Coming Soon: TK9 plugin for Photoshop

I’m happy to announce that, if everything goes according to plan, the TK9 plugin for Photoshop will soon be released. It’s been nearly two years since TK8 launched, and while I’ve been upgrading that version regularly and sending out free updates, TK9 is a major step forward in the plugin’s evolution. New masks, new features, new modules, new menus, new interfaces, new buttons, and new actions are all part of TK9. However, from the image below, you can see that the overall layout is quite familiar if you’re already using TK8. All your favorite TK8 features are right where you’d expect to find them in TK9, but now there’s a lot more functionality to make your Photoshop workflow more efficient and productive.

TK9 is again built using Adobe’s UXP architecture and this version requires at least Photoshop 2022 version 23.3.0 to install. However, due to recent changes in Photoshop described in this article, using the color grading feature in the Multi-Mask module requires Photoshop 24.6.0 as the minimum version or Photoshop Beta. TK9 has been tested on Mac and Windows computers including Apple Silicon computers, like the M1 and M2 Macs, and it works fine on all the different platforms. Installing TK9 overwrites the corresponding TK8 modules in order to preserve your custom settings.

Important update information

While I’m extremely excited about TK9, a full discussion of the new features will have to wait until a later article. Right now, I’d like to provide readers with information on what to expect with this update in order to help it go smoothly.

• A free update to the TK9 plugin and Sean Bagshaw’s new TK9 Button By Button Guide (discussed below) will be provided to customers who purchased the corresponding product within the previous 12 months. Special discount codes will be emailed to these users. The codes will expire two weeks after they are sent, so please use them promptly.
• Other customers who have purchased products outside the 12-month free-update window will receive a 50% discount code on the new products. These codes will expire on August 31, 2023.
• Update information, including discount codes, are scheduled to be emailed starting Monday, July 31, 2023. To help prevent the download server from being overwhelmed, these emails will be sent over a 3-day period. Please be patient.
• A “soft launch” of the TK9 plugin and associated products is scheduled to start Thursday, July 27, 2023. This involves website and download server updates and a few days of testing to make sure everything is working properly. Previous customers should wait to receive the email with their discount codes before purchasing the updated products. Refunds will not be issued for purchases that don’t use the proper discount codes.
• In addition to the discount codes emailed to previous customers, there will be a site-wide 25% discount available to everyone. This code takes 25% off all items and will be displayed on my website. This makes it a good time to pick up one of Sean Bagshaw’s other courses while they are on sale.
• Free linear profile downloads will be temporarily taken offline during the busiest times to help preserve server capacity for downloading TK9 and videos.
• With this update, Sean Bagshaw is making available a subset of chapters from his newly produced TK9 Button By Button Guide (information below) in a FREE mini-series called Getting Started with TK9. This can be downloaded as soon as you see it on my website (hopefully on Thursday, July 27). And, downloading it before the rush to download the TK9 plugin and the TK9 Button By Button Guide is probably a good idea. It will help alleviate pressure on the download server the following week and is an excellent introduction on what to expect with TK9.

While I hope the release of TK9 goes according to schedule, there are sometimes unforeseen circumstances that cause problems. If there are changes or other issues, I’ll post about them on this blog. My biggest concern is server capacity. While this was an issue with the launch of TK8, the download server guru says no problems are expected for TK9’s launch. However, if you get an error when trying to update or purchase a product, please wait a day or two and try again. I’ll apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

TK9 Button By Button Guide

As many of you know, Sean Bagshaw has been making instructional videos using various TK panels for over a decade. His button-by-button guides have been the most popular because they provide a comprehensive tour that walks users through everything on every module.

The TK9 Button By Button Guide builds on Sean’s deep history and understanding of using TK panels over the years. His meticulous organization and concise explanations provide a wealth of information that is easy to follow. These bite-size videos also serve as a searchable reference if questions arise in the future. Sean has been helping me build and test the TK9 plugin for over a year, and watching the new series I was impressed how it properly covered all the new topics and features. If you want to get the most out of the TK9 plugin, you’ll want Sean to show you how to use it.

Also, don’t forget to download the free Getting Started with TK9 mini-series as it provides an excellent introduction to the other chapters in the TK9 Button By Button Guide. The video below provides additional information from Sean on what went into making this new series.

Many thanks to many people

The TK9 plugin would not exist without the help of countless photographers. As the panel has evolved over the years, more and more people have contributed time, ideas, energy, translation, and feedback to make it what it is today. I could never do this alone and am grateful to everyone who has helped. This includes the many photographers who have sent suggestions, the photographers who regularly post videos on YouTube, and the team of affiliates and beta-testers I interact with almost daily. Because of them, TK9 is the best version yet. I hope it finds a place in your workflow and that it inspires your creativity to make the best pictures ever.