Topic: Photoshop Plugins? (Read 10548 times)

Matt3427 · « **on:** October 31, 2007, 10:13:56 pm »

There is a list here of the 5 best photoshop plugins.

The list is obviously a few months old, so I'd like to get some feedback about any new updates or plugins that should be on the list. Or if anything on the current list is simply garbage.

Thanks.

sniper · « **Reply #1 on:** November 01, 2007, 09:38:02 am »

My personal choices would be noise ninja, PKS sharpen and genuin fractals (scrips really) alien skin xenoflex 2, and focus magic. All have proved usefull and reliable. Wayne

ChasP505 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 01, 2007, 03:05:35 pm »

Quote

There is a list here of the 5 best photoshop plugins.

Hmmm... this is a pretty lame list. Four of these look like they might be fun or useful, but the only one I would put on any "Best" list is Noiseware. I work for a large real estate company in the production of their monthly catalog. I process about 50-100 photos a day, submitted by real estate agents with little photographic skill. The PS plugins and filters I rely on to get these photos print ready are Noiseware Pro, Genuine Fractals, PTLens, Nik Sharpener Pro 2 and also Focus Magic. These are the basic workhorse tools I use constantly. I think this group has earned enough respect to be at or near the top of a "Best of" list.

A lot of plugins out there are of limited use and could be replaced by an Action that could be found or created for free.

Mark D Segal · « **Reply #3 on:** November 04, 2007, 02:29:49 pm »

Quote

There is a list here of the 5 best photoshop plugins.

The list is obviously a few months old, so I'd like to get some feedback about any new updates or plugins that should be on the list. Or if anything on the current list is simply garbage.

Thanks.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=149939\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

As it stands, this question isn't formulated in a way that will provide you with the most useful answers. You'll get what people think suits them best, not what is best for you. What are the aspects of digital image processing that are both important to your needs and where you are least comfortable using Photoshop alone? Once that is understand both by you and your audience we can make more relevant suggestions.

Mark

laughfta · « **Reply #4 on:** November 06, 2007, 08:44:33 pm »

I have recently discovered Curvemeister, a plugin that picked up where PS left off with the curves dialog box. You can see and work on all of your image channels in one window, and you can do this in RGB, wgCMKY, Lab, and HSB.

The new version, just released last month, gives you access to masks created from your image in 10 channels--these can be selected, inverted, blurred--just fascinating. Also, this program supports PS's soft proofing, which enables you to actually work on a b/w version of your image on channels, with masks, in any of the color modes. I believe this is a completely new way to do b/w conversions.

The top five have got a lot of play. It would be interesting to hear about some of the less well known plugins as well.

Matt3427 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 08, 2007, 09:45:15 am »

Thanks - this is exactly what I was looking for. We will be incorporating all of your suggestions into a future post on the site.

I'll be continuing to check back here, so if you have others, please share them.

plugsnpixels · « **Reply #6 on:** November 08, 2007, 08:38:40 pm »

You want a big list of plug-ins, look here!

As for that Top 5 list, the Filter Factory effects are cheesy. Extensis Portfolio isn't a plug-in, it's a standalone app. Alien Skin’s Exposure is excellent, one of the best plug-ins that strive to emulate film (more about such effects in my next ezine). AKVIS Sketch would not be my first choice for a sketch effect; Alien Skin's Snap Art is better (follow the "More Snap Art info" link for an offsite gallery). Imagenomic Noiseware is my personal first choice for noise reduction, and seems to be extremely popular.

PS: Matt, you've got a cool blog! I've added it to my Links page.

islandboy · « **Reply #7 on:** November 09, 2007, 01:57:17 pm »

Quote

Thanks - this is exactly what I was looking for. We will be incorporating all of your suggestions into a future post on the site.

I'll be continuing to check back here, so if you have others, please share them.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=151293\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I would recommend Alien Skin's Image Doctor. You can select an unwanted item in a photo and then remove it in seconds using its "smart fill" function. Saves a lot of cloning time and works well many times, even with complex backrounds.

plugsnpixels · « **Reply #8 on:** November 09, 2007, 05:56:37 pm »

See screenshots of Image Doctor in action.

Similar plug-ins: Retoucher and Stamp.

With all of the software currently offered, this sort of listing can go on forever! I don't know that you can boil it down to a top 10. Maybe a top 3 PER CATEGORY, but not such a short list hoping to cover every effect and enhancement genre with a handful of products.

You'll notice I don't even attempt to rate each plug-in on my site. I give all equal weight in a standard layout (screenshot, custom examples and developer copy), and let the user decide for him- or herself what is best for their particular needs.

Hopefully this will save people having to cruise all over the web to get comparison info. The same goes for my list of forum links, including LL. Visit the one page, jump all over the place from there.

ChasP505 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 11, 2007, 09:20:14 am »

Quote

I have recently discovered Curvemeister

I heard about this too and I'm playing with the Demo. Looks promising.

Mark D Segal · « **Reply #10 on:** November 11, 2007, 05:59:33 pm »

I've done some research on Curvemeister, and from what I see (or don't find) in its instruction manual, and based on reviewers' comments, it would appear that one cannot directly make Curvemeister curve settings under soft-proof and see the results in real time. If that indeed is the case, for my workflow this plug-in would be *DBA* (Dead Before Arrival). In its favour, it clearly offers a convenient U.I. and a level of - shall we say - *spoon-feeding* (without being derogatory) which may well be attractive to many folks - but for many others who are experienced using curves those features may be less important.

laughfta · « **Reply #11 on:** November 11, 2007, 08:40:04 pm »

Curvemeister does provide soft-proofing, Mark. (You do love soft-proofing, don't you )

Several things stand out for me in this program. One of them being you can see and adjust all channels of your curve in one window. Another is that you can switch to any other mode (RGB, wgCMYK,Lab,HSB) to work in without leaving your image preview; you get a new curve with all channels showing.

But the thing I am really intrigued with is the masks in this version: you can see masks made from all channels from the modes I listed above (except C,M,and Y) in one window, and select one to use while working on your curve. You can be working in Lab, for example while using a mask from a 'K' channel. In color, this is great because you can pick a channel to enhance an area of color to suit, but this can also work for B&W images.

If you change your profile to Gray Gamma 2.2 in PS, the soft-proofing allows you to see your image in B/W, in all different color spaces, and use any of the channels in those spaces as masks. You are not losing your channels, as you are in PS grayscale, and you are not working on color selections as you are in PS's Hue/Sat, and (if I understand correctly) ACR/LR's HSB sliders. Or PS's B/W sliders. You are working on channels , and you are able to see them in the preview. Very cool!

Spoonfeeding? I think the creator has tried to make the program accessible to beginners, but like much software, your results will be in keeping with your creative and inquisitive efforts. There are definitely some features that Photoshop doesn't have, that are integral to adjusting an image using curves.

Mark D Segal · « **Reply #12 on:** November 11, 2007, 09:09:17 pm »

Hi Gloria,

My work lives or dies by softproofing - it's that important. When I read in a review (forget which one - I read several) that it does not have direct softproofing capability - real time in colour - that turned me off. Then, thinking perhaps those comments refer to an earlier version, I went to the website and read through various sections of the on-line program manual for vesion 3 and couldn't find the word "softproof" or "softproofing" there at all. So I surmised that it is not there. Hence my present understanding is that you need to save the curve settings as the program provides for, then go into Photoshop with soft-proof activated and call-up those curves settings to see the result as a softproof - but this of course is an after the fact snapshot - not a real-time adjustment process within soft-proof mode. Can you indicate how Curvemeister provides a real-time adjustment process in colour within soft-proof mode? If it's really there I'll download it and "kick the tires" as they say. I know it has some potentially useful features not in Photoshop, but the softproofing issue over-rides all the rest for me.

Cheers,

Mark

curvemeister · « **Reply #13 on:** November 12, 2007, 09:43:45 pm »

Curvemeister has supported soft proofing for several years, but until today, it was not documented!

With thanks to Mark for finding the problem, I've made the change to the
manual

Mark D Segal · « **Reply #14 on:** November 12, 2007, 10:01:34 pm »

Quote

Curvemeister has supported soft proofing for several years, but until today, it was not documented!

With thanks to Mark for finding the problem, I've made the change to the
manual
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=152276\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Mike, you are welcome - glad to have been of some assistance. Now I guess I should kick the tires!

Author Topic: Photoshop Plugins? (Read 10548 times)