Add-O-Matic

The world's first and only add-on installer for Windows versions of Photoshop Elements, and now Lightroom too! Quickly and easily get all your extra goodies into Elements with a drag, a drop and GO!

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Handy Actions

Your Swiss Army Knife for Photoshop Elements - over 70 of the most-requested tools from Photoshop

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Photo Lab

Photo Lab offers 39 ways to enhance your images, from crisp B&W to soft dreamy effects to desaturated and sepia toning. Check it out!

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Fun Foto FX

Over 30 ways to play - Fun Foto FX creates the best effects for your images!

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Glam Photo

56 effects (yes, 56!) are in this self-installing effects pack. With the Glam Photo FX Pack, you can create a huge variety of glamourous looks for your photos (and they work well on landscapes, too!)

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Splitter

16 ways to slice, dice & chop your photos, from simple splits to more complex chops and slices to torn in half or split three ways. Splitter helps you create interesting display options for you photos!

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Framer

Framer offers 24 ways to create frames, borders, outlines and vignettes around your photos

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Sketchy Paint

Graffi's Sketchy Paint offers 28 paint, crayon, pencil, sketch & watercolor effects for Photoshop Elements!

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Search Results for: effects - Page 3

Freebie: 10 Instagram Photoshop Actions

These are similar-but-different to the Hipster Actions coming to the Graffishop. The Graffi Actions will also provide Light Leaks, the distinctive square crop option, edges and a few other tweaks. But check these out too, retro effect lovers!


Instant Hipster Actions Preview

These are the first Photoshop actions by SparkleStock and they make your photos look like it was shot with Instagram.

Instant Hipster - 10 Retro Photoshop Actions

This free download gives you access to 10 Photoshop actions. If you’re a SparkleStock member, you get access to all 19 of them!

10 Retro Effects

This Photoshop action set creates snapshots so that you can instantly switch between the effects with one click – a huge time saver.

Instant Previews with Snapshot Rendering

Try these actions and you’ll be surprised how few layers it creates – most only use 2 layers! You will not find a raster layer in here – even some of the tricky vignettes are smartly created using a combination of gradients. This is a much harder way to create photo effects but the benefits are faster processing and maximum image quality.

 

Fast processing, nondestructive, and minimal layers

These actions can easily be toned down by adjusting the opacity. They’re great for wedding photos, corporate shots, and more. Want something new? Try combining any two actions for even more effects!

Easily lower the opacity for a more natural look


See it in Action

See how easy to use these Photoshop actions are! The actions shown in the video are from the SparkleStock version which contains 19 instead of 10 actions.


Download Instagram Photoshop Actions

Instant Hipster – 10 Retro Photoshop Actions

Add-O-Matic is now in its 7th edition, starting way back for Photoshop Elements 5, and is still the most popular Elements utility available! 

New for Add-O-Matic 11: it now will put all your Lightroom presets away for you, too!
You can grab an Add-O-Matic fast-n-easy by clicking the button below:

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.

 

18 of the Best Freeware Photoshop Plugins That Actually Work


Photographers

There are LOTS of photography plugins for Photoshop. Unfortunately, many of them were too outdated or did something that wasn’t very useful/could already be easily done in Photoshop. But out of the ones that we liked, there were two that stood out: Boundary Noise Reduction and ReFocus DC. Boundary Noise Reduction is a good noise reduction plugin that rivals their expensive competitors and ReFocus DC can fix your blurred photos with amazing results.

Perfect Effects 4 Free

Apply one of 73 photo effects to your photos and combine them for even more effects! This plugin lets you apply these effects with control over masking, painting, and blending. The effects look nice but they don’t quite match up to many of the free retro Photoshop actions. Downloading this plugin requires your email address which will automatically subscribe you to their newsletter. You can opt out of the newsletter at any time. After installation, you can access it by going to Window > Extensions > onOne.

Freeware Boundary Noise Reduction

This is the freeware version of the Boundary Noise Reduction plugin used to reduce noise in your photos. This isn’t a trial or watermarked software; it works just like the commercial version except it’s simplified with less controls. To install, copy the files in the ZIP file to your Photoshop\Plug-ins\Filters folder. The filter can be accessed in the Filter > Colormancer menu. The results were superior to Photoshop’s noise reduction filters and it’s really easy to use. Reducing just the noise can make your image look soft but the filter can bring back some of the original B&W details to keep your image sharp.

Wire Worm

Although there are already many tools in Photoshop that lets you remove powerlines, you might benefit from this plug-in made exclusively for removing wires. Wire Worm works pretty similar to the Clone Stamp tool with its own color matching algorithm. I found Wire Worm to be easier than the Clone Stamp tool and it gives better results too! I just wished there was a zoom tool because the preview area is stuck to 100%. To install, copy the file to your Photoshop\Plugins\Filter folder. This plugin only works on the 32-bit version of Photoshop (not the 64-bit).

Pano Warp

Photoshop is a great tool for creating panoramas but as with many panoramas, they can look distorted. To fix it, you can use this Pano Warp plugin which applies distortion corrections so that the curved lines in your panoramas look straight. It works much different than the Lens Correction filter. To install, copy the file to your Photoshop\Plugins\Filter folder. Unfortunately, this plugin is also only compatible with 32-bit version of Photoshop (not the 64-bit).

ReFocus DC

Every photographer has a nice photo ruined by misfocusing. If you need to rescue that photo, this plugin will deblur your photo. It won’t magically fix the most blurry photo and it isn’t made for motion blur, but for small blurs, it does a surprisingly good job. I did some tests and used the Gaussian Blur filter to give it a 1px blur and it was able to deblur it with great results (see thumbnail on the left). For images with motion blur, the streaks are still there but the sharpness is improved and you can see much more details with it deblurred. This plugin only works with the 32-bit version of Photoshop and you can install it by copying it to your Photoshop\Plug-ins\Filters folder.


Painters

One of the best tools for painters is NKS5. This Photoshop extension gives you access to realistic media brushes and is one of the most popular plugins for digital artists.

NKS5 Natural Media Toolkit

This is a must-try for all painters out there! This plugin gives you a panel full of different pencils, pens, and markers. You can even simulate a variety of real papers and add preset or evenly spaced guides. Installation is done through Adobe Extension Manager; a new tool to manage all your plugins/extensions. Once installed, go to File/Photoshop > Scripts > NKS5 Install. Then, go to Window > Tool Presets. Uncheck the “Current Tool Only” option. You can begin using the tool now by going to Window > Extensions > NKS5.

Oilpaint Effect in Pixel Bender

The same oilpaint filter introduced in Photoshop CS6 is available for you if you have Photoshop CS5. This is the same thing and you can install it using the Pixel Bender plugin.


Graphic Designers

Graphic designers have access to a great number of Photoshop plugins. There are several great layout plugins and way too many filter effects (mostly cheesy effects). We picked only the best filter effects to include in this list and our favorite is Filter Forge and Sinedots 2.

Mr. Stacks

Creating storyboards or PDFs of your photos but don’t have the time to do it manually? Mr. Stacks is here to save the day! He can turn your PSD into paneled storyboards or PDFs with just a few clicks. Installation is done through Adobe Extension Manager. To access the plugin, go to File > Scripts > Mr. Stacks.

Tych Panel 2

Wedding photographer Lumens Bröllopsfotografi realized the world was missing a good tool for creating diptychs so he went out to created his own Photoshop plug-in. This plug-in lets you lay out photos side-by-side in your own way – and it’s very easy to use! It works with Smart objects and layer masks and has Adobe Bridge integration. Installation is done through Adobe Extension Manager.

Sinedots 2

Looking for a way to create abstract waves? Sinedots 2 uses simple sinus calculations to create them. Experiment with this plug-in and see what kind of abstract waves you can get! To install, copy the 8BF file to your Photoshp\Plug-ins\Filters folder. This filter is only available for Windows and the 32-bit version of Photoshop. For beginners, set your background color to black before running the filter. You can find the filter in Filter > DragonFly > Sinedots 2. The interface is quite technical and I have no idea what I’m doing, but I just keep clicking the randomize button until I get something that I like. The only problem is that I can’t seem to change the color but that can be done later with the Hue/Saturation tool.

Filter Forge

Filter Forge Freepacks

Filter Forge has many free filters effects that are highly customizable. They have freepacks that lets you create metal, vintage photo effects, picture frames, and more. You can even make the filters seamless! My favorite is their Photo Effects freepack which contains many great photo effects that are highly customizable. On high-res photos, I frequently get an error message but everything seems to be working fine when I close it – not sure what’s going on there. Some of the more complicated filters can take a few minutes to run.

Stereogram Lab Filter

Remember those stereogram pictures you used to look at when you were a kid? This plugin will turn your photos into stereograms automatically. It’s also a useful tool to create seamless photo textures! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to test this plugin because it only works in the 32-bit version of Windows.

Mosaic

Photoshop has a few mosaic filters but if you’re looking for a different one with more flexibility, Mosaic is what you’re looking for. You can generate square, hexagon, and octagon mosaics with more adjustable settings than the ones in Photoshop. The interface looks a little dated and installation requires entering your name & email for a serial number (even though it’s a free plugin, it’s required). If you keep the effects simple, you can create some great looking mosaics.


Web Designers

Some of the newest Photoshop plugins are layout and file handling plugins made for web designers. The most astonishing one is CSS3ps; this plugin works better than the one offered in Photoshop CS6.1 and is a must-have.

CSS3Ps

If you’re a web designer and you don’t have this plugin, download it now! CSS3Ps turns your layer styles into CSS styles and the results are amazing. It can generate shadows, gradients with transparencies, and more. This plugin will speed up your coding time and works better than the new “Copy CSS” feature in Photoshop CS6.1. Installing is through Adobe Extension Manager and to use it, you go to Window > Extensions > CSS3Ps. Select the layers that you want to generate the CSS code for then click on the CSS3Ps logo in the CSS3Ps panel. It will open your browser to their website that will generate the website for you. The downside to this compared to Adobe’s version is that you have to wait around 15-20 seconds before you get your code – but that’s worth it for the better results.

GuideGuide

If you want to create grids based on a grid-system, it can be a lot of work. Thankfully there’s GuideGuide that solves this problem. Create your own guides using your own measurements and save/load them for later use. Installation is done through Adobe Extension Manager.

Cut&Slice me

As you may know, Photoshop’s slicing system isn’t the easiest to use. Here’s where Cut&Slice me comes in; organize your layers in the way it tells you to then export them all by clicking a button. Designing mobile apps? Cut&Slice me even lets you export at different resolutions for the never ending list of mobile screen resolutions. This plug-in will save you lots of time that you can spend on more valuable tasks – such as eating cookies. This extension is easily installed through Adobe Extension Manager.

SuperPNG

Are you all about optimization? SuperPNG can save smaller PNG files and gives you extra options such as using your alpha channel as its transparency, ICC profile embedding, and metadata saving.

ICO (Windows Icon) Format

Creating favicons compatible with Internet Explorer is a 2-step process; save the image as JPG/GIF/PNG image then use one of the many websites that converts your image into a favicon. With this plugin, you no longer have to do that because you can save your image directly as an ico file.


Know another freeware Photoshop plugin?

I hope there’s a plugin here that you’ll find useful. While looking through almost every freeware Photoshop plugin, there were many that we could not include because they didn’t support Photoshop CS6 or duplicated an effect that could already be easily done in Photoshop. If you know of a freeware plugin that we missed, please let us know in the comments below – Thank you!

17 Photoshop Tips from Actual Advice Mallard

Need to move a layer? Ctrl+[ to move layer down; Ctrl+] to move layer up.
Instead of Ctrl, hold Alt/Option to select upper/lower layer.

Not enough undos? Edit > Preferences > Performance. Set history states to 1000.

Change interface color. Press Shift+F1/F2.

Access Photoshop menus quickly in Windows. Hold Alt then press the underlined letter (ex. Alt+T for Filter menu)
This also works for almost every other program in Windows.

Thinking of paying for a beginners Photoshop class? Watch online video courses for free.
Free Photoshop course: http://tv.adobe.com/show/learn-photoshop-cs6/

Want to reset everything in Photoshop? Hold Alt+Shift+Ctrl while starting Photoshop.
This will delete all your brushes/preferences/etc!

Photoshop loading slower than before? Delete large files in your Photoshop preferences folder.
• Mac OS X Lion: Hold down the Alt (Option) key when using the Go menu. The user library folder is listed below the current users home directory.
• Mac OS: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop CS6 Settings
• Windows Vista, 7, and 8: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS6/Adobe Photoshop CS6 Settings
• Windows XP: Documents and Settings/[user name]/Application Data/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS6/Adobe Photoshop CS6 Settings

Split toning? Use the photographic toning gradient presets.
See tutorial here

Adjusting vibrance/saturation? Protect your tonal information by changing your adjustment layers blending mode to color
This is especially useful if you’re increasing the saturation to unrealistic settings

Photoshop out of memory? Edit > Purge > All to free memory

Want to make your photos look retro? Create new layer. Fill it with blue/cyan. Set opacity to 25% and blending to exclusion.
Here’s another one: Retroize your photos in seconds

Want to open two window of the same document? Go to window > arrange > New window for _____ then Window > Arrange > 2-Up Horizontally/vertically
Similar to the “Compare View” mode in Adobe Lightroom

Opacity? Type it out. 51 for 51%, 00 for 0%, and 0 for 100%.

Want to Enlarge/Shrink all your layer styles? Layer > Layer Style > Scale Effects.
This is also useful when you resize your document and the layer styles messes up.

Use the transform tool nondestructively. Convert layer to Smart Object first (Right-click layer > Convert to Smart Object).
This lets you enlarge/shrink your layer as many times without losing quality.

Need to check your image dimensions? Click and hold the status bar.

Need to make photo wider/taller? Edit > Content-Aware Scale.

Freebie: 12 Large Bokeh Brushes

Bokeh Brush Preview

There are 12 color bokeh brushes. If you’re a SparkleStock member, you can pick from 18 bokeh brushes! They come in multiple sizes; 625, 1250, 2500, and 5000 pixels. In addition, you get them in pre-colored JPEG images to save you time. Drag and drop them into your document then set the blending mode to Screen or Linear Dodge – it’s that easy!

Large Bokeh

We recommend using these bokeh brushes with photos that have some sort of retro photo effect applied. Here are some photo effect tutorials we recommend:

These bokeh brushes work great with portraits. Paint with your brush and layer set to linear dodge using different colors. Combine it with some color lookup filters (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Lookup) to give it a photo retro effect. You can combine the Futurstic Bleak and Film Stock color lookups for the best results.

Download the Bokeh Brushes

12 Large Bokeh Brushes

 

Add-O-Matic is now in its 7th edition, starting way back for Photoshop Elements 5, and is still the most popular Elements utility available! 

New for Add-O-Matic 11: it now will put all your Lightroom presets away for you, too!
You can grab an Add-O-Matic fast-n-easy by clicking the button below:

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.
Buy Now 14.99 USD

Quick Tip: Access the Hidden Photographic Toning Gradients in Photoshop CS6

The Photographic Toning Effects

Photoshop CS6 comes loaded with 39 presets to simulate traditional darkroom toning and split-toning effects. Click on the image to download the high-res version you can print.

Split Toning Presets


Step 1

Open an image you want to split tone in Photoshop. For this tutorial, we’ll be using the image below as an example.


Step 2

Add a new Gradient Map adjustment layer. You can do this by clicking on the Gradient Map fill layer button in the Adjustments panel (Window > Adjustments).


Step 3

In the Properties panel (Window > Properties), click on the Gradient. This will bring up the Gradient Editor.


Step 4

This is where the photographic toning presets are hidden. Click on the panel menu located on the top-right of the presets area then select Photographic Toning.


Step 5

Try out the different gradients to find the one that you like. Most of them will look pretty strong, but we’ll minimize this in the next step.


Step 6

One way to reduce the look of it is to add a Black and White adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White). Position this layer between the two layers then adjust the opacity of your Gradient Map. Here’s what ours look like with the Gradient Map at 50%.


Final Results

Split Toning

60′s Retro Poster Style

If you want a 60’s themed poster with all the distinct font, color and graphic effects reminiscent of that era then this guide is what you need. I will show you how you can create a retro Photoshop design infused with authentic 60’s style. Read on and enjoy.

Quick Tip: Emphasize or Hide Skin Flaws With One Layer

Step 1

Open the photo that you want to edit in Photoshop. The photo should have enough detail in the skin tones with little to no makeup.


Step 2

We’ll need to grab the Yellow channel. Before we can do this, we have to convert the image to CMYK by going to Image > Mode > CMYK.


Step 3

In the Channels palette (Window > Channels), select the Yellow channel. As you can see, the Yellow layer reveals the most skin flaws. Copy and paste this layer by going to Select > All then Edit > Copy.


Step 4

Now we need to convert the image back to RGB mode for editing. Instead of converting the image back, which will degrade the image quality even more, we can just undo all the way back to the beginning. Keep pressing Alt+Ctrl+Z (Option+Cmd+Z on Macs) until you’ve reverted back to the original photo. Go to Edit > Paste and Photoshop will place the Yellow channel you copied as a new layer.


Step 5

Change the blending mode to Overlay. You’ll see the effects immediately and you can reduce the effect by reducing the opacity.


Step 6

If you want to hide the skin flaws instead of revealing it, invert the layer by going to Image > Adjustments > Invert. Change the blending mode to Soft Light then reduce the opacity until it looks about right.


Step 7

You can also add a layer mask so that this layer only affects the skin tones. This is an optional step because your image will look fine most of the time without any masking. However, should you need to create a layer mask, you can do this by going to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All. Select the Brush tool (make sure your foreground color is white), then paint with a soft-edge brush around the skin. If you’re using Photoshop CS6, you can also use the skin tone feature in the Color Range tool. To do this, go to Select > Color Range. Select “Skin Tones” from the dropdown menu and enable Detect Faces. Click OK and Photoshop will create a selection of the skin tones for you.


Final Results

Quick Tip: Retroize Your Photos in Seconds

Preview of Final Results


Step 1

For this tutorial, we’ll be using Color Lookup adjustment layers which is only available in Photoshop CS6. Color Lookup layers are used to simulate color profiles used in film and Photoshop includes . Start by opening any photo into Photoshop.


Step 2

Because this photo effect will be created with several layers, it makes sense to add them inside a layer group. Add a new layer group by going to Layer > New > Group.


Step 3

Add a new Color Lookup adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Lookup). In your Properties panel (Window > Properties), set the profile to Futuristic Bleak.

The Futuristic Bleak profile gives your photo a faded look like what you see in many futurstic movies.

 

 


Step 4

Next, we’re going to add a Film Stock color lookup profile. This profile boost the contrast and colors of your image. Duplicate the Color Lookup adjustment layer you created in the previous step by pressing Ctrl/Cmd+J. In the Properties panel, set the profile to Film Stock.

The image looks pretty good already with just these two adjustment layers.

 


Step 5 (Optional)

This step is optional but will give your photo some retro colors. The last Color Lookup adjustment layer we’ll add a 3 Strip color profile. Duplicate the previous Color Lookup adjustment layer (Ctrl/Cmd+J) then change the color profile to 3 Strip.

The 3 Strip color profile simulates the 3-strip Technicolor camera from the 1930s used in the famous movie, Alice in Wonderland (1951). There was no true way of simulating this effect before Photoshop CS6 came out. Now with the new Color Lookup adjustment layers, we can easily add this effect.


A 3 Strip Technicolor Camera

 


Step 6 (Optional)

This step is also optional and gives your photo a faded look by shifting all 100% black and 100% white areas to something more gray. This technique is used a lot by photographers and is becoming a very popular effect for wedding and portrait photography. To do this, add a new Levels adjustment layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels). Adjust the black and white input slider at the bottom of your properties panel.

This technique lowers the contrast of the photo for a more nostalgic feeling. It’s often combined with some sort of subtle retro photo effect.


Final Results

Here’s what the final image looks like! This is all done with several Color Lookup adjustment layers. Experiment with different combinations of Color Lookup profiles for more quick and easy photo effects.

The Best Text Effect Tutorials Ever

Material Image [span]Editor’s Pick in Photoshop Tutorials[/span][br]Awesome collection of the best text effect Photoshop tutorials. Visit them to learn how to create stunning typography.
Type: Photoshop Tutorials
Level: All levels

1950′s Pin Up Poster in Photoshop

Material Image Let’s create a 1950′ s pin up poster in Photoshop using selections, Filters, Adjustment Layers, and textures.
Type: Photoshop Tutorials
Level: All levels