actions for Photoshop速 ELEMENTS 6-11
paraphernalia for the artistic photographer...
table of contents
Installation for PSE 6-10
3
Installation for PSE 11 and Up
6
UNDERSTANDING LAYERS
8
Using the Actions in PSE 6-10
9
Using the Actions in PSE 11 and Up
10
COLOR & TONES OF THE SHORE
11
BEACHY B&Ws
16
BATHING BEAUTY
17
BEACH PAIL -WORKFLOW HELPERS
17
HELPFUL HINTS
18
TUTORIALS
18
Installation for PSE 6-10 *make sure PSE is closed and not running prior to beginning FIRST- copy all 69 items located in the folder labeled “FTT Seaside” and paste them hereWindows users will have to make sure "Show Hidden Files and Folders" is set in Windows Explorer. WINDOWS-PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS Vista/Windows 7 C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\9.0\Photo Creations\photo effects Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe \Photoshop Elements\9.0\Photo Creations\Photo Effects ** replace the “9.0” with your version of elementselements 6= 6.0 elements 7= 7.0 elements 8= 8.0 elements 9= 9.0 elements 10= 10.0
MAC-PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS Finder\Library\Application Support\Adobe\Photoshop Elements \9.0\Photo Creations\Photo Effects ** replace the “9.0� with your version of elementselements 6= 6.0 elements 7= 7.0 elements 8= 8.0 elements 9= 9.0 elements 10= 10.0
SECOND-locate and rename the Mediadatabse.db3 file to MediadatabseOLD.db3. Vista/Windows 7: C:\Program Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\x.0\Locale\en_US Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe \Photoshop Elements\x.0\Locale\en_US Mac: Finder\Library\Application Support\Adobe\Photoshop Elements \x.0\Locale\en_US
After these steps are complete, open Elements. It will take awhile to rebuild the media date base file, so don’t worry if it’s slower to boot up than usual. Open Photo Effects and select “FTT Seaside” from the drop down menu. This is what you should see.
Installation for PSE 11 and Up 1. Open Elements Editor and select “Expert” mode from the top menu.
2. At the bottom right hand corner locate the “more” tab and click on the “actions” option.
3.You should see a panel that looks like this. Select the drop down menu by clicking the upper right hand corner, then click on the “load actions” command. This will prompt you to select a file for loading. It is helpful to have your actions stored in a pre-determined folder for easier access.
4.In the Elements 11 version, you only need to load one file. Your action file ends in .atn and looks like this. Double click to load.
5. Once loaded you should see a folder with the action name beside it, as in the example on the right.
6. Your actions are located in this folder and you will see each action name when opened. To play an action, simply highlight the name and click on the “play� button located top right.
UNDERSTANDING LAYERS Just as painting a portrait involves the use of color, layers and blending, so does the artistic manipulation of a digital image.
First you must understand the basics of layers-
A layer mask allows you to paint on or erase off desired areas of the image or folder it is masking. By using layer masks you can achieve custom edits that would otherwise be impossible. A black layer mask CONCEALS, while a white REVEALS.
Use a soft brush to paint on layer masks. Use a white brush on a black mask, and a black brush on a white mask.
Be sure to have the layer mask-not your image or folder-selected when painting on a mask layer.
Using the Actions in PSE 6-10
FTT Seaside actions give you full control and adjustability. Look for the “master adjustment layer” marked by the red “eye” icon. This layer allows you to change the opacity of all the action layers as well as paint on the layer mask for desired effects. In addition, all layers in the action can also be fine tuned for complete customization.
Using the Actions in PSE 11 and Up
FTT Nostalgia actions give you full control and adjustability. Look for the “ADJUST” or “PAINT” layers. These layers allow you to change the opacity of all the action layers as well as paint on the layer mask for desired effects. In addition, all layers in the action can also be fine tuned for complete customization.
*Important tip- when an action has a “stop or continue” pop up, always press “continue”, “stop” will undo the whole action.
COLOR & TONES OF THE SHORE
My most cherished images are those of our family vacations at the beach. The “Seaside” collection is designed to capture the magic and color of the shore, while speeding up your workflow. I hope you enjoy using “Seaside” as much as I did creating it.
beach blanket haze Adjustable haze that adds aqua and yellow tonesgreat for sunny shots that have some dark shadowing
popsicle
sand dollar
popsiclebasic color pop and enhancement sand dollargolden, aqua hazy tones. perfect for shoreside images beachy dazemuted, vintage hazed tones with hues of pink.
beachy daze
watercolor
coral reef
watercolorsoft “watercolor” painting “feel”, blue saturation coral reefhazy, coral tones by the shorebold beach color with yellow overtones
by the shore
sunlit
vintage boardwalk
sunlitgolden soft blur action perfect for sunlit images with shadowing vintage boardwalkmuted vintage mid-tones sea glasspaint on beautiful aqua sea glass toned skies and water
sea glass
spectacular sunset
helpful hinttoggle layers on and off for different color effects
paint on dramatic sunset skies. choose from three tones, orange, pink/purple and blue twilight
BEACHY B&Ws
driftwood
classic beach b&w
driftwoodhazy b&w with warm undertones classic beach b&wsharp, classic b&w conversion with levels to suit sunny days
beach cottage b&wcreamy b&w conversion with hazy cool undertones
beach cottage b&w
BATHING BEAUTY sunkissed cheekspaint on rosy cheeks and lips bright eyedpaint away under eye circles and shadows starry eyedpaint on bright eyes. clears red eyes. no more sunburnremoves red from skin
BEACH PAIL -WORKFLOW HELPERS virtual reflectorbrighten up backlit images and dark shadows with this amazing action beach umbrellahighlight recovery tilt shift blurcreate the artistic effect of a tilt shift lens and selective paint back your focal point sharpenbasic sharpen and defog soft & lightmid tone and contrast lift add depthadds contrast and lightly desaturates
HELPFUL HINTS • work on files that are exposure and color corrected • make sure the image background layer is named “background” and is selected when playing an action • when an action has a “stop or continue” pop up, always press “continue”. “Stop” will undo the whole action. • combine actions for custom effects • every image is different so all actions have various adjustment levels, tweak the opacities to suit your image
TUTORIALS
You can find in depth tutorials by visiting us athttp://site.fromthetreetop.com/store/?page/56507/tutorials problems or questions? email tamara@fromthetreetop.com
all text and images are ©Tamara Burross/From the Treetop