Thereare several hidden Photoshop CS3 tools hidden away in Photoshop Elements 7, and many of them (including Layer Masks, Channel Mixer, Black & White Adjustments & Curves) are unlocked by the actions available in Handy Actions and Handy Actions Lite. But that’s really just a small sampling of the things the Adobe folks have hidden away within the consumer version of their industry standard….

First

How do you get these filters installed into Photoshop Elements 7? It’s pretty simple: Download the trial version of Photoshop CS3, install it, and navigate to \Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Plug-Ins\Filters.

Find and copy Lens blur.8bf to Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 7.0\Plug-Ins\Filters -  TA-DA! That’s it.  Start Photoshop Elements 7, and you’ll find it in the Filters>Blur menu.

The Lens Blur filter is one of the most effective filters available in Photoshop that’s not present in the standard version of Elements. This filter appears in your Filters>Blur menu right along with Gaussian Blur, Radial Blur, and Motion Blur, etc.

Lens Blur allows you to add a degree of depth to your photos based on several criteria - a layer mask, the layer’s transparency , a desired iris shape, add noise to make it all more real looking, and several other user options.  It’s an extremely powerful filter.

I started with the image to the left (taken at some small amusement park in central Florida), duplicated the layer, and painted a layer mask on just the castle.

Then I fired up the Lens Blur filter, told it to use the Layer Mask as a source, and made my settings to create the image to the right.

Another powerful tool that actually is present in Photoshop Elements (although with a much reduced capacity)  is the Lens Correction filter. You can grab it from the same folder mentioned above, but first copy it to your desktop so you can rename it.

Here’s the deal: copy Lens Correction.8BF from the Photoshop CS3\Plug-ins\Filters directory to your desktop, rename it Lens Correction2.8BF, and move it from your desktop to the Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 7.0\Plug-Ins\Filters

In Photoshop Elements 7, by default, the filter appears in Filters>Correct Camera Distortion… The filter hijacked from CS3 will appear in Filters>Distort>Correct Camera Distortion…

Compare the two dialog boxes that open with each version (the Photoshop CS3 version is on the left; the Photoshop Elements version is on the right).

The Photoshop version offers a few extra options, notably the Chromatic Aberration options, which remove "fringing" from the edges of the image. Also in the Phtoshop version is the ability to save & load earlier settings, so if you have a whole batch of images that need the same adjustments, you can save these settings for future use each time you load images from your camera with the same lens distortion. Sounds like a small detail, but it’s a huge timesaver when you don’t have to adjust each and every time you have a bunch of images to fix.

Next post:  Smart Objects….

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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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This was posted as an edit to the post below, but I figured I should make it a separate entry as well for the RSS feed readers.

UPDATE: Add-O-Matic 7 is in the Graffishop! If you’ve purchased Add-O-Matic 6 since September 1 of this year, your download link in your My Account page has been changed to point to this new version - you can download at any time.

If you want to upgrade to this new version and you’ve already purchased Add-O-Matic, you can use this discount code:

adduhsg2756

to receive 30% off until November 1 2008

ANOTHER UPDATE: Handy Actions Lite is available for Elements 7 now, too. If you’ve bought it since September 1, you’ve got a free upgraded download waiting in your My Account link. There’s also a brand new bundle that has both Add-O-Matic 7 & Handy Actions Lite - a perfect 1-2 punch for Photoshop Elements users (if I do say so myself ).

Next up is B&W Lab, followed by Handy Actions & the remainder of the action packs. Look for them over the next week.

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Anotheroldie-but-goodie. The High Key effect is pretty simpe to achieve, and the technique has been around for years, but it never fails to generate interest and emails.

This one is a snap from a few years ago - the background was dark, so I started by lightening it (as well as adding a bit of blur to it, for more of a narrow depth of field effect).

*Note that it requires Handy Actions 3, or an action that will select just the highlights of your image and place them on a new layer.

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Another older video, made with Elements 5.  The curves interface is quite different with the newer Elements 6 (and I’m assuming Elements 7), but this is still a pretty good overview showing what Curves can do for you. it’s available in Handy Actions 3 as well as Handy Actions Lite - I’ll of course have new versions of both of those as soon as Photoshop Elements 7 is released later this month.

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This is an older episode of the old GraffiTV! podcast on iTunes (I’ll hopefully get that started up again this fall, dear subscribers).

These quick tips were made using Elements 5, but they’ll certainly work in Photoshop Elements 6 & most likely the soon-to-be-released Photoshop Elements 7.

To watch, just click the video image below & let it load - then play.

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Looks like Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 is set to hit shelves sometime around September 29.

I wonder how much coding will be needed to get Add-O-Matic and the rest of the Bundle Pack ready?  No worries - I’ll have upgrades ready shortly after release. Hopefully, Adobe hasn’t messed about too much with the inner database workings of Elements.

This new version has additional online image storage options, as well as built-in uploading and photo storage (20Gb)

With Photoshop.com Plus** membership, you can:

• Show off your creativity with inspiring ideas, tutorials, seasonal artwork, and templates delivered regularly to your software
• Backup your memories automatically and no scheduling required— get 20GB of storage — enough for up to 15,000 photos
• View your photos virtually anywhere you are
• Share photos in fun, interactive ways via invitation-only Online Albums — and you’ll get new templates delivered to your software on a regular basis

Stay tuned - you’ll get a first look as soon as my copy arrives.

(Wonder if they’ll include the Warp tool in Elements this time…?!)

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