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Thread: Photoshop Plugins, good or bad ?

  1. #1
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    Photoshop Plugins, good or bad ?

    I was wondering that..

    Since there are quite alot of plugins for photoshop out there , one's that help you make a cool picture real fast, or help with something else..

    Do you think that is for people without to much skill, or for everyone ?

    Not trying to rant on people that use these plugins, its your own choice after all


    I'm just wondering

  2. #2
    Barrista
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    I think plugins are best for people WITH skill actually. I don't think people who don't have the skills will have much use for them, as they don't help you develop and they end up looking, well, like you used a plugin, which normally looks cheap and flimsy. Those who are familiar with the foundations will know when they can use them tastefully and normally they should be used as a time-saver rather than a "way out" of doing real design work.

    There ARE some plugins that work great and are outside PS's native abilities (especially resizing and sharpening plugins). These I consider a should-have for anybody doing work professionally, especially in print. Others can be quite useful too I'm certain, such as that lithographic one. But they are very specific circumstances, and it's likely that you'd buy a plugin like this for a one-project use (where it pays for itself), not all the time...

  3. #3

    Hmm

    I have to disagree I found plugins like alien skin very helpful. I could do the effect without the plugins but it saves me alot of time.

    I think the main thiung is just dont leave it at what the plugin did for you. Fool with it a bit after change it a bit.
    Use the options given in the plugin your using.

    They have saved me alot of time personally.
    Now I do agree with that alot of guys use them wrong and end up doing chessy work but if you use them right it can be very effect and time saving.

    Peace!

  4. #4
    Barrista
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    Originally posted by MichalMystic
    I have to disagree...

    Peace!
    Why disagree? As far as I could see (forgive me if I'm wrong), it's exactly what Phil meant!
    PS: Phil, if I'm totally wrong, I can delete this

  5. #5
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    Originally posted by John Hughes
    Originally posted by MichalMystic
    I have to disagree...

    Peace!
    Why disagree? As far as I could see (forgive me if I'm wrong), it's exactly what Phil meant!
    PS: Phil, if I'm totally wrong, I can delete this

    I think he disagreed with me

    I just ment to say that plugins can do so cool things, with just a few clicks..

    Tbh , I would have more respect for someone that made something real cool without plugins, than someone who made something evenly cool with plugins..

    It could be just me, ever since I started photoshop, my brother said that plugins are sort of cheats to photoshop, and he learned me that cheats are bad, heheh

    next year I'm going to a multimedia school, where we work with 3dsmax and Photoshop, I wonder if they'll let people use plugins there..

    Maybe I should try out some..

  6. #6
    Barrista
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    I'm not sure if plugins are cheating, but they do give people an easy way to create stuff in photoshop.

    They should, as most people would agree, be used in moderation because after seeing the same effect thousands of times over it does get a bit repetitive.

    Thats why some cool effects like lens flare have been completely killed to the point where if you use it, some people consider you a complete noob.

    Sure it's easy, but don't abuse it.

  7. #7
    Barrista
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    I use lens flare.

  8. #8
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    when used with care it's ok
    nothing worse than a good image
    with effects you can instantly recognize

  9. #9
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    I use lensflare too, in fact i made a series of using the lensflare. It just seems to be a way over used filter thats all.

  10. #10
    Barrista
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    I hear you. It's very cliché if used as just a covering filter. The one I rarely if ever use is plastic wrap for the same reason. To really embed plastic wrap, you have to distort the main image, where with lens flare, you can run the filter on a black layer and get the same effect, but distort it and do all sorts of things to it. I like the veins in lens flare, I only wish there was some way to turn on/off those coloured ellipses.

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