Kayrock Companion
A free native plug-in that gives Kayrock's Photoshop plugins direct access to image data. Large files are faster to process and you gain the ability to directly work with CMYK, Duotone, Grayscale + Alpha, and Lab + Alpha documents. One copy in Adobe's shared plug-ins folder serves every Photoshop version on your machine and every Kayrock plug-in you own.
How to install
macOS
- Download the macOS zip above and double-click it to unzip. You get
KayrockCompanion.plugin. - Copy it into Adobe's shared plug-ins folder:
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins/CC
In Finder choose Go > Go to Folder and paste the path. You may be asked for your password. - Fully quit Photoshop (Cmd-Q) and relaunch it.
Windows
- Download the Windows zip above and extract it. You get
KayrockCompanion.8bf. - Copy it into Adobe's shared plug-ins folder:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins\CC
Windows will ask for administrator permission to copy there. - Quit Photoshop completely and relaunch it.
To verify it worked: run any Kayrock
filter and hover below the preview thumbnail. The status line reads
Companion On, and clicking it shows the Companion's status. Your plug-in will also
stop suggesting the install.
To update: replace the file with a new download and restart Photoshop. To uninstall: delete the file. Your Kayrock plug-ins keep working either way.
What's new
The version number matches the one Photoshop shows in Help > About Plug-in, and the one Kayrock plug-ins name when they ask you to update. Downloads before this one all called themselves 1.0 whichever features they had, which made "is mine current?" impossible to answer. This release fixes that by numbering the Companion after the capability level the plug-ins actually negotiate.
Version 3.0 September 2026
- Works on documents larger than 30,000 pixels. Photoshop would not hand the Companion a bigger canvas than that, so a screen at film resolution quietly fell back to the slow path. A 32000 x 40000 image now reads in about 0.2 seconds where the old route took over 2.5.
- Writing back part of an image no longer fails when only some channels are selected.
- The diagnostic log moved out of the system temporary folder into your own user folder, and is capped so it cannot grow without limit.
Version 2.0 August 2026
- Duotone previews show real ink colour instead of grey, by reading the document's own ink table.
- Windows build, and one shared install that serves every Photoshop version on the machine.
Version 1.0 July 2026
- First release: direct pixel access for Kayrock plug-ins, 16-bit documents, transparency written back with the image, and a universal Mac build.
The details
Technically it's a small native Photoshop plug-in that Kayrock's UXP plug-ins talk to for direct pixel access. It does nothing on its own and only responds to Kayrock plug-ins. It needs Photoshop 2023 or newer, on macOS or 64-bit Windows.
If something's not working, check that the file is in the exact folder shown above and that you fully quit and relaunched Photoshop. Still stuck? Email support@kayrock.org and I'll get right on it.