Photoshop is the go-to tool for many a creative. Whether your speciality is graphic design, 3D art, photography or web design, the popular image editing software boasts an impressive toolkit, which allows everyone to fully explore their creativity. However, Photoshop also has its limitations, which is why there are hundreds of plugins available to help you save time and take your design work to the next level.
Introducing Filter Forge (opens in new tab). A must-have plugin for designers, both novice and pro, Filter Forge will help you create stand out, professional-looking images in half the usual time.
What is Filter Forge?
Image textures and effects are a vital part of a designer’s toolset, but this is an area where Photoshop can often fall short. The image editing software comes with a number of default filters and effects to help make your images looks more professional, but you’ve seen them all before, right? So how do you make your images really stand out? This is where Filter Forge excels.
Filter Forge boasts an online library of 11,000+ ready-to-use textures and effects, with new filters being added every day. Filter Forge allows users to quickly alter any of these existing filters or the ability to create their own in an easy-to-use visual editor that doesn’t require any coding skills. This means creatives have access to and can create all kinds of effects, for any imaginable purpose, to create eye-catching images with ease.
How does it work?
Filter Forge (opens in new tab) works as both a plugin and standalone application. To use it as the latter, simply launch the software on your desktop and use as you would any other app on your PC. Within the program you can easily edit and create files that can later be used within Photoshop or any other supported host.
Filter Forge (opens in new tab) also works as a plugin for Photoshop, SERIF PhotoPlus, Paint. NET, Jasc Paint Shop, Ulead PhotoImpact and various Corel products. After installing the plugin, a new option will become available within your chosen software to access and edit the Filter Forge filters. While its capabilities within the software packages are huge, the plugin itself is small, with the image processing managed with the main Filter Forge application and output back to your chosen creative application.
Full features
One of the best things about Filter Forge (opens in new tab) is that it’s aimed at creatives of all skill levels and disciplines. With its easy-to-use visual editor, you can edit or create your own Photoshop filters in just minutes and make editing work a breeze.
But while it may be simple in its use, the software is complex and powerful in its capabilities. The latest update Filter Forge (opens in new tab), version 6.0, now features full 64-bit support for improved rendering speed and stability. It also introduces the ability to rearrange filter presets on the Presets tab and updates over 30 components, so it is more stable and faster than ever.
How can you get it?
Available on both Mac and Windows, Filter Forge has three different pricing plans (opens in new tab) – Basic, Standard and Professional – to best suit your needs. There is also the option to get hold of the Professional edition on an affordable quarterly subscription, should you wish.
You also have the option to try before you buy, with Filter Forge offering a fully-functional 30-day trial version (opens in new tab), where the only limitation you’ll experience is the time limit. At the end of your trial period, if the program suits your needs, simply buy Filter Forge (opens in new tab) – the creative possibilities with this tool are simply endless, so give it a go today!
