Let’s be honest, most of Photoshop’s default filters and effects can be a bit cheesy. Last month we introduced you to Filter Forge, a third-party plugin for Photoshop that allows you to do some pretty amazing things with filters, and even create your own. We also gave away 3 copies of Filter Forge Basic Edition to 3 lucky Psdtuts readers. Today, we have decided to do it again by giving away another 3 copies. To enter, all you have to do is submit your entry using the form below.

Filter Forge is a versatile Photoshop plugin which allows both novice and expert users create a wide variety of realistic and abstract textures and effects. Users can take instant advantage of over 8100 free community-created filters in the online filter library, or create their own filters in the visual filter editor by assembling them from components such as blurs, gradients, color adjustments, noises, distortions, or blends – without writing a single line of code.

In this image Filter Forge was used to create the snakeskin: Pattern maps, bumpmaps, and normal maps. The 3D model was made in Microstation V8i, rendered with Luxology Render. No post work.

On the surface, Filter Forge is just a Photoshop plugin, a pack of filters that generate textures, create visual effects, enhance photos, and process images. However, there are some things that make Filter Forge unique:

1. You can create your own filters. Filter Forge comes with a visual node-based editor allowing you to create your own filters – textures, effects, distortions, backgrounds, frames, you name it. All filters automatically support 16- and 32-bit modes in Photoshop, real-world HDRI lighting, bump and normal maps, huge resolutions, and most filters can be seamlessly tiled.
2. You get free access to over 8100 user-created filters. Anyone can contribute their textures and effects to the online filter collection so it grows with every submitted filter. This means the more people use Filter Forge, the better it gets.

To win a free copy of Filter Forge, all you need to do is enter using the form below.

Up For Grabs

• 1 copy of Filter Forge Basic to 3 readers

Rules

• To enter, submit your entry using this form.
• You may only enter once.
• Make sure to enter a valid email address so that we can contact you.
• Entries will be accepted until Friday, July 29, 2011 at 11:59 PM, EST.

To learn more about Filter Forge, visit their website, download the demo version of the software, and check out their gallery.

Editor’s note: This post was sponsored by Filter Forge.

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Hello everyone! Today, we have another treat for you. Our friends from UPrinting are giving away 250 stickers to 5 lucky Psdtuts readers. To win, all you have to do is leave a comment below and tell us what you would do with the stickers if you win. If you are a frequent reader of our site, chances are, you are already familiar with UPrinting. They offer online printing services and are a frequent sponsor of this site. We are very excited to partner with them on another giveaway.

Up for Grabs

• 250 Stickers to 5 Psdtuts readers.
• 2" x 3.5"
• 70lb Label Matte
• Front Only Printing

Rules

• To enter, leave a comment below and tell us what you would do with the stickers.
• You may only enter once.
• Follow UPrinting on Twitter of Facebook (Optional)
• Make sure to enter a valid email address so that we can contact you.
• Entries will be accepted until Friday, July 1, 2011 at 11:59 PM, EST.
• Shipping is free to U.S. and International residents.

Thanks everyone and good luck!

Advertise here

When most people open Photoshop for the first time, one of the first features they tend to use are filters. Filters are a powerful way to make edits to your photos and images but let’s be honest; some of the default filters in Photoshop can be a bit cheesy. The great thing about Photoshop however is that it allows you to install and use excellent third party plugins and filters. Today, we are partnering with Filter Forge to give away 3 copies of Filter Forge Basic Edition.

Filter Forge is a versatile Photoshop plugin which allows both novice and expert users create a wide variety of realistic and abstract textures and effects. Users can take instant advantage of over 8100 free community-created filters in the online filter library, or create their own filters in the visual filter editor by assembling them from components such as blurs, gradients, color adjustments, noises, distortions, or blends – without writing a single line of code.

In this image Filter Forge was used to create the snakeskin: Pattern maps, bumpmaps, and normal maps. The 3D model was made in Microstation V8i, rendered with Luxology Render. No post work.

On the surface, Filter Forge is just a Photoshop plugin, a pack of filters that generate textures, create visual effects, enhance photos, and process images. However, there are some things that make Filter Forge unique:

1. You can create your own filters. Filter Forge comes with a visual node-based editor allowing you to create your own filters – textures, effects, distortions, backgrounds, frames, you name it. All filters automatically support 16- and 32-bit modes in Photoshop, real-world HDRI lighting, bump and normal maps, huge resolutions, and most filters can be seamlessly tiled.
2. You get free access to over 8100 user-created filters. Anyone can contribute their textures and effects to the online filter collection so it grows with every submitted filter. This means the more people use Filter Forge, the better it gets.

To win a free copy of Filter Forge, all you need to do is leave a comment below and tell us how you would like to use this plugin.

Up For Grabs

• 1 copy of Filter Forge Basic to 3 readers

Rules

• To enter, leave a comment below and tell us what you would do with your copy of Filter Forge
• You may only enter once.
• Make sure to enter a valid email address so that we can contact you.
• Entries will be accepted until Friday, June 24, 2011 at 11:59 PM, EST.

To learn more about Filter Forge, visit their website, download the demo version of the software, and check out their gallery.

Editor’s note: This post was sponsored by Filter Forge.

Advertise here

We’ve all been there. You’ve been awake all night working on an amazing project. Everything is going perfectly, the design looks great, you’re proud of the job you’ve done, and then disaster strikes. Photoshop crashes and you lose all your work. Your first thoughts are “when was the last time I saved?” After restarting Photoshop and opening the file, you realize that it was hours ago and that you were putting so much effort into your design that you completely forgot to save. Wouldn’t it have been nice if Photoshop would have saved your work automatically along the way? Now it can!

An auto save feature has been something that many Photoshop users have been asking Adobe for, for quite some time. While there isn’t a native solution yet, the guys at Electric Iris have a nice workaround. A plugin that will save your work automatically.

PsdAutoSaver helps protect your work by automatically saving the files that you’re working on to one or more backup files. In the event that your computer crashes, freezes, or loses power, your work is protected.

Video Demonstration

You can see this plugin in action below.

You can download a 30-day free trial of PsdAutoSaver from here. Give it a try and see what you think.

Note: while this plugin works for both PC and Mac, it only works on Macs using Photoshop CS5 and above. PC users can use this plugin using Photoshop 7 and up in both 32 and 64 bit versions.

This post was sponsored by Electric Iris.