Best Photoshop plugins?

wildman · 06-26-2011, 04:04 AM

Wonder what others consider to be a must have plugin(s) for photoshop?

I'm not talking about the thousands of special effect plugins but, rather, those that are useful for basic image processing. I'm thinking practical and useful.

For instance I might recommend Topaz DeNoise or Nik Sharpener Pro as an example.

What's your opinion?

Last edited by wildman; 06-26-2011 at 04:19 AM.

Adam · 06-26-2011, 04:32 AM

The whole topaz suite is worth getting IMO- they're way ahead of stock photoshop in some areas.

**Michaelina2** · 06-26-2011, 06:03 AM

Originally posted by Adam

The whole topaz suite is worth getting IMO- they're way ahead of stock photoshop in some areas.

Agree with Adam about Topaz...

OTOH... Kinda depends on which flavor of Photoshop you are using (Elements, Lightroom, CS5, etc.).

For PS Lightroom, my preference is NIK's collection.

Go to NIK and Topaz wwweb site's and watch some of their tutorials to see how they work... Also, if you attend one of their 'live' webinars, they usually offer a product discount as a reward to attending (and participating)...

Topaz Labs Tutorials

http://www.niksoftware.com/learnmore/usa/index.php/webinars/archives

If you are into saving time and want hgh quality output, which ever way you go, Topaz and/or NIK, it's worth the money IMHO.

Cheers...

JohnBee · 06-26-2011, 06:56 AM

I'd tell you, but then again, if I did... I'd be giving away my best kept secrets that have taken years to develop and uncover.

However I will say this...

The latest version of Raw Therapee(free btw) makes mince meat out of ACR and LR

magkelly · 06-26-2011, 10:51 AM

I like Topaz, Nik, OnOne, Alien Skin, KPT, Kodak, Redfield, Flaming Pear, Noise Ninja. Not all of these are for photographic corrections. Some of them I use for other reasons.

wildman · 06-26-2011, 11:16 AM

Originally posted by Michaelina2

OTOH... Kinda depends on which flavor of Photoshop you are using (Elements, Lightroom, CS5, etc.).

I have the latest version of PS extended and LR.

**mtngal** · 06-26-2011, 05:18 PM

I like Topaz and Nik's plugins, though I don't actually use all of them (I wanted enough that it was cheaper to buy the suite than to buy the ones I wanted separately). I never quite got along with Noise Ninja for some reason - other people got much better results than I ever did. It taught me the value of free 30 day trials since I bought it based on all the reviews and what others said about it, without trying it first.

I downloaded one of OnOne's plug-ins today and was very pleased with it. I'm not sure how much I'd use their other products but if the rest of them are as high quality as the one I tried, they should be excellent.

wildman · 06-27-2011, 05:26 AM

Originally posted by Michaelina2

If you are into saving time and want hgh quality output, which ever way you go, Topaz and/or NIK, it's worth the money

OK.
I have the complete Topaz and NIK installed now will see how it goes.

I have a recommendation of my own. It's called Power Retouche. It's over 20 programs almost all for basic image processing.

Thanks all

slip · 06-29-2011, 11:24 AM

here are some interesting actions that work like plugins...

70 Of The Best Photoshop Actions For Enhancing Photos | Creative Nerds

cheers

mysticcowboy · 06-29-2011, 08:02 PM

I use Nik Viveza for quick selection area adjustments without having to make complex selections. OnOne's Perfect Resize is the most reliable tool for resizing an image, especially scaling it larger. OnOne's Mask Pro makes masking as simple and accurate as possible. FocalPoint does a good job of creating depth of field and pleasing bokah. Topaz Labs has tools that do the same as the latter two that are less expensive but, IMO, don't give quite as good results. I do own the whole Topaz suite. I do like Topaz Adjust for working with local contrast and DeNoise for working with high ISO noise.

wildman · 06-29-2011, 11:01 PM

Originally posted by mysticcowboy

I use Nik Viveza for quick selection area adjustments without having to make complex selections. OnOne's Perfect Resize is the most reliable tool for resizing an image, especially scaling it larger. OnOne's Mask Pro makes masking as simple and accurate as possible. FocalPoint does a good job of creating depth of field and pleasing bokah. Topaz Labs has tools that do the same as the latter two that are less expensive but, IMO, don't give quite as good results. I do own the whole Topaz suite. I do like Topaz Adjust for working with local contrast and DeNoise for working with high ISO noise.

OK.
Sounds good.
Will give the OnOne suite a try also. Will take a while - it's a huge download.

civiletti · 06-30-2011, 01:29 PM

LRenfuse for HDR

civiletti · 06-30-2011, 01:39 PM

Do any plugins for LR allow graduated filter manipulation with other than straight lines?

GeneV · 07-04-2011, 07:28 AM

Originally posted by JohnBee

I'd tell you, but then again, if I did... I'd be giving away my best kept secrets that have taken years to develop and uncover.

However I will say this...

The latest version of Raw Therapee(free btw) makes mince meat out of ACR and LR

When you say the latest version of Raw Therapee, do you mean the one that was released on June 26? It was the first version that did not crash and burn on my little Asus Eepc. The last "stable" 32 bit version was, for me, misnamed.

The 64 bit version works well on my other laptop.

I'm curious what, other than the price, makes mince meat out of Adobe's products? The sharpening and NR seem a bit difficult to master.

JohnBee · 07-04-2011, 05:07 PM

Originally posted by GeneV

I'm curious what, other than the price, makes mince meat out of Adobe's products? The sharpening and NR seem a bit difficult to master.

I think that since RT competes with Photoshop/ACR then we might say the price factor is a big one

But I guess this could change if Adobe released a stand-alone ACR module.

Aside from this I think RT leaves ACR in the dust in the Demosaic, Raw Sharpening(Deconvoluted and contrast), Preprocessing, Defringe and Lens Module(CA), Resize Module(Lanczoz), Highlight Reconstruction, Hot pixel filter? and a few other tidbits that escape my memory at this time.

As for the difference one might ask?
It's simply astounding.
Well, as far as I can see anyways

Granted, the noise module leaves to be desired. Though, I never really made use of the Luma NR module in ACR anyways.
And so it really comes down to Chroma in my case. To which I'd say ACR still gets the node for it's passive grain. Which really works well as preprocessing for advanced NR modules such as Denoise. But insofar as RAW detail goes, there's just no competition. RT really does stand tall above the best windows RAW/DNG developers I've used with Pentax files to date.

Hope this helps.

PS. I'm using the Windows build 2011-06-26_win64_3.0B1.50 atm. Though I haven't had any problems with any of the previous builds from the same trunk.

/Added later...

I think much of the sharpening issues surrounding RT is a direct consequence of how people intend to use it. That is to say that they would approach the issue in a RAW pre-sharpening stage rather than a perceptual one. And many people don't fully realize the importance of this in RAW development. And I think much of the confusion following this is derived from most mainstream UI's catering to both words(Pre-sharpening + Creative).

06-26-2011, 04:04 AM	#1
wildman Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Flyover America Posts: 4,469	Best Photoshop plugins? Wonder what others consider to be a must have plugin(s) for photoshop? I'm not talking about the thousands of special effect plugins but, rather, those that are useful for basic image processing. I'm thinking practical and useful. For instance I might recommend Topaz DeNoise or Nik Sharpener Pro as an example. What's your opinion? Last edited by wildman; 06-26-2011 at 04:19 AM.

07-04-2011, 05:07 PM	#15
JohnBee Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Newrfoundland Photos: Albums Posts: 4,667	Originally posted by GeneV I'm curious what, other than the price, makes mince meat out of Adobe's products? The sharpening and NR seem a bit difficult to master. I think that since RT competes with Photoshop/ACR then we might say the price factor is a big one But I guess this could change if Adobe released a stand-alone ACR module. Aside from this I think RT leaves ACR in the dust in the Demosaic, Raw Sharpening(Deconvoluted and contrast), Preprocessing, Defringe and Lens Module(CA), Resize Module(Lanczoz), Highlight Reconstruction, Hot pixel filter? and a few other tidbits that escape my memory at this time. As for the difference one might ask? It's simply astounding. Well, as far as I can see anyways Granted, the noise module leaves to be desired. Though, I never really made use of the Luma NR module in ACR anyways. And so it really comes down to Chroma in my case. To which I'd say ACR still gets the node for it's passive grain. Which really works well as preprocessing for advanced NR modules such as Denoise. But insofar as RAW detail goes, there's just no competition. RT really does stand tall above the best windows RAW/DNG developers I've used with Pentax files to date. Hope this helps. PS. I'm using the Windows build 2011-06-26_win64_3.0B1.50 atm. Though I haven't had any problems with any of the previous builds from the same trunk. /Added later... I think much of the sharpening issues surrounding RT is a direct consequence of how people intend to use it. That is to say that they would approach the issue in a RAW pre-sharpening stage rather than a perceptual one. And many people don't fully realize the importance of this in RAW development. And I think much of the confusion following this is derived from most mainstream UI's catering to both words(Pre-sharpening + Creative). Last edited by JohnBee; 07-04-2011 at 06:24 PM.

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06-26-2011, 04:32 AM	#2
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,593	The whole topaz suite is worth getting IMO- they're way ahead of stock photoshop in some areas.

06-26-2011, 06:03 AM	#3
Michaelina2 Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SE Michigan USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,300	Originally posted by Adam The whole topaz suite is worth getting IMO- they're way ahead of stock photoshop in some areas. Agree with Adam about Topaz... OTOH... Kinda depends on which flavor of Photoshop you are using (Elements, Lightroom, CS5, etc.). For PS Lightroom, my preference is NIK's collection. Go to NIK and Topaz wwweb site's and watch some of their tutorials to see how they work... Also, if you attend one of their 'live' webinars, they usually offer a product discount as a reward to attending (and participating)... Topaz Labs Tutorials http://www.niksoftware.com/learnmore/usa/index.php/webinars/archives If you are into saving time and want hgh quality output, which ever way you go, Topaz and/or NIK, it's worth the money IMHO. Cheers...

06-26-2011, 06:56 AM	#4
JohnBee Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Newrfoundland Photos: Albums Posts: 4,667	I'd tell you, but then again, if I did... I'd be giving away my best kept secrets that have taken years to develop and uncover. However I will say this... The latest version of Raw Therapee(free btw) makes mince meat out of ACR and LR

06-26-2011, 10:51 AM	#5
magkelly Veteran Member Join Date: May 2010 Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,901	I like Topaz, Nik, OnOne, Alien Skin, KPT, Kodak, Redfield, Flaming Pear, Noise Ninja. Not all of these are for photographic corrections. Some of them I use for other reasons.

06-26-2011, 11:16 AM	#6
wildman Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Flyover America Posts: 4,469 Original Poster	Originally posted by Michaelina2 OTOH... Kinda depends on which flavor of Photoshop you are using (Elements, Lightroom, CS5, etc.). I have the latest version of PS extended and LR.

06-26-2011, 05:18 PM	#7
mtngal Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Wherever I’m Parked Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,003	I like Topaz and Nik's plugins, though I don't actually use all of them (I wanted enough that it was cheaper to buy the suite than to buy the ones I wanted separately). I never quite got along with Noise Ninja for some reason - other people got much better results than I ever did. It taught me the value of free 30 day trials since I bought it based on all the reviews and what others said about it, without trying it first. I downloaded one of OnOne's plug-ins today and was very pleased with it. I'm not sure how much I'd use their other products but if the rest of them are as high quality as the one I tried, they should be excellent.

06-27-2011, 05:26 AM	#8
wildman Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Flyover America Posts: 4,469 Original Poster	Originally posted by Michaelina2 If you are into saving time and want hgh quality output, which ever way you go, Topaz and/or NIK, it's worth the money OK. I have the complete Topaz and NIK installed now will see how it goes. I have a recommendation of my own. It's called Power Retouche. It's over 20 programs almost all for basic image processing. Thanks all

06-29-2011, 11:24 AM	#9
slip Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 2 hours north of toronto ontario canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,535	here are some interesting actions that work like plugins... 70 Of The Best Photoshop Actions For Enhancing Photos \| Creative Nerds cheers

06-29-2011, 08:02 PM	#10
mysticcowboy Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: port townsend, wa Photos: Albums Posts: 968	I use Nik Viveza for quick selection area adjustments without having to make complex selections. OnOne's Perfect Resize is the most reliable tool for resizing an image, especially scaling it larger. OnOne's Mask Pro makes masking as simple and accurate as possible. FocalPoint does a good job of creating depth of field and pleasing bokah. Topaz Labs has tools that do the same as the latter two that are less expensive but, IMO, don't give quite as good results. I do own the whole Topaz suite. I do like Topaz Adjust for working with local contrast and DeNoise for working with high ISO noise.

06-29-2011, 11:01 PM	#11
wildman Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Flyover America Posts: 4,469 Original Poster	Originally posted by mysticcowboy I use Nik Viveza for quick selection area adjustments without having to make complex selections. OnOne's Perfect Resize is the most reliable tool for resizing an image, especially scaling it larger. OnOne's Mask Pro makes masking as simple and accurate as possible. FocalPoint does a good job of creating depth of field and pleasing bokah. Topaz Labs has tools that do the same as the latter two that are less expensive but, IMO, don't give quite as good results. I do own the whole Topaz suite. I do like Topaz Adjust for working with local contrast and DeNoise for working with high ISO noise. OK. Sounds good. Will give the OnOne suite a try also. Will take a while - it's a huge download.

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06-30-2011, 01:29 PM	#12
civiletti Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Oregon Photos: Albums Posts: 1,435	LRenfuse for HDR

06-30-2011, 01:39 PM	#13
civiletti Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Oregon Photos: Albums Posts: 1,435	Do any plugins for LR allow graduated filter manipulation with other than straight lines?

07-04-2011, 07:28 AM	#14
GeneV Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Albuquerque NM Photos: Albums Posts: 9,830	Originally posted by JohnBee I'd tell you, but then again, if I did... I'd be giving away my best kept secrets that have taken years to develop and uncover. However I will say this... The latest version of Raw Therapee(free btw) makes mince meat out of ACR and LR When you say the latest version of Raw Therapee, do you mean the one that was released on June 26? It was the first version that did not crash and burn on my little Asus Eepc. The last "stable" 32 bit version was, for me, misnamed. The 64 bit version works well on my other laptop. I'm curious what, other than the price, makes mince meat out of Adobe's products? The sharpening and NR seem a bit difficult to master.