Photoshop plugins are small modules that Photoshop loads into the Filter menu at start-up. 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. 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. Inside the Adobe Photoshop folder, there is a folder called Plug-Ins. 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. To install in any folder you like, follow these guidelines:
1. First create the alternative plugins folder where ever you like and call it what ever you want.. 2. Run Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. Move the mouse to the bottom of the Edit menu, to Preferences. Open Preferences. 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. Click the button Choose to browse to your desired alternative Plug-Ins folder.
As simple as that! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Close the Preferences and quit Photoshop. When you relaunch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have the plugins in your alternative plugins folder listed at the bottom of the menu.
In general there are two kinds of plugins: 1. Retouching plugins. 2. Plugins that add effects. Retouching plugins don't add anything new to the photo, but rather manipulate what is already there. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the photo. Sharpening, exposure or saturation would be examples of retouching. 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 photo, it is an effect.
Third party plugin support was first introduced in Photoshop 2 in 1991. 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. In 2007 a novel approach to plugin 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 available for the Windows platform.
Installing plugins into Photoshop is pretty easy. Inside the Adobe Photoshop folder, there is a folder called Plug-Ins. 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. To install in any folder you like, follow these guidelines:
1. First create the alternative plugins folder where ever you like and call it what ever you want.. 2. Run Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. Move the mouse to the bottom of the Edit menu, to Preferences. Open Preferences. 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. Click the button Choose to browse to your desired alternative Plug-Ins folder.
As simple as that! You can now store all your plugins in this alternative plugins folder. Close the Preferences and quit Photoshop. When you relaunch Photoshop, the menu Filters will have the plugins in your alternative plugins folder listed at the bottom of the menu.
In general there are two kinds of plugins: 1. Retouching plugins. 2. Plugins that add effects. Retouching plugins don't add anything new to the photo, but rather manipulate what is already there. On the other hand, effects plugins add, well, effects to the photo. Sharpening, exposure or saturation would be examples of retouching. 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 photo, it is an effect.
Third party plugin support was first introduced in Photoshop 2 in 1991. 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. In 2007 a novel approach to plugin 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 available for the Windows platform.
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