What are Photoshop Plugins?
by Danny Hoyle
Photoshop plugins load into Photoshops 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. Photoshop has since begun to offer functions similar to some of the old plugins, like lens correction and proper 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. All you have to do is place the plugins inside the Plug-Ins folder. 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. This is how to set Photoshop up to load plugins from any folder you like:
1. First make sure you have an alternative plugins folder. Create it where ever you like and call it what you will. 2. Run Photoshop. 3. Open the menu Edit. At the bottom you will find Preferences; go there. This opens the Preferences sub menu. 4. Go to the Plug-Ins Preferences. It may be called Plug-Ins and Scratch Disk, depending on your Photoshop version. 5. Check Additional Plug-Ins Folder to activate it. 6. Click the button Choose to browse to your desired alternative Plug-Ins 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. The plugins in your alternative location will be listed at the bottom of the Filter menu next time you run Photoshop.
In general there are two kinds of plugins: 1. Retouching plugins. 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 photograph. Sharpening, exposure or saturation would be examples of retouching. Effects examples 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? 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. 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. Ten years after Filter Meister was released, a novel approach to filter development was released as Filter Forge. Filter Forge plugins require Filter Forge to run and they are not stand alone. 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 available for the Windows platform.
This article is based on these articles about <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Photoshop-Plugins,-What-Are-They?&id=7634177">Photoshop plugins</a> and this <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/photography-articles/photoshop-plugins-6547349.html">Photoshop plugins</a>
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New Unique Article!
Title: What are Photoshop Plugins?
Author: Danny Hoyle
Email: jan@janesmann.com
Keywords: Photoshop plugins, Photoshop,Digital Photography,Hobbies, arts and entertainment
Word Count: 507
Category: Hobbies
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