This chapter summarizes the additional tools that we mention and use at various stages during the workflow. These offer either functionality not included in Photoshop or useful enhancements to existing Photoshop capabilities.
We don’t intend to “sell” you these tools, but we do make recommendations based on our own experience. The range of available plug-ins is constantly increasing, and there are many alternatives to the examples we mention.
Most of the manufacturers listed here offer free trial versions for download, so you should definitely try out a tool to check whether it suits your needs and your personal style before making a purchase. We use the 
and 
icons in the margins to symbolize the platform compatibility of each tool.
We keep a constantly updated directory of Photoshop filters at Uwe’s website that includes descriptions and sample images for a wide range of software.
The manufacturer websites and some purchase addresses for the tools described here are listed in Tools We Use Regularly onwards.
Photoshop has an enormous range of built-in tools and functions – more than most of us will ever need. Some users even consider it to be overengineered. But no single program can cover everyone’s processing needs, and any attempt to build one would result in a complicated, top-heavy, unmanageable monster application. Photoshop was designed from the start to be adaptable and extendable. The open architecture makes it flexible, and it’s easy to develop applications. There are currently four types of Photoshop plug-ins available:
Our filter directory can be found at: www.outbackphoto.com/workshop/photoshop_corner/filters.html
Filters (found in the Filter menu)
Automation plug-ins (under File ▸ Automate)
Scripts (under File ▸ Scripts)
Actions (see Speed Up Your Workflow with Photoshop Actions)
Note
Some Photoshop plug-ins are also available as standalone programs that can be used to manipulate images outside of Photoshop. Examples are Adobe’s own DNG Converter, and HDRsoft’s Tonemapper.
All of these types of Photoshop extension make their own demands on a system and have their own specific advantages and disadvantages.
Some complain that Photoshop is expensive enough without having to spend that much again on plug-ins. We view Photoshop as a powerful base module with a great range of basic tools. The program’s extensibility is one of its best features, making it possible to enhance functionality without overreaching the program’s limits. The available plug-ins range from simple freeware to seriously expensive commercially produced add-ons, and cover a huge range of build quality and functionality. Many plug-ins are available in standard and Pro versions that often include 16-bit (per color channel) processing functionality and extensive fine-tuning options.
Note
Many Photoshop plug-ins are compatible with Paint Shop Pro, Corel Photo Paint, and Adobe Photoshop Elements, but remember to check the exact compatibility before installing.
Most manufacturers of commercial add-ons offer free trial versions of their products for download, so you can usually check whether the potential improvements a plug-in provides fit in with your personal style and, of course, your budget. Often the speed and ease of operation that plug-ins offer (rather than any really unique effects) make them worth the money.
Note
Check which data formats (8-bit and/ or 16-bit) and color modes each plug-in supports. Also remember to check whether your chosen extension supports the 32-bit and/or 64-bit version of Photoshop.
Try not to get upset when Adobe includes a plug-in function in a future version of Photoshop. Adobe, too, has to react to market pressure.
Some of the processes we use plug-ins or standalone applications for are:
Distortion correction.[173] Panorama plug-ins are often included in this broad plug-in type.
Monochrome conversion
Local/selective contrast correction
Sharpening. This area offers a wide range of filters in an equally wide range of price categories.
Noise reduction. Like sharpening, the perceived necessity of noise reduction is a matter of personal taste and the size of your chosen print format.
Lossless image enlargement. Photoshop’s handling of this problem is getting better all the time, but specialized software, such as Genuine Fractals, is still the better option.
Increasing tonal range and quality through image merging
Specialized filters, e.g., for making color corrections
Effect filters, e.g., for producing a sunshine effect or artificial grain in an image
Framing effects
HDR image creation and tone mapping
Panoramas and depth of field enhancement with focus stacking
Production of complex slideshows (often with musical accompaniment)
Print plug-ins and RIPs (often used for specialty black-and-white applications)
Some filter effects can be reproduced using complex Photoshop actions, but using specially designed filters is often simpler and faster. Other filters include effects and algorithms that Photoshop simply doesn’t offer.
Former plug-in functionality that’s now part in Photoshop includes:
Smart Sharpen (more comprehensive than USM)
Lens Correction (for correcting lens-based errors and artifacts)
Enhanced, profile-based Lens Correction, introduced with CS5
Merge to HDR (for merging multiple images into a single, high-dynamic-range image and saving 32-bit per color channel image data)
Load Files into Stack (for loading multiple images into separate layers and aligning them if necessary)[174]
Auto-Align Layers (this function was only previously available as part of the Photomerge command)[175]
Auto-Blend Layers (merges multiple layers while selecting only the “sharp” portions of each)**
Adobe often introduces improvements without announcing them. Auto alignment – traditionally part of many multishot techniques – has improved enormously in recent program versions. Many users now find the Photoshop Photomerge command to be just as good as many specialized panorama software packages.
Photoshop CS4’s or CS5’s Focus Stacking tool (Loading Image Files into a Stack and Aligning Layers) is more than adequate for many cases, although Helicon Focus [76] is still capable of producing better results.
Some of the plug-ins described here are now available for use with RAW editors or all-in-one imaging packages such as Apple Aperture or Adobe Lightroom. These types of plug-ins don’t actually interfere with the base program’s architecture, but instead export the active image to TIFF or JPEG, process it, and re-import it to the original program. Programs that take this approach are Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, Define, and Nik Sharpener Pro (all manufactured by Nik Software [75]).
Filters are the most common form of Photoshop plug-in. The concept is simple: Photoshop makes an interface available through its SDK/API that enables the plug-in to access the pixels of the image on the active layer. The plug-in can then manipulate the pixels according to its intended functionality and pass the adjusted image data back to Photoshop. This approach makes it possible to apply just about any algorithm to image data, and many of today’s complex plug-ins started life as simple filters. A quality filter plugin has the following characteristics:
A dialog-style user interface with input boxes, options and adjustment sliders
16-bit (or even 32-bit) processing capability
A preview window with a full-screen view
It is also useful if filter settings can be saved for use with other images later. We like filters that allow you to switch between “before” and “after” views of the active image.
SDK = Software Development Kit – a development environment that describes the program’s interfaces and provides libraries of functions for constructing access points to the program’s architecture. API = Application Programming Interface – a well-documented interface for calling up routines and subroutines from inside a program module.
Filters are usually programmed using C++ and can be quite complex. Unfortunately, Mac and Windows versions of plug-ins are compiled using different compilers and often look different to the user.
The amount of available memory is a critical factor when you are processing large image files in Photoshop. Smart filters work around this problem by dividing the active image into small units and processing these units sequentially. This type of operation is extremely complex to program, especially in filters that involve the processing of neighboring pixels. If your plug-in causes memory problems, you can adjust the amount of memory available to it in the Photoshop Preferences dialog.[176] This type of problem is less common in the newer 64-bit versions of Photoshop (already available for Windows in CS4 and now in CS5 for Mac OS X), but it depends on your plug-in’s ability to genuinely support 64-bit systems.
Some Photoshop filters are explicitly designed for use with 32-bit systems and simply do not function with 64-bit Photoshop. If this is the case, you will need to either obtain a 64-bit update for your plug-in or run the 32-bit version of Photoshop.
Automation plug-ins are more similar to Photoshop actions than to filters, and they are only capable of running operations made available by the Photoshop API. As with filter plug-ins, automation plug-ins are programmed and compiled in C++, and their Windows and Mac versions look a bit different.
The advantage of automation plug-ins over conventional Photoshop actions is their ability to provide a dialog-style interface with user-controllable options and parameters. They can also be programmed to make certain steps in a process dependent on other parameters (such as image size). Automation plug-ins are thus more flexible than actions that only function linearly.
Our own plug-ins (all programmed by Uwe) are automation scripts.[177] We use Photoshop actions to initialize our scripts, although we could also use the File ▸ Scripts ▸ ... command. This approach allows us to create powerful functions, even if they are only based on a series of built-in Photoshop commands and tools. Developers who sell scripted plug-ins have the advantage of being able to make the individual steps invisible to the user. Such combinations also offer various functions that pure Photoshop actions cannot, such as:
Custom dialogs
Parameter input
Data-dependent operations
Subroutines that are dependent on preconditions
Photoshop’s Script API is becoming increasingly popular as an automation tool. Photoshop supports three basic script types:
AppleScript (only on Mac systems)
Visual Basic Script (only on Windows systems)
JavaScript (runs on both platforms)
Note: Do not confuse JavaScript with Java. Java is a mature programming language, whereas JavaScript is purely a scripting language that is much simpler but less powerful than Java. Scripts are quite easy to program, but they are only suitable for use with noncomplex applications.
We recommend that you learn JavaScript if you want to make your own scripts. Scripts are easy to copy and rewrite, although they can nowadays be compiled and delivered in binary form rather than in plain text. This makes it impossible to interpret the individual steps involved, and it’s a technique used by the vendors of most commercial scripts.
Several of the tools described here are available not only as standalone programs but also (or even exclusively) as Photoshop plug-ins, filters, or scripts. Installing these tools is generally simple, but you will need to have administrator privileges to implement system-wide changes. It is best to log in to an administrator account before installing any of these modules. Many of the modules install themselves automatically, but others require some computer know-how during the process.
The basic Photoshop CSx folder structure into which we will install our tools is almost identical for Windows and Mac OS X (Figure 12-1.) The illustration shows only the folders relevant to this particular task.
The illustrated file structure is sometimes present in two places. The first folder tree (Figure 12-1) is the Photoshop installation, located by default in Windows XP at:
C:Program FilesAdobeAdobe Photoshop CS5.
For Vista and Windows 7 it’s:
C:Useruser_nameAppdataRaomingAdobeAdobe Photoshop CS5.
The standard location in Mac OS X is: Applications/Adobe Photoshop CSx/ In both cases, the folders are located on the system drive and the modules and settings contained within them are available system-wide. A second, parallel file system stores all of your user-specific settings and extensions. In Windows this is located at:
C:Documents and SettingsUser NameApplication DataAdobeAdobe Photoshop CS5.
In order to be able to see these settings files, use Windows Explorer to go to Tools ▸ Folder Options ▸ View ▸ Advanced Options ▸ Hidden Files and Folders. Now activate the option Show all files and folders.[178]
In Mac OS X, this structure is located in the individual user’s Library folder, for example, at ~user/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS5/, where “~user” represents the user’s home directory.
Both structures are generally self-explanatory once you are familiar with them. Script-based add-ons such as DOP Detail Extractor are copied into the Scripts folder (a subfolder of Presets) of either the system-wide or user-specific directory tree. Filters like the FDR Compressor filter plug-in are copied into the Filters folder. You will find your new add-ons in varying locations within Photoshop’s folder structure, depending on their type:
Note
It is always safer to close Photoshop before installing any add-ons. Any modules you do install will only be available once Photoshop has been restarted anyway.
Some add-ons are designed to enhance existing Photoshop commands and therefore appear in those modules’ dialog boxes. For example, additional formats can appear in the export dialog of the Save as command, while the Open command can be extended to support new import formats (like JPEG2000), or a specific scanner can be linked to the program, which then appears in the File ▸ Import menu.
Unfortunately, there are some disadvantages to installing add-ons directly in Photoshop’s own folders. If you have to reinstall Photoshop, the add-ons will be deleted, and whenever you update the program they will be ignored. To work around this, we recommend installing your add-ons (actions and scripts) in folders other than the default ones provided by Photoshop (i.e., the ones described in Figure 12-1). You can set Photoshop to look for add-ons in a different location in the Preferences ▸ Plug-Ins dialog. Use the Additional Plug-Ins Folder checkbox to point Photoshop to the folder tree where you have stored your add-ons. This way, when you update Photoshop, all you have to do is reset that path.[179]
Figure 12-2. You can define an additional folder for your own plug-ins in the Photoshop Preferences dialog.
Actions can also be stored in a separate folder and loaded from the Action panel using Load Actions from the fly-out menu at the ▾ icon at the top of the Actions panel.
[173] Perspective or lens distortion
[174] Introduced with CS3
[175] Introduced with CS4
[176] This setting can be found under Preferences ▸ Performance.
[178] For Vista and Windows 7 use: Tools ▸ Folder Options ▸ View ▸ Hidden Files and Folders.
[179] Remember to check whether your add-ons still work when you install a new version of Photoshop.