CHAPTER 1
40
Looking at the Work Area
Using plug-in modules
Plug-in modules are software programs developed
by Adobe Systems and by other software devel-
opers 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 automati-
cally 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 appli-
cation. 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:
• Use the plug-in installer, if provided.
• Copy the module into the appropriate Plug-ins
folder in the Photoshop Elements folder
(Windows).
• Drag a copy of the module to the appropriate
Plug-ins folder inside the Photoshop Elements
folder (Mac OS).
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 prefer-
ences 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.
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