How to get the Extract filter back in Photoshop CS4

While re-designing my site, I had to extract some bonzai from their backgrounds. I thought the Extract filter in Photoshop would be perfect for this. But when I fired up Photoshop and went to the Filters menu, I didn’t see the Extract filter. Photoshop CS4 has been out for a while now, but this was the first time I tried to use the Extract filter. After some research on the Internet, I found out the Extract filter along with other features were removed from CS4.

To get it back, you can copy the Extract filter from your Photoshop CS3 directory. It should be in the “Adobe Photoshop CS3\Plug-ins\Filters” directory.

Or you can download the Optional Plug-ins pack from Adobe.

• For Windows: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Optional plug-ins
• For Mac: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Optional plug-ins

After you’ve downloaded the plug-ins, just extract the “Extract” filter and drop it into your filters directory, “Adobe Photoshop CS4\Plug-ins\Filters”.

This will get the Extract filter back for now, but it sounds like in future versions, Photoshop will have the features of Extract built-in to other tools.