What plugins do each of you use most commonly? I am interested in trying my hand ad some photo manipulations and possibly some abstracts, and am looking for some information regarding good plugins for Photoshop CS.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

This is a good place to start:

http://www.freephotoshop.com/html/free_plugins.html

I am as guilty as the next guy for using plugins to the max ,altought they are one of the reasons photoshop is the program that it is they are a very small part of it.Rather than getting more plugins I think a guy should invest some cash in how to manuals and learn photoshop inside out.The place camerahound pointed you to is a good place to get plugins.

amen

I agree with tbob. I am SO VERY quilty of using plug-ins. However, to really get the effects that you want for a complete image -not just a image made up just of plug-ins- (which, I have also been guilty of) - you really need to know about layers and such. That little airbrush comes in super handy for me. There is so much to Photoshop and when you learn the program without plug-ins...you can then plan an image instead of just hitting buttons....which I have also been quilty of. :D It is a HUGE learning experience and you may want to give up at times...but, if you keep going you will enjoy the program so much more.

Well, I have purchased one of those "doorstops" that covers Photoshop, but the reading is so dry. I am VERY guilty of just wanting to jump in headfirst and be able to make some remarkable image. I have KPT 7 already, but haven't been happy with my results so far.

Another question I have is how you start a good abstract? Do you modify an already existing picture, or do you start off with a blank sheet and go from there? I am a newby at this digital art, but am very eager to learn and want to gather as much info as possible!

Well - you can do both. I do a mix of blank page and manipulate an existing image. It helps to have other programs as well. Bryce is good but a bit complicated for some (myself included).
Kpt 7 is good for playing with an existing image. But, on it's own...I think it def is not what you are going for.
You could try using the pen tool and come up with some shapes that you like...you could then use the gradient tool to add colors...then you could bring kpt into the mix. It would look simple - but, it will give you something to start with.
Learn about layers as well.
You could even take a photo and warp it beyond belief - then using the layers (change the position of the photo...rotate, whatever) and place one on top of the other. Fade to what you like and go from there.
There really is just so much to photoshop. It would be very difficult to give you ideas on where to start. Read up on the web. There are some tutorials out there that could give you some tips.
That's how I learned...a lot of reading and a lot of practice. :D

Try this. Start with an idea, an image in your head. Then learn the PS techniques required to put it on a canvas.

I guess that is part of the problem. I have an idea of what I would like to create, but do not know where to start to get there. I really enjoy some of the abstract works that Cain has done, and I would like to try something of that nature. I understand the layering concept and adding text, but it is the creation of the abstract backgound image that I am wanting to learn. They are very nice and I would like to contribute one if I can learn the correct process.

Cain mostly uses 3dsm. You would need to purchase either this program or Bryce to get these types of images.

lol funny how no one here has really mentioned the plugins they use...*reads title*

lol.....there are a lot of plugins i use: eyecandy 4000, Axion flare effects, xenoflex,, andromeda, extensis intellihance, kpt. out of which i use eyecandy,kpt, xenoflex the most.....mostly

I do a lot of work in photoshop cs, editing photos that i have taken. digital manipulations are lotsa fun. dont mean to patronize u in anyway but most of the functions(if u hold the mouse over the wee icons) will tell u what they are & in the words of Ronseal(uk DIY products), it does excatly what it says on the tin, bar the few(many) functions that i dont understand. also if u didnt know pressing down on some of those wee icons will give u alternative options of that particular tool.

but the functions i do know are fairly easy, all i use are layers, brushes, cut & paste,
eraser & quite a lot of the magic eraser just to name a few

: )
hope this was some help

Along those same lines, I have seen a few of you talk about a plugin called frax flame. I thought it was in kpt but I got ahold of a used copy of kpt6 and I can't find it in there. Can anyone tell me if I'm crazy?

number7, the general term for that is a "flame fractal" and you can find many many program that create them. Probably one of the best is the new version of ultra fractal (since a fractal-based program is going to allow more freedom than a plugin would).

Flax flame is one of the filters that is included in the new version of KPT (version 7).

there is Frax Flame in KPT5 and Frax Flame II in KPT7

Awesome. Thanks everyone.

The only plugins I use with any regularity are KPT7 and Dragon Fly. I have others, of course, (who doesn't?) but use them only rarely. Possibly that's why my images aren't any better than they are. :D