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PC Plug-ins / Filters: Collection + Tutorials (from the creator of Andrew's Filters)
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Photoshop plugins work with PC Requirements: Windows 7 + Vista + XP Photoshop CS5 CS4 CS3 CS2 CS 7 6 (Creative Suite 5.5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) + PaintShop Photo Pro X4 X3 PSP X2 X1 X 9 8 + Corel Painter + Photo-Paint + PhotoImpact + Elements 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 + others 32 BIT ONLY
Photoshop plug-ins / PSP effects / PC plug-ins - quick links
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Add to cart Collection
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Blending modes / optionsThe plugins all include 100 output settings such as invert the image, apply only to the red channel, wrap the color, limit the colors to the current foreground and background color range, set to difference, darken only, different darken effects, tiling, frames, zapped color effect and many more. Blending modes are like additional filters added to the plugin effect, adding millions and millions of new creative effects to any plugin |
Post processing settingsAll the plugins include 18 post processing settings such as applying a randomized gradient or gradient blend to the end result of the filter effect. The randomized gradient effects and blends can add subtle color changes to any image or text or layer. The gradient color effect combinations can range to millions and millions of unique color effects and overlays such as radial or diamond or quadrant gradient effects. Alone, the post processing effects are a truly powerful addition to any plugin effects collection. |
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Plug-ins PresetsThe plugin settings can be saved so if you find a really stunning effect, simply click the SAVE button. The preset file can then be opened in future and the effect re-applied to a different image. |
Photoshop actions and plug-insThe plug-in effects can be saved as an action so you can use the actions in batch processing / scripting etc. Combine many of the effects, combine the Andrew's Plugins with native Photoshop effects and save as an action. Re-use the action in future image processing |
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Plug-ins and effects modesThe plug-ins all include 20 effects modes. Instead of the end result of the plugin being used in the final output, the filter effect is generated as a blur or smear or paint effect or grain effect based on the strength of the filter effect. Use the effects modes to apply totally weird and wonderful unique warping and paint and blur effects to any image. |
Color modes - CMYK, RGB etcThe plug-in set can be used in RGB as well as CMYK and Grayscale and LAB as well as in 16 bits / channel (for many of the features). Change the image mode via the image command in Photoshop from RGB to CMYK and the plugins will still appear enabled in the filters menu, apply your effects in CMYK etc. You can also go to the channels palette and apply the effects to individual channels |
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Color settingsThe plugin gives you powerful color options to modify the color of each channel individually. If you want the end result of the effect to be redder or greener, simply move the color sliders. The color sliders can also be randomized, giving you millions of possible color outcomes applied to the image |
Randomized settings and Photoshop plug-insThe plugins all come with a selection of randomization buttons. The Xtreme button randomized the settings to the extreme, creating literally millions and millions of image effects. The blend button randomizes the blend / output options; the tweak button applies subtle variations of the current settings |
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Many different powerful settings in all pluginsAll the plugins include many different settings. The plugins include dropdown combo boxes to radically alter the functionality of the plugin, settings sliders such as intensity, mixing of image and effect, blurring, quality of effect and more. Enter the settings via the interactive sliders or enter the strength of the effect in the standard text box. |
Layers / alpha channelIf you apply the plugin effect on a layer, the alpha channel can also be modified by the plugin effect as well as the image itself. There are many different layer / alpha channel modification settings such as adding the red channel of the effect to the alpha channel, or applying a gradient to to the alpha channel, or inversing of the effect, edge settings and many more |
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PaintShop Photo Pro X4 X3 etcThe plug-ins work in many different PC software such as PaintShop Photo, Paint Shop Pro, Painter, Xara, PhotoImpact and many other software. Also work on Vista, windows 7 etc Some functionality might be different in each plugin as each application uses different features and color approaches. |
Millions of great effectsEach plugin can be used to create awesome effects. The plugins are from the developer of the Andrew's Filters (a 1000+ filters collection). The Andrew's Plugins are a different set of plugins, requiring no additional dlls. Use to create countless stunning visual effects and digital photography effects. Apply to images, text, layers and more. Use to create textures, frames, pattern designs and more. |
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Plug-ins / color channels
The filters can be used on all RGB channels or they can be used on a single channel. Use the plugin effect on different channels in turn with different settings to create truly unique channel effects and designs. The plugins also come with three sliders to manipulate the color channels, to add more red or more blue or less green.
Digital Photography and the plug-ins
The filters all come with modes that can be useful for digital photography such as frames and borders as well as invert, solarization, posterization, saturation as well as tone settings. Use the plugin output and effects modes to tweak an image in 1000s of ways, from the subtle to the extreme
Color modes CMYK and others and plug-in use
The Photoshop plugins can be used in many different color modes and not just RGB. The number of the color modes for the plugins depends on the application and some will only allow access to grayscale and / or CMYK. Photoshop has a number of other color modes such as LAB as well as 16 bit color modes and beyond. The graphicxtras plugins work in most color modes. They will not work in indexed color mode though. I would imagine that only specialized plug-ins will work in that color mode.
Plug-in Previews
All the Photoshop plug-ins include a large preview screen to show the effect. You can zoom in and out within limits. The preview in many cases can also be used as an interactive tool to change the settings of some fields, simply click the preview to select the color or change the intensity or displacement of an effect (as mentions, varies from plugin to plugin)
Andrew's Filters
The Photoshop plugins are not the Andrew's Filters. I created the Andrew's Filters back in 1995, these plugins are not related other than that I created both sets of plugins. The range of effects in this later series is many 100s of times greater in range and feature than the earlier popular series. Please check out many web sites such as the Steve's Desktop Photography site for a full list of all the plug-ins in the Andrew's Filters collection. I no longer store the filters on the graphicxtras web site
Color from toolbox - plug-in color settings
Many of the filters use the color from the toolbox. If the plugin effect or setting uses the foreground color or background color of the Photoshop plugin's toolbox then you will see this as indicated in the plugins as BG and FG (for the background and foreground color). You can change the color via the standard Photoshop toolbox. Changing the color combinations can radically change some of the effects (there are also millions of possible color combinations!). Most of the gradient plugins use the BG and FG color information to create the gradient. Some software do not return the color information so in those cases the plugins will only probably use a single pre-defined color.
Plug-ins recommendations
'Totally fascinated with the graphicxtras plug-ins', 'Use the plug-ins 90% of the time for mixing colors to achieve painterly effects' - Jeff Wietor (www.raincoat.tv) "In the growing market of plugins and filters Andrew's work shines above the mediocrity of mostly uninspired "effects". His work is not only inexhaustible in scope and variety it is original and fresh. Andrew's Filters, presets, etc do not just blur the line between plugin effects and art, his work is art. Welcome to the future." Dede Kafka
Plugins - how to install, tutorials, how to use
The notes in this section refer to the Andrew's plug-ins (all by graphicxtras.com), for more information and how to buy the plug-ins, please check out the plug-in pages
Quick gif video of the installation of the plugins !
The plugin files are all 8BF files. The 8BF files need to be placed in the plug-ins or plugins path of the host application, the filters will then appear in the filter menu of that application. If INI or ini files are included, they should also be placed in the same path as the plugins
Plug-in experimentation
The plugins all come with tumble and tweaking buttons for randomization of the settings. Instead of using the sliders, you can simply apply CTRL-X to randomize the effect in millions of different ways.
Plug-in Categories
The plug-ins are spread over multiple categories, the plugins appear in the menu of Photoshop® and Paint Shop Pro® in their overall category, these include things like gradient / edge / blur / color etc.
Filtermeister plug-ins
All the plugins were created using the excellent plugin development tool, Filtermeister. Please check out the FM plugin details on the filtermeister.com site.
No additional dlls required for the plug-ins
Unlike the original FF (Andrew's filters), the Andrew's Plugins series does not need any additional dlls or additional converter tools to use the plugins
Common locations for installation
Photoshop® CS5 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS5\plug-ins\...]
Photoshop® CS4 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4\plug-ins\...]
Photoshop® CS3 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\plug-ins\...]
Photoshop® CS2 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\plug-ins\...]
Photoshop® CS [c:\program files\adobe\photoshop CS\plug-ins\...]
Photoshop® 7 [c:\program files\adobe\photoshop 7\plug-ins\...]
Paint Shop Pro® Photo X4 [c:\program files\Corel\Paint Shop Pro X4\Languages\IE\plugins] * depends on the language!
Paint Shop Pro® Photo X3 [c:\program files\Corel\Paint Shop Pro X3\Languages\IE\plugins] * depends on the language!
Paint Shop Pro® Photo X2 [c:\program files\Corel\Paint Shop Pro X2\Languages\IE\plugins] * depends on the language!
Paint Shop Pro® Photo X1 [c:\program files\Corel\Paint Shop Pro X1\PlugIns] * if it doesn't exist, please create the plugins folder
Paint Shop Pro® X [c:\program files\Corel\Paint Shop Pro X\PlugIns]
Paint Shop Pro® 9 [c:\program files\Jasc Software Inc\Paint Shop Pro\PlugIns]
Paint Shop Pro® 8 [c:\program files\Jasc Software Inc\Paint Shop Pro\PlugIns]
Canvas 6 [c:\program files\Canvas 6\Canvas Tools\plugins]
Painter IX [c:\program files\Corel\Corel Painter IX\Plugins]
Illustrator CS5 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS5\plug-ins]
Illustrator CS4 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS4\plug-ins]
Illustrator CS3 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS3\plug-ins]
Illustrator CS2 [c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS2\plug-ins]
Expression 3.3 [c:\program files\Expression 3\Plugins]
PhotoImpact 8 [c:\program files\Ulead\Ulead PhotoImpact 8\Plugins]
Plug-in compatibility
The plugins should work fine in all the software below, though some may show slight variants or inability to use the foreground or background color feature, as this information may not be returned from the host application. Adobe ® Photoshop® CS5 CS4 CS3 CS2 / Adobe ® Photoshop® 9 / Adobe ® Photoshop® CS1 / Adobe ® Photoshop®8 / Adobe ® Photoshop® 7 / Adobe ® Photoshop® 6 / Photoshop® Elements 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 etc/ PaintShop Photo X4 X3 / Paint Shop Pro® Photo X2 / Paint Shop Pro® Photo X1 / Paint Shop Pro® X / Paint Shop Pro® 9 / Paint Shop Pro® 8 / Paint Shop Pro® 7 / Paint Shop Pro® 6 / Painter™ IX / Photo-Paint / Expression ™3.3 / Bryce / Konvertor / Deneba ® / Canvas ™ / Ulead ® PhotoImpact ™ / Adobe ® Illustrator® / PhotoDraw ® / Microsoft ® Digital Image Suite / After Effects ® / and many many more PC software / windows ™ 98 ME NT Windows ™ XP Vista and Windows 7
Plug-ins recommendations
'Totally fascinated with the graphicxtras plug-ins', 'Use the plug-ins 90% of the time for mixing colors to achieve painterly effects' - Jeff Wietor (www.raincoat.tv) "In the growing market of plugins and filters Andrew's work shines above the mediocrity of mostly uninspired "effects". His work is not only inexhaustible in scope and variety it is original and fresh. Andrew's Filters, presets, etc do not just blur the line between plugin effects and art, his work is art. Welcome to the future." Dede Kafka
Plug-in magazine reviews
Digital Camera Shopper Magazine (UK camera magazine) December 2005 4/5 (value for money 5/5)
The plugins have been reviewed extensively in the past, mainly in the various computer graphics magazines in the UK and also in the US.
Installation of plug-ins for Paint Shop Pro ® tutorial
Installation of the plug-ins with each version of PSP seems to vary, even more so with change of OS
Because of the latest security features, you might not be able to use the preset / reset feature of the plug-in set if you place the 8BF plug-ins into the program files / Paint Shop Pro folders. If you wish to use the preset / reset features of the Andrew's Plug-ins, I would suggest placing the 8BF plugins in your user account (sub folder of). A suggestion being either the 'my psp files' or perhaps a 'my plug-ins' sub folder of your user account. plug-in folders example.
As Paint Shop Pro will not know the new location of the plug-ins, you will have to locate the plug-in path for PSP. Start PSP and then go to the file > preferences > file locations command. file locations example
Once in the file locations dialog, select the plugins panel and then click the ADD command. You will then be able to browse for your plug-in path. The plug-in path, if in the users folder, can be found via the c:\ users folder and select the user account name used. Select the plug-in folder. Click OK. The plug-ins will then be loaded from this location (I have noticed that sometimes this doesn't work on the first attempt and you may have to re-start PSP but it should work and you should then be able to locate the loaded plug-ins. File locations dialog example
Go to the effects menu and plugins and select the Andrew's plugins. The plug-ins can be found in the category AP <something> - plugins appearing in PSP menu example.
If you are using XP then you can place the plug-ins in the usal location as below (Languages\IE\plugins) Though this may vary depending on your language - additional plugin folders example.
Once selected, the plug-in will appear and you can then use the sliders and dropdowns (please note the plug-in example below may be different to the plug-in display you see) plugin dialog example.
Installation of Andrews Plugins in Paint Shop Pro X3 (X2 X1 etc) tutorial
The Andrew's plugins can be used in countless software, even though they are mainly for Photoshop, they can also be used in Paint Shop Pro - the 32 bit version anyway. To install, simply add them to the plugin path of the host application.