SuperPNG has more settings to find the right balance between speed and quality, so you can save images faster. You can also retain transparency in an image, and keep or remove the metadata. Some of the most essential Photoshop plugins and extensions are the ones that simplify common tasks.
That's certainly true of Long Shadow Generator 2, which does exactly what its name suggests. The options are deliberately sparse. You can adjust the angle, length, and darkness of the shadow you want. You can also choose between a flat shadow or one that fades the further it travels.
And you can produce white shadows when your text or objects are on a dark background. But if you prefer, you can do it all with just one click.
Once you've restarted, click Manage Plugins , and you'll see it. This is one of the most useful free Photoshop plugins for artists who want to watermark, sell, or show more information about their work without adding text.
If you ever need to drop a Twitter or Shopping Cart icon onto your website, you probably use Font Awesome to do the job. There are hundreds of icons to choose from. They're added to your image as vector shapes, so they can be resized, colored, and edited with no loss of quality. Here's another great icons library, and best of all, it's searchable. Icons8 has over , icons to choose from, available in PNG format. All you have to do is click on the icon you want, and it'll appear on the canvas.
While it seems like this plugin might only be used for special effects, it can actually come in really handy if you have landscape photos taken at a few different times of day or exposures. Sometimes the sky will be darker than your subject or vice-versa depending on your camera settings, and you might want to lighten or darken it without affecting the rest of the photo. The Sky Replacement Pack not only works as a practical tool to give you more control over your sky exposure, but it has special effects as well, such as stars, a rainbow, the Northern Lights, and lightning, among others.
Plugins and extensions install and work in different ways. Some are installed just like regular programs. Some download in ZIP files and need to be copied manually to the Creative Cloud Desktop app plugins or the Photoshop extensions directory.
Check the website for instructions in these cases. This replaces the now defunct Adobe Extensions Manager, which was formerly used to install these files. You can access the add-ons in one of a few different places.
Sometimes you'll find them in the Filter or Edit menu. All the plugins work non-destructively. Any edits they make to your images go on separate layers, leaving you free to experiment to find the ones that best suit how you work. Plugins, among other advanced features, make Photoshop one of the most essential resources for graphic designers of all stripes. If there is a missing piece to your Photoshop workflow, a plugin can complete the puzzle.
Check out these top free Photoshop plugins that will simplify the process for you. Pexels Plugin Pexels is one of our favorite free stock image sites. The Pexels free plugin for Photoshop will save you tons of time of browsing photos on the web, downloading and importing them in Photoshop.
With Pexels plugin for Photoshop, you will have access to over 30 photos available for instant import in Adobe Photoshop. This means you will be able to test different photos in your designs fast and easily without having to find and download each one separately. A free plugin for Photoshop which allows you to make changes to multiple layer comps at once. A very handy plugin for graphic and web designers, purposed to improve and facilitate your work with layer comps.
The process is quite simple: you select the layers whose changes you want to apply to layer comps, then select the layer comps you want to apply the changes to, and use Composer with its four different commands.
A free plugin for Photoshop with which you can plot mathematically defined Curves Adjustment layers. A plugin for Photoshop you can play a lot with! This very useful plugin provides graphic designers with various options to modify patterns, gradients, layers, and as a result transform these graphics into totally different graphics.
The plugin allows you to write custom functions in Javascript, mix Parametric Curves on top of Gradients, apply Curves to Gradients to serve as a source for Displacement Maps or Depth and Bump Maps in order to recreate 3D effect. A free Photoshop plugin for photo editing providing 69 photo effects divided into 9 categories.
With this free plugin, you can easily experiment with different photo looks. If you use too many plugins, you will fall in love with Plugin Switch! This extension lets you turn plugins on and off, therefore activating certain plugins only when you need them.
From a user experience perspective, this means a lighter Photoshop and easier navigation across plugins. A premium Photoshop plugin which lets you create ultra realistic planets and moons. This plugin for Photoshop allows you to create realistic or fantastic planets and moons, as well as animated 3D maps.
This extension for Photoshop offers powerful tools for creating different textures, land and cloud effects on the planet surfaces. The plugin comes with a user-friendly interface, so it will be quite easy for you to experiment with various planet looks. A free Photoshop plugin which lets you manage your FX Tools in the form of a library. A useful plugin which is necessary in order to work with FX Tools. FX Box plugin allows you to load all FX tools in the library and easily manage them — switch between tools, add or remove them without having to restart Photoshop.
A plugin with which you create custom professional fonts out of any lettering. With this plugin, you can convert any shape into a character and export them as actual OpenType fonts. Supports colored fonts, as well. A plugin for professional font management across all your Adobe Creative Cloud apps.
This plugin allows you to organize, search, and use your font collection eliminating corrupted or duplicated fonts. This plugin is a powerful photo editing suite of presets divided into categories, creative effects, and retouching tools.
Also featuring the exclusive U Point local adjustment technology. A great extension providing you with a library of over 28, 3D objects. The workflow is quite easy — you choose a 3D object and spin it to your preferred angle to import the image in Photoshop.
Photoshop actions are a widely used sort-of extension of the software, allowing you to automate specific actions in order to achieve a desired effect faster and effortlessly. The following suggestions for Photoshop actions are completely free to download and about to change the way you edit your photos. A must-have Adobe Photoshop Action for photographers. Say goodbye to blurred photographs with this free and useful action which reduces the camera shake and motion blur with just a single click.
A set of Photoshop retouching actions developed specifically to edit skin: heal, mattify, airbrush, remove redness, brighten eyes, increase contrast, etc. Once you choose an action, click on Play and paint over the desired areas. The 5 actions included in this set are as follows:. A free HDR action for Photoshop that will make your photos even more impressive. If you are a fan of grunge and retro photography style, then you should definitely give this action a try.
A free bundle of Photoshop actions which can be applied to all types of photography. Some of the filters included in the pack are HDR filters, black and white filters, cinematic filters, vintage filters, wedding filters, winter filters, and more. This mega bundle will help you achieve awesome effects on your images. A free Photoshop action suitable for photographers and graphic designers. This action turns your photos into beautiful oil paintings, keeping everything layered, so you can still have control over your image.
Give your photos a professional look with just a single click! This set of 3 Photoshop filters will make your images look trendy and save you lots of time.
Suitable for all types of photography, this is a plugin that professional and non-professional photographers will love. A set of 3 free Photoshop actions specifically developed to make your photos look more professional.
Each action allows you to modify its particular settings. In other words, the visual opportunities with this bundle of cinematic Photoshop actions are endless. We hope that all of you, Photoshop lovers, have been able to find a gem or two to add to your collection of free Photoshop plugins and actions. Developers out there are creating amazing add-ons to make your and our work easier and flawless.
All we have to do is make the most of it. We hope you enjoyed this collection of free Photoshop plugins and actions. Like us on Facebook. Lyudmil is an avid movie fan which influences his passion for video editing.
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. It was originally created in by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster graphics editing, but in digital art as a whole.
The software's name is often colloquially used as a verb e. In addition to raster graphics, Photoshop has limited abilities to edit or render text and vector graphics especially through clipping path for the latter , as well as 3D graphics and video. Its feature set can be expanded by plug-ins ; programs developed and distributed independently of Photoshop that run inside it and offer new or enhanced features. Photoshop's naming scheme was initially based on version numbers. However, in October following the introduction of Creative Suite branding , each new version of Photoshop was designated with " CS " plus a number; e.
With the introduction of the Creative Cloud branding in June and in turn, the change of the " CS " suffix to " CC " , Photoshop's licensing scheme was changed to that of software as a service subscription model. As of November , Adobe has also released a full version of Photoshop for the iPad , and while initially limited, Adobe plans to bring more features to Photoshop for iPad. Photoshop was developed in by two brothers Thomas and John Knoll , who sold the distribution license to Adobe Systems Incorporated in Thomas Knoll, a Ph.
Thomas took a six-month break from his studies in to collaborate with his brother on the program. Thomas renamed the program ImagePro, but the name was already taken. During this time, John traveled to Silicon Valley and gave a demonstration of the program to engineers at Apple and Russell Brown, art director at Adobe. Both showings were successful, and Adobe decided to purchase the license to distribute in September Photoshop 1.
The handling of color slowly improved with each release from Adobe and Photoshop quickly became the industry standard in digital color editing. At the time Photoshop 1. The list price of Photoshop 1. Photoshop was initially only available on Macintosh.
The Windows port led to Photoshop reaching a wider mass market audience as Microsoft 's global reach expanded within the next few years. Photoshop files have default file extension as. PSD , which stands for " P hoto s hop D ocument". This is in contrast to many other file formats e. JPG or. GIF that restrict content to provide streamlined, predictable functionality.
A PSD file has a maximum height and width of 30, pixels, and a length limit of two gigabytes. These formats are required to use the file in publications or on the web. Photoshop can also create and use files with the extension. PSB, which stands for "Photoshop Big" also known as "large document format". The dimension limit was apparently chosen arbitrarily by Adobe, not based on computer arithmetic constraints it is not close to a power of two, as is 30, but for ease of software testing.
Photoshop functionality can be extended by add-on programs called Photoshop plugins or plug-ins. Adobe creates some plugins, such as Adobe Camera Raw, but third-party companies develop most plugins, according to Adobe's specifications.
Some are free and some are commercial software. Most plugins work with only Photoshop or Photoshop-compatible hosts, but a few can also be run as standalone applications.
There are various types of plugins, such as filter, export, import, selection, color correction, and automation. The most popular plugins are the filter plugins also known as a 8bf plugins , available under the Filter menu in Photoshop. Filter plugins can either modify the current image or create content.
Below are some popular types of plugins, and some well-known companies associated with them:. Adobe Camera Raw also known as ACR and Camera Raw is a special plugin, supplied free by Adobe, used primarily to read and process raw image files so that the resulting images can be processed by Photoshop. Upon loading Photoshop, a sidebar with a variety of tools with multiple image-editing functions appears to the left of the screen. These tools typically fall under the categories of drawing ; painting ; measuring and navigation ; selection ; typing ; and retouching.
These can be expanded to reveal similar tools. In some newer versions hovering along the tools gives a small Video glimpse of the tool. Photoshop includes a few versions of the pen tool. The pen tool creates precise paths that can be manipulated using anchor points. The free form pen tool allows the user to draw paths freehand, and with the magnetic pen tool, the drawn path attaches closely to outlines of objects in an image, which is useful for isolating them from a background.
The Clone Stamp tool duplicates one part of an image to another part of the same image by way of a brush. The duplication is either in full or in part depending on the mode. The user can also clone part of one layer to another layer. The Clone Stamp tool is useful for duplicating objects or removing a defect in an image.
Photoshop provides an array of shape tools including rectangles, rounded rectangles, ellipses, polygons and lines. These shapes can be manipulated by the pen tool, direct selection tool etc. In addition, Photoshop provides its own shapes like animals, signs and plants.
The eyedropper tool selects a color from an area of the image that is clicked, and samples it for future use. Selection tools are used to select all or any part of a picture to perform cut, copy, edit, or retouching operations. The crop tool can be used to select a particular area of an image and discard the portions outside the chosen section.
This tool assists in creating a focus point on an image and unnecessary or excess space. The crop tool is in the tools palette, which is located on the right side of the document. By placing the cursor over the image, the user can drag the cursor to the desired area. Once the Enter key is pressed, the area outside the rectangle will be cropped.
The area outside the rectangle is the discarded data, which allows for the file size to be decreased. The slice and slice select tools, like the crop tool, are used in isolating parts of images. The slice tool can be used to divide an image into different sections, and these separate parts can be used as pieces of a web page design once HTML and CSS are applied.
The move tool can be used to drag the entirety of a single layer or more if they are selected. Alternatively, once an area of an image is highlighted, the move tool can be used to manually relocate the selected piece to anywhere on the canvas.
The marquee is a tool that can make selections that are a single row, single column, rectangular and elliptical. This tool can also crop an image; it allows for better control. In contrast to the crop tool, the marquee tool allows for more adjustments to the selected area before cropping. The only marquee tool that does not allow cropping is the elliptical.
Although the single row and column marquee tools allow for cropping, they are not ideal, because they only crop a line. The rectangular marquee tool is the preferred option. Once the tool has been selected, dragging the tool across the desired area will select it. The selected area will be outlined by dotted lines, referred to as "marching ants". To set a specific size or ratio, the tool options bar provides these settings.
Before selecting an area, the desired size or ratio must be set by adjusting the width and height. Any changes such as color, filters, location, etc. To crop the selection, the user must go to the image tab and select crop. The lasso tool is similar to the marquee tool, however, the user can make a custom selection by drawing it freehand. The regular lasso tool allows the user to have drawing capabilities.
Photoshop will complete the selection once the mouse button is released. The user may also complete the selection by connecting the end point to the starting point.
The "marching ants" will indicate if a selection has been made. The polygonal lasso tool will draw only straight lines, which makes it an ideal choice for images with many straight lines. Unlike the regular lasso tool, the user must continually click around the image to outline the shape.
To complete the selection, the user must connect the end point to the starting point just like the regular lasso tool. Magnetic lasso tool are considered the smart tool. It can do the same as the other two, but it can also detect the edges of an image once the user selects a starting point. It detects by examining the color pixels as the cursor moves over the desired area. Closing the selection is the same as the other two, which should also should display the "marching ants" once the selection has been closed.
The quick selection tool selects areas based on edges, similarly to the magnetic lasso tool. The difference between this tool and the lasso tool is that there is no starting and ending point. For this reason, the selected area can be added onto as much as possible without starting over.
By dragging the cursor over the desired area, the quick selection tool detects the edges of the image. The "marching ants" allow the user to know what is currently being selected.
Once the user is done, the selected area can be edited without affecting the rest of the image. One of the features that makes this tool especially user friendly is that the SHIFT key is not needed to add more to the selection; by default, extra mouse clicks will be added to the selection rather than creating a new selection.
The magic wand tool selects areas based on pixels of similar values.