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. Photoshop has since begun to offer functions similar to some of the old plugins, 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. All you have to do is place the plugins inside the Plug-Ins folder. When you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will show your new plugins. 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 want. 2. Run Photoshop. 3. Go to the menu Edit and open it. Move the mouse to the bottom of the Edit menu, to Preferences. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. In Preferences go to Plug-Ins or Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk, depending on your Photoshop version. 5. Activate Additional Plug-Ins Folder by checking it. 6. Click the button Choose to browse to your desired alternative Plug-Ins folder.
That's it! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Exit the preferences and relaunch Photoshop. When you relaunch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have the plugins in your alternative plugins folder listed at the bottom of the menu.
Plugins generally fall into two categories: 1. Plugins for photo retouching. 2. Effects plugins. Retouching plugins don't add anything new to the photo, but rather manipulate what is already there. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the image. Retouching examples could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. Lens flare, bokeh or raster would be examples of effects. Of course there are cross overs. 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. In 1994 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, premises 64bit support will be released some time 2013. Filter Meister is only available for the Windows platform.
Installing plugins into Photoshop is pretty easy. Adobe Photoshop installs with a folder called Plug-Ins inside the Photoshop folder. All you have to do is place the plugins inside the Plug-Ins folder. When you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will show your new plugins. 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 want. 2. Run Photoshop. 3. Go to the menu Edit and open it. Move the mouse to the bottom of the Edit menu, to Preferences. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. In Preferences go to Plug-Ins or Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk, depending on your Photoshop version. 5. Activate Additional Plug-Ins Folder by checking it. 6. Click the button Choose to browse to your desired alternative Plug-Ins folder.
That's it! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Exit the preferences and relaunch Photoshop. When you relaunch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have the plugins in your alternative plugins folder listed at the bottom of the menu.
Plugins generally fall into two categories: 1. Plugins for photo retouching. 2. Effects plugins. Retouching plugins don't add anything new to the photo, but rather manipulate what is already there. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the image. Retouching examples could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. Lens flare, bokeh or raster would be examples of effects. Of course there are cross overs. 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. In 1994 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, premises 64bit support will be released some time 2013. Filter Meister is only available for the Windows platform.
About the Author:
Powerretouche offers a suite of 26 Photoshop plugins for photo retouching.