Program way too slow and application of effects are not pleasing.

Did you use the trial version before purchasing to get a clear idea of the capabilities?

The thing about Filter Forge is that since it is a DIY node based filter kit, many of the effects can not be optimized as much as a standalone plug-in that is a one trick pony that is tailored to one specific task. Changing from "reduced" to "actual" requires a complete recalculation because the pixel resolution changes. You don't have to wait for the "reduced" rendering to finish and can switch to "actual" right away to save time. Also FF has only CPU and not GPU calculating, so compared with many of todays programs it is rather, aaaa... bespoke?

I gave up on PS when it went cloud subscription only, so I can't comment on that possible part of the issue.

You can see the blue bird overlaid on my image <!>

I just closed PS and reopened it. I loaded a test photo and and went to Filter Forge and Fiter Forge applied the last filter and then threw up this message. I don't understand.

Hi Barb,

I've used Filter Forge from Photoshop but I have never come across that particular error message, so I'm sorry I can't help you there.

I think I might know why FF puts the bird on your image. When you have sel ected the filter preset, click on the Settings tab to view the filter's settings. There should be an option to select the image to be processed. You only need to replace the sample kingfisher image with an image of your own.

There is a reason why some filters want you to select an image fr om within the filter settings, but I can't recall why. Some filters let you load more than one image this way. For example the filter Alphabet Texture Creator by SpaceRay lets you load a foreground image and a tint image fr om the filter settings. https://filterforge.com/filters/11659.html

In my experience, for general experimentation to see how filters look on one's images, it is best to open FF as a stand-alone. That is a lot faster than using the program fr om Photoshop. When you tweak a filter by experimenting with the sliders in the settings or find something you like just by clicking on the "Next Variant" button in the settings, don't forget to go back to the presets tab and click on the little drop-down symbol at the top right of the preset window and select "Add preset" to add your own private presets. Then when you want to do your final work in Photoshop your new presets are there for you to use.

Filter Forge takes some getting used to, and as you have noticed, it is not the fastest thing on earth, but it can do very creative and marvelous things.