Photoshop plugins are small modules that Photoshop loads into the Filter menu at start-up. Almost anything can be done by a plugin and some are very advanced. Today, however, we find on the market a number of plugins that do very sophisticated image retouching that would otherwise have been difficult or 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.
But how does one install plugins into Photoshop, you may ask? 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. When you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will show your new plugins. 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. This is how to set Photoshop up to load plugins from 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. Go to the menu Edit and open it. At the bottom you will find Preferences; go there. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. Go to the Plug-Ins Preferences. It may be called 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 now have an alternative plugins folder where you can store all your personal plugins. 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. Plugins for photo retouching. 2. Plugins that add effects. Retouching plugins don't add anything new to the photograph, but rather manipulate what is already there. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the picture. Sharpening, exposure or saturation would be examples of retouching. Examples of effects plugins 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? If you correct barreling or pincushion, it is a retouch, but if you use it to create the look of a fish eye lens, 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. 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.
But how does one install plugins into Photoshop, you may ask? 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. When you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will show your new plugins. 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. This is how to set Photoshop up to load plugins from 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. Go to the menu Edit and open it. At the bottom you will find Preferences; go there. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. Go to the Plug-Ins Preferences. It may be called 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 now have an alternative plugins folder where you can store all your personal plugins. 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. Plugins for photo retouching. 2. Plugins that add effects. Retouching plugins don't add anything new to the photograph, but rather manipulate what is already there. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the picture. Sharpening, exposure or saturation would be examples of retouching. Examples of effects plugins 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? If you correct barreling or pincushion, it is a retouch, but if you use it to create the look of a fish eye lens, 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. 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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