Although there are many great and free alternatives, Photoshop is still the most popular and powerful graphics editor, and the default choice of many designers, illustrators and photographers. If there’s a feature you need, but can’t find in Photoshop, don’t worry – countless scripts and plugins are available to help you extend and improve Photoshop’s functionality.

• Best Free Photoshop Plugins

Here is a selection of 20 useful Photoshop plugins for designers.

Photoshop Plugins For Mockups and Layouts

1. WebZap

“For removing unwanted backgrounds, Mask Pro is the Photoshop plugin recommended by Advanced Photoshop magazine. Mask Pro allows you to cut out a subject from the background by assigning keep and drop colors and simply painting away the background. Feb 10, 2014 - There are thousands of Photoshop plugins out there -- these are the best free ones that will help designers work faster and more efficiently. Hopefully you guys enjoyed and note that there are other amazing plugins, but are sadly only for PC and therefore I can't include. Top 5 Free Photoshop Plugins 2016 by Qehzy Qehzy.

If you’re a web designer, WebZap can make your life significantly easier. This plugin helps you create website mockups by providing layout guides and templates for the 960 grid. You can use it to generate placeholder text and choose pre-made interface elements to add to your website. Every element can be modified as a separate layer. WebZap can also create attractive previews of your design for showcases and presentations.

Key Features:

• Requires Photoshop CS 5 or newer
• Works both on OS X and Windows
• Lets you create website mockups
• Offers pre-made layouts
• Generates dummy text (“lorem ipsum”) and UI elements (menus, buttons…)

Price:$19

2.Webbsy

Webbsy makes web design a breeze by converting your PSD files into HTML and CSS. You don’t have to markup your layers – Webbsy can automatically name them and export all design elements into CSS3. If something can’t be converted into HTML, Webbsy renders it as an image. It supports responsive web design by exporting to appropriate sizes for different devices. Webbsy lets you use Google Fonts in your designs, and can automatically export into formats for LESS, SASS, SCSS, Stylus, HAML, Slim and Jade.

Key Features:

• Converts your PSD designs into HTML and CSS
• Supports Google Fonts, LESS, SASS, SCSS and Stylus
• Lets you export images from your project and choose their quality
• Slices images, can export text elements
• Requires Photoshop CS6 or newer, including CC

Price:$49, free 14-day trial available

3. Velositey 2

Velositey is an amazing plugin for creating mockups and prototypes. It uses presets and templates to streamline the design process. You can insert pre-made modules and modify them later, and let Velositey generate favicons and mapicons for your project. With Velositey, it’s possible to build an entire mockup in just one minute.

Key Features:

• Choose pre-made elements and templates to create a mockup
• Use a grid to position elements
• Generate favicons and mapicons
• Works in Photoshop CS6, CC and CC 2014

Price:Free

4. Elemente

Have you ever wanted to create your own WordPress theme, but didn’t have time to deal with all the coding? Elemente by Divine Project is a plugin that lets you do this by converting any PSD design into a WordPress theme. You can design a blueprint from scratch in the Layout Editor or modify provided templates, and then let Elemente generate the theme code. It offers helpful grids for element resizing and positioning, and you can also group your elements. Elemente supports advanced typography parameters like kerning and baseline shift, and lets you export all text formatting (font size, weight, alignment…). The code produced by Elemente is valid and SEO-optimized, and if you want, you can modify it in any other code editor.

Key Features:

• Converts PSD into a WordPress theme
• No coding required; just design a blueprint, conversion is automatic
• Lets you use templates and group elements
• Exports clean, SEO-optimized code
• Works only on 32-bit Windows
• Supports Photoshop CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6 and CC

Price: $99 for Personal plan, $199 for Developer plan, free trial available

Photoshop Plugins For Grids and Layers

5. GuideGuide

This plugin helps you create grids and custom guides based on your entire project or just the selected parts. You can also use grid notation to create tables and adjust margins. GuideGuide helps you by calculating most of the dimensions. You can save created grids as Sets (templates) for future use. Guides can be toggled with a click of the mouse, and you can even make a grid inside a grid!

Key Features:

• Create and save grids
• Adjust guides and margins
• Supports Photoshop CS5 and newer

Price:Free

6. Layrs Control 2

Layrs Control 2 is a practical solution for layer management, and it can come in especially handy when working on large, complex design projects with multiple layers. You can use this plugin to edit layer names, optimize your project by removing unused effects and empty layers, and flatten all selected layers. It’s also possible to rasterize smart objects and convert selected layers into smart objects.

Key Features:

• Works with Photoshop CC & CC 2014
• Rename and flatten layers
• Remove empty layers and unused effects

Price:Free

7. CSS3PS

This plugin simplifies converting Photoshop layers into CSS3 code. Just create your graphics in Photoshop, select desired layers and wait for the plugin to load the result in your default web browser. Supported properties include size, border radius, inner and drop shadow, inner and outer glow, as well as the usual font properties for text layers.

Key Features:

• Works on Windows and OS X, requires Photoshop CS3 or newer
• Lets you convert one or multiple layers to CSS code
• Supports browser prefixes (-webkit-, -moz-, -ms-…)
• Automatically calculates appropriate sizes and converts the layer size

Price: Free

8. UberColumns

UberColumns is a handy plugin if you spend a lot of time editing text in your designs. It lets you format text into columns – all text remains on a single layer, and it automatically reflows to fit the size of the layer if you change it or add more text. All you have to do is choose the number of columns.

Key Features:

• Works on OS X and Windows, requires Photoshop CC or CC 2014
• Splits text in a text layer into a desired number of columns
• Automatically adjusts text if you resize the layer

Price: Free

Photoshop Plugins For Colors, Fonts and Effects

9. Swatchy

Swatchy is a small plugin that makes it possible to organize your color swatches into folders. This way you can save and easily access your color schemes, and preview colors you often use.

Key Features:

• Manages swatches and lets you organize them into folders
• Works on OS X and Windows
• Requires Photoshop CC and CC 2014

Price:Free

10. MagicPicker

MagicPicker is a color management plugin that improves the existing color tools in Photoshop by adding helpful features. You can use options like Tone Lock to control the gamma of selected colors, and an enhanced Color Wheel tool with triangle, box, and diamond modes. It also helps you generate color schemes and offers a compact mode to save screen space.

Key Features:

• Works on OS X and Windows
• Supports Photoshop CC2014, CC, CS6, CS5.5, CS5, CS4 and CS3
• Lets you generate color schemes
• Pick colors from an improved color wheel with 3 modes and tone locking
• Choose only warm or cold tones from the palette
• One-click copy HEX color codes

Price:$19; free 15-day trial version available for download

11. FilterForge

FilterForge is an incredibly powerful editor that can be used as a standalone application or a Photoshop plugin. You can use it to create your own photo effects and filters, and it gives you access to a huge online repository of user-submitted content. It supports seamless tiling for textures, and filters can be rendered in any resolution. Every preset has several variations to choose from, so FilterForge should satisfy all your photo effects needs.

Key Features:

• Works on both OS X and Windows
• Lets you create your own filters, effects and textures
• Choose from an online repository of filters
• Generate maps and textures that support seamless tiling

Price:$399, free 30-day trial available

12. Eye Candy 7

Eye Candy 7 by Alienskin is a plugin that lets you choose from 32 effect categories and more than a thousand presets to apply to your graphics. You can use it to create your own effects and instantly preview changes applied to any layer. All effects are applied in a new layer, so your original artwork remains untouched until you decide to change it.

Key Features:

• Create and apply realistic effects
• Choose presets from a rich collection
• Supports editing in a new layer to preserve your original design
• Instantly preview effects
• Works on OS X OS X 10.7 or newer, Windows 7 and 8
• Requires Photoshop CS5, Elements 10 or newer

Price:$129, free trial available

13. Font Hero

Font Hero helps you organize fonts and eliminates the need for a separate font management application. This plugin loads all installed fonts from your computer into a neat interface where you can tag, favorite and group them. You can instantly preview fonts and modify their appearance. Font Hero lets you change the font for any text layer with just one click of the mouse. It supports Google Fonts and Typekit, but stores them separately for your convenience.

Key Features:

• Import, preview and organize all your fonts directly in Photoshop
• Tag and favorite fonts to make searching easier
• Support for web fonts
• Works on OS X and Windows, requires Photoshop CC 2014

Price: $39

Some Other Photoshop Plugins

14. FlatIcon

FlatIcon is a popular stock resource, and this simple plugin lets you use their free icons directly from Photoshop. Selected icons are imported as vectors, which means you can freely edit them to suit your project.

Key Features:

• Gives you access to thousands of free icons
• All icons are available in fully editable vector format
• Supports Photoshop CS5, CS6, CC and CC 2014

Price:Free

15. QR Code Generator

This plugin does exactly what its name says – it generates QR codes as vector masks which you can edit and use in your designs. QR codes are generated in print quality with CMYK compatibility, so you don’t have to worry about that. The plugin supports several QR code types, including URL, SMS, business card, plain text and email.

Key Features:

• Generates QR codes as images that you can modify
• Supports several QR code types
• Codes are optimized for printing and follow the QR code standard
• The plugin works on OS X and Windows

Price: $19

16. TinyPNG

TinyPNG lets you export images to PNG and compress them to reduce their file size, but preserve transparency. It supports batch-editing and automatically converts images to sRGB if necessary. And it has a cute panda as a mascot!

Key Features:

• Works on OS X and Windows
• Supports Photoshop CS5, CS6, CC and CC 2014
• Lets you edit multiple images at once
• Compresses PNG files while preserving transparency

Price:$40

17. Descreen

Descreen is a savior if you often use scanned materials in your design projects. It removes screen and moire (interference) patterns from scanned images using a precise Fourier transform method. Unlike other tools which rely on blurring, Descreen can preserve more details thanks to this approach. Recommended resolution for scans is between 600 and 1200 pixels/inch.

Key Features:

• Supports Photoshop from version 7.0 and CS to CS6 and CC
• Removes screen and interference patterns from scanned images
• Works on Windows and OS X

Price:Home Edition €15, Professional Edition €75

18. Perfect Resize

Perfect Resize lets you enlarge photos without losing quality and ratio. It offers a crop tool with presets and another tool to “straighten” photos. Perfect Resize can enlarge photos taken by mobile devices and create extended margins for printing photos to canvas. You can use it to batch-resize photos and save two different versions of one image.

Key Features:

• Lets you enlarge, crop and straighten photos
• Optimizes photos for printing
• Supports resizing many photos at once
• Works on Windows 7 & 8 and OS X 10.8 – 10.10
• Requires Photoshop CS6, CC, or CC 2014 (also Elements 11, 12, or 13)

Price:$79.95, offers a 30-day trial

19. Cover Action Pro

This plugin is perfect for book cover designers and anyone who needs to showcase their work in a professional, visually attractive way. Cover Action Pro converts your designs into 3D product shots; or rather, transfers them onto product models. You can use templates and guides, and choose from 25 categories containing more than 150 models, including books, binders, DVD boxes, greeting cards, business cards, magazines…

Key Features:

• Lets you convert your designs into 3D product models
• Offers templates and models
• Developed for Photoshop CS6 and newer, but can work on CS5, CS4 and CS3
• Automatic updates

Price:$147 or $247 with 60 designer templates

20. Avocode

No, it’s not a misspelled fruit. Avocode is a design collaboration and project management tool meant to bring designers and developers together. It lets designers upload their project via the Photoshop plugin, and developers can then inspect the design elements in the web interface or a standalone app. It’s possible to export layers as images, convert layers to CSS, Less, Sass or Stylus, get information about text formatting and layer dimensions. Avocode saves previously uploaded design versions on the server, so you can use it as a version control system for your project.

Key Features:

• Easily share your designs via Photoshop plugin
• Inspect the design in the web interface or in the app – works on OS X, Windows and Linux
• Export layers as images, convert to CSS
• Access previous versions of shared designs

Price: Starts at $20 per month, offers a free 14-day trial

SEE ALSO: 10 Free Tools To Create Your Own Fonts

Which Photoshop pluginswould you recommend to designers? Are there any plugins you can’t live without? Tell us about them in the comments.

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12 Best Free Photoshop Alternatives You Should Try

If you need to edit or manipulate a photo or other image, in all likelihood you've considered using Adobe Photoshop to do so. First released almost thirty years ago, this powerful editing software is preferred by some of the world's top designers and can be utilized to create almost anything the imagination can conjure up. Many graphics-intensive movies and video games, as well as stunning works of art, have come to fruition with the help of Photoshop at some point along the way during the creative process.

Although you can pay monthly as opposed to a one-time fee, the price of running Photoshop can prove to be prohibitive. Hope is not lost, however, as there are several alternatives available which offer some of Photoshop's features and will not cost you a penny to use. Each of these free applications offers their own unique functionality, and some may be better suited than others when it comes to meeting your specific needs.​

For example, not all free Photoshop alternatives support the Adobe application's default PSD format. Others, meanwhile, will not be able to recognize some multi-layered Photoshop files. Limitations aside, one of the free options listed below (or a combination of several) may be exactly what you are looking for to create or modify an image.

GIMP

What We Like

• Constantly updated with new features.

• Highly customizable and extensible.

What We Don't Like

• Limited support for layers, macros, and custom shapes.

• Cluttered UI with annoying floating windows.

One of the most full-featured Photoshop alternatives, GIMP (short for GNU Image Manipulation Program) offers such a large set of features that even the most complex tasks can be achieved without any strain on your budget. They say that you get what you pay for, but in GIMP's case, that idiom doesn't necessarily ring true. With a very active developer community that has historically listened to user requests and feedback, this free option continues to grow as raster editor technology expands.

While not always as intuitive as Photoshop in terms of functionality and design, GIMP makes up for some of its perceived clumsiness with several in-depth tutorials for both beginning and advanced users that help you use the majority of its components with little or no pre-existing knowledge of the open source application. With that said, if you're only looking for the very basics in a raster-based graphics editor then GIMP may actually be a little too much and you may benefit from one of the simpler alternatives on our list.

Available in almost twenty languages for Linux, Mac, and Windows platforms, GIMP recognizes almost all file formats that you'd expect from a paid editor like Photoshop including GIF, JPEG, PNG and TIFF among others, as well as partial support for PSD files (not all layers may be readable).

Also similar to Photoshop, a large number of third-party plugins are available that enhance GIMP's functionality further. Unfortunately, the main repository that houses them is outdated and hosted on an insecure site, so we cannot recommend utilizing registry.gimp.org at this time. However, you can also find some GIMP plug-ins hosted on GitHub. As always, download at your own risk when dealing with unverified third-party repositories.

• Linux
• macOS
• Windows

Pixlr

What We Like

• Extensive layer support with multiple blending modes.

• Includes built-in filters and adjustment tools.

What We Don't Like

• No social media integration.

• Layer masks tool is cumbersome to use at first.

A browser-based alternative to Photoshop, Pixlr is owned by well-known software developers Autodesk and is quite robust when it comes to available features and allows for progressive editing and enhancing as well as original image design.

The Pixlr Express and Pixlr Editor web apps will run in most modern browsers as long as you have Flash 10 or above installed and offer a significant number of integrated filters along with limited layer support. Pixlr recognizes the main culprits when it comes to graphical file formats such as JPEG, GIF, and PNG and also allows you to view some PSD files, although those larger in size or complex in nature may not open.

The web-based Pixlr even has a handy Webcam feature built right into its dashboard that lets you capture and manipulate photos on-the-fly.

In addition to the browser version, Pixlr also has free apps for both Android and iOS devices that let you perform a number of editing features from your smartphone or tablet. The Android app is so popular, in fact, that it has been installed on well over 50 million devices.

• Chrome OS
• Linux
• macOS
• Windows
• Android
• iOS

Paint.NET

What We Like

• Streamlined interface is a breeze to navigate.

• Helpful keyboard shortcuts.

What We Don't Like

• UI lacks a tool for managing plug-ins.

• Text can't be edited after it's deselected.

A free Photoshop alternative strictly for Windows versions 7 through 10, the Paint.NET interface is reminiscent of the operating system's Paint application; the traditional image editing tool for PC users worldwide. The similarities are no coincidence, as the original developer's intent was to replace MS Paint with something a little better.

That was a long time ago, and Paint.NET has since grown by leaps and bounds to the point where it's comparable in some ways to the more advanced editing software on the market, both free and paid. This includes the ability to use multiple layers and blending, all the while maintaining a fairly simple interface that lends itself to even the most novice user. If you do get stuck, the Paint.NET forums are an invaluable source for assistance where inquiries are sometimes answered in mere minutes. Couple that with the tutorials found on the same website and this Windows-only graphics editor offers a user-friendly experience.

Although Paint.NET does not provide some of the higher-end functionality of Photoshop or even GIMP, its feature set can be expanded upon through the use of third-party plugins. For example, the application does not natively support PSD files but can open Photoshop Documents once the PSD plugin is installed.

The self-proclaimed fastest image editor available, Paint.NET can run in almost two dozen languages and is free to use for both business and commercial use with no restrictions.

• Windows 7 or higher

PicMonkey

What We Like

• Supports cloud storage integration.

• You can make custom collages without signing up.

Best Free Photoshop Plugins

What We Don't Like

• No layer support.

• Free version is rather limited.

Another platform-independent, web-based design and editing tool with a lot to offer is PicMonkey, which was seemingly designed with the neophyte user in mind but also packs a punch for those looking for more state-of-the-art features. As long as you have a browser running Flash, PicMonkey is accessible on virtually any platform and lets you start your creation from scratch or begin editing an existing image file in under a minute.

PicMonkey will not replace Photoshop's more advanced functionality and you won't have much luck with PSD files, but it is ideal for working with filters and even creating collages from within your favorite browser. The free version offers quite a bit in terms of features, but you'll need to pony up some cash if you want access to some of the app's exclusive effects, fonts, and tools as well as an advertisement-free experience.

The premium adaptation of PicMonkey features a 7-day free trial that can be activated by providing your email address and payment information. If you want to continue using its advanced functionality long-term, though, a monthly fee of $7.99 or $47.88 for an annual membership is required.

With an oft-updated blog featuring a bevy of tips and tutorials, you should be able to figure out whether or not PicMonkey is the right option to suit your needs within the week-long trial period.

Smartphone and tablet users may also want to try the free PicMonkey Photo Editor app, available for both Android and iOS platforms.

• Chrome OS
• Linux
• macOS
• Windows

SumoPaint

What We Like

• Great layer support.

• Affordable pro package.

One of our personal favorites, SumoPaint's interface will look very familiar if you have past Photoshop experience. The similarities are more than just skin deep, too, as its layering functionality and fairly wide range of editing tools, including several brushes and wand types, make it a formidable alternative.

The free version of SumoPaint runs in most Flash-enabled browsers and is mainly supported by on-page ads. There is also a Chrome Web App available for Chromebooks as well as users running Google's browser on other desktop operating systems.

More intricate projects may not be suitable for SumoPaint, and its file support is somewhat limited and does not include Photoshop's default PSD format. You can open files with traditional image extensions such as GIF, JPEG, and PNG while edits can be saved in the app's native SUMO format as well as JPEG or PNG.

If you try the free version and feel that SumoPaint is what you've been looking for, then you may want to give Sumo Pro a whirl. The paid version allows for an ad-free experience as well as access to additional features and tools for about $4 per month if you pay for a year in advance. Sumo Pro also offers a downloadable version of its software that can be used while offline, as well as access to a dedicated technical support team and cloud storage.

• Chrome OS
• Linux
• macOS
• Windows

Krita

What We Like

• Customizable interface.

• Brush tools feature detailed previews.

What We Don't Like

• Updates are often unstable.

• Consumes a lot of CPU resources.

An interesting editing and painting tool, Krita is an open source application that has seen its feature set expand significantly in recent years. With a nifty palette and a seemingly endless amount of brush customizations which can be stabilized to smooth out even the most unsteady hand, this Photoshop alternative supports most PSD files and offers advanced layer management.

Free to download, the regularly updated desktop application also utilizes OpenGL and allows you to author and manipulate HDR images among many other benefits. Available for Linux, Mac, ​and Windows, Krita boasts a fairly active forum containing sample artwork created by members of its user community.​

There is another version of Krita optimized for ultrabooks and other touchscreen PCs, named Gemini, available from Valve's Steam platform.

• Linux
• macOS
• Windows

Adobe Photoshop Express

What We Like

• No registration required.

• Excellent white balance adjustment with numerous presets.

What We Don't Like

• Requires an internet connection to use.

• Only edits JPEG files.

While Adobe charges a fee to use its main Photoshop software, the company does offer free image editing tools in the form of the Photoshop Express application. Available for Android, iOS and Windows tablets and phones, this surprisingly capable app allows you to enhance and tweak your photos in a number of ways.

In addition to correcting issues such as red eye with just a tap of the finger, Photoshop Express also makes it easy to apply unique effects and incorporate custom frames and borders before sharing your pictures on social media or elsewhere from right within the app itself.

• Windows 8.1 or higher (desktop or tablet)
• Windows Phone 8.1 or higher
• Windows 10 Mobile