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The Best Free Photoshop Plugins - Free Photoshop Plugin Downloads
April 17, 2008
I went out looking for some free Photoshop plugins and I came back with some nice little gems. So here they are, all linked up and with little blurbs. My work is done. I hope you find something insipiring.
Perfect Layers 2 Now Free For Everyone
Working with layers is fundamental for creative image editing and every photographer should have that ability—no matter what software tools they use. This is why onOne feels it is important to offer Perfect Layers for free.
Perfect Layers gives you a powerful starting point for creating the images you envision with easy-to-use tools designed specifically for photographers. With Perfect Layers, you can combine images to blend exposures, create layer masks, build composites, and more—giving you endless creative options.
Perfect Layers also allows you to use the workflow of your choice, giving you a seamless way to create layered files with your images directly from Lightroom, Aperture, or by using it as a standalone application. Combine photos for endless creative options — for FREE.
onOne is also offering some nice free products for photographers and designers. This software is not the same as the demo products they also offer. These free downloads are fully functional and do not expire. Customers who download these products will also receive special promotional pricing from onOne. The free products include the following:
PhotoTools 2.5 Free Edition - Add a professional look to your photos with the PhotoTools 2.5 Free Edition plug-in for Photoshop. Includes 26 professional-grade actions and photographic effects to make your images stand out from the crowd.
PhotoFrame 4.5 Free Edition - Add the perfect finishing touch to your photos with the PhotoFrame 4.5 Free plug-in for Photoshop. Includes 30 professional-grade edges, backgrounds, textures, adornments, and even full-page album layouts. Discover a whole new way to get outstanding results inside of Photoshop.
Perfect Presets for LightRoom - Designed to provide a streamlined workflow and make you more creative, these presets for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom were designed to help you get the most out of Lightroom.
Perfect Presets for Aperture - Designed to provide a streamlined workflow and make you more creative, these presets for Aperture 3 were designed to help you get the most out of Aperture.
Perfect Presets for Camera Raw - Designed to provide a streamlined workflow and make you more creative, these presets for Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) were designed to help you get the most out of your Raw images in Adobe Photoshop.
Free Photoshop Templates - Album templates, layouts, backgrounds and edges to save you time in Photoshop.
Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - PSSPPT06 - during the checkout process at onOne Software for an instant 10% discount on any onOne product. This includes Genuine Fractals and their amazing Photoshop Plug-In Suite.
AutoFX Dreamy Photo
Free plugin by Auto FX Software that give photos a soft, dreamy quality. Toggle functions include blur, blend, ghosting, tint color, soften mask, zoom, and zoom offset. Documentation also available. Email address needed to activate.
Available for Windows and Mac.
Harry's Filters
A free collection of fairly simple photoshop filters, provided by Harald Heim's The Plugin Site (http://www.thepluginsite.com), that help to achieve the desired effect with ease. Includes dozens of image effects, all categorized into nine groups: Artistic, Color, En/Decrypt, Gradients, Nature, Noise, Patterns, Warp, and Other. Presets can be saved as well.
Available for Windows and Mac OS Classic (must provide email to download).
virtualPhotographer
A free plugin by optikVerve Labs that makes it ridiculously faster and easier to turn digital images into professional, traditionally stylistic photos. VirtualPhotographer has more than 50 presets which let you toggle settings for color, contrast, film grain, focus, and other properties.
Available for Windows.
Neat Image Demo
Another “image noise” eraser, the Neat Image Demo is advertised as using “the most advanced noise reduction algorithms in the industry”. It pioneers the use of “device noise profiles”, so that when an image is being refined, Neat Image compensates for the specific camera or scanner that was used in digitally capturing it. The program's device profiles, of which there are a good many, are updated with each version.
Available for Windows and for Mac.
Paint Engine
Offered as freeware by Fantastic Machines, Paint Engine is probably the quickest way to make a photo look like a painting in photoshop. You can toggle brush type and stroke type, as well as other controls.
Fully functional beta version available for Windows.
Photo-Plugins
A collection of 8 freeware plugins offered by George Fournaris is based on both dark room techniques and image processing theory. Plugins are basic, and include b/w conversion, contrast mask, gradient blur, high pass sharpening, lens correction, local contrast enhancement, selective saturation, and soft focus.
Available for Windows.
Xero Plugins
A dynamic selection of 40+ plugins provided by Xero Graphics, some simple, some more inventive.
Available for Windows.
Mehdi Plugins
A growing collection of 25+ very useful and easy to use plugins. A must for anyone new to Photoshop.
Available for Windows.
Luce
From Antonino Perricone, Luce is a plugin that easily generates or intensifies beams/rays of light from an image. Some properties that can be manipulated include light color, intensity, type, and shadow intensity.
Available for Windows.
VDL Adrenaline
Five free plugins for Windows from VanDerLee: Harmonix lets you render harmonic waves and mix up to ten of them. Snowscape can cover a landscape, or anything else, in snow. Camouflage, NightVision, and Snowflake are also available.
Available for Windows.
Redfield Freeware Plugins
A variety of photoshop plugins from redfieldplugins.com. On their download page, seven of the programs offered are completely freeware. Especially noteworthy are Seamless Workshop, which creates seamless tiles of an image, and Face Control, which changes facial expressions quite realistically.
The other freeware downloads are Craquelure 3D, Water Ripples, Jama 3D, Lattice Composer, and Redfield++ Bas-Relief (a two-in-one filter which can convert an image to bas- relief or a pencil sketch).
Available for Windows.
Deep Paint 2
Once a retail product from Right Hemisphere, Deep Paint 2 is an application that can function as a photoshop plugin. It lets you convert a photo to a painting, manipulate brush and canvas properties, and simulate acrylic, oil and watercolor paint. The product was discontinued because of the graphics industry's recent transformation in focus from 2D to 3D. Though increasingly tough to find, it can still be downloaded as freeware.
Available for Windows.
FilterFoundry (for using FilterFactory plugins under MacOS X)
Provided by Toby Thain at telegrapics.com.au, filter foundry is a clone of the “Filter Factory” photoshop filters plugin originally released by Adobe, now ready for mac users.
Available for Windows and Mac.
8bf Plugin Filters
Thirteen plugins designed by Jim Clatfelter and free to download from his page 8bf.net: Frame Works, Foto Frame, Texture Frame, Transparent Frame, Marble Mask, Single Hue, Textures, Simplifier, Edge Art, Blot and Smudge, Good Vibrations (which makes waves, rumples, etc), Transparent Vignette, and Custom Filter (a convolution filter with many adjustable settings).
Available for Windows.
SmartCurve (Curve tool for Photoshop Elements)
A plugin from Alois Zingl that applies and adjusts curves in an image. Originally developed for elements to compensate for its lack of a curve command, but also works in the full vesion of photoshop.
Available for Windows.
Red Paw Freeware Plugins
Three free plugins from Red Paw Media: Beautifier, HotPixel, and BleachBypass. Beautifier creates “flattering soft-focus, high-key and infra-red simulation effects”, HotPixel removes “hot pixel” noise, and BleachBypass simulates the “bleach skip” technique used in traditional photography, in which the bleaching stage in processing is skipped and silver remains in the negative. Freeware links found at bottom of download page. Available for Windows.
Cybia Fotomatic
A collection of 8 basic but well constructed photoshop plugins from S.W. Upham's Cybia. Downloads can be found on the site map under digital photography/fotomatic.
Flaming Pear Free Plugins
A collection of plugins by Flaming Pear Software. Includes Ornament, ChromaSolarize, Tachyon, Ghost, Solidify, Vitriol, RGB/HSL, Circle to Square, Make Cube Tile, and others. Under Free Plugins on the download page.
Available for Windows and Mac
Reindeer Graphics Free Plugins
Six free photoshop plugins from Reindeer Graphics (http://www.reindeergraphics.com/): Select Edges, Wide Histogram, Adaptive Equalization, Tabbed Text Format, Enter Magnification, and Custom (a custom convolution filter).
Available for Windows and Mac
I also discovered MCP Actions, a company that produces some reasonably priced and very high quality Photoshop and Lightroom Actions. They also offer an assortment of actions you can download for free. The action sets they offer are focused on providing professional and hobbyist photographers quicker, more efficient ways to edit their photos by creating shortcuts: actions that work in Photoshop, and presets that work in Lightroom. At the click of a button, MCP's actions and presets transform images instantly, but still leave you in control of the final results.
These free Photoshop actions give you the ability to sharpen images, apply textures, create vignettes, produce gallery frames and more. You can download any or all of them all today for free.
• All free Actions
These free Photoshop actions give you the ability to sharpen images, apply textures, create vignettes, produce gallery frames and more. You can try any or all of them all today for free.
• Mini Fusion Photoshop Actions
Inject new life into your photos and enjoy stunning color conversions. Optional tints and exposure fix layers let you further customize your images.
• High Definition Sharpening Actions
The final step in transforming your images into a work of art is sharpening. Whether preparing images for print or web, this action gives you just the right amount of sharpening every time. High Definition Sharpening sharpens images for print.
• Mini Quick Clicks Lightroom and ACR Presets
These unique presets are a perfect introduction to one-click photo editing with Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw. MCP Mini Quick Clicks offer streamlined solutions to the problems photographers encounter every day.
• Touch of Light/Touch of Darkness Action -
Improve contrast in your images by adding a touch of light and a touch of darkness with this free Photoshop action. It's just like dodging and burning, only easier. Simply paint on light in underexposed areas or dark in overexposed areas using a soft white brush set to approximately 30% opacity.
• Free Magic Blog It Board Photoshop and Elements Action
Save time and show more images in less space on your blog, facebook, website, etc.
Enjoy!
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Exclusive onOne Software 10% Instant Discount Coupon
Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - PSSPPT06 - during the checkout process at onOne Software for an instant 10% discount on any onOne product. This includes Genuine Fractals and their amazing Photoshop Plug-In Suite.
OnOne’s new Plug-In Suite solves six of the most frequent problems photographers will encounter in Photoshop. This suite has been granted American Photos Magazine’s Editor’s Choice award for Top Image Editing Software. The Plugin Suite includes:
Genuine Fractals Pro is renowned by both photographers and printers for its finesse at increasing images to more than ten times their original size while maintaining the sharpness and detail you started with. Think of this as the industry standard for image resizing.
Mask Pro is used to remove the tough stuff — such as hair, smoke and glass — while retaining the fine detail. You choose what colors to keep, then paint away what you don’t need.
PhotoTools Pro packs hundreds of high-calibre photographic effects into one user-friendly plug-in. It’s fast and easy to use. Gives your photos that pro quality look.
PhotoFrame Pro lets you enhance your pictures with hundreds of such design effects, or simply drop your image into a pre-fab layout in Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture.
FocalPoint helps to control focus and minimize visual noise. Draw the eye to specific points in your images by using selective focus, depth-of-field and vignette effects.
PhotoTune lets you can compare images side-by-side and easily color correct and enhance them. PhotoTune optimizes the dynamic range, color and sharpness of your image without the need to know all the complicated controls in Photoshop like levels and curves.
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Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - NIKPSS - during the checkout process at Nik Software for an instant 15% discount on any Nik Software product. This exclusive discount coupon code can be applied to all the latest Nik Software Photoshop plugins, including Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Viveza, Sharpener Pro, and Dfine.
Color Efex Pro
52 photographic filters with over 250 effects for professional quality images.
Completely Original. Completely Indispensable.
Nik Software Color Efex Pro filters are the leading photographic filters for digital photography. The award-winning Color Efex Pro filters are widely used by many of today's professional photographers around the world to save time and get professional level results. Whether you choose the Complete Edition, Select Edition, or Standard Edition, you’ll get traditional and stylizing filters that offer virtually endless possibilities to enhance and transform images quickly and easily.
Patented U Point technology provides the ultimate control to selectively apply enhancements without the need for any complicated masks, layers or selections. Control color, light and tonality in your images and create unique enhancements with professional results. With 52 filters and over 250 effects found in Color Efex Pro, you can perform high quality retouching, color correction, and endless creative enhancements to your photographs. Download a free Trial version.
Viveza
The most powerful tool to selectively control color and light in photographic images without the need for complicated selections or layer masks.
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U Point powered Color Control Points, placed directly on colors or objects in an image (such as sky, skin, grass, etc.), reveal easy-to-use controls that photographers can use to quickly adjust brightness, contrast or color in a fraction of the time needed by other tools. With Viveza you’ll spend more time shooting photographs and save hours of image editing. Download a free Trial version.
Silver Efex Pro
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Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software is the most powerful tool for creating professional quality black and white images from your photographs. For the first time, all the advanced power and control required for professional results have been brought together in one convenient tool.
Featuring Nik Software’s patented U Point technology to selectively control the tonality and contrast of the image, Silver Efex Pro includes advanced imaging algorithms to protect against unwanted artifacts, a comprehensive collection of emulated black and white film types, a variable toning selector for adding traditional toning techniques, over 20 one-click preset styles, and a state-of-the-art grain reproduction engine that help produce the highest quality black and white images possible from your color images while providing more freedom to experiment. Download a free Trial version to use Silver Efex Pro.
Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - NIKPSS - during the checkout process at Nik Software for an instant 15% discount. This exclusive discount coupon code can be applied to all the latest Nik Software Photoshop plugins, including Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Viveza, Sharpener Pro, and Dfine.
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Topaz Adjust
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A three-level detail adjustment plug-in that specializes in micro-contrast enhancements and sharpening with no artifacts.
Topaz ReMask
The fastest and most effective masking and extraction program with one-click mask refining.
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Highest-quality noise reduction plug-in that removes the most noise and color noise while preserving the most image detail.
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Take control of the detail depth of your images with extensive smoothing, texture control and edge enhancement tools.
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SiteGrinder Photoshop Plugin - Create Websites Instantly
There often seems to be a strict division of labor within the world of web design and development. Creative professionals tend to stick to the Photoshop domain, while those well-versed in scripting are left to the task of implementing their work. Indeed, the two realms are quite different from each other, to which any of us even vaguely familiar with either can easily attest.
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Turn Photoshop Into A Complete Web Design Tool
SiteGrinder seeks to bridge this gap between design and development. Basically, SiteGrinder turns Photoshop into an easy-to-use and fully functional web design tool. With SiteGrinder, designers will now have the freedom to totally let their creativity loose and then, without skipping a beat, transfer their designs to the web. Bringing esthetic concerns together with more practical considerations, SiteGrinder is an amazingly powerful tool that would make a fantastic addition to any web designer's bag of tricks. Mac OS X and Windows versions of the SiteGrinder unlockable demo are available now via download.
Photoshop CS4 Essential Skills - By Mark Galer And Philip Andrews
Brimming with beautiful pictures, Photoshop CS4 Essential Skills guides you through a project-based, progressive curriculum so that you can build all the essential skills to enhance photographs creatively and professionally with Photoshop CS4. If you are an aspiring professional or a student learning photography, digital imaging, or design graphics, you'll be amazed at the stunning results you can achieve. A DVD is included free.
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Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4
Transforming Smart Objects In Photoshop CS4
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Read 2 free sample chapters from the Adobe Photoshop CS3 version:
Adjusting Exposure in Adobe Camera Raw CS3
Photoshop CS3 Tutorial High Dynamic Range
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Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4
