Photoshop Elements SIG - 12-16-09

At the Elements SIG I showed a technique for creating an Orb. The steps are as follows:

Creating an Orb

1. Full Edit open flower bunch
2. Crop to a square
a. Marquee tool
b. Cookie Cutter Tool
3. Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates
a. Polar to Rectangular
4. Image > Rotate > 180 deg
5. Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates
a. Rectangular to Polar

Photoshop Elements SIG - 11/18/25

Captions Alive Pro

The software that I used to create the animated text captions that I have been showing in my slide shows the past few months has now been released. It is called Captions Alive Pro found at the web site can be found at http://www.visisketchpro.com/CAP/CAP_Main.html
You can download a free trial and then buy it from the web site.

Essentials 3

A few months ago I posted information on Essentials 2, a very reasonably price set of plugins for Photoshop Elements. Unfortunately this version is not compatabile with Elements 8. OnOne Software recently released Essentials 3. Here are the top new features in this release in addition to support for Photoshop Elements 8:

• New Photo Essentials Palette - The Palette provides quick access to all five modules from a single location right inside Photoshop Elements.
• Make It Cool - This new module offers a library with dozens of professional effects that can be added to images in one click. This is based on our award-winning PhotoTools 2 plug-in.
• A new dynamic range optimization algorithm in Make It Better.
The web site for Essentials 3 is
http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=11

Photoshop Elements 8 SIG 10-21-09

Steps to add texture to an image

1. Open a photo to which you would like to add texture
2. Open a texture image
3. Add the texture to the photo by dragging it into the photo. It will appear as a new layer.
4. Use the Move tool to position it and Free-Transform to size the texture to fit the image
5. Change the Blending mode to what you like best. The best are Overlay, Soft Light or Multiply.
6. Change the layer opacity to suite
7. To apply your texture selectively you can add an adjustment layer above the background image
8. Group this adjustment layer with the Texture layer by selecting the Texture layer and select Group with Previous from the Layers menu (Ctrl + G)
9. You can now paint with black the areas on the mask associated with the adjustment layer where you want to hide the texture.

There are many, many more free textures on deviantArt; enter ‘texture’ into the search box to find them.

Creating an Orb

1. Full Edit open image
2. Crop to a square
a. Marquee tool - Shift Drag a selection and the in Image menu choose Crop
b. Cookie Cutter Tool - Choose a Square Shape, Check Crop in the Options bar and shift drag.
3. Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates
a. Polar to Rectangular
4. Image > Rotate > 180 deg
5. Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates

Adobe Photoshop SIG Meets

The Adobe Photoshop SIG - October 12, 2009 Notes:

RAW Converter

If your version of PS (CS3 or before) or Lightroom RAW Converter doesn't support your new camera, go to the Adobe Web Site > Downloads > Adobe DNG Converter 5.5 Update,
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4576
Download and install the DNG and then when you want to move your digital RAW images from your camera's memory card use the DNG Converter to convert the camera's RAW image files to DNG and move to your computer's hard drive. You can open these files in CS3 or earlier RAW file converters.

Tips

Zoom
Ctrl + "+" to zoom in and Ctrl + "-" to zoom out.
To resize the window as you zoom go to Edit > Preferences > General and check Zoom Resizes Windows.
You can also zoom in using the Zoom tool (Z) and click in the image. To Zoom out Alt+click with the Zoom tool.
If you are zoomed in and would like to zoom in on a different part of the image, with the zoom tool Click with keep the "H" key pressed. The image will zoom out and you can move the square showing the zoom around to a different part of the image. Release the mouse button and you will be zoomed in on the selected area.

Press the F key to view the image in a full window. You can move the image using the spacebar. Press the F key again the window changes to black and the menu bar,toolbar and palletes go away. To get them back press the Tab Key. Press the F key again to go back to normal view.

Fixing Overexposed or Faded images

You can duplicate the background to a new layer by pressing Ctrl + J and then change the Blend mode to Multiply. This doubles the file size, unfortunately, but another, better way is instead of duplicating the background or a layer that is underexposed, add an Adjustment Layer such as Levels. If you change the Blend Mode to Multiply you get the same effect with no increase in file size. If the increased image density is too much, you can reduce the layer opacity. This technique is very handy for restoring old faded photographs.

Fixing Underexposed or Dark Images

You can do the opposite of the above for dark or overexposed photos by changing the Blend mode to Screen.
In both cases you have the advantage of the Mask that comes with the Adjustment Layer. For example to

Lighten eyes and maybe teeth in a portrait

Add a Levels Adjustment Layer and change the blend mode to Screen. This lightens the whole image so you want to fill the mask with black to hide the adjustment. With black as the foreground color press the Alt + Backspace key. This will fill the mask with black. Now change the foreground color to white and with the Paintbrush at about 30% opacity paint with the white foreground color on the eyes to allow the Screen mode to show through. You can adjust the opacity of the layer to get the right amount of lightening. You can also do this on the teeth or any other areas you would like to lighten.

This is a good technique for opening up detail in the shadows.

Photoshop Elements 8

Yesterday Adobe announced Photoshop Elements 8, http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/?promoid=BPDEM.

There is no upgrade price from any previous version of Elements, bummer, but they are offering a $20 mail-in rebate until the end of October.

You can check the above web site for the new features that are included. Among the new features is an image scaling feature similiar to Content Aware Scaling that was introduced in Photoshop CS4 that allows the user to reduce the width or height of an image to fit into a set width and heighth without distorting the major elements of the image.

I will go over this new release in the Photoshop Elements SIG on Wednesday, October 21 at the Tampa Bay Resource Center Resource Center.

Color Management

Devices for monitor calibration are:

X-Rite Pantone Huey - $89
http://www.xritephoto.com/ph_product_overview.aspx?id=756&catid=107&action=overview

Datacolor - Spyder3Express - $89
http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-mc-s3express.php

Edit JPEG in Camera RAW

Note: This does not work in Elements 8.

If you have JPEG files and would like to process them in the Camera RAW Converter you can do this currently in the Editor, File menu choose Open As and choose Camera RAW (not Photoshop RAW) as the format. Your file will open in the RAW converter. This may be a good or bad thing as the a lot of file information in creating a JPEG in the camera has been lost.

If you would like to open a JPEG or other non-raw files from Organizer you can download a free EditInACR appliclation from http://johnrellis.com/editinacr/

The web page will have "Open JPEGs in Adobe Camera Raw from the Photoshop Elements Organizer" by John R. Ellis information and how to download a use the EditInACR.

Plugin Filter for Elements

Most plugin filters for Photoshop costs more than Photoshop Elements itself. That has now changed when onOne Software introduced Essentials 2 for Elements, http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=11. There is a very good plugin filter for Photoshop Elements and at $69.99 is priced very affordable considering what it contains. This small suite of plugins contains a cut-out filter for removing an object from the background. It is very similiar to onOne's Mask Pro at $159.95, plus it contains Make it Better which is similiar to Phototune 2 for $159.95 and it also contains Frame It that is similiar to Photo Frame 4 at $159.95 and finally it has Make it Bigger that is similiar to Genuine Fractals @$159.95. Essentials 2, in my opinion is a real bargin.

Sorry Photoshop users this is only available for Elements.

Photoshop SIG 9-14-09

Photographic Society of America web site is http://www.psa-photo.org/
Some interesting plugin filters were discussed in the SIG this month.
One of my favorite filter company is Topaz Labs, http://www.topazlabs.com/
I showed examples of using Detail, http://www.topazlabs.com/detail/
and Clean 2, http://www.topazlabs.com/clean/
Akvis has some interesting new filters. Sketch 9, in my opinion, is the best software plugin for creating simulated pencil, pen, or charcoal sketches from photographs. http://akvis.com/en/sketch/index.php
A new filter for creating simulated art work such as an oil painting from a photograh is Artwork,
http://akvis.com/en/artwork/index.php.
A lot of filters are now available for Lightroom
Imagenomic - Portraiture 2 - http://www.imagenomic.com/
Nik Software - Sharpener Pro, Color Efex Pro, Viveza and Silver Efex Pro http://www.niksoftware.com/index/usa/entry.php

Web sites for color profiling devices are;
Spyder Pro 3 - http://spyder.datacolor.com/product-mc-s3elite.php
Huey (low cost monitor profiling) - http://www.xritephoto.com/ph_product_overview.aspx?catid=107
ColorMunki - http://www.xritephoto.com/ph_product_overview.aspx?id=1115&catid=&action=overview

Using the Pen Tool

There is an interesting tutorial on using the Pen Tool on PhotoshopCafe that I thought you would find interesting.
http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/pen/pen.htm

See you at the Photoshop SIG Monday, 9-14, at the Resource Center.

John Nack of Adobe

Adobe has made available a new tool called a Configurator to enable the user to create a panel of tools etc that are frequently used. This is still in beta and John Nack of Adobe offers information on this and allows users to make comments and offer suggestions that will affect the future of Photoshop. This is on his blog,

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2008/10/introducing_ado_1.html

View Photoshop psd files in Explorer

Ever since Photoshop 7 you could no longer view psd file thumbnails in Windows Explorer. To view thumbnail images for Photoshop PSD files in Windows XP and Vista go to http://www.josh.biz/tech/6-view_psd_thumbnails.html
where you will find instructions and a downloadable zip file. The instructions are on this web and in a txt file included in the ZIP. The last step in the instructions is double click Adobe.reg to run this program. After running this Vista users should Restart. Also it won't display a thumbnail if the file is a layered file and the top layer's visibility is turned off.

Camera RAW in Elements

There is a a very good way to be able to open jpeg images in Camera RAW from the Organizer. The script and how to use it can be found on the Adobe Forum,
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/468562
Remember the Photoshop Elements SIG will resume on Wednesday, September 16th.

No Photoshop SIGs in August

Note there won't be a Photoshop or Photoshop Elements SIG in the month of August. I' taking a break. The next Photoshop SIG will be September 14th and the Photoshop Elements SIG will be September 16th.

Photoshop SIG 7-13-09

The Pen Tool
I have posted 3 short video tutorials on the basics of using the Pen tool on
Lesson 1 - http://tinyurl.com/n6e2em
Lesson 2 - http://tinyurl.com/lhxb4s
Lesson 3 - http://tinyurl.com/kpsxau

Various solutions for extracting objects from the background were discussed at the May, June and this months SIG. There is a video link on the May post on this blog. This month I showed various 3rd party plug-ins that are available. They are:

SuperMask from Akvis, http://akvis.com/en/smartmask/index.php at $120
Mask Pro 4 from onOne Software, http://www.ononesoftware.com/products.php at $159.95
Fluid Mask from Vertus, http://www.vertustech.com/index.htm at $149
KnockOut from Corel, http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1152105061771#tabview=tab0
at $99.

In my opinion the best of the group is Fluid Mask.

In addition I showed an inexpensive sketch type of plug-in from Redfield who also makes Fractalius another cool plugin.

Sketch Master available from http://www.redfieldplugins.com/

Photoshop Elements SIG 5-20-09

Photo touch-up and retouching were shown in this month's Photoshop Elements SIG. The Clone Stamp, Pattern Stamp, Healing Brush and Spot Healing Brush were demonstrated. The use of the clone overlay can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/q9oag3 in a video I recorded.

To use the Pattern Stamp tool,

1. Use the rectangle marquee took to select an area that you want to use as a pattern.
   
2. Then go to the Edit menu and choose Define Pattern from Selection
3. Choose the Pattern Stamp Tool. In the tool box this is under the Clone Stamp Tool.
4. Select the pattern you created in Step 2 from the drop down window between Opacity and Aligned.
5. Create a new blank layer and Drag in this area over the area you want to replace with the pattern.
6. Use the Move tool to line up the cloned area. You can nudge the area 1 pixel at a time using the Arrow keys. Shift + an arrow will nudge the area 10 pixels at a time.

I also showed the use of two retouching tools that can be installed as Plugins in Elements.
Retoucher v3.5 makes saves a lot of time in retouching and photo restoration and is recomended if one does this a lot. It is $87.
Multibrush is a tool similiar to the Clone Stamp and Healing Brush but many find them much easier to use. It is $49.
They both can be downloaded for a free 10 day fully functionable trial.
The web site is http://akvis.com/en/products-photo-editing-software.php

Photoshop SIG - 5-11-09

We continued to look at image sharpening using techniques described in Martin Evening's book
Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers and Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers The Ultimate Workshop.

Techniques were shown on replacing backgrounds behind people and replacing bland skies. The replacing skies techniques video tutorial can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/qcc9od.

In the video I left out an important step. After you add the layer mask and before you open Refine Edge change the clouds layer to Multiply mode and then Refine Mask Edge.

Photoshop Elements SIG 4-15-09

The textures shown in the class maybe downloaded free from

http://kuschelirmel-stock.deviantart.com/gallery/

Proshow Gold/Producer 4.0 Video CD

The new revised training CD for Proshow Gold and Producer has been completed and is available from my web site, http://www.computerphoto.org/pages/videos.html#proshow.

Photoshop SIG 4-13-09

Sharpening images was the main topic of this month's month Photoshop SIG. Techniques show were from the following two books:
Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers by Martin Evening and
Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers The Ultimate Workshop by Jeff Schewe and Martin Evening.

The Sketch plugin filter show is from Akvis, http://akvis.com/en/sketch/index.php

Scattered Photo Collage Effect

The effect shown at the April SIG is from the current Photoshop User magazine. Click on the link to see a video of how to create a Scattered Photo Collage Effect in Photoshop CS4.

http://tinyurl.com/ddsffh

Curves in Photoshop CS4

In Previous versions you could drag the eyddropper around the image and it would show on the curve where to adjust.

This behavior still available in Photoshop CS4, it is just accessed a little differently now that the Adjustments panel is used in the place of the dialog box when working with adjustment layers.
Previously you could drag the mouse around the image to see a "bouncing ball" on the curve that would indicate the point on the curve that represented the tonal value under your mouse at any given time.

1. If you held the Ctrl/Command key when you did this, upon releasing the mouse an anchor point would be placed on the curve in the place represented by the tonal value under your mouse.
2. In Photoshop CS4 in order to access these capabilities you first need to turn on the "direct adjustment" control by clicking on the icon of the hand with the double-headed arrow next to it at the top-left corner of the Adjustments panel.
3. With this option turned on (the button is a toggle to turn the control on and off) you can simply move your mouse (without holding the mouse button down) to see the "bouncing ball" on the curve indicating the tonal value for the pixel under your mouse pointer.
4. If you want to add an anchor point, you can click the mouse in the desired location on the image (with no need to hold the Ctrl/Command key).
5. Even better, you can click on an area of the image you want to focus an adjustment on, and then simply click and drag up or down to lighten or darken the image with an emphasis on the tonal value below your mouse when you clicked.
6. Upon releasing the mouse button you can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to fine-tune the position of that anchor point.

Photoshop SIG March 9, 2009

Replacing a Blah Sky Using Apply Image

1. With the image whose sky you want to replace open look at each channel in the Channels palette and pick the one with the most contrast.
2. Drag this channel to the New Channel icon
3. Click on this new Channel and in the Image menu select Apply Image
4. The default is Multiply but change it to Overlay
5. Sometimes this isn't enough so Apply image again and this time choose Multiply
6. Still on the Channel Copy set the Brush to Overlay mode and paint with black on the white in the part of the channel that should be black.
7. Change foreground to white and paint the areas that should be white.
8. Click on the RGB channel and
9. Double click the backgroud to change background to a layer
10. Drag the sky image to the Image area and below the layer containg the sky you would like to replace.
11. Control click the channel copy to load as a selection.
12. With the image layer active Add a layer mask.
    

Very Cool Plugin Filters for Photoshop and Elements

At the February Elements SIG I showed example of some very cool filters from Topazlabs.

Topaz Simplify - Allow the user to create works of art from regular photographs. This is the best I've seen since Buzz Pro that I discussed last month and is cheaper. The web site has excellent examples and a nice video tutorial. A 30 day fully functional free copy can be downloaded.

Topaz Adjust - uses advanced algorithms to achieve unique exposure effects and adjustments in seconds. It offers the user full control over creative exposure, color, and detail effects, and has the ability to save and reuse presets for maximum convenience. This filter can emulate effects that one creates with the much more expensive Lucis Pro 6 (over $500).

Topaz Vivacity - This filter provides noise removal, sharpening, and Image Enlarging without loss of quality. Some very interesting effects that can be achieved are shown on the Topaz web site.

I plan to put some examples using these filters on my SmugMug web gallery. Check in a week or so.

Photoshop Elements SIG 2-18-09

Adjusting Image Tone with Blend Modes

For overexposed, light, Image

1. Copy Background to a new layer, Ctrl+J
2. Change Blend mode to Multiply

For an underexposed, dark, image

1. Copy Background to a new layer, Ctrl+J
2. Change Blend mode to Screen

Brightness and Contrast Adjustment Layer

1. Add a Brightness Contrast Adjustment Layer to change the tone and contrast of an image.
2. Levels gives you more control.
   

Using Levels

1. Add a Levels Adjustment Layer
2. Move both the Shadow and Highlight sliders to the start of the histogram "mountain"

To color correct in Levels

1. Adjust the highlights by Alt+click on the highlight slider and the image goes black.
2. Drag to the left until a bit of white appears. This is the brightest part of the image so note where this is in the image.
   
3. Reset the slider and click on the white spot in the image with the Highlight Eyedropper. This sets this point in the image as a neutral white, 255, 255, 255.
4. For the darkest point do the same as above but Alt+click on the Shadow slider. The image goes white. Drag to the right until a dark spot appears. This is the darkest place in the image.
5. Clicking the dark spot in the image with the Shadow Eyedropper neutralizes this point to 0,0,0.

To Adjust Contrast - Mainly to Increase Contrast

1. With Levels Adjustment Layer open from adjusting tonal range move the middle slider (midtone) to the right to increase contrast and to the left to decrease contrast.

A Better Way to Increase Contrast with More Control

1. Add another Levels Adjustment Layer
2. Change the blend mode to Soft Light
3. To lessen the amount of contrast move the Output Shadow slider to the right.

To Increase the Local (small area) Color Saturation using Blend Modes

1. Determine the blend mode that is best by
   
2. Copy background to a new layer
3. Cycle through blend modes by choosing the Move tool (V) and pressing the Shift key and the + key. Each time you press the + key the blend mode will change to the next.
   
4. Pressing Shift plus the - key will cycle back.
5. Notice the blend mode that gives the color you want - good for eyes of birds for example. Overlay and Soft light are normally good.
6. Change back to Normal blend and with the Brush tool
7. Change the brush's blend mode to the one you decided, probably Overlay or Soft Light.
8. To darken corners you can change the brush's blend mode to Multiply and with a large brush at an opacity of about 20% paint the corners.

Local Tone and Contrast Adjustment

1. The Dodge and Burn tools allow for localized darkening (burning) and lightening (dodge) of an image. It is best to use at between 10% and 20% and build up.
2. Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Shadows/Highlights can be used to open up shadows in an image.
3. To use a Layer and a Blend mode to dodge and burn, add a new layer. This can be blank or filled with 50% gray in order to see the effects. Too fill with 50% gray
4. Press the Alt key when pressing the new layer icon.
5. In the dialog box you can name the layer. Then choose Soft Light as the blend mode and check the box for filling with 50% gray.
6. When you paint with a gray that is lighter than the 50% gray you lighten (dodge).
   
7. Paint with a color darker, then you darken (burn).
   

Photoshop Elements 7's new Tools discussed

1. Quick Edit > Touch Up - either Red Eye, Whiten Teeth, or Make Skies blue.
   
2. The Whiten Teeth and Make Skies Blue create an adjustment layer so check the Adjustment layers in Full Edit to see what is being done and to make corrections.
3. Full Edit - The Smart Brush Tool allows you pick from a group of different corrections. Again Adjustment Layers are created that can be altered.
   
4. When you first click with the Smart Brush tool a colored point is placed on the image. Double click this point to change the adjustment.
   

Free BuzzPro 2

On of my very favorite plugins for Photoshop is BuzzPro. FoToPix the company that produced this filter has been in receivership for quite a while so you can't buy it, but BuzzPro 2.0 is available as a free download from
http://www.brothersoft.com/buzz.pro-20001.html

I haven't tried the download myself so I can't guarantee it is free from bugs. Do a Google search on BuzzPro and you'll fine some nice tutorials on using it.

Making a Wanted Poster

Preparing the paper is most of this technique

1. File > New > Blank
2. 81/2 11 at 240 ppi if you want to make a print or 96ppi otherwise
3. Alt+click new Layer and name clouds 1
4. Set the Foreground color -233, 191, 131
5. Set the Background color -164, 125, 87
6. Filter > Render > clouds
7. Ctrl+F to apply filter again - do until you get a nice look
8. Ctrl+J to copy to a new layer
9. ctrl + F to apply the clouds filter again
10. Change layer Blend Mode to Luninosity
11. Add a Patterns Adjustment Layer and choose the Clouds Patterns, 2nd row right, 900 %
12. Change to Blend mode to Soft Light at 50% opacity.
13. Select the 3 layers using the shift ken and Ctrl+E to merge
14. Add Levels adjustment to Background – OK without an adjustment
15. Rectangle Marquee to select an area leaving a narrow border
16. Shift+Ctrl+I to inverse the selection
17. Choose the Default colors
18. Adjustment layer active, Alt+Backspace to fill selection with black
19. Deselect – Ctrl+D
20. Group the Adjustment Layer with the Clouds 1 layer by pressing the Alt and click on line between layers
21. Make sure mask is targeted and Filter – Distort > Glass,Distort 10,Smoothness – 11, Frosted for texture,Scale – 170 %
22. Ctrl+Click on mask to load as a selection
23. Lasso tool with Subtract from Selection, draw some jagged rips in the border
24. Ctrl+shift+I to inverse the selection
25. Alt + Backspace to fill the selection with black
26. Deselect
27. Dupe the paper layer using Ctrl+J, and name Edge
28. Add to the Clipping group, Alt+click on line between layers
29. Ctrl + click on Layer Mask icon to load as a selection
30. Select > Modify > Contract about 25 pixels
31. Target Edge layer and press Backspace to erase the center portion or selected area
32. Change blend mode to Multiply
33. Filter > Blurr > Gaussian Blur about 15-18
    

Paper is finished.

1. Open the image you want on your poster and drag into the paper
2. Resize to fit
3. Ctrl-Shift-U to desaturate
4. Change Blend Mode to suite. I used Color Burn
5. Reduce layers Opacity to suite
6. Add some noise using - Filter Add Noise > Check Monochromatic
7. Add your text using the Type tool. I used Font Rosewood Std, 72 for WANTED and then Free Transform to size the text.
   

Orton Effect

1. With Image Open Orton
2. Duplicate background 2 times using Ctrl+J
3. Top layer change blend mode to screen and
4. Reduce opacity to 80%
5. Shift click to select both layers and Ctrl+E to Merge Down
6. Dupe this layer with Ctrl+j
7. Name the Top Layer - blur
8. Name the middle layer - sharp
9. Turn off blur layer
10. On Sharp layer
11. Enhance > Adjust Sharpness, Amount -400 %, R - .5
12. Turn On blur layer
13. Change blend mode to to Multiply
14. Filter > Blur > about 25 (depends on image size)
15. Note if you have halos, undo and reduce the amount of blur
    

Using the Displace Filter

1. Open image you want to use as the base, in my case boring.jpg
2. Open image you want to displace, in my case sailboat.jpg.
3. Move sailboat.jpg into boring.jpg as a layer (you would do the same with your images).
4. In my case I copied sailboat to a new layer and
5. Again in my example, Image > Rotate > Flip Vertical and move down below the boat.
6. Reduce Opacity to about 75%
7. In my example my displacement map will be the water. You can copy any texture like a brick wall.
   
8. Select texture, water in my case and copy to clipboard
9. Create a New file > Blank. The default size will be the size of the image in the clipboard.
10. Edit > paste or Ctrl+V
11. Layer > Flatten Image
12. Ctrl+Shift+U to desaturate as your displacement map is monochrome
13. Save as displace.psd. File must be a psd file.
14. Make image to be displaced active, in my example the reflection layer
15. Filter > Distort > Displace
16. H – 20,V – 0,Tile and Wrap around is not applicable
17. In box choose the displace.psd file

Putting Pep in your photos

1. Open image
2. Edit > Define Pattern
3. Filter > Blur > Radial Blur – about 25
4. Move center to upper right corner
5. Add a New Layer
6. Paintbrush about 15 -20 pixels
7. Brush Palette - Move Scatter slider and Spacing slider
8. Paint some white spots
9. Filter ? Blur > Radial Blur - about 10
10. Clone Pattern Stamp tool
11. Larger Brush at 50%
12. Choose saved texture - should be last on the list
13. Paint in people

Photoshop Elements SIG 1-21-09

Pseudo HDR in Elements

1. You can create the 2 exposures by opening a RAW image 2 times, first adjusting for highlights and then adjusting for shadows. You have to save the first one before you open the RAW converter to do the second.
2. Do the first 2 steps in the Photoshop Pseudo HDR
3. Add a Levels Adjustment layer to the background - shadow layer. The Mask in the Adjustment Layer will serve as the Layer Mask in Step 3 of Photoshop steps.
4. Do steps 3 and 5 andAlt click the mask in the Adjustment layer to display it
5. Ctrl+V to paste in the copied background image
6. The rest of the steps are the same.
   

Magnetic Lasso Tool Tips

1. Select the tool and click to set the starting point of your selection; like the Polygonal Lasso tool, you don't need to keep the mouse button held down as you move around your object.As you move the mouse pointer, Elements draws a temporary path where it detects contrast, applying these reference points automatically.If the line isn't appearing where you'd like, click to set a reference point (this technique is particularly helpful when specifying sharp angles).
2. Did a reference point appear where you don't want it?Notice that the last-created point is solid; press the Delete key to remove it without disrupting the path.
   
3. When you come back around to the starting point, click on it to complete the selection.
4. The reference points the tool creates are only guidelines for specifying the selection; you can't go back and edit them later as you would paths in a drawing application. But the Add/Subtract/Intersect modes (see "Editing the Selection") are also available for the Magnetic Lasso tool to help you fine-tune the selection.
5. TIP: Double-click the mouse to complete the selection at any point.
6. Using controls on the Options Bar, you can control the strength of the magnet's pull and how many points appear when drawing:
7. Width: This value (between 1 and 256 pixels) is the distance between an edge and the mouse pointer that will be considered for a path. A larger value can often accurately grab edges without requiring a lot of precision mousing on your part; a smaller value is better for close-in selections.
8. Edge Contrast: This percentage helps Elements define what an "edge" is. A higher percentage looks only for high-contrast areas, while a low value can pull an edge out of fuzzy areas.
9. Frequency: A higher Frequency value prompts Elements to create more reference points on a path, increasing the accuracy of the selection (but also potentially creating a more jaggy area, depending on the image).
10. Tablet pressure: This control is represented by the small pen icon to the right of the Frequency setting. When enabled, this will use the pressure-sensitivity setting of a drawing tablet to affect the Width value.
11. You could try to draw a selection perfectly the first time, but that trail leads only to frustration. Instead, treat a lassoed selection as sculpture: start rough and refine as you go.
12. With a broad selection made and the Lasso tool selected, click one of the selection modes in the Options Bar.
13. Add to Selection lets you grab areas you may have missed initially or create non-contiguous selections.
14. Use Subtract from Selection to pare away areas and get closer to your subject.
15. Or,Draw within your selection using the Intersect with Selection mode to keep just that area.
16. Better yet, ignore the Options Bar altogether and switch modes using modifier keys. With any of the Lasso tools active, hold the Shift key to Add to Selection; hold Alt (Mac: Option) to Subtract from Selection; or hold both Alt and Shift to Intersect with Selection. The tool's icon changes to reflect the mode as you're working.
    

Refinements

1. The controls in the Options Bar, such as Feather, apply only if you set them before creating a selection. What if you decide you want a feathered edge after it's drawn?
2. Right click and select feather
3. Click the Refine Edge button to bring up a dialog that can alter an existing selection.(The Refine Edge button doesn't appear when the Magnetic Lasso tool is selected.
4. Simply switch to the Lasso tool after you've made a magnetic selection to make it appear.)
5. The Smooth slider removes jagged edges and rounds out the selection.
6. Feather applies a soft edge.
7. And the Contract/Expand slider reduces or enlarges the selection in percentage increments.
8. With the Preview button enabled, use the sliders to adjust the selection.
9. You can press F or click the red Custom Overlay Color mode button at the bottom-left of the dialog to see a mask overlay that helps preview the selection;
10. You can also press X to temporarily remove the 'marching-ants' border around the selection.
11. Feel free to move the image using the Hand tool or change the zoom level using the Zoom tool while the dialog is still open.
    

Photoshop SIG Jan. 12 2009

The web sites for programs and plugins used in the SIG are

Photomatix - HDR software - http://www.hdrsoft.com/
ToonIt - Cartoon like imaging plugin - http://www.digitalanarchy.com/toonPS/main.html

Pseudo HDR

1. Open 2 exposures of an image, one for the highlights and one for the shadow.
2. Holding the shift key with the Move tool move the highlights image (the lighter one) to the shadow image (the lighter one)
3. Add a layer mask to the highlights layer, layer 1
4. With the shadow image, background, active - Select All using Ctrl+A
5. The Ctrl+C to copy selection to the clipboard
6. On layer 1, press Alt when you click on the Layer Mask to display it
7. Now press Ctrl+V to paste the copied selection into the mask
8. Click the eye visibility icon to view the image.
9. It is best to blur the mask so with the Mask active - Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur - about 5-6 pixels.
10. Apply Levels to the mask using Ctrl+L to brighten the image move the shadow slider to the right darkening the mask.

Creating an in-camera zoom effect

1. With image open use the Elliptical Marque tool to select the area of the image that you want to remail sharp. Pressing the Spacebar with the tool allows you to move the selection.
2. Right click in the selection to apply a feather of about 20-30 pixels. The amount depends on the size of the image and selection.
3. Press the Shift+Ctrl+I to inverse the selection
4. Now go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur > about 55 -70 pixels.