Apr 7 2010

Filter Forge

Category: Misc

Today I wanted to share with everyone some information on an invaluable resource.

We all know that Photoshop is absolutely one of the most powerful tools out there for graphic artists today. Finding high quality resources like those here at ObsidianDawn.com, as well as hundreds of other websites out there, can also be indispensable tools. Another such high quality resource website is FilterForge.com.

Filter Forge is filter plugin for Adobe Photoshop. Not sure what filters are? Filters are used to change the appearance of an image, layer, or selection. They can do just about anything you can imagine, such as adding a rippling effect to water, adding an outline to an image, or even changing the photo that you just took into a watercolor masterpiece. The possibilities are endless.

And that’s just what Filter Forge is counting on. They have a library set up, so that you can download all kinds of different filters that are user-submitted (or submit your own!), thus allowing for a pretty much never ending supply of effects.

You don’t have to be an expert. They offer tutorials, like the one below, that explain how to use their plugin so that anybody can do it.

Best of all, they’re currently giving 50% off of the various plugins that they offer (there’s a Basic Edition, a Standard Edition, and a Professional Edition)!

Please feel free to check out the tutorial below just to get an idea of what you can do. Or, just go learn about it from Filter Forge’s website!

17 Responses to “Filter Forge”

  1. Lisa

    So glad to see this being talked about.. I love the versatility of filterforge, and it continues to grow. I have had it for 2 years now, and love it.

  2. I downloaded their trial version abotu 5 days ago and have been playing with it. the idea is neat, but I am still struggling on how to make it work. I’ve made a few things with it. But I find that its really SLOW and doesnt work well on 12×12 inch images. Is it just me, or maybe my puter.

  3. Sheila

    I have had Filter Forge for several months now and LOVE it!!!

  4. @Kris: I would say that it definitely depends on your computer speed, but also the complexity of the filter. Some may take longer than others. The size of the image also shouldn’t really effect it, except perhaps for certain filters.

  5. Wow! I never knew FF was a stand alone program, too. Cool!

    Thank you for sharing this!

    Su

  6. Pat

    Hi, Stephanie! I’m intrigued by the Adobe Filter Forge, but they don’t say if it can be applied to Photoshop Elements. Do you know if they can?

  7. @Pat: Well, on their Wikipedia page, it says that “some” of the plugin parts are supported. On a post in their forums, there’s someone explaining an “unofficial” way to get it to work, and stating that they don’t “officially” support Elements, no. So somewhat? I’d write to their support to be sure first. :)

  8. Under Windows, Elements 2.0 to 7.0 are supported (unfortunately no support for Elements under Mac). Feel free to visit our forum and ask questions there :-)

  9. @FilterForge: Awesome, thanks for the info. :)

  10. Helen

    Hello Stephanie,
    Thank-You for the Link – My PC is down and have resorted to using my Laptop and I forgot all about FILTER FORGE – it is FANTASTIC and I would recommend it to any one. It takes a little practise [like anything new] but it is so versatile. Have a great week!
    Warm wishes from Australia, Helen

  11. Olivia

    Do you think there’s something like this for GIMP?

  12. @Olivia: I’m really not sure, I’m sorry!

  13. [...] Stephanie for Obsidian Dawn, 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post [...]

  14. Nice to have it, but then it is too expensive.

  15. It is nice to sharing with us keep it up

  16. A great post! Glad you are enjoying Filter Forge it is one of my favourite subjects and software. One of your comments from your readers was stating the expense but to be honest there are a number of times where it gets heavily discounted and if you build filters you can get free copies. I’m not even very good and I have won my money back and much more. So versatile I use it in web development, 3d art and for therapy – my daughter loves it too.

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