Photoshop plugins, or Photoshop filters as they are also called, add functions to Photoshop. They are automatically loaded into Photoshops Filter menu. 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. 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. 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. Start Photoshop. 3. Go to the menu Edit and open it. Go to the bottom of the Edit menu to Preferences. Open Preferences. 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.
That's all there is to it! You now have an alternative plugins folder where you can store all your personal plugins. Exit the preferences and relaunch 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. Effects plugins on the other hand add, well, effects to the photograph. Examples of retouching 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? 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 Photohop 2. 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 todays 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.
Installing plugins into Photoshop is pretty easy. Adobe Photoshop installs with a folder called Plug-Ins inside the Photoshop folder. 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. 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. Start Photoshop. 3. Go to the menu Edit and open it. Go to the bottom of the Edit menu to Preferences. Open Preferences. 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.
That's all there is to it! You now have an alternative plugins folder where you can store all your personal plugins. Exit the preferences and relaunch 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. Effects plugins on the other hand add, well, effects to the photograph. Examples of retouching 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? 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 Photohop 2. 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 todays 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.
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