Alien Skin Software has announced Snap Art 3, the new version of its artistic natural media plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop Lightroom.  

Snap Art turns a photo into a work of art that looks completely handmade.  You make the creative choices while Snap Art takes care of all the tedious work of drawing brush strokes, says the app’s designer, Tom Welsh.

Snap Art can render hundreds of styles and media, such as oil paint, watercolor, pencil sketch, and newly added ones like crayon. Version 3 uses more refined stroke placement, making the subject natural and recognizable, according to Welsh.

Snap Art 3 will be available in August at the Alien Skin web site (http://www.alienskin.com) for US$199.  Owners of Snap Art 1 or 2 may upgrade for $99. Free upgrades will be automatically sent to everyone who purchased Snap Art 2 directly from Alien Skin Software in April or later.

Snap Art 3 is a plug-in and requires one of the following host applications: Adobe Photoshop CS4 or later; Photoshop Elements 7 or later; Photoshop Lightroom 2 or later. Mac users must have an Intel processor and Mac OS X 10.5 or later.  A monitor with 1024×768 resolution or greater is required.