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.