Photoshop plugins load into Photoshop's 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, 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. Recent version of Photoshop does what some of the older plugins did, like lens correction and black-white conversion.
But how does one install plugins into Photoshop, you may ask? Inside the Adobe Photoshop folder, there is a folder called Plug-Ins. Simply place the plugins there. 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. You can actually install the plugins in a different folder than Photoshop's Plug-Ins folder. To install in any folder you like, follow these guidelines:
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. Check Additional Plug-Ins Folder to activate it. 6. Click the button Choose to browse to your desired alternative Plug-Ins folder.
That's all there is to it! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Close the Preferences and quit Photoshop. Next time you run Photoshop, the menu Filters should have all your personal plugins listed at the bottom.
In general there are two kinds of plugins: 1. Plugins for photo retouching. 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. 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 photo, it is an effect.
Third party plugin support was first introduced in Photoshop 2 in 1991. 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. In 2007 a novel approach to plugin 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 available for the Windows platform.
But how does one install plugins into Photoshop, you may ask? Inside the Adobe Photoshop folder, there is a folder called Plug-Ins. Simply place the plugins there. 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. You can actually install the plugins in a different folder than Photoshop's Plug-Ins folder. To install in any folder you like, follow these guidelines:
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. Check Additional Plug-Ins Folder to activate it. 6. Click the button Choose to browse to your desired alternative Plug-Ins folder.
That's all there is to it! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Close the Preferences and quit Photoshop. Next time you run Photoshop, the menu Filters should have all your personal plugins listed at the bottom.
In general there are two kinds of plugins: 1. Plugins for photo retouching. 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. 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 photo, it is an effect.
Third party plugin support was first introduced in Photoshop 2 in 1991. 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. In 2007 a novel approach to plugin 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 available for the Windows platform.
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