Another fun little action: This one creates a coffee stain in a new image, which you can then drag into an existing montage, scrap page, creation or anything else you want to do with it.  I suppose you could leave it as a single image, too, but where’s the fun in that?

In my example image, I used the Polaroid frame that comes with Photoshop Elements 7 to create a little stack of images, then I copied the coffee stain layer on top of it.  I have to admit that the starting image was adjusted just a bit with my Cross Processed action, found in Fun Foto FX to give it more of a "Polaroidy" look.

Next, I converted it to a Smart Layer with the action I posted earlier so that resizing it won’t cause pixelization or blurring. Now it’s ready to be distorted.

I changed the blending mode on each of the two new coffee stain layers (I made a copy of the first one I dragged over) to Multiply & Color and moved them around just a bit.

On a new layer on top, I grabbed one of the variety of "Splat" brushes in my collection and dabbed a few extra splashes around, changed their blend & adjusted the opacity.

Let’s see what you can do with it - post an image or two to the Photoshop Elements Techniques Pool.

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Here’s a similar action to the earlier-posted Three Way Split action. 

Instead of creating three horizontal boxes, though, this version creates three vertical boxes for portrait-oriented images.

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Thisaction splits your image into three evenly-spaced and sized pieces, and adds a user-controlled stroke around each piece.

It makes for an elegant presentation (especially on landscape photos).

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More
Actions!

I’ve got another batch of actions ready to upload.

This first mini set contains two actions, named "Splitter - Horizontal" and "Splitter - Vertical".  They’re really quite simple - they just find the center line of your image (either horizontal or vertical, depending on which action you’re using) and create two new layers of the two halves, reversed, with a customizable stroke.

Yeah, I know: they at first seem really ridiculous, but the more I play with them, the more I find them interesting design tools. You can accept the final of the action as your final image (as I’ve done in the examples here) or you can go just a little bit further with them…

To manipulate the two sides, I first ran them through the "Convert to Smart Object" action I posted a little while back. "Smart Objects", in Photoshop lingo, are basically bitmap images converted to vector images, so you can twist & transform & resize them with much less pixelization and blurring than you would get if you edited the bitmap version without converting. (A new post about this is coming soon).

So after converting the two sides to Smart Objects, I rearranged, rotated and resized them to fit the collage I had in mind. A simple drop shadow gave them a little bit of depth.

I turned the Background layer back on, and gave it a bit of desaturation and blur to make it not so intrusive, and there you go - a simple presentation.

Of course you could go further with it, and get really abstract or creative (especially with the Smart Object conversion). You could give each half different color characteristics, or make half B&W and the other half super-saturated, or any other kind of thing you can think of.  I post these things not as complete final images (most of the time) but really just as launching pads to get things started. To make your images really pop, it’s up to you and your creativity - experiment!

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Two actions here - the first will convert an existing layer into a Smart Object, the second will open a new image as a Smart Object.

What are "Smart Objects"? Basically, Photoshop converts a bitmap image (.png, .jpg, .bmp) into a vector object which allows you to manipulate it without losing clarity. It works well for positioning new photos in a collage, for example, or resizing an element into an existing layout or compilation.

These were introduced in Photoshop CS2, and work well in Photoshop Elements 6 and 7. The handiest thing about them in Photoshop is the ability to apply Filter Layers (where a filter is applied to the layer as an adjustment layer with a mask, so you can change the opacity, blend and fill of the filter, as well as providing a layer mask to the filter for even more control).  Unfortunately, that nugget doesn’t work in Elements…

Anyway, enjoy -

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Anew Sampler Pack for Photoshop Elements 7 (Windows-only) is now ready for free download. This pack contains a single effect from each of the full Graficalicus Action Packs: B&W Lab, FunFotoFX, Glam Photo, Handy Actions and Sketchy Paint. The download includes the installer and an information sheet.

The action effects included are Enlarge 110%, Old Romance, Soft Black & White, Weaver, and Sketch, from the full pack they represent. Samples of each action are scattered around this post.

New for Elements 7: The new generation of action packs also are placed in the new Actions Player, in Photoshop Elements’ Guided Edit mode. Special modified actions are inserted here to keep the workflow moving along.

All of the action packs have been upgraded to be Photoshop Elements 7-compatible, and install just as seamlessly as all earlier versions.

So if you’ve wondered about how easily and quickly the effect packs install into Photoshop Elements and were a bit hesitant about giving them a try, this is a good chance to see for yourself how they work. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed - each of the actions here are a representative of how the other Graffi action packs install themselves, and will demonstrate the one-click process. If you have both Elements 6 & 7 installed on your system, the installer will prompt you as to which version of Elements you want to add the actions to. New for Elements 7: A special version of these actions is also added to the "Actions Player", which you’ll find in the Guided Edit mode of the Photoshop Elements Editor workspace.

*Also, don’t forget to grab the Handy Actions Lite add-on action Transform Selection, which can be downloaded for free from this post. The Elements 6/7 version includes an installer for convenience, but there’s also an Elements 5 version that can be added manually, or with the assistance of Add-O-Matic.

The screenshot to the left shows how and where this pack will show up in Elements, and the shot to right is a screen grab of the interface - like it shows, just click "Install ‘em" and it’ll do all the work for you in just a matter of seconds.

Remember - if you like these actions, the rest of the Action Packs install just as easily, and offer a huge variety of effects, adjustments, add-on utilities and other goodies for Photoshop Elements.

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