Kai's Power Tools and KPT Vector Effects

Kai's Power Tools was a special effects plug-in series that was formerly published by MetaCreations as a set of must-have graphics filters for Adobe Photoshop. In 1999, MetaCreations divested itself of most of its graphics products, including Kai's Power Tools and companion software KPT Vector Effects. Both products were purchased by Corel.

Corel first released Kai's Power Tools under the title Procreate KPT Effects and eventually added nine new filters that built on the special effects from KPT 5, KPT 6 and KPT 7. The 24 filters formed The KPT Collection, which was available as a plug-in. Corel no longer develops or sell The KPT Collection. In time, The KPT Collection, a 32-bit plug-in, became a free download for PaintShop Pro owners. 

At the height of its popularity, Kai's Power Tools offered a unique and sophisticated filter assortment. The rendering was fast, and custom settings could be saved as presets. However, the nonstandard interface, limited preview sizes and 32-bit-only version soon lost ground to improvements in graphics software.

Some of the filters included:

• KPT Gradient Lab
• KPT Hyper Tiling
• KPT Ink Dropper
• KPT Lightning
• KPT Channel Surfing
• KPT Fluid
• KPT FraxFlame

KPT Vector Effects Is Discontinued

KPT Vector Effects was originally a plug-in set of filters for Adobe Illustrator 7 and 8 for working with 3D vector graphics. Its effects included neon glows, distortions, warps, and shadows. Corel purchased KPT Vector Effects from MetaCreations in 1999 and has since discontinued it. However, KPT Vector Effects 1.5 is occasionally available at Amazon for Windows NT, Windows 95 and 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me and Mac OS 9 and below.