PhotoShop - Photos Made "Real"?

Ever wanted to pull an object from a photo? A new effect, "PhotoShop," offers a great concept - an ability to pull real objects from photos or push objects into them. What you see in the promotional video looks great, but the dirty work has been accomplished long in advance.

"PhotoShop" relies on a gimmick that allows you to visually switch one photo, which has an object in the picture, for another that lacks the object. With some minimal misdirection, the switch should be mostly undetectable, and at the end, the switching mechanism is long out of play. At the end, you can give away the photo as a souvenir - there's nothing to find.

With this system, you can produce a coin, key, sponge ball, piece of gum, deck of cards and more. You can also inflate a balloon in its picture. The process can be reversed to "push" objects such as coins or keys into a photo. Here, you employ the gimmick in reverse. Of course, with the photos switched, you'll need to rely on time honored methods of vanishing or producing objects, which vary in difficulty.

You can use "Photoshop" as an opener to squeeze a coin out of a photo to start a coin routine. Or even use it as a finale to pull a folded card out of the photo to reveal a signed card after an ambitious routine.

"PhotoShop" is fully customizable and offers endless possibilities. The kit comes with a photo of a chocolate Kiss that vanishes from the photo. The manufacturer sells other photos separately at a reasonable price, however, you can think up and make your own, which should not be difficult with a computer and printer. An accompanying DVD offers thorough and clear instructions.

With "Photoshop," there's lots to like. I can see this working in lots of close-up sets.

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