Photoshop plugins, or Photoshop filters as they are also called, add extra functions to Photoshop. They are automatically loaded into Photoshops Filter menu at start-up. Most plugins focus on effects that are hard to duplicate in Photoshop.. Recently a number of plugins have been produced, that do sophisticated image retouching that would otherwise be impossible or very time consuming in Photoshop. More recent versions of Photoshop has been inspired by some old plugins and does similar things, like lens correction and proper black-white conversion.
Installing plugins into Photoshop is pretty easy. Adobe Photoshop installs with a folder called Plug-Ins inside the Photoshop folder. Place the plugins inside the Plug-Ins folder, and you are done. Launch Photoshop and the menu Filters will have your plugins listed. If Photoshop was already running, when you installed the plugins, you will have to quit Photoshop and launch Photoshop anew. The plugins can in fact be installed in any folder you want, not just Photoshop's Plug-Ins folder. Follow these guidelines to install plugins in any folder you like:
1. First make sure you have an alternative plugins folder. Create it where ever you like and call it what you will. 2. Launch Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. Go to the bottom of the Edit menu to Preferences. Open Preferences. 4. In Preferences go to Plug-Ins or Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk, depending on your Photoshop version. 5. Check Additional Plug-Ins Folder to activate it. 6. Use the Choose button to browse to your alternative plugins folder.
That's it! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Exit the preferences and relaunch Photoshop. Next time you run Photoshop, the menu Filters should have all your personal plugins listed at the bottom.
There are generally two types of plugins: 1. Retouching plugins. 2. Effects plugins. Retouching plugins tend to manipulate what is already in the photograph without adding anything new. Effects plugins on the other hand add, well, effects to the image. Retouching examples could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. Examples of effects plugins could be lens flare, bokeh or raster. Of course there are crossovers. Is lens correction a retouch or an effect, for example? It is a retouch if you correct barreling or pincushion, but if you make a regular image look like a fish eye picture, it is an effect.
The history of plugins goes back to Photoshop v 2, in 1991, when support for third party plugins was introduced. Three years later Joe Ternasky released Filter Factory for writing third party plugins. In 1997 Alex Hunter released Filter Meister as an improvement over Filter Factory and many of today's plugins are written in Filter Meister. Ten years after Filter Meister was released, a novel approach to filter development was released as Filter Forge. Filter Forge plugins require Filter Forge to run and they are not stand alone. Filter Meister plugins are currently only for 32 bit Photoshop, but the developer, Alex Hunter, promises 64bit support will be released some time 2013. Filter Meister is only for Windows.
Installing plugins into Photoshop is pretty easy. Adobe Photoshop installs with a folder called Plug-Ins inside the Photoshop folder. Place the plugins inside the Plug-Ins folder, and you are done. Launch Photoshop and the menu Filters will have your plugins listed. If Photoshop was already running, when you installed the plugins, you will have to quit Photoshop and launch Photoshop anew. The plugins can in fact be installed in any folder you want, not just Photoshop's Plug-Ins folder. Follow these guidelines to install plugins in any folder you like:
1. First make sure you have an alternative plugins folder. Create it where ever you like and call it what you will. 2. Launch Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. Go to the bottom of the Edit menu to Preferences. Open Preferences. 4. In Preferences go to Plug-Ins or Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk, depending on your Photoshop version. 5. Check Additional Plug-Ins Folder to activate it. 6. Use the Choose button to browse to your alternative plugins folder.
That's it! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Exit the preferences and relaunch Photoshop. Next time you run Photoshop, the menu Filters should have all your personal plugins listed at the bottom.
There are generally two types of plugins: 1. Retouching plugins. 2. Effects plugins. Retouching plugins tend to manipulate what is already in the photograph without adding anything new. Effects plugins on the other hand add, well, effects to the image. Retouching examples could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. Examples of effects plugins could be lens flare, bokeh or raster. Of course there are crossovers. Is lens correction a retouch or an effect, for example? It is a retouch if you correct barreling or pincushion, but if you make a regular image look like a fish eye picture, it is an effect.
The history of plugins goes back to Photoshop v 2, in 1991, when support for third party plugins was introduced. Three years later Joe Ternasky released Filter Factory for writing third party plugins. In 1997 Alex Hunter released Filter Meister as an improvement over Filter Factory and many of today's plugins are written in Filter Meister. Ten years after Filter Meister was released, a novel approach to filter development was released as Filter Forge. Filter Forge plugins require Filter Forge to run and they are not stand alone. Filter Meister plugins are currently only for 32 bit Photoshop, but the developer, Alex Hunter, promises 64bit support will be released some time 2013. Filter Meister is only for Windows.
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