How To Install Studio 2 As A Photoshop Plugin
If you are an Adobe Photoshop user using Photoshop 2015 or newer, plugins for our current suite of programs should automatically install when you install your Topaz Labs programs. In some cases, this may not happen. This article explains various ways to install the Adobe Photoshop plugin for Studio 2.
Instructions For Other Host Programs
Photoshop CS6 Plugin Installation
Lightroom Plugin Installation
Photoshop Elements Plugin Installation
How to Install Studio 2 As A Photoshop Plugin
Studio 2's Photoshop plugin should automatically install to Photoshop's Filter menu on compatible Mac and Windows devices. If it doesn't, the following instructions may be applicable to different users:
Special Notes About M1/Apple Silicon Devices
Manually Install Your Studio 2 Photoshop Plugin On Mac
Manually Install Your Studio 2 Photoshop Plugin On Windows
Special Notes About M1/Apple Silicon Devices
The Studio 2 plugin is NOT M1 native. You will need to open Photoshop with Rosetta to use this plugin with M1 native Photoshop. The plugin will not appear until you do so, even if it has been installed correctly. You can automatically open Photoshop with Rosetta by going to Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2023 (or whatever year you use), and ctrl + clicking on the Photoshop app itself. Then go to the "Get Info" option and on the menu that opens, check the "Run With Rosetta" checkbox. Make sure you click into the Photoshop folder to the app. If you don't see the Open With Rosetta checkbox, you are probably clicking on the Photoshop folder and not on the actual app icon inside the Photoshop folder.
Manually Install Your Studio 2 Photoshop Plugin On Mac
Step 1:
Close Photoshop and go to Applications >> Topaz Labs LLC > Topaz Studio 2. Right click the Topaz Studio 2 application icon and select Show Package Contents >> Contents >> Resources >> PS_Plugins.
Next, copy the file named TopazStudio2.plugin
Step 2:
Paste the plugin file (TopazStudio2.plugin) in one or more of the following paths, depending on your Photoshop install location:
Version specific installations will be named with Photoshop and the year of the version like this:
/Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2022/Plug-ins
/Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2021/Plug-ins
/Applications/Adobe Photoshop 2020/Plug-ins
etc
Shared Creative Cloud installations (Photoshop CC) will need to have the plugin installed here:
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CC
See image below for sample.
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Pro Tip:
You can go to a specific path by opening a new Finder window and open the Go to Panel by holding down CMD (Command) + Shift + G
Step 3:
Close all the programs, open Photoshop, and check if your plugin is set up now under ''Filter''. 
Manually Install Your Studio 2 Photoshop Plugin On Windows
If you open the Photoshop Filter menu and do not see a link for Studio 2 under Topaz Labs, the following steps will allow you to manually check for the plugin file and install it if necessary.
WARNING: If you have more than one version of Studio 2 installed on your computer, you will want to uninstall the older version. Having two Photoshop plugins installed for Studio 2 may cause errant behavior and prevent Studio 2 from opening or functioning properly.
Step 1:
Determine which version of Photoshop you have installed. Here is where you'll find them for various versions of Photoshop:
Photoshop CC (Shared Creative Cloud Location): C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-ins\CC\
Photoshop 2022 (Version Specific): C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2022\\Plug-ins\
Photoshop 2021 (Version Specific): C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2021\Plug-ins\
Photoshop 2020 (Version Specific): C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2020\Plug-ins\
Photoshop 2019 (Version Specific): C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2019\Plug-ins\
Photoshop 2018 (Version Specific): C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2018\Plug-ins\
Photoshop CC 2015.5: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-ins\CC\
Photoshop CC 2015: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2015\Plug-ins\
Photoshop CC 2014: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2014\Plug-ins\
Photoshop CC 2013: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC\Plug-ins\
Photoshop CS6: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64 Bit)\Plug-ins
Note About Photoshop Versions After 2018
For Photoshop 2018 and higher, you may have both the version-specific and shared creative cloud folders on your computer. In these cases, you may need to try to install the plugin shortcuts to both folders if you're not sure which version of Photoshop you're actually opening on your computer.
Step 2:
Once you've found your folder, you'll want to see if you already have a plugin shortcut installed for the program in question.
The shortcuts will look something like this. The Studio 2 shortcut will be tltopazstudio2ps_x64.
If this shortcut is here and your plugin doesn't work, you'll want to delete it.
Step 3:
Go to your Studio 2 plugin folder to create a copy of the shortcut. You can find it here: C:\Program Files\Topaz Labs LLC\Topaz Studio 2\PS_Plugins_x64
You should see this file: tltopazstudio2ps_x64
Right-click the file and select "Create Shortcut":
Once your shortcut is created, you'll want to move that file from the Studio 2 folder and paste it in the Photoshop folder where you originally checked for your plugins files in Step 2.
Step 4:
Make sure Studio 2 and Photoshop are both closed. Then reopen Photoshop, load an image, and check to see if Studio 2 shows up under Filter > Topaz Labs