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. Go to the bottom of the Edit menu to Preferences. This will load 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! 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. 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. Retouching examples could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. Lens flare, bokeh or raster would be examples of effects. Of course there are cross overs. 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 shot, it is an effect.
The history of plugins goes back to Photoshop v 2, in 1991, when support for third party plugins was introduced. 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. Ten years after Filter Meister was released, a novel approach to filter 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 for Windows.
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. Go to the bottom of the Edit menu to Preferences. This will load 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! 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. 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. Retouching examples could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. Lens flare, bokeh or raster would be examples of effects. Of course there are cross overs. 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 shot, it is an effect.
The history of plugins goes back to Photoshop v 2, in 1991, when support for third party plugins was introduced. 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. Ten years after Filter Meister was released, a novel approach to filter 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 for Windows.
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