Super Charge Photoshop!

I think that Digital Imaging should be a part of every modern school's curriculum. This is a bold statement, but the ability to design, create, edit and manipulate images is becoming more and more important. Adobe Photoshop is the program for image editing and manipulation. Photoshop comes with a wide assortment of tools that can do almost anything, but there are so many extra tools (add-ons) that make the program more powerful, easier to use and speeds the editing/manipulation process. These add-ons will really super charge your Photoshop!

Open the Photoshop applications folder. Find the Plugs-in folder. There are numerous commercial and free plug-ins—some of which actually change to total "feel" of the program. Next, open the Presets folder and read the list. Brushes, Color Books, Color Swatches, Custom Shapes, Gradients, Patterns, Photoshop Actions, Styles and Textures can be added to. There are literally hundreds of these add-on tools are free and readily available on the Web.

Let me show you an example. I have never really stopped creating metallic letters. I have spend hours, using effect after effect, finally arriving at the wanted product. Now let's use a few new add-on tools and quickly create the similar project. Go to About.com: Graphics Software and download the eight metal layer styles. Copy them into the Styles folder within the Presets folder. Next download the Highlight Glint or Star Sparkle Brush Set from About.com: Graphics Software (different URL) and copy these into the Brush folder. Open Photoshop and activate the metallic styles and the new brushes.

Using a broad font face, type a word. Chick on the metallic styles. Instant metallic letters. I added a drop shadow to my example, but that's not necessary. Let's add specular highlights to the letters. Choose either the pencil or the brush tool. Select one for the new sparkle brushes. Create a new layer. Select an appropriate color and size the brush head. Click around on the letters. This project was finished in five minutes.

This is just one of a large number of project which be completed with add-on tools in Adobe Photoshop. A short list of resources is in the left column. A very comprehensive list is available on this page.. if you would like this comprehensive list for yourself, go to the Download Page and click the Supercharge Photoshop.