Best Free Photoshop Plugins
A guide to some of the best free Photoshop plugins for photographers available today to help turn your photos into even more stunning works of art. Photoshop plugins are real timesavers. That’s nothing new. Some of them, such as those from Topaz Labs, Filter Forge, and OnOne Software are incredible extensions to Photoshop. But sometimes you either don’t have the budget or simply don’t want something that complex. This is a list of 8 absolutely free Photoshop plugins.
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 Filters
Best Free Photoshop Plugins 2019
After you've downloaded a Photoshop filter, copy the 8BF file into Photoshop's Filters folder to install it. On Windows computers, that folder usually resides at C:Program FilesAdobeAdobe Photoshop (version)Plug-insFilters.
Access your installed filters 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 Plugins
Photoshop 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 Plugins
What We Like
Many are rated, from one to five stars.
Easy to search for and find what you need.
Enormous variety.
What We Don't Like
Requires free Creative Cloud program.
You must create an Adobe account if you don't already have one.
What 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. 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, choose Photoshop from the filtering area on the left, and then on the right, sort the results by Price (Low to High).
Mehdi's Free Photoshop Filters
What We Like
Thorough explanation of each plugin with examples.
Dozens of plugins available.
FAQ page and ability to contact Mehdi for support.
What We Don't Like
Dated but useable interface.
Windows only; not for MacOS.
Mehdi offers 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.
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The Plugin Site's Free Photoshop Filters
What We Like
Single download saves time.
Fast access without layers of menus.
Easy to use.
What We Don't Like
No MacOS version.
No updates since October 2017.
Harry'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, including 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.
Lokas Software's Free 3D Shadow and Photoshop Filter
What We Like
Broad range of shadow effects.
Easy to use.
What We Don't Like
Windows only.
Site design is difficult to follow.
Lokas Software has only one free Photoshop filter, and it's called 3D Shadow. We include it in this list because while Photoshop has its own text shadowing feature, we find this one to be much more useful.
Use it to 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.
RichardRosenman.com's Free Photoshop Plugins
What We Like
Easy to browse through available plugins.
Thorough explanation of each plugin’s function.
What We Don't Like
Windows only.
No new releases since April 2015.
RichardRosenman.com has one page of free Photoshop plugins including 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.
