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. Start Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. 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. Activate Additional Plug-Ins Folder by checking it. 6. Now locate your alternative plugins folder by clicking the Browse button.
As simple as that! You now have an alternative plugins folder where you can store all your personal plugins. Exit the preferences and relaunch Photoshop. When you relaunch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have the plugins in your alternative plugins folder listed at the bottom of the menu.
There are generally two types 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 picture. Examples of retouching could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. 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? 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. Start Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. 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. Activate Additional Plug-Ins Folder by checking it. 6. Now locate your alternative plugins folder by clicking the Browse button.
As simple as that! You now have an alternative plugins folder where you can store all your personal plugins. Exit the preferences and relaunch Photoshop. When you relaunch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have the plugins in your alternative plugins folder listed at the bottom of the menu.
There are generally two types 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 picture. Examples of retouching could be sharpening, exposure or saturation. 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? 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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