Packaging Your Plugin
Taking your plugin code and packaging it has never been easier.
UXP plugins for Photoshop are distributed in the form of a .ccx file. Under the hood, this is a zip file. Unless you have some special requirements, you should not be creating this zip file yourself.
IMPORTANT:
Before you package your plugin for distribution outside your own computer, make sure you've obtained a valid ID from the Developer Distribution portal. Without an id (which goes in the id field of your plugin's manifest.json file), you won't be able to distribute your plugin in the Creative Cloud Marketplace.
Using the UXP Developer Tool, choose Package from the Actions menu (the ellipsis on the right side of the Developer Tool window, on the same line as your plugin name):
This shows a "Select target directory" dialog. Choose a directory where your built plugin .ccx file should reside.
After the .ccx file has been created, you should see this message at the bottom of the Developer Tool window:
If instead, you see this:
Click on Details to view a window that shows why the packaging failed.
Once your .ccx file has been built, you should test it locally before doing anything else. To install a .ccx file into any Creative Cloud application, double click it. This will open the Creative Cloud application, and you'll get a warning that your plugin hasn't been verified by Adobe:
Since you wrote the plugin, it's probably safe to install. Click Install locally and you'll see another warning:
Since, in this case, you are the third-party developer, it's safe to click OK. Obviously, if someone else sends you a .ccx file and you get this dialog, you should make sure you trust the person who sent it.
Now that you have your plugin installed, test it again to make sure the packaged version performs correctly. Then move on to Options for Distribution to get your plugin out into the world.
