No matter how slick your designs are for your clients or employer, there are always little ways to bring more functionality into the studio. By studio, I mean your design software and Photoshop remains the top designer choice. One of the reasons for this popularity is the number of add-ons or plug-ins available that extend the design power of Photoshop.

The range of extensions varies from filter effects to tools that add whole design functions such as 3D effects and menu builders. There are many great sources on the web for add-ons that allow you to present more eye candy in any design work for web sites, posters, brochures, etc.

Photoshop add-ons allow you to extend the options for style changes in your designs

Here are the top 10 add-ons i.e. useful add-ons with links to their sources (where many more add-ons are listed) that will extend your ability to produce some of the finest Photoshop work:

1. AKVIS Retoucher -
A popular tool used commercially for Photo Restoration and scratch removal. It can also remove unwanted text, dates and is particularly useful for restoration of old or damaged photo collections.

2. Mask Pro 4 -
This masks backgrounds easily or just parts that need masking like hair or transparent objects. Say you want to place a picture of you in an exotic location, just grab the photo from the web and use this tool to add the photo to your picture background.

3. Local Contrast Enhancement -
This enables you to bring out the finer details that may be lost in a photo due to lack of contrast, darkened areas and blurry areas.

4. Virtual Photographer -
This is an all-in-one preset tool that handle a variety of effects for your work such as polarize, infra-red, gradient, all accessed via tabbed controls and the interface has a split-screen view for previews.

5. 3D Sphere generator -
3D and Photoshop don’t go hand in hand unless you have a plug-in like this. Now you can create 3D spheres and customize its parts.

6. Photokit Sharpener -
There are a few add-ons on offer for sharpness. The unsharp tool in Photoshop is so difficult to use in comparison. This tool will simplify your sharpening needs.

7. Eye Candy Software -
Eye Candy from Alienskin has long been a favorite amongst designers for adding a diverse range of effects to the Photoshop add-on arsenal. The products have different uses such as glass, fire, ice, seamless patterns and realistic lighting.

8. Magic Frames -
Add stylish frame borders from an expansive list to your photos and pictures or create your own.

9. Light Machine -
Lighting adjustment can be tough using the standard filter in Photoshop though this tool will help as it combines lighting adjustment with color based correction to reduce your design time.

10. Primus -
Add slick bevels and textures to your work rather than relying on the standard bevel shapes in Photoshop.

When it comes to being useful as a designer, there is no second choice when it comes to choosing software for the job. Reasons for choosing a plug-in should include usability, reduction in development time and extra spice options for every design. Choose your plug-ins carefully as too much time can be spent, rather lost, due to choosing the wrong one. This list should guide you in your work.