How to replace any color with some other color in PSE 8?

I had an image of a fish which I wanted to use for some creation. However the green color of the fish was not suiting my photo creation. I needed red color to be replaced by green.

Here are some simple steps to do that :

1. Open the image in Editor. Select the body of the object where you want to make color replacement & right click>Layer via Copy.

2. Now go to Enhance menu>Adjust Color>Replace Color

3. In the dialog, you would see that you can use color picker under "Selection" heading to pick the color from the image you want to replace.

4. You can adjust the fuzziness slider to see what part of the object you want to be replaced with other color. in the image below, the white part in the black background(shown in above image) is the one which will be replaced with the new color. You can adjust this region using Fuzziness slider.

5. Now from the other color picker under "Replacement" heading which you want to apply as a new color in the replacement.

6. Once you are satisfied (you can preview the changes as you choose colors if preview check box is checked in the dialog), you can click "Ok".

Here are my final and initial images :

How to add glow to any object or body using Adobe Photoshop Elements ?

Here are the steps with which you can add glow to an object or a body :

1. Open an image in PSE Editor.

2. Make a selection of the object to which you want to add glow. I used quick selection tool from the left toolbar for making this selection.

3. Once the selection is made, right click on the selection, and choose "Layer via Copy"

4. A new layer gets created as shown in the image below after performing step 3.

5. Go to Layers menu>Layer Style>Style Settings.

6. Add Outer Glow by checking "Glow" and selecting an appropriate color from the color picker. You may adjust the size and distance of the effect. Also you can add drop shadow effect if it suits your needs.

Here are my initial and final images :

How to have text with different image backgrounds using PSE8?

1. Open a blank file with black background.

2. Now Use text layer from left toolbar and write something on it as shown ;

3. Now open any image you want in text background. Select the image from project bin and drag it over the text layer we created in previous step such that text gets hidden behind it as shown.

4. Now from Layers menu, select Clipping mask and you are done.

5. Here is how your final output may look like if you use different images for every text. Using mutliple images is simple. We just need to perform the above steps repeatedly for every text layer and we have to use a different image which should be placed above every text.

How to write circular text using PSE8?

To illustrate this, I am taking an example of a text that i want to write on the boundary of a ring.

1. First of all, on a blank file, I cut out a ring using cookie cutter tool. Here is how my picture looks like.

2. Now I select the text horizontal type tool from left toolbar and write some text a we do normally.

3. Now keeping the text selected as shown in the image above, select the Text warp icon on top tool bar. The text warp icons shows an arc below the text "T"

4. A dialog box opens up which would ask to choose the shape over which you want your text to be warped. I chose "Arc" from the dropdown. I can use the Bend and distortion sliders to workout with the amount of my text bending and horizontal/vertical distortion i would need to fit the text properly over my circle.

5. Once i click Ok, i can use the top three options as shown marked below to make my text more comfortable with the circlular shape. These options will alow me to rotate the text, shew it or scale it so that it can fot nicely over the shape. These options appear when we try to perform any transformations to the text layer by dragging any of the corners.

6. Here is how my circular text looks like.

One can be creative and innovative with the other shapes in the Warp text dialog.

How to create animated gifs in PSE8?

To give an example of animated gif, i have tried an example of an animation between a cloudy day and a sunny day. You can create anything while you try this out :

1. Take any background as shown in the image :

2. Draw  a boatsman like as shown below in a new layer or same layer :

3. Now draw some clouds in a new layer a shown below:

 4. Now draw a sun in a separate layer a shown below. If you hide the clouds layer created in step above, you would see the following :

5. Now merge the layer background and the boatsman by right clicking them and create a duplicate of merged copy. Now merge one of these duplicates with layer Sun and the other duplicate with layer clouds such that you have your layers palette as shown below :

6. Now go to File menu>Save for Web and select the format as Gif, check the checkbox "animate". Check the "loop" checkbox and specify the delay timing. I have mentioned the delay time as 1 second. So this means, my two layers shown above will appear alternatively after a delay of 1 second.

7. Click Ok and you can check out your animated gif playing in IE or Windows Fax Viewer.

PS : If animation is not visible in the image above , click on the image to open it in the new browser.

How to create Object Out of Bounds image using PSE 8?

1. Open an image in PSE 8 Editor. Create a duplicate layer of the background layer using Control+J.

2. Use Polygonal lasso tool to select a polygonal area (not of equal width and height) and select inverse from right click and press Delete. Hide the background layer. This should be something that should be the result of this step. Name it Layer 1

3.Select background layer and select the portion of the object that has to be out of bounds+some extra area from inside the bounds as well like this.

4. Now with the selection active, right click and say Layer via copy. Here is how my layer looks like if i make other layers insvible by clicking eye in the checkboxes from layers palette. Name it Layer 2.

5. Hide the background layer(and keep it hidden for rest of the process). Select the Layer 1 and create a new blank layer and paint it white. Move this painted layer below the Layer 1 such that it looks like this. At this moment background layer and Layer 2 are invisible. Name this painted Layer as Layer 3.

6. Create a blank layer Layer 4 above layer 1 and create a black frame around the area of  Layer 1 as shown below(making the Layer 2 invisible). This is how it looks :

7. Now move Layer 2  above Layer 4  and make it visible(At this time only background layer is invisible). This is how my Final output looks like as compared to initial image.

Another recent trial on OOB using PSE8 with above steps :

Hope you find it easy!

How to create rainbow using PSE?

1. Open an image in PSE Editor. Create a new blank layer by clicking new layer icon in layers palette.

2. Click on the Gradient tool from the tools bar.

3. From top bar select the Gradient picker dropdown.

4. Select Transparent rainbow as the gradient type(second last in the list).

5. Now select the Radial gradient form from next to this dropdown list. (Marked as no: 5 in the screenshot). Now draw a line in the image where you want the rainbow. And using Move tool,  move it towards the edges such that only a semi circular region is shown.

6. Now keeping the same new layer active in the layers palette, reduce the Opacity of the layer to give it a transparent rainbow effect.

Here are my initial and final images:

I hope you find it easy and useful !

How to add Old Photo Effect to a photo using PSE?

1. Open an image in PSE Editor.
2. Go to Enhance menu>Convert to Black and White...
3. Choose an appropriate preset for black and white like Potrait, landscape etc. Click Ok.
4. Now go to filter menu>Texture>Grain. Add appropriate amount of grain to give an old photo effect. Click Ok.
5. Now from Enhance menu>Adjust Color>Adjust Hue/Saturation.
6. Check the option Colorize and reduce the Lightness. And change the Hue such that it goes into Sepia tone.
7. After that you can use color burn tool from the tools bar to bring darker areas to increase contrast and give shadows near the neck line and face cuts to define these features(if in a potrait). in landscapes as well, you can bring similar effect to show shady regions.


Here are initial and final images :

It's that easy!

How to change color of the hair using Adobe Photoshop Elements?

Steps are as below :
1. Create a blank layer over the background layer.
2. Select the foreground color in the color swatch as White and paint the hair using the paint brush with white color.
3. Now change the blending mode of this layer as Soft Light from the combo box in the layers palette.
4. Now from Enhance menu, select Adjust color >Adjust Hue/Saturation.
5. Check the checkbox 'Colorize' and reduce the value of Lightness in the slider.
6. Adjust the Hue of the hair using Hue slider and control the purity of the Hue using Saturation slider. Click Ok.
7. Reduce the opacity of the layer as needed.

Here are my initial and final images :

How to create your own theme templates using PSE and have them in your content panels?

You can create your own custom themes for the different creations like Greeting card, Photo book, CD/DVD jacket etc and have them placed in your content panel of Photoshop Elements Editor.

Here are the steps with which I created my own theme "Mothers Day" for Mother's day and had it placed in my content panel.

1. Create a blank file from File>New>Blank File. Select default size of the file.

2. Now paint it with the color you like. I painted pink and used gradient tool to give non monotonous effect of the background.

3. Save this as a jpeg on your hard drive. This step is workaround for PSE8 where there is no way of creating a smart object from a leyer as we had in PSE7. Once you have saved the jpeg, click on close widget of the file you were previously working with. It will ask you to save the untitled file. Say No. This will bring back the file you were working till step 2.

4. Now select the background layer from layers pallette and File>Place and select the jpeg saved at step 3. Click on the green checkmark shown shown over the image.

As soon as you do this, you would notice that there is a layer created as a smart object with a tiny icon on the layer thumbnail as shown below. And this layer is exactly as your background layer.

So by now, you would have understood why we saved the background as a separate jpeg in step3. The reason is, in PSE8, we can create smart objects using File>Place. In PSE 7, we do not need the step 3 as we can directly create the background layer as a smart object. This is a workaround in PSE8.

5. Now you can  create a duplicate of this smart object layer by pressing Control+J and delete the original background layer.

6. From Window meniu, select Content. This will result in Content pane appear in right hand panel.

7. Select "By Type" from Category and "Frames" in sub category.

8. Drag a frame from the frames shown in the content bin to the image. Once you do this, you will notice that the blending mode for the frame dropped is "Pass through".

9. Add text layer and put some text to your theme. I am creating a Mother's day greeting card template in this example. So I added the text as shown below.

10. Now select all the layers in the palette and right click>Duplicate. This will create duplicate of all layers. Right click again and Merge. name this layer as thumb.

11. Save this file as a psd. I saved it as "Mothers day.psd"

12. Create a template file with name "<filename>.metadata.xml". I created "Mothers day.metadata.xml"

13. Copy the following into your xml file :

**************************************************************************

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<PSEContent xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/PSEContent/2.0/">

<name value="$$$/content/themes/Mothers Day=Mothers Day" />

<type value="theme" />

<creation value="1x1" />

<creation value="2x3" />

<creation value="3x4" />

<creation value="cddvdlabel" />

<creation value="cdjacket" />

<creation value="dvdjacket" />

<creation value="photobook" />

<creation value="1x1photobook" />

<creation value="3x4photobook" />

<category value="$$$/content/category/Event=Event">

<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Event/Celebration=Celebration" />

</category>

<category value="$$$/content/category/Color=Color">

<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Color/Pink=Pink" />

</category>

<category value="$$$/content/category/Style=Style">

<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Style/Cute=Cute" />

</category>

<category value="$$$/content/category/Object=Object" />

<category value="$$$/content/category/Mood=Mood">

<subcategory value="$$$/content/category/Mood/Fun=Fun" />

</category>

<keyword value="$$$/content/keyword/Toys=Toys" />

</PSEContent>

**************************************************************************

Replace the text in the tag with your filename : <name value="$$$/content/themes/<filename>=<filename>" />

Also note that you can edit the categories and sub categories as per your needs. For example my above theme will appear under category 'Event' and sub category 'Celebration'. Similarly in category 'Color' and sub category 'Pink'.

You can customize these as per your needs.

14. 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\themes
On Win 7 : C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Photo Creations\themes
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.



After relaunch, here is where I see my Mothers day theme in Content Panel from Create Pane>Photo Book or Greeting Card :

I hope you find this tutorial useful!

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.

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".

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 :

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

How to create digital frames with smart objects using PSE?

Steps to create a frame as shown below :

1. Open an image. Control+J to create duplicate of the layer.
2. Select the top layer and from file menu, select Place.
3. From the shown browser, select the same image again.
4. Resize the top layer to a smaller rectangle keeping Alt+Shift pressed. This would help resizing the top layer centrally and without distorting the aspect ratio. This creates a new smart object layer in the layers pallete.
5. Now select the layer below and apply Gaussian blur to it.
6. After this select the smart object layer and apply Bevel effect to it from Effects palette. Click on the style effect settings icon (to the right of smart object layer in layers palette). In the style settings dialog, add glow and bevel effect to the layer.

Here are the initial and final images :