How to Open DDS Files in Adobe Photoshop Using Intel DDS Plugin

The following is how to open a DDS file in Photoshop using the Intel DDS Plugin. From several tutorials that I have tried, this method in my opinion is quite easy and fast to implement. The error when opening DDS files in Photoshop has now been fixed and I can easily open and edit DDS files in Photoshop

In this tutorial, I use Adobe Photoshop 2021 on Windows 10 OS with 64-bit. So if there is a specific article regarding the Photoshop or Windows Bit version, please adjust it yourself with the PC and software you are using.

How to open a DDS file in Photoshop? First, you have to install the supporting plugins provided by Intel which can be downloaded for free. After that, we have to move some of the files that have been downloaded into the Photoshop installation file on the PC.

Previously I had tried to use a plugin provided by Nvidia but it didn't seem to work on my computer, and finally, I found another way using a plugin from Intel, and it worked on the first try.

Do we have to buy Intel DDS Plugin?

No. We can download and use this plugin for free from Intel. We only need to download and copy-paste some files to the Adobe Photoshop installation folder to be able to use the plugin to open this DDS file.

Why didn't Adobe provide this plugin file from the start? For this question I don't know, maybe some versions already exist or maybe Adobe has another reason why they don't complete their Photoshop software with a plugin like this.

Hopefully, in the future, Adobe will provide updates that already have their own DDS plugin so we don't need to bother installing them ourselves like this. haha

How to Open DDS Files in Photoshop Using Intel DDS Plugin

1. Please open the support plugin page from Inter called Texture Works Plugin for Photoshop at the following link: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/articles/tool/intel-texture-works-plugin.html. Click the Download Plugin button. If successful, the GitHub page will open in a new tab.
2. At the top-right of the GitHub page, please find and click on the word "ZIP" (beside the word Downloads). If successful, the browser will download the plugin file.
3. Please extract (unzip) the file that has been downloaded above.
4. Open the extracted folder and Copy the file named "IntelTextureWorks.8bi" from the following folder..... > /IntelTextureWorks_1.0.4\Plugins\x64 (I assume we all use 64 bit OS)
5. Paste the file above into the Photoshop installation folder, usually located at this folder address: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2021\Plug-ins (In this example I'm using Photoshop 2021)
6. Next, please copy 2 files named "IntelTextureWorks-ConvertCubeMap.jsx" and "IntelTextureWorks-CubeMapGaussianBlur.jsx" from the extracted folder above in this folder page: IntelTextureWorks_1.0.4\PhotoshopScripts\
7. Paste the 2 files into the Photoshop installation folder, usually in this folder address: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2021\Presets\Scripts (In this example I'm using Photoshop 2021)
8. Done. Then you can try to reopen the DDS file that previously couldn't be opened in the Adobe Photoshop application.

How to save a DDS file

After you open or edit the DDS file in the Photoshop application, then don't forget to save the file back to the DDS type file format. For the tutorial, please follow the steps below.

1. Please click menu > File then > Save As
2. In the File name field, please enter a file name (free)
3. In the Save as type column, please select the file type: Intel (R) Texture works (*.DDS,*.DDS). Then click the Save button
4. Then a pop-up menu will appear from Intel Texture Works, please set the Texture type, compression, etc. to your liking. Then click the button > OK
5. Done. Please try to reopen the newly saved DDS file to make sure the saving process is successful.

Edit car livery design for games

For me personally, the Intel DDS feature of this plugin is very useful for opening DDS files from games or games on my PC, especially car racing games. With this feature, I can edit livery or car designs that can later be used in the game.

Not only one game, but many games also use DDS files for their material files such as Assetto Corsa, F1 game, Assetto Corsa Competizione, etc.

But each game requires some different adjustments. So if you want to edit the game livery, I suggest you take a look at the tutorial that specifically mentions the game being edited. Don't just save with the DDS format, every setting during the storage process such as texture type, compression, etc. affects game performance.

Hopefully, this tutorial on how to open a DDS file in Photoshop using the Intel DDS Plugin was useful. If you have any questions, please save them in the comments column below as usual. Keep being a wise user!

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