Heres the thing. I KNOW you understand TIME is money. Both budgets and timelines are at straining points. And yet in my industry, I feel like there’s this disdain for software short cuts... if you didn’t illustrate it or photo composite it yourself, it’s somehow not valid. Kind of an “it’s cheating” quality to using plug ins.
Here’s my take on that. My job is to do the best quality work, as quickly as possible. An unwritten rule in retouching is to know when to use plug ins. Underneath that is knowing WHERE to get your plug ins. There are a variety of places you can get good or “useful” plug ins, actions, presets.
While these aren’t always as advertised, for a fairly small investment you can often get pretty good results.
(caveat here - you need to KNOW that these results are PRINT ready OR that you would know how to fix/re do if file gets signed off on)
Alien Skin Creative Marketplace Flaming Pear
EnvatoMarket GraphicRiver
The above apps offer some great “CHEATS.”
Take this nifty solve below.
This image needed to be extended—no biggie—but then the client wanted different variations of water tension. The image on the left is the original image extended. On the right is my first pass with the FLOOD2 plug in.
Check out FLAMING PEAR - Flood 2 plug in.
For a whopping $33 I was able to give them LOTS of different options in less than 10 min. AND, the images are not stock. No rights managed or usage fees to be concerned about. TOTALLY worth the $33. Oh and see below... it also does fantastic reflections.
Interested in learning more? Check out our CREATIVELIVE classes. The Filters (plug-ins) class
Dive deep into plug ins, then get the real scoop on making your business thrive.