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Answered

Mac compatible EXR plugin for Photoshop

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
February 8, 2023
6 replies
27976 views

Does anyone know of a quality EXR plugin for the Mac (something like EXR-IO which is Windows only)? ProEXR has not been updated for almost a year and OpenEXR is simply awful.

macOS

Correct answer cody_cuellar

Hi there, I know this is an old post but I've seen some activity more recently. Photoshop 27.5 fully replaced the old EXR reading/writing with full EXR multi channel, multi-part file support. It retains Photoshop layer metadata in the EXR headers and gives extended options for alpha handling, both in where to store alpha (user masks or layer transparency) as well as premult handling. When combined with OCIO, you can open each layer as a smart object and use different color transforms per-layer if desired as well, or just treat RGB as working space content.

Cryptomatte-specific workflows aren't currently supported, but the native plugin shouldn’t discard any data the way the old plugin did. Please give it a try and let us know how we can improve the experience!

C

cody_cuellarCorrect answer

Adobe Employee

Hi there, I know this is an old post but I've seen some activity more recently. Photoshop 27.5 fully replaced the old EXR reading/writing with full EXR multi channel, multi-part file support. It retains Photoshop layer metadata in the EXR headers and gives extended options for alpha handling, both in where to store alpha (user masks or layer transparency) as well as premult handling. When combined with OCIO, you can open each layer as a smart object and use different color transforms per-layer if desired as well, or just treat RGB as working space content.

Cryptomatte-specific workflows aren't currently supported, but the native plugin shouldn’t discard any data the way the old plugin did. Please give it a try and let us know how we can improve the experience!

P

petetheviking

Known Participant

Here's my little workaround which seems to work fine... I open my 32-bit OpenEXRs in Affinity Photo (which handles multi-layer EXRs brilliantly) and export to a Photoshop (.psd) file. After that it's just a regular Photoshop file and we the new OCIO color support in Photoshop I can do whatever I want with it.

I could, of course, stay in Affinity (it also has OCIO support), but that means switching to a new image editor for this old dog... 🙂

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DermotPower

Participating Frequently

Thanks for the tip- just downloaded affinity photo - probably worth paying for it just for opening layered exrs. Worked straight out of the box

S

seans9494305820435793Author

Known Participant

Does Affinity work with Cryptos?

B

Brenda22775960odjw

Participant

Hi @seans9494305820435793,

Just figured out about plugins EXR into Photoshop 2023 for Mac:

https://www.fnordware.com/ProEXR/

Downloaded for Mac and works excelent for 3D artist! All you need is copy the plugins (ProEXR/Photoshop) "ProEXR EZ.plugin" and "ProEXR.plugin" then paste Plug-ins carpet:

Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2023/Plug-ins

In Photoshop open the .exr file, you can now select "ProEXR" or "ProEXR" format. And you will be able to see all the layers with AVOs renders 🙂

Hope this works for you all 3D Artist!

As he wrote before @Kevin Stohlmeyer. Thanks for that!

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seans9494305820435793Author

Known Participant

The issue is that it does not render Cryptos correctly

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Then you may want to communicate with the makers of the plugin.

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sidekick2rida

Participating Frequently

@seans9494305820435793 I feel your pain, with people not reading your post. I just downloaded ProEXR. I haven't tested it, but the table on page 9 of "ProEXR Manual.pdf" in the dmg states ProEXR supports multiple layers (screenshot attached). Hope it's of use.

Cheers

G

George29404830v60m

Participant

Yes, there are several EXR plugins for Mac that you can use. One option is the OpenEXR plugin for Adobe Photoshop, which is available for both Mac and Windows. Another option is the EXRKit plugin for Final Cut Pro X, which is also available for Mac.

If you are looking for a standalone plugin, you can try the Mac version of the OpenEXR viewer called exrdisplay, which is part of the OpenEXR distribution. Another standalone option is the Imath Viewer, which supports EXR files on Mac and is part of the OpenEXR package.

Overall, there are many options for using EXR files on a Mac, so you should be able to find one that works for you.

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seans9494305820435793Author

Known Participant

OpenEXR - as stated further up in the thread, this does not provide what 3D artists require from EXRs

EXRKit - cannot find this anywhere but if it's for FCP what good is that for PS users

EXRDisplay/Imath - again too simplistic and dont provide what 3D artists need.

So back to square one.

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Andrew26207007u57e

Participant

I managed to get Proexr to work on pc using PS2022 but no joy on the Mac 2023. I may try downloading PS2022 and see if that works. It's a real pain and a show stopper for me. Need access to multilayered EXR files. Come on Adobe, sort it out.