Gimpdome

Since we've had many posts lately about Photoshop filters, I decided to add some links that I've found on the web.  Not all of these work in GIMP, but many do; however, to get them to do so, you must first install the PSPI.exe plugin (needs to go in your GIMP plugins folder)

I also suggest you add these dll's to your Windows\System folder (obviously, this folder doesn't exist for Unix/Linux/Mac users, but, then again, these dll's may not be needed on those systems): Extra dll files  Found at the bottom of the page on the left-hand side.  The dll's will help run some of the filters, that might not work otherwise.

Once you've done that, you can start adding Photoshop filters/pluginsto your GIMP plugins folder.  I recommend you do this one at a time as some filters won't work and may cause GIMP to crash before it ever gets started.  Installing several at a time will make it difficult to determine which filter(s) is/are causing the problem.  It can be tedious work when going through this process because you'll have to shutdown/restart GIMP each time, but it's worth it to do it this way.  Also, remember, the more filters you have, the longer it will take GIMP to boot up.

Lastly, and very important:  Many PS filters only work on layers with no alpha channel.  This may be a problem in some cases.  Fortunately there is a workaround.  Just do a Edit>Copy Visible and then Edit> Paste as New.  Then right click on the new layer and choose Flatten Image.  Run your filter and copy it back to the original image your copied from and continue.

Filter Links

http://www.photoshop-filters.com/
http://punkinstuff.tripod.com/ (Many of the default PS filters are found here)
http://www.cybia.co.uk/pluginlinks.htm
http://www.xero-graphics.co.uk/freeware.htm
http://www.gwyngrafica.org/filtri_plugin.htm
http://www.mehdiplugins.com/
http://www.freephotoshop.com/html/spg.html
http://www.richardrosenman.com/software/downloads/

These are just a few.  If you have others you would like me to add, please send me a PM and I'll add them to the list.

That's odd.  I've gotten all of the mehdi to work without any problems.  Are they showing up in the Filters Menu and just not working or are they not even showing up?

Did you restart GIMP after you put them in the folder?  You must restart GIMP each time you put in a new filter.  There is no refresh for filters/plugins.    This was noted in my original post:

It can be tedious work when going through this process because you'll have to shutdown/restart GIMP each time, but it's worth it to do it this way.

Also, make sure you put them in the correct plugins folder....GIMP creates a user's plugin folder under My Documents.  If you put them there and GIMP isn't pointing to that folder, it won't see them.  Check the GIMP preferences to make sure.

What was the problem?

Interesting.  Glad you got them to work.  I like the kaleidoscope and melt plugins from mehdi! The fine threshold plugin has a lot of potential, but I haven't used it much.