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.. Recently a number of plugins have been produced, that do sophisticated image retouching that would otherwise be 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.
But how does one install plugins into Photoshop, you may ask? 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. 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. You can actually install the plugins in a different folder than Photoshop's Plug-Ins folder. This is how to set Photoshop up to load plugins from any folder you like:
1. First create the alternative plugins folder where ever you like and call it what ever you want.. 2. Launch Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. Move the mouse to the bottom of the Edit menu, to Preferences. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. Plug-Ins might be called "Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk" depending on your Photoshop version. Go there. 5. Check Additional Plug-Ins Folder to activate it. 6. Use the Choose button to browse to your alternative plugins folder.
That's all there is to it! This alternative plugins folder can now be used to store all your personal plugins. 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. 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. 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 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. Simply place the plugins there. Next time you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have your new plugins as an entry. 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. You can actually install the plugins in a different folder than Photoshop's Plug-Ins folder. This is how to set Photoshop up to load plugins from any folder you like:
1. First create the alternative plugins folder where ever you like and call it what ever you want.. 2. Launch Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. Move the mouse to the bottom of the Edit menu, to Preferences. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. Plug-Ins might be called "Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk" depending on your Photoshop version. Go there. 5. Check Additional Plug-Ins Folder to activate it. 6. Use the Choose button to browse to your alternative plugins folder.
That's all there is to it! This alternative plugins folder can now be used to store all your personal plugins. 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. 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. 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 for Windows.
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