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Can Photoshop do everything? Of course, it can. But one should have extreme skills, plenty of experience and a great deal of time before retouching images or creating graphics pixel by pixel. Photoshop is an amazing graphics application that has forever changed graphic, Web design and digital photo editing.

One should know how to use Photoshop to its full potential to get the most stunning results. This is where Photoshop plug-ins come in handy. (Plug-ins aside, though, if you have time to acquire extreme skills, we encourage you to do so because there is nothing better than learning something new.)

Featured below is the ultimate collection of useful Adobe Photoshop plug-ins that will make your work easier, faster and better and reduce the number of steps needed to accomplish tasks. They will also allow you to do things you just cannot do with the features built into Photoshop. Some of the plug-ins are collections of filters, whereas others are programs or utilities that you may find useful.

Please also take a look at the following collection of (free and commercial) Photoshop plug-ins from our friends from the web design community:

• Free Photoshop Plugins Collection
  This post present over 150 high-quality free Photoshop plugins.
• Huge List Of Highly Extensible Photoshop Plugins
  Dainis Graveris’ huge collection of free and commercial Photoshop plugins.
• 25 of the Best FREE Photoshop Plugins and Filters Resource Sites
  An extensive collection by Smashing Magazine’s author Paul Andrew.

Photo Retouching

Fluid Mask

Cutting out is one of those painful tasks in Adobe Photoshop that people always approach with gritted teeth. It is very easy to cut out a section when the image has clearly defined lines. But on many occasions, you will come across images that prove to be just too challenging.

The fluid mask plug-in is helpful in such cases. It can isolate subjects in a quick and logical way and works similar to Photoshop’s own mask options, except that it has its own interface and offers much more control; for example, all brushes have their own settings. There are a lot of ways to use this plug-in, depending on the type of image you are working with.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• AKVIS SmartMask

Virtual Photographer

Virtual Photographer is a free plug-in that you can use to create a variety of photographic styles quickly and easily. This plug-in features multiple presets for creating numerous effects, so you don’t have to waste hours working out the perfect settings.

Virtual photographer has a filter to suit every purpose. You can fine-tune the available settings even further to manipulate the image to your specific requirements. It is also possible to save your favorite settings as .vph files so that you can apply the styles to future images.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• PhotoTools

Portraiture

Portraiture is a useful portrait retouching plug-in. It intelligently smoothens and removes imperfections, while preserving important portrait details such as skin texture, hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc. A unique feature is that it allows selective smoothening for only the skin tone areas of the image. It also lets you add effects quickly with presets.

AKVIS Chameleon

AKVIS Chameleon automatically adjusts pasted objects to the target image’s color range and smoothens the object’s borders. This plug-in frees you from the meticulous process of precisely selecting objects. With the press of a button, the object adjusts to the new background, adapting to the new color range and blending with the environment.

Noise Ninja

Noise Ninja is a useful plug-in for removing noise and grain from digital photographs. Noise reduction is useful for anyone shooting in low-light or fast-action situations like news, sports, weddings and events.

Noise Ninja often yields a two-fold improvement in image quality, while preserving important image detail. In addition, it can produce cleaner, smoother enlargements from low-ISO images. It includes automatic and manual noise analysis, camera-specific profiles, an innovative “Noise Brush” and batch processing to allow you to quickly and easily retouch and rescue your images.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• AKVIS Noise Buster

Depth of Field Generator Pro

An image often looks dull if all areas or objects are of the same focus. Giving areas varying levels of focus is an ideal way to add interest and create a more sophisticated look. Depth of filed is a difficult effect to get right, but this plug-in allows you to achieve it easily.

Depth of Field Generator Pro provides an automatic solution for depth of field problems and uses a range of algorithms to aid you in the process. The plug-in can be applied to single or multiple images at once.

Light

Although natural lighting effects can greatly improve a photograph and add interest to it, there is no way to guarantee light when taking a photo. That’s where the Light plug-in comes in handy. It comes with a selection of shapes that you can use to cast light and shadow. Don’t worry, the image won’t look unnatural because this plug-in comes bundled with displacement options that emulate the effect of light wrapping around objects.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• Mystical Lighting

Altostorm Rectilinear Panorama

Altostorm Rectilinear Panorama is an unique tool that corrects distortions in panoramic images, including geometric image distortions; lens, perspective and panorama distortions; and asymmetrical and irregular distortions.

Dreamy Photo

Dreamy Photo gives your photos a soft-focus look, giving them a dream-like feel.

AutoEye

AutoEye is a useful tool for image editing if you have no clue about color correction or processes such as adjustment, curves, levels, cast removals, contrast and histograms. It can automatically improve digital images by rebuilding color detail, sharpness and image vibrancy using a totally different set of adjustment methods than Photoshop’s. It can instantly correct and enhance images.

Image Doctor

Image Doctor can save you hours trying to fix a photo in Photoshop. It is a powerful tool for retouching and repairing images. It seamlessly removes blemishes and objects. It enables photo editors to unclutter poorly composed photographs with just a few clicks of the mouse. Web designers and photographers can restore and repurpose poorly compressed JPEGs, including cell phone photos. Portraits can be retouched instantly with one click, removing pimples, moles, scars and tattoos. It can restore old photos by removing dust and scratches.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• AKVI Retoucher

Bleach Bypass PRO

Bleach Bypass Professional is an advanced Photoshop-compatible plug-in designed to digitally simulate the traditional “bleach bypass” film technique. The “bleach bypass” technique involves partially or completely skipping the bleaching stage when processing color film. This prevents the silver from being removed from the negative, and the result is a contrast image with muted colors.

Process FX

Process FX is another tool that digitally simulates traditional film cross-processing (i.e. C-41 print film processed in the chemicals used for the processing of E-6 slide film, and vice versa). This technique creates skewed color effects that range from subtle to extreme. This plug-in allows you to reproduce that cross-processed look in software, with full control over the effect. It comes with several presets, which you can save for later use.

PearlyWhites

PearlyWhites automatically whitens and brightens teeth. PearlyWhites can also whiten the sclera of the eye because it looks for white elements surrounded by flesh tones. It supports batch image processing for editing many images at once.

Photomatix

Photomatix is a tool for creating high dynamic range (HDR) photographs. Although Photoshop CS2 and later versions allow photographers to create HDR images, the tools for mapping the resulting files into something that can be displayed in print or online are primitive.

Using Photomatix, photographers can merge photographs of various exposures into one image with increased dynamic range. They can also reveal highlight and shadow details in an HDR image created from multiple exposures.

ReDynaMix HDR

MediaChance’s ReDynaMix HDR is another Photoshop plug-in that gives HDR-like effect to your images. The difference between Photomatix (covered above) and ReDynaMix is that the latter adds HDR-like effects to single images: no need for multiple exposed photographs. It has an easy-to-understand interface, with immediate previews for settings.

Xpose

Xpose is an exposure adjustment plug-in. It allows you to quickly adjust highlights and shadows with rapid preview feedback and a simple, intuitive interface. With just a few sliders, you can better expose your digital photos.

Color MegaMix

Color MegaMix is a free Photoshop plug-in that can modify the colors in any image. Using two rows of colors, eight source colors and eight target colors, this plug-in reconstructs the color space.

Wire Worm

The Wire Worm plug-in can remove wires and other unwanted objects from your images. Wire Worm comes with a set of features that distinguishes it from other tools:

1. Specific tool designed for easy selection of long thin objects,
2. Advanced color matching for seamless patches without color bleeding,
3. Ability to fine-tune patches after placement,
4. Unlimited undo and redo.

Color! Color!

The Color! Color! plug-in gives you bold colors for your images with far less color distortion.

Face Control

The Face Control plug-in allows you to change the facial expression of people in digital photos.

Backdrop designer

With the Backdrop designer plug-in, you can transport people and objects into scenes from professional photo shoots from the comfort of your desktop. Produce backgrounds that are resolution-independent and have textures and shadows, which increase depth and makes your scene more realistic.

Intellihance Pro

No more going through various steps to enhance your photos. Without any advanced Photoshop skills, using Intellihance Pro, you can easily correct your photos based on dynamic before-and-after previews. Using the improved Quick Enhance adjustment engine, you can visually compare up to 25 color-corrected variations of your photo, allowing you to easily correct digital images from any source.

NightScope

The NightScope plug-in is a free filter for converting your day photos to night ones. NightScope works by removing color from the image and applying a slight blur that mimics the action of a camera trying to focus. You can choose the amount of grain to be applied to the image, as well as the color, by mixing the red, green and blue channels.

Photoframe Pro

The Photoframe Pro plug-in gives your images an artistic and professional look through numerous frame designs and border effects. Photoframe Pro comes bundled with decorative and realistic effects, such as ones that make your image resemble negative film. Using the effects palette, you can adjust the settings of your frame’s background, border, glow, shadow, bevel, texture and edge. Frames and settings can be saved as presets and applied to other images.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• Photo/Graphic Edges

Photo Manipulation And Graphic And Web Design

Aurora

The Aurora plug-in is great for creating environments for 2-D images. Using Aurora, you can create natural-looking environments with ease. It allows you to “magic up” sun, clouds, stars, water and moon, along with lightning effects and other options. It is used not just for creating natural-looking environments but also for improving areas in outdoor images. For example, you can replace a dull-looking sky with something pleasant.

Fractalius

Fractalius creates beautiful fractal textures from images. You can also simulate various types of exotic lighting and highly realistic pencil sketches.

SymmetryShop

SymmetryShop is a powerful tool for designing patterns.

Sketch Master

Sketch Master is a manipulation tool for creating realistic hand drawings derived from photos. It consists of various tools, such as lead pencil, ink pencil, crayon, charcoal, airbrush, etc. Three layers with separate settings allow one to emulate effects of stylized fine art on all sorts of surfaces, including water paper, squared paper, laid paper, canvas, leather, crepe and rag paper.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• AKVIS Sketch

SiteGrinder

Often, a big gap separates visual Web design and development. Creative professionals feel comfortable using Photoshop for Web design. The resulting design is then coded into an actual Web page by scripting professionals.

SiteGrinder bridges the gap between Web design and development by generating Web pages directly from Photoshop. Photoshop Type layers are converted to CSS layouts, while image layers are converted to Web graphics, and HTML code is automatically generated to display images on the website exactly where you positioned them in Photoshop. It is also bundled with the Layer Comps palette tool, which allows you to create a multi-page website from a single Photoshop document.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• Xtivity Web Authoring

Eye Candy Bundle

Eye Candy Bundle contains three Adobe Photoshop plug-ins:

Nature
A collection of 10 Photoshop filters, which can create fire, smoke, rust, snow, ice and more. Nature includes over 500 presets for frequently used effects.

Impact
A collection of 10 Photoshop filters, which can create chrome, brushed metal, glass, bevels, shadows, reflections and more. Impact offers beautifully rendered effects for designers.

Textures
A collection of 10 seamless texture generators. Textures produces a wide variety of effects, including snake and lizard skin, fur, brick, stone and wood. Graphic designers, Web developers and 3-D artists can quickly create backgrounds, skins, seamless tiles and more.

AKVIS Decorator

Decorator allows you to change the surface of objects in a realistic way. You can create things unimaginable even to Mother Nature.

LucisArt

LucisArt is image-processing software that can be used to quickly and easily give beautiful artistic effects to your images. LucisArt 3 comes in two versions:

• LucisArt 3 ED (Enhance Detail)
  Provides greatly increased ability to fine-tune how you enhance detail.
• LucisArt 3 ED/SE (LucisArt 3 ED bundled with LucisArt 3 SE (Special Effects))
  Adds special effects like Winslow, Sculpture and Plaid.

Sometimes combining the two gives unique and stunning results.

Utilities

Blow Up

Preparing photos for print can be tedious, often involving DPI, aspect ratio and cropping. Blow Up is a Photoshop plug-in that produces dramatically sharp enlargements. Blow Up uses an innovative algorithm that temporarily converts pixels to a vector representation that results in perfectly smooth, crisp edges. Simulated texture and film grain keep photos looking natural even in extreme enlargements. Over 100 presets for common output sizes are available with this plug-in and make cropping and resizing easy to do in one step. Blow Up also has a built-in batch processing tool for resizing many photos at once.

Similar Photoshop Plug-Ins:

• Zoom Engine
• Genuine Fractals

Icon Plug-in

Icon is a free plug-in that graphic designers can use to create compelling icons directly in Adobe Photoshop without needing to use intermediate files or buy additional icon editors. It can export and import Windows icons (.ico). It supports multi-format icons, transparency, semi-transparency and other non-standard icons of different sizes and color resolutions, including monochrome, 16 colors, 256 colors, 24-bit True Color and 32-bit True Color with semi-transparency.

FlickrShop

FlickrShop is a plug-in for uploading photos to Flickr directly from Photoshop. You can automatically resize photos, choose image formats and adjust image quality. Also add titles, descriptions and tags, and set visibility settings for public, family and friends.

PhotoPurify

PhotoPurify lets you match your print’s colors to your screen’s colors without additional hardware. It takes 27 measurements, using a color picker to synchronize print color and screen color.

SuperPNG

SuperPNG is fast and can reduce the size of PNGs considerably. It includes some advanced options for saving PNGs: 16-bit color support, variable compression, gamma correction and meta-data saving.

Timeline

Timeline is a version control system designed specifically for Adobe Photoshop files. Whenever you feel you have done something worth saving, just click a magic button on the Timeline palette in Photoshop, and your file is saved as a version on the PixelNovel server.

Other Good Photoshop Plug-Ins

Many other good plug-ins are not reviewed in the list above:

• Flexify
• Snap Art
• Brightness Editor
• Golden Section
• Flaming pear
• Primatte Chromakey
• Path Styler Pro
• Camouflage

Further Resources

You may be interested in the following articles and related resources:

• The 111 Most-Used Photoshop Plug-Ins
• Mehdi Plug-ins
  Many free plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop.
• Running Photoshop plug-ins in GIMP, even on Linux

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