Photoshop Panel Plugin

[Prisc Chandola]

TheTK8 plugin is the latest release (September 2021) of my comprehensive panel for making luminosity masks and running Photoshop. Like its predecessors, it's modular, so users can configure it in whatever manner works best in their workspace. The plugin is used worldwide and comes pre-programmed with six common languages: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Chinese. Users can choose the language they prefer. TK8 works equally well on Windows and Mac computers, including computers running Apple silicon processors, like the Mac M1. Installation is easy and the same installers work on Mac and Windows. Photoshop 2022 version 23.2.0 or higher is required to run it.

My blog has more information on using this plugin and is updated regularly. Be sure to subscribe to get the latest updates. Sean Bagshaw's YouTube channel has a playlist of TK Quick Tips that cover several different versions of the TK panel. Dave Kelly's YouTube channel has an ever-expanding playlist of TK8 videos. There are several videos from Sean Bagshaw's TK8 Video Guide on this page as well as videos from Dave Kelly and me. The main feature of the TK8 is its ability to make pixel-based masks, like luminosity masks. But luminosity masks are just the beginning. TK8 also makes masks based on color channels, hue, color, saturation, vibrance, and the user's own alpha channels. Edge masks are latest addition to the kinds of masks easily generated with TK8. The video below shows where to find the newest features. Scroll down to see a more complete list of features.

In July 2022, the My Actions module was added to the TK8 plugin. This module provides a place where users can place actions that contain their personal Photoshop actions, menu items, keyboard shortcuts, and even Photoshop scripts. As long as these are first recorded into actions, they can be added to the My Actions module. This ability to completely customize the My Actions module means users can now essentially create their own Photoshop plugin. Simply record whatever Photoshop features you use most into Photoshop actions, and then add these actions to the My Actions module. From there they can be rearranged and color-coded in whatever way works best for your workflow. The videos below show how the My Actions module works.

The TK8 plugin is compact and loaded with functionality. In addition to the main interface, there are logical submenus that can be easily accessed using the buttons on the main interface, and these submenus automatically close when they are no longer needed. Rolling the mouse over the image below displays more of the underlying menus available in these modules.

The TK8 plugin uses Adobe's UXP architecture and is designed exclusively for Photoshop. The latest version of TK8 requires at least Photoshop 2022 version 23.2.0. TK8 should work in future versions of Photoshop, but it will not install or work in older versions. Below are some of the features of each module.

Sean Bagshaw is an expert user of luminosity masks. For many years he has helped me improve the panels and plugins and has created numerous videos that teach photographers how to use these techniques. For the TK8 plugin, Sean has put together an all-new "TK8 Video Guide" series that covers all the TK8 modules in detail. The videos review how to install the modules, how to set up Photoshop for luminosity masks, how to use the various buttons, and ways to incorporate the panel into any workflow. Sean has a unique ability to explain even complicated things in a manner that makes them understandable to almost everyone, and while the modules really aren't all that complex, Sean shows just how easy it is to use them. The "TK8 Video Guide" is available on the Panels & Videos page. Several sample videos from the series can be viewed below.

Quickly and efficiently correct uneven colors with Infinite Unify. Whether you are dealing with variations in skin tone, color casts, or other issues that can distract from your subject, this Photoshop plugin from Infinite Tools lets you take full control of gradient maps and solve the problem swiftly.

Photographers working in almost every genre: portraiture, landscape, product, or wedding frequently encounter frustrating, time-consuming color issues. Infinite Unify gives you the ability to tackle these problems faster than ever before by creating presets for opacity, smoothness, hue, and gradient mapping.

Whether you are dealing with variations in skin tone, color casts, or other issues that can distract from your subject, the Infinite Unify Photoshop plugin from Infinite Tools enables you to solve the problem swiftly.

After trying the new infinite unify panel, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly it worked! Using the panel has replaced multiple adjustment layers and time spent masking, which has sped up my workflow while retouching. For colour casts and redness in skin, the panel was able to pick up the specific areas that needed to be addressed. The HSL sliders are great for fine tuning as well, I can say with confidence that the new Unify panel is a fantastic piece of computer wizardry from the Infinite Tools team that belongs in any portrait photographers tool box.

The panel lets us change the values if we work with overexposed or underexposed images also. What do we need more?

From now, I will use this panel on each image of mine, taking care of color harmony, making the colors of the pictures more uniform and real, and resolving a big problem in a couple of seconds.

Using the new Infinite Unity panel (which was my first time using it), it made me appreciate my process and how well it fit in with it. In my own work, I always strive for harmonious colors, in skin, environment, and casts. On those tough-to-balance images, Infinite Unity saved the day. Once I understood the mechanics of how the panel operated, I used to not only harmonize skin tones, but harmonize whole images when I wanted to create an even warm tone. Infinite Unity will certainly become a staple in my work, and the new update makes using it incredibly easy.

It's understandable. Capturing the Milky Way can be hard. Our home galaxy is faint, it requires a longer exposure than many beginners have tried, light pollution is an an additional challenge, and indeed, getting something good out of your image is a heap of processing work in Photoshop.

Early this year I took a look at Astro Panel 2.0. It is a Photoshop plugin that is for the fairly technical user who really wants to work with masks and gradients and there are enough other controls to make a 747 pilot happy. Astro Panel 3.0 offers the same depth of controls but with a new panel filled with more automatic functions.It's called a Smart Panel.

What the author of Astro Panel, Angelo Perrone has now done is added a lot of tools that are one touch fixes, using the intelligence of the software to make good decisions about sharpening, noise reduction, eliminating light pollution effects, getting good color balance and much more.

The glow to the lower left are the lights of Tucson, Arizona.The panel has tools for virtually eliminating the light pollution, but they aren't one touch tools and I wanted to show what a beginning Milky Way photographer could do. This kind of improvement took a lot of time and effort in the old days. Since Astro Panel 3 has multiple levels of undo, it's easy to experiment and eliminate mistakes.

Astro Panel 3.0 is a free upgrade for version 2 owners. Otherwise it's 30 Euros or $33.84 in the U.S. If the webpage comes up in Italian click on the British flag to get the English version of the website with a complete list of features and example photos. Other languages are supported as well.

I don't do astro enough to learn the photoshop techniques so this sounds ideal for me, gonna purchase now and give it a shot. The login every 2 weeks sounds like a pain so already looking forward to not having to do that when the new version comes out! English tutorials will be nice too! Cheers.

So, if one is "put off by the difficulty of the processing techniques using Photoshop" as well as its cost (like me), they are unlikely to own (or rent -- thanks, Adobe) a copy of Photoshop. That makes the target audience for this product a lot smaller than the universe of photographers (no pun intended) who might be interested in doing Milky Way photography.

You have two panels because both the plugins are installed. We do not clean up the old plugin folder because you may have configs that are still using the old plugin. If you no longer wish to use the old plugin you can delete the old plugin which can be found here:

Welcome to a new Photoshop workflow developed by senior retoucher Sef McCullough. All Vysics plugins and all future Vysics plugins are included for PRO PLAN members and available for purchase individually. These access panels are the ultimate tools to expedite your workflow, produce better results, and give you more time to focus on creativity and digital manual labor. Learn more about Plugin Suite Vysics Bundle below.

This bundle of toolsets and workspaces include free lifetime updates, so you'll have everything you need to get started right away! Each plugin comes with education tutorials to show the entire workflow. Join the PRO PLAN today to get all Vysics Plugins and tutorials FREE, or buy the plugins you need individually.

Thank you for your positive review of our Vysics Plugin Suite Access Panel Bundle, Rafael. We're glad to hear that you're finding it helpful in simplifying your workflow and that the bundle offers versatility. We appreciate your business and look forward to bringing you continued success.

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