Using plug-in modules

Plug-in modules are software programs developed by Adobe Systems and by other software developers in conjunction with Adobe Systems to add functionality to Photoshop Elements. A number of importing, exporting, and special-effects plug-ins come with your program; they are automatically installed in folders inside the Photoshop Elements Plug-ins folder.

You can select an additional plug-ins folder to use compatible plug-ins stored with another application. You can also create a shortcut (Windows) or an alias (Mac OS) for a plug-in stored in another folder on your system. You can then add the shortcut or alias to the Plug-ins folder to use that plug-in with Photoshop Elements.

Once installed, plug-in modules appear as options added to the Import or Export menu; as file formats in Open and Save As; or as filters in the Filter submenus.

Note: Photoshop Elements can accommodate a large number of plug-ins. However, if the number of installed plug-in modules becomes great enough, Photoshop Elements may not be able to list all the plug-ins in their appropriate menus. Newly installed plug-ins will then appear in the Filter > Other submenu. Depending on the resolution of your monitor, installing a large number of plug-ins may cause the menu to extend beyond the screen.

To install an Adobe Systems plug-in module:

Do one of the following:

Note: When you copy or drag the plug-in files into the Plug-ins folder, make sure that the files are uncompressed.

To install a third-party plug-in module:

Follow the installation instructions that came with the plug-in module.

To select an additional plug-ins folder:

1 Choose Edit > Preferences > Plug-Ins & Scratch Disks.

2 Select Additional Plug-ins Directory.

3 Click Choose, and select a folder or directory from the list. Make sure that you do not select a location inside the Plug-ins folder. To display the contents of a folder, double-click the directory (Windows) or click Open (Mac OS).

The path to the folder will appear in the preferences window.

4 When you have highlighted the additional plug-ins folder, click OK (Windows), Select (Mac OS), or Choose (Mac OS 9.0 and later).

5 Restart Photoshop Elements for the plug-ins to take effect.

To suppress the loading of a plug-in or folder of plug-ins:

Add a tilde character (~) at the beginning of the plug-in name, folder, or directory. That file (or all files in the folder) will be ignored by the application once it has been restarted.

To view information about installed plug-ins:

Choose Help > About Plug-In and select a plug-in from the submenu (Windows) or choose Apple menu > About Plug-In and select a plug-in from the submenu (Mac OS).

Looking at the Work Area > Configuring Photoshop Elements > Using plug-in modules