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, some very sophisticated plugins have been produced that aim at complicated image retouching that would otherwise have been 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.
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. When you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will show your new plugins. 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 create the alternative plugins folder where ever you like and call it what ever you want.. 2. Launch Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. Go to the bottom of the Edit menu to Preferences. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. In Preferences go to Plug-Ins or Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk, depending on your Photoshop version. 5. Activate Additional Plug-Ins Folder by checking it. 6. Use the Choose button to browse to your alternative plugins folder.
That's 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.
Plugins generally fall into two categories: 1. Plugins for photo retouching. 2. Plugins that add effects. Retouching plugins don't add anything new to the picture, but rather manipulate what is already there. Effects plugins on the other hand add, well, effects to the photograph. Retouching examples 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? 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 were made possible in 1991 when Photoshop introduced the possibility in Photoshop 2. In 1994 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. Currently Filter Meister plugins only support 32bit Photoshop. But Alex Hunter says 64 bit support will come some time in 2013. Filter Meister is only for Windows.
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. When you launch Photoshop, the menu Filters will show your new plugins. 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 create the alternative plugins folder where ever you like and call it what ever you want.. 2. Launch Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. Go to the bottom of the Edit menu to Preferences. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. In Preferences go to Plug-Ins or Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk, depending on your Photoshop version. 5. Activate Additional Plug-Ins Folder by checking it. 6. Use the Choose button to browse to your alternative plugins folder.
That's 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.
Plugins generally fall into two categories: 1. Plugins for photo retouching. 2. Plugins that add effects. Retouching plugins don't add anything new to the picture, but rather manipulate what is already there. Effects plugins on the other hand add, well, effects to the photograph. Retouching examples 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? 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 were made possible in 1991 when Photoshop introduced the possibility in Photoshop 2. In 1994 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. Currently Filter Meister plugins only support 32bit Photoshop. But Alex Hunter says 64 bit support will come some time in 2013. Filter Meister is only for Windows.
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