:: workshop news & musings ::

i’mslowly adding more actions to this blog as my obligations to my “real” jobs finally eases up a bit (corporate downsizing and reorganizing only means that the ones who remain have to do twice the work).

This effect creates another fake HDR (high dynamic range) effect, which means that the image looks sharper, brighter, crisper and more contrast-y. It will create different looks on different photos, but it also leaves layers intact so you can play around with them a bit once it finishes.

Also, it’s a nice complementary action to the original Fake HDR effect found in Fun Foto FX

As always, comments are welcome
graffi

Anew effect for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements users – another Lomo derivative effect. This action will adjust curves for the RGB, green & blue channels to increase contrast and really make your architecture and portrait photos pop.

  A few samples are here; feel free to leave a comment and add a link to any images you create with this action.

To the left is a street scene in Washington DC, snapped last summer.  The added contrast really makes the brick pop and the shadows darker. Converting this image to black and white (using one of the methods found in Portrait Lab) will result in a very nice print!

To the right is a shot from inside the National Portrait Gallery.  It works very well on interior shots, too. Tweaking the Gradient Map Adjustment Layer that the action creates allows you to increase the black and white effect, or you can substitute a different gradient for some colorizing effects, too.

Ifyou are unsure about using any of the Action Effect installers available in the Graffishop (the Action Effect installers like Glam Photo, FunFotoFX, Handy Actions, Portrait Lab, Splitter, etc.) then you might want to download the Sampler pack and give it a try.  It includes 5 actions – the 110% enlarge action from Handy Actions, the Weaver effect from FunFoto, the Old Romance action from Glam Photo, Soft Black & White from Portrait Lab, and a Sketch effect thrown in for a bonus.

Download, extract, turn off Elements including any Organizer components, and run the installer – it will do all the work for you. 

Once it completes, restart Elements and allow it enough to discover the new effects and add them to its database. Next, click into the Layer Styles section of the Effects palette and then click into the Photo Effects section of the palette (that will refresh the Photo Effects display).  Use the drop menu to locate Graffi Action Sampler, and the effects will be ready for use.

*This installer will work for Elements 6, 7 & 8.

Enjoy!

Here’sa set of 21 layer styles that have been laying around the workshop for awhile.  There’s a variety of designs here that you can use on text, shapes, or anything else you add to your graphics.

For a full preview, click  the thumbnail.  It shows each of the layer styles applied to a shape and to text. There’s also a “null” style included that will remove all layer styles from the layer so you can try a different one.

To install them into Photoshop Elements, simply download and unzip the package, drag them into your Add-O-Matic Which does all the heavy lifting for you, and they’ll show up in your Effects palette in the Layer Styles section.  use the drop menu to navigate to “Graffi Styles”.

Enjoy!