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. Today, however, some very sophisticated plugins have been produced that aim at complicated image retouching that would otherwise have been 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. Inside the Adobe Photoshop folder, there is a folder called Plug-Ins. Simply place the plugins there. Next time you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have your new plugins as an entry. If Photoshop was already running, when you installed the plugins, you will have to quit Photoshop and launch Photoshop anew. Actually you don't have to install the plugin into 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.
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.
In general there are two kinds of plugins: 1. Retouching plugins. 2. Effects plugins. Retouching plugins tend to manipulate what is already in the photo without adding anything new. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the photograph. Sharpening, exposure or saturation would be examples of retouching. Effects examples could be lens flare, bokeh or raster. The distinction is not always so easy. What about lens correction? Is that a retouch or an effect? It is a retouch if you correct barreling or pincushion, but if you make a regular image look like a fish eye photo, it is an effect.
Third party plugin support was first introduced in Photoshop 2 in 1991. Three years later Joe Ternasky released Filter Factory for writing third party plugins. Three years after Filter Factory appeared, Alex Hunter released Filter Meister as an improvement over Filter Factory. Many of today's plugins are written in Filter Meister. In 2007 a novel approach to plugin development was released as Filter Forge. Filter Forge does not build stand alone plugins, but only plugins that run within Filter Forge. 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 available for the Windows platform.
Installing plugins into Photoshop is pretty easy. Inside the Adobe Photoshop folder, there is a folder called Plug-Ins. Simply place the plugins there. Next time you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have your new plugins as an entry. If Photoshop was already running, when you installed the plugins, you will have to quit Photoshop and launch Photoshop anew. Actually you don't have to install the plugin into 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.
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.
In general there are two kinds of plugins: 1. Retouching plugins. 2. Effects plugins. Retouching plugins tend to manipulate what is already in the photo without adding anything new. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the photograph. Sharpening, exposure or saturation would be examples of retouching. Effects examples could be lens flare, bokeh or raster. The distinction is not always so easy. What about lens correction? Is that a retouch or an effect? It is a retouch if you correct barreling or pincushion, but if you make a regular image look like a fish eye photo, it is an effect.
Third party plugin support was first introduced in Photoshop 2 in 1991. Three years later Joe Ternasky released Filter Factory for writing third party plugins. Three years after Filter Factory appeared, Alex Hunter released Filter Meister as an improvement over Filter Factory. Many of today's plugins are written in Filter Meister. In 2007 a novel approach to plugin development was released as Filter Forge. Filter Forge does not build stand alone plugins, but only plugins that run within Filter Forge. 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 available for the Windows platform.
No comments:
Post a Comment