Photoshop Elements Plugins

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Photoshop Elements plugins are used to add special features/effects or simplify the process of creating different graphic design elements. It doesn’t matter if you are a graphic designer or retoucher, expert or beginner, you will probably want to simplify your work with Photoshop Elements using these plug-ins.

How to Install Photoshop Elements Plugins?

Adobe focused on making Photoshop Elements as easy to use for beginners as possible, and its power is now somewhat hidden from view. That’s why you can’t install plug-ins just by dropping them to the program. You can use 2 different methods.

Way №1 Copy the Plugin into the Photoshop Elements Folder

Copy the folder with your plug-in into the Plug-Ins folder of Photoshop Elements:

how to install a plugin for photoshop elements

Application > Adobe Photoshop Elements 2025 > Support Files > Plug-Ins

Open Photoshop Elements and check the plug-in.

Way №2 Launching via the Settings Menu

launching install a photoshop elements plugin

Choose Preferences > Plug-Ins.

install a photoshop elements plugin in folder

Enable Additional Plug-Ins Folder checkbox and click on the “Choose” button.

photoshop elements plug-ins folder checkbox

Set the location to the folder with plug-ins. For example, > Library > Application Support > Adobe > Plug-Ins > CC. Click on the “Choose” button.

Restart Photoshop Elements and check if the plug-in is there.

What Plugins Does Photoshop Elements Support?

It’s quite difficult to find the information related to Photoshop Elements plugins support on the net, as even the Adobe website doesn’t have accurate information about the supported formats and types of plug-ins.

I tried to install some types of Photoshop plugins, which, according to the information from the forums, Photoshop Elements should support. The program refused to install them, so be ready that your favorite plug-ins like Beauty Retouch Panel or ON1 Effects may simply not work here. Before purchasing plug-ins, I recommend asking developers whether Photoshop Elements supports them.

Free Photoshop Elements Plugins

adobe photoshop elements actions

Photoshop Elements definitely supports actions, which allow you to perform image color correction in a couple of clicks, quick skin retouching, accelerated frequency separation, etc. To install actions, you just need to drag and drop them into the Photoshop Elements window, and then find them by going to Window > Actions. To activate an action, select it and click on Play (the triangle at the top of the Actions window).

Eva Williams

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Eva Williams is a talented family photographer and software expert who is in charge of mobile software and apps testing and overviewing in the FixThePhoto team. Eva earned her Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from NYU and work 5+ years assisting some of the city’s popular wedding photographers. She doesn't trust Google search results and always tests everything herself, especially, much-hyped programs and apps.

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Tetiana Kostylieva

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Tetiana Kostylieva is the content creator, who takes photos and videos for almost all FixThePhoto blog articles. Her career started in 2013 as a caricature artist at events. Now, she leads our editorial team, testing new ideas and ensuring the content is helpful and engaging. She likes vintage cameras and, in all articles, she always compares them with modern ones showing that it isn’t obligatory to invest in brand-new equipment to produce amazing results.

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