Artlandia has released version 3 of Artlandia SymmetryShop, an Adobe Photoshop plug-in for professional pattern design. SymmetryShop 3 is designed to provide multiple productivity enhancements and markedly simplifies the design workflow by making the plug-in functionality available as a floating Photoshop panel.

SymmetryShop automatically creates the 17 mathematical types of symmetric patterns as well as drop and diamond patterns, grids, gradations, sateens, and other standard repeat systems. The plug-in keeps the image source available for unlimited iterations and refinements throughout any number of Photoshop sessions. The new version purportedly makes this core functionality more easily accessible and adds new features.

As an improvement over previous versions, SymmetryShop 3 is available as a floating panel (similar to the Layers, Channels, Paths, and other standard Photoshop panels) and no longer requires the user to open a special dialog in order to create a pattern or change its properties.

In addition, SymmetryShop 3 supports the Large Document Format and improves performance by letting the user reduce the image size of a pattern on the fly. At the end of the design cycle, the user can rebuild the pattern at full size and quality by pressing a button.

The new SymmetryShop panel also adds buttons that streamline a typical pattern design workflow. These include targeting the seed (motif) layer, selecting the control path, visualizing the area exported as a pattern preset, previewing the exported pattern, and other functions that used to require multiple steps.

Artlandia SymmetryShop 3 runs on Mac OS X and Windows systems. Photoshop CS4 is required to use the floating panel and most new features. In Photoshop 7 through CS3, the plug-in is supported as a legacy dialog. The download-only version of the plug-in costs US$315 or $489 in a value package with Artlandia SymmetryWorks 5, which provides a similar functionality in Adobe Illustrator.

The upgrade from previous versions of SymmetryShop costs US$75 (download). More information about SymmetryShop 3 is available on the Artlandia web site (http://www.artlandia.com).