Digital Image Editing (WK2) - Photoshop Goodies

Hi everyone! We were tasked with finding reputable websites for brushes, actions, and plug-ins for Photoshop and to compile a list. This is something I'm inexperienced with, so I may come back to edit this at some point once I have a chance to try some of these for myself. 

Brushes:

  1. Brusheezy - A large community site offering thousands of free Photoshop brushes in a variety of styles. I like that there are a lot of options, and it's easy to browse by category.
  2. FBrushes - A site dedicated to free high-quality Photoshop brushes & textures: for example, dirt brushes, smoke brushes, and large resolution packs. I like that they offer high-resolution brush packs and more “design-specific” categories (for example, “real smoke brushes”), which is optimal if you’re doing special-effects work.
  3. All Free Download - Offers a large collection of free Photoshop brushes, among other resources. I like that it's a straightforward source with many downloadable packs. This one is good if you just need “more brushes” quickly.
  4. BrushKing - A site that lists many free brushes (splatter, ink strokes, etc). I like that it's focused on brushes and good for special-effect style brushes.
  5. 123FreeBrushes - Large archive of free Photoshop brushes sorted by category and tags. This site has actions as well! After doing a little bit of research, I've found that this site is good for discovering "older" brushes, and there are a lot of categories.
Actions:
  1. Brusheezy (again) - Since we already know the site for brushes, using it for actions as well keeps things in one place. It's good for finding one-click effects.
  2. Greater Than Gatsby - Free Photoshop actions targeted at specific needs (portraits, weddings, etc). I like that the focus is more on specific photo edits rather than purely graphic design, which is useful for photo work.
  3. FreePresets - Offers a section of free Photoshop actions along with other presets. It provides free versions to test before potentially paying for more advanced ones.
  4. PanosFX - Although it also has paid sets, this site has many professional Photoshop action packs and some free demos. The quality is higher, so even the free ones are well-made and look polished.
  5. Pixel77 - Offers curated lists of sites and collections of Photoshop actions to download. Great for discovering many sources at once. If you’re exploring, this helps you find more than just one site.
Plug-Ins:
  1. Design Shack - A very up-to-date list with many plugins, and the site explains how to install them. I think this is great for beginners as it's very user-friendly.
  2. FreePSDvn - Free Photoshop plugins archive of many free downloadable plugins. This one is good if you want to just browse.
  3. Skylum Blog - Focuses on plug-ins that help in photo editing (effects, workflow, layers). This one is very useful for special effects or photo-based work.
  4. Speckyboy - Free Photoshop plugins for photographers. Similar to Skylum Blog, but geared more toward practical photo-editing plug-ins. This one is good for someone starting out and wants “usable” tools.
  5. WPEngine Blog - Free Photoshop plugins to improve your creative workflow. This one is nice because it focuses more on workflow and usability, not just “special effect” plug-ins. It's good for beginners who want reliable, helpful tools.

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