Recommended Photoshop Plugins

[BZChi7d]

Any plugins you guys find interesting ?

Gotta mention onOne's - exquisite suite! try it

[Colin Southern]

I get all excited by what I read in the ads - download and install plugins - and then usually just go back to doing it all in Photoshop.

[jerryk]

What may be beautiful to one person may not be beautiful to another. Not only in love, but in PS actions. There are some actions that I like and others I do not. A lot of actions I create myself. Drop shadows, borders, lighting effects, etc. Many " grunge shots " I would purchase, or get from free sites that offer downloads. Some that I download I may alter to make it look like what I want to use.

[larsjames]

I use Topaz Simplify to create painterly effects on my images and Neat Image as a better noise reducer than the noise filter in PS.

I'll agree with previous posts that most plugins aren't worth the money, but the two mentioned above work well for my image styling.

[Dave Humphries]

I'd match your Neat Image and raise you Focus Magic.

Not that I'm a gambling man

[Colin Southern]

I'd match your Neat Image and raise you Focus Magic.

Not that I'm a gambling man

I have Focus Magic built into my camera - I point it at a scene - 1/2 press the shutter release - and it focuses like magic

OK, slightly tongue-in-cheek, but there IS a message there

[Dave Humphries]

OK, slightly tongue-in-cheek, but there IS a message there

Yes, IS helps too

[Colin Southern]

Yes, IS helps too

Or a good tripod!

[The Blue Boy]

Got to agree with Colin here. Get it right first.

For me plugins, filters and downloadable actions are nothing that you can't work out for yourself.

[plugsnpixels]

This topic caught my eye because I love plug-ins (going back to the early '90s and Alien Skin's Black Box!).

While it is true that some plug-in effects can be duplicated in Photoshop on its own, this is not entirely true (some plug-ins create effects you're just not going to make yourself).

Either way, you need both the chops and the time to manually create such effects, and in a production environment (for instance), time savings is most important.

Anyway, if you want to see screenshots and custom examples of most plug-ins on the market and read a free plug-ins ezine, visit here.

[larsjames]

Got to agree with Colin here. Get it right first.

For me plugins, filters and downloadable actions are nothing that you can't work out for yourself.

There are a few pearls among the swine.

[plugsnpixels]

And it depends on whether you are doing corrective or creative effects.

For instance, in the correction category, I find PS's Reduce Noise filter basically useless and as such HAVE to have a plug-in for serious noise reduction.

And PS's various artistic filters have been around so long you've seen them used *everywhere*.

[KentDub]

I use Nik Software's Sharpener Pro for my input sharpening and output sharpening. I use photoshops built-in sharpening tools/filters for retouching.

http://www.niksoftware.com/sharpenerpro/usa/entry.php

I'm currently looking for a good optics correction plugin. I came across the DXO Optics Pro, which shows one on their website, but when I downloaded the trial I couldn't find it inside their application!

[plugsnpixels]

Kent, look under "Lens distortion repair" here for some potential options.

[Colin Southern]

And it depends on whether you are doing corrective or creative effects.

For instance, in the correction category, I find PS's Reduce Noise filter basically useless and as such HAVE to have a plug-in for serious noise reduction.

Although I guess it begs the question of why the shots have so much noise in the first place they require filtering?

[plugsnpixels]

Well, high ISO shots taken under rough lighting conditions will have noise...

[Colin Southern]

Well, high ISO shots taken under rough lighting conditions will have noise...

What kinds of things (/ situations) are you shooting (in)?

[plugsnpixels]

I don't personally have a big problem with noise, except perhaps in my old film scans and certain consumer-quality camera JPEGs.

I do have a DLSR example sent to me by another person posted here (a nighttime storm exposure, heavily cropped at 100%). And I've seen low-light interior images shot by still others that needed clean-up work.

So noise does happen, as many will surely have experienced.

[Colin Southern]

So noise does happen, as many will surely have experienced.

For sure. In a digital context though it's usually due to severe under-exposure; most modern sensors capture around 12 stops of range - the most we ever seem to use in normal photography is 6, which usually means that one would have to under-expose by around 3 stops before one had to lift shadow detail from around the noise floor.

Just curious

[plugsnpixels]

Exactly. It's when we step out of the optimal range for some reason that the trouble starts ;-). I don't find it necessary to treat the majority of my photos.