Tuesday, May 11, 2010

How to create custom background templates in PSE and have them appear in content pallette?

You can create your own custom background templates for PSE and see them in your content pane. Here are the steps to do so :

1. Create a blank document with width*Height as 2475*1870 keeping background as transparent.

background template

2. Now create your own background like the one I create for myself and save it as jpeg with 220 dpi. I named my file as "Metal.jpg".

background template in PSE


3. Now Create a metadata file "Metal.metadata.xml" for Metal.jpg which has the folowing code :

**************************************************************************
"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<PSEContent xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/PSEContent/2.0/">
<name value="$$$/content/backgrounds/Metal=Metal" />
<type value="background" />
<category value="$$$/content/category/Event=Event" />
<category value="$$$/content/category/Color=Color">
<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Color/Blue=Blue" />
</category>
<category value="$$$/content/category/Style=Style">
<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/Teen=Teen" />
<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/General=General" />
<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/Retro=Retro" />
<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/Urban=Urban" />
<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/Colorful=Colorful" />
</category>
<category value="$$$/content/category/Mood=Mood" />
<keyword value="$$$/content/keyword/Stripes=Stripes" />
<keyword value="$$$/content/keyword/Splat=Splat" />
</PSEContent>"

**************************************************************************
4. Please note that whatever name you give to your jpeg file say  "<filename>.jpg" then your metadata file name should be "<filename>.metadata.xml".

Also note in the xml code, my filename has to be replaced here :
<name value="$$$/content/backgrounds/<filename>=<filename> />

Also note as i wanted my background to appear under category "Color" and sub category "Blue", so i used :
<category value="$$$/content/category/Color=Color">
<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Color/Blue=Blue" />

So you can customize by replacing the categories and subcategories (existing in Content pane of Editor) as per your needs.

Now place your jpeg and your metadata xml file at location :

On XP : C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Photo Creations\backgrounds
On Win 7 : C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Photo Creations\backgrounds
 
Please make sure that your Editor is closed and you relaunch it to see the background created in your content pane.
 
If you still do not find it in the content pane in Background category, close Editor and rename the file :  "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Locale\en_US\MediaDatabase.db3" followed by application relaunch. The launch may take sometime as application creates thumbnails for your background at the location where you have created your jpeg.


So here is where I see my background template in Content pane of PSE :


Custom backgound template in content pane of PSE



In case you face any issues in the process, please post a comment. I will come back with any solutions!

15 comments:

  1. how do you apply the code to a file to make the metadata file?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your great tutorial. One thing that might be missing though is creating a .thumbnail.jpg to include in the path. It took me a while to figure this out, but it seemed to be the key. I'm also doing this in a trial of PSE9, so maybe that part is different from PSE8. Otherwise, I really appreciate your tutorials - no need to join Plus now!

    tintsandprints, open a file using notepad. Copy and paste the code as shown in the tutorial and make changes as necessary. Do file save as, all file types, and name it .metadata.xml.

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  3. Nice tut vaishali you explain it very well..Great job done keep it up..Template Design

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  4. how do I create a metadata file to save my backgrounds. I have quite a few and would like to incorporate in Content Palette in PSE 9?

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  5. What a nice tips about creating custom background . Thanks for sharing helpful tips.
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  8. Helpful for me. Thanks. Can you post some video tutorial for me?
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  9. This article is worthy of attention.
    Leona

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  10. It's really a great and helpful piece of info. I'm glad that you just shared this useful information with us. Clipping path is also use for image. Thank you for sharing.

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