Efficiency, productivity, and convenience are concepts of great importance to photographers, particularly as they relate to a photographer’s overall workflow. It’s not just your image organizing/editing applications to which the idea of a sterling workflow applies, however; for many photographers, their Web browser plays a vital role in their daily operation.
If you’re a Google Chrome user, here are 12 must-have plugins (apps, extensions) will make you wonder how you ever lived without them.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey makes it easy to grab and edit screenshots and Web images. With one click, PicMonkey will collect all the images on a page, then produce a screenshot of the entire page, sending them all to a neatly placed sidebar where you can perform a variety of edits on each image.
PicMonkey is a Free extension.
Image Size Info allows you to quickly discover an image’s width, height, and file size information from Chrome’s context menu; all it takes is a simple right-click and voila
Image Size Info is a Free extension.
If you use Google Drive would like a way to save info directly from your browser to your Google Drive account, look no further than the aptly titled Save to Google Drive. The extension lets you save all sorts of Web content, including links to images, HTML5 audio/video, and documents. You can also save screen grabs and Microsoft Office files to Google Docs format.
Save to Google Drive is a Free extension.
If you’ve ever wished for an in-browser version of Photoshop, Pixlr Editor is the closest you’re going to get — and it does a commendable job. You get all the basic image editing tools (red eye reduction, sharpening, spot healing, etc.) in addition to adjustment tools like levels and curves. Pixlr Editor can also open Photoshop PSD files. All from the comfort of your browser!
Pixlr Editor is a Free app.
Want to search the Web to see if anyone is using your images illegally? TinEye makes that possible by adding a new command to Chrome’s context menu. Right-click on an image and you’ll be take to a page that shows you all the places (with links) the image in question has been located.
TinEye is a Free extension.
Hover Zoom
Sometimes thumbnail images are just too small to be of any use. Hover Zoom makes it easy to browse thumbnail galleries; just hover your mouse pointer over a thumbnail and you will be treated to a full size version of the image — no waiting for the image to load. The extension works on popular sites including Twitter, Flickr, Amazon, Facebook, Tumblr, Google Images, and many more.
Hover Zoom is a Free extension.
Picasa
It makes perfect sense that Google’s Picasa extension integrates so beautifully with Chrome; new or exclusive features aren’t the big draw here, but rather how easily and quickly users can access and interact with the same tools as compared with the standard version of Picasa.
Picasa is a Free extension.
Instagram for Chrome
This Instagram extension allows you to access Instagram right from your browser — you can browse, like, and comment on all the content in your feed. Keyboard navigation is also fully supported.
Instagram for Chrome is a Free extension.
Pixable
Pixable bills itself as “your photo inbox.” Designed for those who use Facebook as their primary image sharing and viewing platform, Pixable establishes a feed of the images that your friends are sharing, shows you profile picture updates, and ranks uploaded images according to popularity.
Pixable is a Free extension.
Taking the work of Image Size Info a little further, Exif Viewer provides quick right-click access to the full range of exif info available for any Web image with such info intact.
Exif Viewer is a Free extension.
Ambient Aurea makes it possible to view an image in a more focus way by isolating it from surrounding clutter and shining an ambient, moody light on it.
Ambient Aurea is a Free extension.
Flickr Reference
This handy extension lets you perform a Flickr image search from any browser window, keeping you from having to open a new tab or window and use Flickr’s significantly slower search engine.
Flickr Reference is a Free extension.
If there's an extension/add-on/plugin that makes your life easier, share with everyone else by leaving a comment!
3 Comments
Hi guys,
Here is another great but not famous plugin you must give a try!
This plugin is called “LPEF – Photo Analyzer” and can be found in the Chrome store.
This plugin is developed by the owner of the French website http://www.la-photo-en-faits.com (i.e. The photography in facts) which is about… the photography, but on the scientific side (math, physic, etc.).
The same guy developed a camera slimulator incredibly complete and precised.
(I precise that I totally don’t know this guy, I just consider that he does a great work).
Chrome store link:
I forgot to mention what this plugin does!!! (shame on me).
This plugin allows you to:
– See histograms B&W + each color
– See exifs if present
– See over exposed or under exposed pixels directly on the picture (like LR does)
– Search for an image throw Google image reverse search engine (like Tiny Eye)
– etc.
Once again your posts are awesome! Thanks Jason!