Adobe is the world leader in design software. They offer everything from vector design to print work and with their release of Adobe XD, they now offer web prototyping . And while these programs do have a lot of features, they also leave room for more. That’s why I’m covering the best plugins for all Adobe CC designers who create anything from mobile apps to website mockups. No matter what your experience level is, you’re bound to find something here that’s useful. Unlimited Downloads: 500,000+ Photoshop Add-ons, Photoshop Brushes & Design AssetsCraftStarting off the list is InVision Craft which is by far the biggest plugin around. It’s available for Photoshop and Sketch, both of which offer the same features. Craft is more like a library of plugins with many different features mixed in together. You can design prototypes, automate dummy content, and automatically sync design resources to the cloud. All from the Craft plugin panel. This plugin is free and will remain free forever. I thoroughly recommend trying this out and see how it improves your digital workflow. FonteaTypography is a huge part of web design and with Google Web Fonts you can go much further than the default system fonts. That’s exactly why Fontea was built: to help web designers craft beautiful typography without relying on pre-installed font families. With Fontea you can select from hundreds of Google fonts for free. These can all be embedded into your websites, so they’re perfect for any project. And you can quickly flip between different styles without downloading anything. HTML BlockThe free HTML Block plugin lets you write code and convert that directly into elements in Photoshop. This is like the reverse of a code exporting plugin since you can now import code directly to Photoshop files. Developers will specifically like this plugin since it’s often easier to create buttons, menus, and columns with CSS first. If you prefer coding over Photoshop’s shape tools and layer effects, then installing this plugin will save hours of frustration. PS Pen PanelPhotoshop was not meant to be a vector editing tool. However it does have these tools and it’s one of the best ways to design vector elements for the web. The biggest annoyance is jumping between different pen tools and opening the preferences menu to switch the “Snap Vector Tools” setting on/off. The PS Pen Panel solves this problem entirely. It’s a free plugin that adds a new panel into the GUI. This panel is made for vector designers that constantly craft icons in Photoshop rather than Illustrator. It may take some time to adjust to, but it will speed up your workflow. Note: this plugin is 100% free but it still goes through the site’s checkout process. It’s just the way their plugin system is designed, but this pen panel is free to download so don’t let the website confused you! AI2CanvasThere’s a lot you can do with the HTML5 canvas element and web SVGs. But that extra step of exporting SVGs and coding them into canvas elements can be a time sink. With the AI2Canvas plugin you can automate the Illustrator export feature with ease. This lets you create vector graphics and export them into HTML5 canvas code automatically. You can even add rotation features to create animated effects, all from Illustrator! To learn more, check out this demo video. CopioIf you want to copy a layer in Photoshop you can always duplicate with the click of a button. But you’ve never been able to copy a layer from one file and paste it into a different file. With Copio that can all change. This simple free plugin adds full copy/paste support for any layers you want to move into other PS files. Normally you’d have to drag & drop the layers, and this can be tedious trying to match your cursor over the specific Photoshop file tab. With this plugin, you just select the layer and copy/paste using Copio’s keyboard shortcuts. Designing in Photoshop just got a whole lot easier. Cut&Slice MeRetina devices increased the time spent designing a mobile app. But they also brought these requirements into responsive web design where even websites need @2x and @3x images to look crisp on every screen. Using the Cut&Slice Me plugin you can automate the export process with properly sized and properly named images. You just select which devices you need to support, and this plugin takes care of the rest. ComposerAdobe Photoshop is a great program for mockups because of its layer comps feature. These comps let you restyle interfaces with different colors, user states, and features while keeping them all in one document. Composer takes layer comps to the next level. This plugin lets you update similar elements across all layer comps so that you don’t need to go through them individually. ![]() So let’s say you have a logo in the top-left corner of four different layer comps. You want to move it to the center. Traditionally you’d need to drag it across the screen for each layer comp four times. With Composer you select all layer comps, move the logo, and you’re right as rain. Long Shadow GeneratorModern design trends coupled with material design have really pushed for the long shadow effect. It’s so popular that Photoshop users have a Long Shadow Generator plugin that recreates this in one click. You select the shadow length, opacity, and direction along with the color type. Then just click “Generate, ” and your long shadow is applied to any element you like. CSS3PsI couldn’t wrap up this article without mentioning one code exporting tool. CSS3Ps is probably the best free option out there with full support for modern CSS3 properties. First you design elements in Photoshop, then select those layers and click the CSS3Ps button. It’ll automatically output pure CSS3 code along with classes to recreate those elements on your page. This works on everything from text layers to buttons, and it even supports multiple layers simultaneously. Check out this demo video to catch a glimpse of how this plugin works. These are just a few of my favorite plugins for web designers, but there are always new ones released so be on the lookout for more Adobe CC plugins on the horizon. Photoshop plugins and extensions are an easy way to add functionality to the leading image processing app and to improve your workflow. You can find plugins for almost anything. Some will simplify the professional skin retouching you’d expect to see on the cover of a glossy magazine, and cost hundreds of dollars. Others take care of boring, repetitive tasks. All will make your life a whole lot easier. In this guide, we’ll take a look at 10 essential free Photoshop plugins that you should start using right away. 1. Nik CollectionThe best free Photoshop plugin is actually a set of seven that also function as standalone apps. The Nik CollectionHow to Get Started with Google's Free Nik Plugins for PhotographyHow to Get Started with Google's Free Nik Plugins for PhotographyGoogle made its Nik Collection plug-ins completely free. The plugins work with photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Here's how to get started.Read More started out as professional photo processing software that cost $500. Google bought it and eventually made it available for free, but it’s no longer in development. As a result, the software will one day cease to be compatible with your computer. But for now, it is the gold standard of plugins. The collection consists of: Wallace mostly rapped on his songs in a deep tone described by Rolling Stone as a 'thick, jaunty grumble', which went deeper on Life After Death. The notorious big life after death.
Each tool installs as its own self-contained program, with the option to add it to Photoshop or Lightroom. If you only choose one of our recommendations from this list, the Nik Collection should be it. 2. Pexels PluginPexels.com is one of our favorite free stock image sitesThe 15 Best Sites for Free High-Resolution Stock ImagesThe 15 Best Sites for Free High-Resolution Stock ImagesFree high-resolution images are hard to come by. Wouldn't it be nice if you could get free stock images that are curated for quality and resolution? You can!Read More. The free plugin the site provides enables you to access its content without ever leaving Photoshop. Go to Windows > Extenstions > Pexels to open Pexels.com in its own panel. Here, you can browse images split by Recent or Popular, or view popular searches and tags under the Likes tab. There’s also a search option. Just click a photo and it will download and insert itself onto a new layer in your open Photoshop file (or will create a new one if none are open). Stock photos are great if you ever need to add a texture to an image, change the backgroundHow to Change the Background of a Photo in PhotoshopHow to Change the Background of a Photo in PhotoshopWant to change the background of a photo in Photoshop? Adobe has made it quite easy to edit the background of a photo.Read More, or for countless other purposes. Having a stock library essentially built into Photoshop really helps simplify your workflow. You can also get plugins for commercial stock photo services like iStock and Getty. These are free, but you need to pay for the images. 3, ON1 EffectsON1 Effects adds Instagram-style functionality to Photoshop. It provides a massive array of presets covering generic looks like “Hipster” or “Cinematic”, to those fashioned around specific film stock. It also offers a large number of filters that can enhance the colors and tone of your image. ON1 Effects works as a one-click panel in Photoshop, or you can open the accompanying standalone app for more granular control over how you apply the presets to your photos. 4. Ink![]() Ink is an add-on for web designers who put their layouts together in Photoshop. It converts the elements in your document into HTML and CSS code so they can be faithfully recreated on a web page. The information Ink generates is pretty detailed. It’ll give you info on fonts used, and their size, color, leading and tracking, and so on. It’ll create code for shadows and gradients, and also pixel-perfect measurements between the various elements that make up your design. 5. CSS3PsAnother tool for web developers, CSS3Ps turns individual layers into CSS code. Photoshop has some of this functionality built in, but the plugin goes further by giving you SCSS and SASS code as well. CSS3Ps can also be quicker when you’re working on complex designs, as it’s all cloud based. It’s an excellent tool, and takes a lot of the pain out of designing buttons, especially when using shadows, glows, and other effects. 6. SuperPNGPhotoshop offers support for many file formats into which you can save your images. PNG is one of them, but the options you get when saving are very limited. You get a lot more control with SuperPNG. There are more settings to find the right balance between speed and quality — somewhat counterintuitively a lower quality image takes longer to save, due to the sluggishness of PNG compression. You can also retain transparency in an image, and keep or remove the metadata. 7. FonteaWhen you’re working with typography in Photoshop you’re limited to using the fonts you’ve got installed on your computer. There are a few plugins that can give you more fonts — — but sometimes these cost money, and you have to check the usage rights for each font. A simpler choice is Fontea, which gives you access to Google FontsHow to Use Google Fonts in Adobe PhotoshopHow to Use Google Fonts in Adobe PhotoshopTired of downloading fonts only to test them and realize that they aren't exactly what you need? With this Photoshop plugin, you can test and use over 800 fonts provided by Google.Read More. They’re all free and open source, so there’s no issue with usage. Just browse through the fonts, filtering down to the styles that you’re after. Each font will download automatically when you need it, and you can remove them just as easily. 8. Long Shadow Generator 2Some of the most essential Photoshop plugins and extensions are the ones that simplify common tasks. That’s certainly true of Long Shadow Generator 2, which does exactly what its name suggests. The options are deliberately sparse. You can adjust the angle, length, and darkness of the shadow you want. You can also choose between a flat shadow or one that fades the further it travels. And you can produce white shadows when your text or objects are on a dark background. But if you prefer, you can do it all with just one click. 9. Layrs Control 2Layers are an integral part of Photoshop10 Must-Know Introductory Photoshop Skills for Beginner Photographers10 Must-Know Introductory Photoshop Skills for Beginner PhotographersIn this guide, we take a look at some Photoshop features you can dive straight into, even if you have little or no previous photo editing experience.Read More, but once you’ve got a lot in your document managing them becomes a tedious task. Layrs Control 2 makes the process a lot easier. It makes seven common layer management actions accessible through a single panel. They are:
You’d usually have to do all these tasks manually, or find or create your own scripts to handle them. That’s no longer the case with this plugin, which is a real time saver. 10. Font Awesome PSIf you ever need to drop a Twitter or Shopping Cart icon onto your website you probably use Font Awesome to do the job. With Font Awesome PS you can now use the same iconic font in your Photoshop designs as well. There are 675 icons to choose from. They’re added to your image as vector shapes, so they can be resized, colored, and edited with no loss of quality. Working With Photoshop PluginsPlugins and extensions install and work in different ways. Some are installed just like regular programs. Some download in ZIP files and need to be copied manually to the Photoshop plugins or extensions directory — check the website for instructions in these cases. If the add-on is in the ZXP format, try the app ZXPInstaller, available for both Windows and Mac. This replaces the now defunct Adobe Extensions Manager, which used to be used to install these files. You can access the add-ons in one of a few different places. You’ll normally find them under Windows > Extensions. Sometimes you’ll find them in the Filter menu. In the case of SuperPNG, above, you’ll find it as a file format in the Save As… menu. All the plugins work non-destructively. Any edits they make to your images go on separate layers, leaving you free to experiment to find the ones that best suit how you work. Plugins, among other advanced features, make Photoshop one of the most essential resources for graphic designers7 Essential Tools, Software, and Services for Illustrators7 Essential Tools, Software, and Services for IllustratorsWorking as an illustrator can be a daunting task. However, these essential tools for illustrators will help keep you on track.Read More of all stripes. Explore more about: Adobe Photoshop, .
You can change the look and feel of your Adobe Photoshop images with these free Photoshop filters, and improve your working environment with free Photoshop plugins. They're a great way to easily and quickly customize your Photoshop experience. The Photoshop filters are image effects or settings used to change the way a picture looks, and the plugins are extended features like rulers or guide lines, that aren't included with Photoshop by default. You can also use free Photoshop actions, templates, shapes, brushes, and textures to change your Photoshop images. How to Install and Use Photoshop FiltersOnce you've downloaded a Photoshop filter, you'll want to copy the 8BF file into Photoshop's Filters folder to install it. This is usually C:Program FilesAdobeAdobe Photoshop (version)Plug-insFilters. Installed filters can be accessed from Photoshop's Filter menu. However, some Photoshop filters are installed through an EXE file so that it installs like a regular program. In those instances, you don't need to copy any files into any program folder; just open the EXE file like you would any application. How to Install and Use Photoshop PluginsPhotoshop plugins are ZXP files that must be installed using Adobe Extension Manager (unless it downloads as an EXE program file). Just choose Install to browse for the ZXP file. Installed plugins can be accessed from Photoshop's Window > Extensions menu. Some of the websites below will explain that they are offering plugins when really they're installed under the Filter menu in Photoshop, and vice versa. Adobe's Free Photoshop PluginsWhat better place to get free Photoshop plugins than Adobe's own website? You can sort the resources by title or rating as well as by newest added or most popular. Not only plugins and filters are on this page. You'll find extensions, actions, and other things as well. Adobe's Photoshop plugins are installed a bit differently than the others in this list. You must have a free Adobe account and the Creative Cloud program installed to use the plugins. To find just the free Photoshop plugins at Adobe's website, be sure to choose Photoshop from the filtering area on the left, and then on the right, sort the results by Price (Low to High). What We Like
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Mehdi's Free Photoshop FiltersMehdi has dozens of free Photoshop filters. Each download page has a thorough explanation of the filter as well as screenshots. Kaleidoscope, Projection, Sorting Tiles, Blots, Weaver, and Contrast Balance are just some of the free filters you can download here. What We Like
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The Plugin Site's Free Photoshop FiltersHarry's Filters (formerly VideoRave) is a download at The Plugin Site that lets you get around 70 image effects for Photoshop in one download. The Plugin Site has other downloads as well, such as Photoshop actions. On the download page, scroll past the commercial downloads to find the free options. When you're ready to download something from this website, you'll need to fill out the download form, where you'll get the download link in your email. What We Like
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Lokas Software's Free 3D Shadow and Photoshop FilterLokas Software has only one free Photoshop filter, and it's called 3D Shadow. I include it in this list because while Photoshop has its own text shadowing feature, I find this one to be much more useful. You can adjust the blur, axis and offset angle, perspective, and color, as well as select a preset shadow effect, such as Cast in Front, Flat Faint, and Rear shadow. What We Like
RichardRosenman.com's Free Photoshop PluginsRichardRosenman.com has one page of free Photoshop plugins. Some of them include ones called Diffuse Glow, Box Fitting, Pinch, 3D Sphere, Pixelate, and Solid Border. The plugins you'll find at RichardRosenman.com have a short description and sample picture to show you what the plugin does. What We Like
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Despite Photoshop's unrivaled feature set, everyone has a few extra things that they wish the app could do (especially web designers). Fortunately, Photoshop has a rich community of third party developers who are regularly churning out fantastic plugins and extensions to add all kinds of functionality. From faster image exporting to better guide control, here are 25 outstanding Photoshop plugins you should try. 1. Super SprayStop getting stuck with boring patterns or having to craft your own. With Super Spray, you can turn any .png images into a spray pattern. All you have to do is import the picture with the plugin. 2. Screen SnapGet high-resolution screenshots of your full screen or selected areas in a snap. Just choose where to save, how to save it and take the screen shot. 3. Renamy 3 Photoshop PluginThis amazing timesaver plugin allows you to rename multiple layers at the same time, use find and replace in naming layers, live name filtering and autocompleting from a list of used names. This is an essential tool for easy name changes and editing. 4. Web ZapThis Photoshop Extension will cut your time making design mockups and wireframes in half. It comes with loads of UI staples (buttons, sliders, comment boxes, icons, etc) in a variety of styles and colors. With just a few clicks, you can whip up a beautiful prototype of an entire web page. 5. SpecKing Photoshop PluginGet precise measurements fast. SpecKing gives you measurements of each layer with one click, or if you have multiple objects on a flat layer, you can use the selection tool to measure them. 6. Zeick Photoshop SVG ExportThis plugin allows you to quickly export any vector shapes to SVG files. You simply target a single layer or any group of layers, hit a button, and you're ready to go. If you're looking for a solution to reduce your file's actual size, we rounded up a great list of tips here. 7. PortraitureFree Adobe Photoshop 7 Add OnsPortraiture features best-in-industry skin smoothing algorithms and is a must-have for any professional portrait photographer. It's hard to find a tool that has such impressive results with such little effort. At $200, it's not cheap, but if you make your living as a photographer, it's definitely worth the expense. 8. Transform Each 2.0Transform Each allows you to transform multiple layers at once, but in a way that makes each item independent from the rest. This is great for resizing a group of objects without screwing up their positions. Curious to learn about other common Photoshop fails? We spent some time going over those here. 9. Font AwesomeFont Awesome is one of the most popular icon fonts on the market and this plugin brings all those awesome icons into an easy-to-access Photoshop panel. 10. InkInk allows you to include subtle information about crucial details like layer styles, text formatting and layer measurements. 11. CSS HatCSS Hat takes your Photoshop layers and gives you clean CSS code instantly. Photoshop now has similar functionality built in, but in my experience, CSS Hat is much more robust. 12. GuideGuideGuideGuide is the single best way to quickly lay down a complex guide arrangement in Photoshop. Like some of the other panels on this list, Photoshop has now added similar functionality, but I prefer GuideGuide's interface, and since it's free, why not give it a shot? 13. Subtle PatternsSubtle Patterns is one of the best sources online for free, simple background patterns. This plugin saves you countless trips to the website and puts the huge, ever-growing library of patterns right in your Photoshop. 14. Size MarksSize Marks is another useful tool for quickly placing measurement information onto your PSDs. Simply draw a box with the Marquee tool, hit a keyboard shortcut, and you're done. 15. Social KitMake your social media site attractive with these great templates for Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more. 16. PNG HatPNG Hat brings a ton of really robust image exporting features to Photoshop. It features excellent image compression and the ability to generate CSS, HTML, and even Objective C to embed your images into whatever project you're working on. 17. iOS HatYet another amazing plugin from Source's 'Hat' line. iOS Hat is an essential tool for iOS developers that quickly converts Photoshop layers into Objective-C or Swift code. 18. PSD CleanerThis plugin goes through and groups your layers for you. It alerts you to any problems and gives you a simple fix instead of trudging through layers. 19. Random UserIf you're a UI designer, you've come up against this problem tons of times: you're designing your app and you need some sample avatars for your comps. With Random User, great placeholder avatars are a single click away. 20. LayerCraftLayerCraft is a great little toolkit for preparing and exporting images. There are a few quick scripts like for trimming and scaling, as well as export options for 1x, 2x, and 3x size graphics. 21. VelositeyAnother mockup tool similar to WebZap. The elements that it creates are less-styled than with WebZap, which is good for generic wireframes that you can add your own style and colors to. 22. LayrsLayrs is a tool that helps your clean up your messy PSDs with seven useful scripts. It was created by Creative Market shop owner Vadim Sherbakov. 23. Font HeroLet's face it, if you have a ton of fonts, Photoshop's interface for sifting through them pretty much sucks. Font Hero allows you to search, preview, and organize fonts better than ever before, right inside Photoshop. Free Adobe Photoshop Add Ons24. Retouching PanelA powerful panel for photographers that allows you to quickly adjust colors, soften skin, and apply various professional-level effects to your images. 25. Fixel Contrastica 2 PSFixel Contrastica helps you effortlessly increase the local and global contrast in your images. The tool works without clipping pixels and gives you full control over tonal range. 26. GuideGuide for PhotoshopBonus! Whether you need to create responsive grids, measure columns with margins, or just find the middle of things, GuideGuide has tools that makes working with Photoshop and Illustrator guides painless. Every feature works with your document, artboard, and even your current selection, so that you can add—or remove—exactly the guides you want. What Are Your Favorite Photoshop Plugins?These 26 Photoshop plugins should be enough to supercharge your workflow. Head over to this great list of tutorials if you want to learn to achieve more with this powerful tool. If we missed any of your favorite plugins, leave a comment below and let us know. Products Seen In This Post: Download now! Getting started with hand lettering?
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