Photoshop plugins load into Photoshops Filter menu when Photoshop launches. They add all sorts of extra functions to Photoshop. In the old days Photoshop plugins were just a bunch of weird effects. 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.
It is easy to install plugins into Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop installs with a folder called Plug-Ins inside the Photoshop folder. Simply place the plugins there. Launch Photoshop and the menu Filters will have your plugins listed. The new plugins will show up the next time you launch Photoshop. So if it was running when you installed the plugins, you will have to quit and relaunch Photoshop. The plugins can in fact be installed in any folder you want, not just Photoshop's Plug-Ins folder. To install in any folder you like, follow these guidelines:
1. First make sure your alternative plugins folder exists, otherwise create it where ever you like. 2. Run Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. At the bottom you will find Preferences; go there. 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.
As simple as that! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Close the Preferences and quit Photoshop. When you relaunch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have the plugins in your alternative plugins folder listed at the bottom of the menu.
There are generally two types of plugins: 1. Plugins for photo retouching. 2. Plugins that add effects. Retouching plugins tend to manipulate what is already in the picture without adding anything new. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the image. Examples of retouching could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. Examples of effects plugins could be lens flare, bokeh or raster. 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.
Third party plugin were made possible in 1991 when Photoshop introduced the possibility in Photoshop 2. 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. Currently Filter Meister plugins only support 32bit Photoshop. But Alex Hunter says 64 bit support will come some time in 2013. Filter Meister is only available for the Windows platform.
It is easy to install plugins into Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop installs with a folder called Plug-Ins inside the Photoshop folder. Simply place the plugins there. Launch Photoshop and the menu Filters will have your plugins listed. The new plugins will show up the next time you launch Photoshop. So if it was running when you installed the plugins, you will have to quit and relaunch Photoshop. The plugins can in fact be installed in any folder you want, not just Photoshop's Plug-Ins folder. To install in any folder you like, follow these guidelines:
1. First make sure your alternative plugins folder exists, otherwise create it where ever you like. 2. Run Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. At the bottom you will find Preferences; go there. 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.
As simple as that! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Close the Preferences and quit Photoshop. When you relaunch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have the plugins in your alternative plugins folder listed at the bottom of the menu.
There are generally two types of plugins: 1. Plugins for photo retouching. 2. Plugins that add effects. Retouching plugins tend to manipulate what is already in the picture without adding anything new. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the image. Examples of retouching could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. Examples of effects plugins could be lens flare, bokeh or raster. 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.
Third party plugin were made possible in 1991 when Photoshop introduced the possibility in Photoshop 2. 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. Currently Filter Meister plugins only support 32bit Photoshop. But Alex Hunter says 64 bit support will come some time in 2013. Filter Meister is only available for the Windows platform.
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Sources for this article: Photoshop plugins and this Photoshop plugins