7 Best Speedpaint Plugins for Photoshop

If you’ve ever watched a speedpainting video, you may have wondered how the artist was able to get smooth lines and flawless textures without switching between programs. Photoshop is arguably one of the most popular editing software programs on the market, but that doesn’t mean it can do everything, at least not without a bit of help.

Plugins are a great way to enhance your Photoshop experience and turn this jack-of-all-trades software into an expert painting program. But, you first need to know which plugins to use. Keep reading to learn about the 7 best speedpaint plugins to add to Photoshop.

1. Coolorus 2

This is a color wheel plugin that can help speed up workflow by offering a variety of features that help you choose the colors for your painting.

With features such as Gamut lock and Color Mixer, you can easily pick and organized colors for your palette so that you don’t waste time trying to figure out the best combinations to use. Gamut lock provides a limited color wheel that can help you create a clean and cohesive look and speed up painting.

Other features include:

  • Color modes
  • Color harmonies
  • Luminosity lock
  • 6 color spaces
  • Simple mode

Coolorus 2 is a paid plugin, but it is one of the best on the market for anyone working with painting in Photoshop.

2. Rebelle 5

If you are a speedpainter, then Rebelle 5 is definitely one to check out. This is a digital painting program that allows artists to create hyper-realistic paintings with the look of oils, acrylics, watercolors, and more. On top of that, the program offers a Record Time-Lapse tool, so that you can record your painting from start to finish.

With their new Photoshop plugin, artists can access functions found in Rebelle 5 without having to switch between programs, saving time and making the creative process extremely smooth.

3. Lazy Nezumi Pro

This is a plugin that allows you to create smooth lines with the use of your pen or mouse. It works by adding stabilizers and scripting to Photoshop so that you can create clean line art and painting without the need to slow down and backtrack.

If you are an artist who spends ages trying to get the lines right, then Lazy Nezumi is definitely a plugin you’ll want to try out.

4. MagicSquire

Organization is a must when it comes to speedpainting. MagicSquire is a plugin that allows you to organize your brushes for easy access by color groups. You can also create preset settings so that when you select a brush all of your saved features will populate automatically.

5. Perspective Tools

Perspective is often the bane of many artists’ existence. It can also take up quite a bit of time to get it right. However, with a plugin like Perspective Tools, artists can place textures in the correct perspective in a flash.

Keep in mind that this plugin does require a bit of knowledge about perspective to get it right. However, once you have the hang of it, Perspective Tools can help speed up productivity, helping you get your painting done in no time at all.

6. Color Constructor

If you work with a lot of shadows and lighting, Color Constructor is a must. This plugin allows artists to get an idea of how different lighting affects the colors of a scene.

Instead of spending time looking for the right reference picture on the internet, simply download this plugin and let Photoshop do the work for you. This can help cut down on research time, allowing you to keep up with the flow of painting without sacrificing believability in your art.

7. ParticleShop

If you work with a lot of particle effects, then this is the plugin for you. ParticleShop is a brush plugin for Photoshop that can create speckled strokes in a flash.

If you are a speedpainter, you probably don’t want to spend too much time adding every little fleck of dust or spark from an ember. Still, these are the details that enhance a painting and give it life.

Need to add dust to an old book? Or maybe you want to paint a sweater with frayed pieces of yarn. Simply grab the brush you need from the extensive library and start painting.

Final Thoughts

Though Photoshop is a powerful tool, it can’t do everything. But switching between programs in the middle of a project isn’t always viable either. Hopefully, these 7 plugins for Photoshop can help you keep up with the flow and enhance your imagery during your speedpainting projects.