–12 px, density 40–60%, medium randomness, edge preservation medium, color sampling averaged or palette-based.
• Bold graphic look: Dot size 8–20 px, density 20–40%, high randomness, edge preservation low, palette remapping to 5–8 colors.
• Soft background / sharp subject: Apply mask to subject; for subject use small dots (2–5 px) and high edge preservation; for background larger dots (8–15 px) and lower edge preservation.
• Texture-rich canvas: Add subtle paper/canvas texture, blend points 80–95% opacity for a natural result.

Tips & troubleshooting

• Zoom and preview at 100% to check dot behavior around edges and small features.
• Use masks extensively—keeping facial details sharp improves perceived quality.
• Avoid extreme density + large dots (can become blotchy); balance size with density.
• Combine with other AKVIS modules or Photoshop filters (blur, levels, color grading) for refined results.
• For printing, increase resolution before applying effect to keep dots crisp.

Conclusion

AKVIS Points is effective for creating convincing digital pointillism with fine control over dot characteristics, color behavior, and selective processing. Start from presets, then tweak dot size, density, color sampling, and edge preservation to match your image and desired style.