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.