:: graffi’s rants & raves ::

Hey,
Graffi:"How do I add additional layer styles to Elements?”

I get messages like this at least once or twice a week or so. It’s not difficult (the easiest way of all is to get yourself a copy of the Add-O-Matic which does all of this stuff for you automatically), but if you want to do it yourself manually, there’s a few things to keep in mind to get things looking exactly the way you want.

Adding Layer Styles to Elements can be a bit tricky.  The .asl file needs to be placed in two separate folders, and for optimal display in the Effects palette, you should consider creating a new .xml file to tell Elements where and how to display them.

First, the two folders: Layer Styles (*.asl files) need to placed in two separate folders:

• *\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements #.#\Presets\Styles
• *\Program Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\#.#\Photo Creations\Layer Styles

Make sure hidden folders are visible to you (that’s been covered numerous times in numerous places, so I won’t reiterate it here).  You could call it done at this point, and you will have styles in place.

---

If you want to correctly display your styles in the Effects palette, you will need to create an .xml file.

Get started by opening your favorite text editor (Notepad will work nicely) and start adding a few lines of info. A basic .xml file will look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<psecontent xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/PSEContent/1.0/">
<global>
<type value="style"></type>
<typecategory id="CatText Styles" value="Text Styles" localize="true"></typecategory>
</global>
</psecontent>

The above references a new layer style called “Text Styles”.  Here’s what this code does:

The first line lets Elements know what kind of encoding it uses (UTF-8, in this case, which is the flavor that Elements is fond of).

The next line tells Elements what kind of additional item is being added (PSEContent).

Next, what type of content (tell Elements it’s a “style”).

What category do you want to place this in (in other words, what name do you want to appear in the drop menu of the layer style section in the Effects palette”)  For this example, I want to call it “Text Styles”, so the category is CatText Styles and the value that appears in the drop menu is Text Styles”.

That’s it: save this file with the same name as the *.asl file it represents (my file is called “Text Styles.asl”, so this document will be saved as “Text Styles.metadata.xml” into the same ProgramData folder path as the .asl – does that make sense?)

---

You could go even further, naming and categorizing each style with a name and display location. This is for the newer .xml verson ussed in Elements 7 & 8 (although the simplified version above works just fine).

Check the code below to see the differences.  This .xml files names each style and places it in a specific place in the display:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<psecontent xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/PSEContent/2.0/"/>
<subscription value="free" />
<type value="style" />
<category value="$$$/content/category/type/TextStyles=Text Styles" />
<item id="1"> <name value= "$$$/content/styles/Alien=Alien" />
</item>
<item id="2"> <name value= "$$$/content/styles/Glassy=Glassy" />
</item>
<item id="3"> <name value= "$$$/content/styles/Gloss2=Gloss2" />
</item>
</PSEContent>

The above code names the first three items in my Text Styles.asl file so their names will display in the palette: “Alien”, “Glassy”  &  “Gloss2”.

Follow the examples, and use the template above to create your own .xml file. 

Or just grab an Add-O-Matic and let the work be done for you!

---

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Many

Add-O-Matic users have written asking about how to change the default blue Add-O-Matic thumbnail into something a little more descriptive or indicative of what the effect actually produces.

Let me first explain why there’s a generic thumbnail in the first place: When a new effect is added to Photoshop Elements, Elements doesn’t have the slightest clue as to what the effect is or what the final result of running it should be. Therefore, a simple generic thumbnail is inserted as a placeholder, allowing the special Add-O-Matic category to display that there actually is an effect there, and it’s called “xxxx.atn”.

Replacing this generic thumbnail is doable, and I’ve finally gotten around to writing out the steps to accomplish it.

---

Before you start, though, ask yourself if you really want a new thumbnail or do you just want to see what the name of it is? 

  If it’s the latter, there’s a very simple solution already available: click the mini-menu from the upper right corner of the Effects palette and toggle on the “Show Names” option.

The Effects palette will display a truncated name beneath each thumbnail in any of the sections of the Effects palette. That’s the quick 2-second approach!

---

For a more permanent solution, though, you might want to create a unique thumbnail indicative of the effect the action produces, and force a rebuild of Elements’ internal thumbnail database. Here’s how:

(Let me just state this for the lawyers out there:  if you do this, and you do something incorrectly and/or you don’t let your database rebuild and/or the database rebuilds, but your thumbnails are screwy and/or anything else funky happens to your installation of Elements, your computer, your network, your garage door opener, your microwave, or anything else, it isn’t my fault – consider yourselves warned!)

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s a pretty simple, albeit time-consuming, process:

1. Locate the action that you want to create a new thumbnail for, and get the exact name from the *.atn file you dragged into Add-O-Matic. (this is important!)
2. Create the image that you want to use as the thumbnail, save it in .png format, and name it exactly the same as the action (*.atn) file that it represents. For example, I recently uploaded an action here named  Retro 3D Text.atn.  I created an image using this action and saved it to my desktop, naming it Retro 3D Text.png 
3. Navigate to the folder where Elements keeps all actions, thumbnails,&  metadata files for all effects (*\Program Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Photo Creations\photo effects) and drag your new thumbnail in, overwriting the .png file that already exists with the same name:  you want to replace it, right? So overwrite it!
4. Now you need to force Elements to see the new thumbnail.  That means you have to make Elements forget what the original thumbnail looked like. To do that, you need to delete the internal thumbnail database and make Elements build itself a new one.
5. Navigate to *\Program Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0  and delete or rename the database file  called  ThumbDatabase.db3.  This is the information store that Elements uses to know what each and every thumbnail looks like, what file it references, and where it lives within your installation.
6. Start Elements. The database will rebuild itself, and it will take 20 minutes or more for it to go through the entire Elements catalog, locate thumbnails, figure out what they belong to,where they reside, and record all that information into a brand spanking new, bright & shiny thumbnail database file. You’ll see a progress bar that looks like this:

   

7. When your cursor stops flickering and it appears that the thumbnails are where they should be, close & restart Elements again just to lock everything in place.

---

Doing the steps above, I made a new thumbnail .png for the action I mentioned above, saved it to the photo effects directory, rebuilt the thumbnails database, and now my Add-O-Matic category displays the updated image:

I’ve also created an automated way to perform these steps, and I’m currently working on incorporating it into a future release of Add-O-Matic. I’m hesitant to bring it out into the light right now, though. Maybe I can be convinced – what’s a utility like this worth..?

---

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Finally, a new action from the workshop!

This is a simple effect, inspired by some groovy old movie posters I’ve been browsing while looking for media room decorating ideas.  Basically, you enter your text when prompted, make any adjustments to size, font & position, and press [Enter] on your keyboard.  The effect creates old 3D-looking text, reminding me of those old cheesy comics that came with the special glasses.

Have fun, and post some of your images here & in the Photoshop Elements Techniques pool on Flickr!

---

---

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Nowthe birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.

When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

---

Inthe time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’"

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 1:18 - 2:12

---

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I’m working on adding some patches and upgrades to the main graficalicus site today (www.graficalicus.com), so connection may be spotty at times.

Everything should be finished this evening, and it won’t affect the Graffishop or this blog.

Cheers!

---

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Wow, an even bigger collection of stuff for Christmas – cheers!

Lots of things Santa would love to know how to draw | Photoshop Articles

---

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

A collection of interesting and creative tutorials, from 10Steps.

20 Best Christmas Tutorials for This Year | 10Steps.SG

---

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!