hjoseph7 Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>Out of curiosity, there are allot of plugin software packages out there these days and trying to sift through them all to get to the good ones is not allways easy. Some are really good and some are ridicously cheazy. What I mean by "plugin", is software packages that can be added to the filter section of Photoshop and that behave as if they were part of PS.<br> Right now "Neat Image", "Helicon software" and "Topaz labs" are the only plugins I use, but there are a tons of them out there. Some can tie your shoe-laces and even pour you a cup of coffee in the morning. I just wanted to get an idea of what is being used out there especially by the pros and highly skilled amateurs.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDMvW Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>I'd be curious to see what people come up with too. I have tried a number of them over the years and over many versions of PS, but none of them have earned a permanent place, although somewhere I have a little folder of a few that I keep handy "just in case"). I think almost all of them that are actually in my Plug-ins folder are from Adobe.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teneson Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>I frequently run my photos through <strong>Virtual Photographer </strong>(optikVerve Labs), to convert it to monochrome and through simulated red, green, yellow, or orange filters. It also has effects for color images. It's the best and most useful freeware I've ever downloaded.<br />Another plug-in I use is<strong> Flamingpear.com's</strong> Aetherize, Melancholytron, Lacquer, and Swerve. These cost money, but fortunately come as package deals.</p> <p>I hope someone comes up with some sort of A.I. software to remove dust and scratches post-scan (for b&w negs).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfoster70 Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>silver efex pro</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverhaas Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>Alien Skin Exposure 2 / 3 - Imagenomic Noiseware and Portraiture</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photojen Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>I use Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0, Silver Efex Pro, Dfine 2.0, Viveza 2.0, onOne Plug-In Suite 5 and a boat load of actions (Kubuta and others) and LR2 presets...I would be lost with out my Nik software.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_lantz Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>Noise Ninja is the one I've stuck with over the years. I don't need it that often but when I do I'm glad it's there. I occasionally play around with some actions but the one's most used are ones I've written. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou_Meluso Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>Like most digital photographers I have a ton of 'em. Some are more useful than others. The only "must have" one I use all the time is Convert-to-BW Pro by the Imaging Factory (no longer in operation). It uses an approach to B&W conversion that is familiar to an old film guy like me. A ton of fine controls. Works in 16-bit. Best part is it's now free! I paid $100 for it years ago. Worth every penny. PC or Mac<br> <a href="http://www.theimagingfactory.com/theimagingfactory/keys.html">http://www.theimagingfactory.com/theimagingfactory/keys.html</a></p> <p>I second the recommend of Virtual Photographer. A barrel of fun and free too. A major time sink. Only PC and 8-bit though. </p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathewDH Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>My contribution to this thread is what I want when it comes available. Earlier this year I bought a 64 bit computer and installed CS5 suite in 64 bit. Prior to these purchases, last year I inquired about two plugins that looked to be very usefull for my needs. Both are being rewritten for 64 bit now. The first is the older refocusing tool and other functions it contains and is called Optipix. The other is George deWolfe's Perceptool for black and white images.</p> <p>I could have bought both as 32 bit plugins but made the decision to make the upgrade across the board. So now I wait, and sometime next year these plugins will be available as I want them. I just hope they were worth the wait.</p> <p>CHEERS...Mathew</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>Too easy - Noise Ninja. It's the sliced bread and microwave oven of photography. Still the quickest and most efficient NR utility I've tried. And it helps keep me satisfied - not to say thrilled - with my ancient D2H for taming high ISO noise. Noiseware comes close, is very similar to NN, and may even be slightly better technically, but I'm accustomed to NN.</p> <p>Another good 'un was the PhotoTune 20/20 Color MD plug-in. Not the quickest to use for correcting batches, but the comparison type paradigm was very intuitive for me since I have some minor color perception problems that become painfully obvious when I try to edit photos of people to get healthy looking skin tones.</p> <p>At one point I thought one of the many b&w conversion utilities would be my fave, but I invariably end up going back to doing it my way, using selective color channel controls for saturation, brightness, etc., on a photo-by-photo basis, which already came with my ancient copies of photo editing programs I still use. In particular I like to be able to control the green and red channels to suit each photo and none of the dedicated utilities or plug-ins does it any better. And none of the b&w film emulation utilities really resemble my results with Tri-X or other films.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabbiinc Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p>PTLens<br> http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossb Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 <p> I don't have a plug in. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray House Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>No plug-ins for me either. Though I have considered Noise Ninja and may try that one soon.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicaglow Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>Geez, you want the secret sauce? Smart Sharpen?<g></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_cooper Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>Neat Image and Focus Magic (on Paint Shop Pro)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teneson Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>Does anybody have DXO? Is it a stand-alone, or a PS plug-in?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmm Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>I use Color Efex Pro 3.0 with my NX2 software and love it.</p> <p>Probably my biggest unmet need at the moment is for an NX2 plug-in to do borders and watermarking (ie image 'finishing') but nothing is currently available that integrates with the NX2 application. I've exchanged a few emails with Nik Software about it (and I must say they are very friendly and responsive and open to ideas so I was impressed).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJHingel Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>Neat image is the only plug-in I use regularly, but I'm not sure my CS5 does not do as good a job.<br> I use DxO Optics Pro5 and I finds it very convenient, but again CS5 with its camera specific filters is slowly catching up.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel barrera houston, Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>noise ninja</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlRohrer Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>Neat Image and Focus Magic. Deleted all the rest. Using PS CS 5.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridinhome Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>Another vote for Noise Ninja and PT Lens.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famico Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>Virtual Photographer and Topaz Adjust.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edo_t Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>Imagenomic's Noiseware is my must have. I have portraiture but for the most part I found I do a better job through use of photoshops masking and filters. For black and white I have Nix SilverEfex, without it I have no idea how to process BW images to be completely honest. My photographic life has been based on color so I have never had the chance to learn proper photoshop for BW images~</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted_marcus1 Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 <p>NeatImage and Focus Magic (for capture noise reduction and capture sharpening)<br> PictoColor iCorrect EditLab (straightforward color correction and levels, most of the time)<br> Nik Color Efex<br> Pixel Vistas PhotoLift (local contrast enhancement, though the developer seems to be out of business)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbcooper Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 <p>Nik Complete Collection for PS and LR, Topaz suite for PS. DxO for lens distortion correction, but as said above, LR and PS are getting better. I still think DxO is a more powerful tool for perspective distortion correction, and for volume anamorphosis correction, which LR/PS doesn't do.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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