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Hidden Power Instructions for Installing Actions in Elements 7.0 (PC or Mac)

Hidden Power tools for Elements 7 are distributed by Richard Lynch from the hiddenelements.com web site to enhance the capabilities of Photoshop Elements 7.0. The Hidden Power tools are really Photoshop actions that have been constructed to do particular tasks in Elements. You can add these tools to Elements, and can also add other actions on your own. This document addresses the installation of actions in Elements 7 for Mac or PC. This instructional material should not be re-distributed or repackaged in any way without consent. Please contact Richard: thebookdoc@aol.com for more information.

OVERVIEW
Elements has in one form or another allowed you to run Photoshop actions since Elements 1. The added power of these possibilities was explored in the Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements book series and through this web site.

In order to install an action in Elements 7, you need the following:

  • An action
  • A PNG image
  • Optional: an XML file to define category for the effect

ACTIONS
Actions can be any .atn file created with Photoshop (best if created with CS4, as it will have the most compatible commands) or downloaded from the internet. Be aware that actions you create or download may need to be altered to perform as expected in Elements. To alter actions you will need to use Photoshop. While actions may perform some steps that are not typically considered features in Elements, it is often difference in the name or implementation of a feature where an action will fail (e.g., Elements does not support layers in 16-bit mode, so layer actions in 16-bit will not behave as expected). Nearly any set of steps can be altered to work with Elements but it may require some clever work-arounds.

The file name should be under 30 characters for Mac compatability and should not contain special characters (except underscores if you prefer). The extension should be .atn. Changing the extension will not change the file type.

Action files must be placed in the file folder described in the installation section of this document.

Action files should be stored by naming the action group as per what you want the action to be named, and the group should contain only one recorded action. Only the first action in the group will execute.

The following will not work without work-arounds (this is not comprehensive):

  • conversions to modes Elements does not support (LAB, CMYK)
  • layers in 16-bit mode

PNG IMAGE
Your PNG can be any image that is 64x64 pixels that can be saved to PNG file type. These can be helpful as either previews of what an effect will accomplish, descriptions, or iconic representations (or combinations there-of). These must be placed in the file folder described in the installation section of this document.

The PNG file should be named the same thing as the action, but with the appropriate .png extension and file type. The file can be created and saved from either Photoshop or Elements as a PNG; changing the extension will not change the file type (e.g., don't save as a TIFF and then just change the extension to PNG and expect it to work).

XML FILE
An XML file can be created with a text editor to help categorize your added actions. If you do not use an XML file the actions will appear but will not sort into a category. These XML files must be placed in the file folder described in the installation section of this document, and must be named the same thing as the action and the PNG file.

Use the following code template to create your XML file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<PSEContent xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/PSEContent/1.0/">
<global>
<name id="Name" value="***FILENAME***" localize="true"/>
<type value="effect" />
<typecategory id="TypeCat" value="***CATEGORY***" localize="true" />
</global>
</PSEContent>

To create the XML file:

  1. Copy the code from above.
  2. Open Notepad or similar text editor.
  3. Paste the template code into the text editor.
  4. Change ***FILENAME*** to the name of the action file.
  5. Change ***CATEGORY*** to the name of the category where you would like the action to appear. This can be an existing or unique category.
  6. Save the .txt file. Be sure you are saving as plain text and not RTF of other variation.
  7. Change the .txt extension to .xml

[Note:those who are good with this sort of thing can easily combine steps 6 and 7]

INSTALLING THE FILES
Once you have the three files you need to install them properly. To do so follow these instructions:

  1. Copy the XML file(s) (e.g., click the file icon and press Ctrl+C / Command+C [PC / Mac] ). This will copy the files to the clipboard.
  2. Locate the metadata folder and paste the XML file(s) into it. The folder should be located here:

on Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\7.0\Locale\en_US\Photo Creations Metadata\photo effects

on Vista:
C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\7.0\Locale\en_US\Photo Creations Metadata\photo effects

on Mac OS 10.4+:
[your system drive]:Library: Application Support:Adobe:Photoshop Elements:7.0:Locale:en_US:Photo Creations Metadata:photo effects:

[NOTE: If you cannot access the path on PC via the file system, you will have to change your folder preferences to show hidden files. To do this:

  1. Choose Folder Options from the Tools menu in Explorer.
  2. Change the Hidden files and Folders option to Show Hidden Files and Folders, then Apply and click OK.]

  1. Copy the .atn and .png files (click the file icons holding the CRTL key on PC or the Command key on Mac, then press Ctrl+C / Command+C, as above).
  2. Locate the Photo Effects folder and paste the files into it. The folder should be located here:

on Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\7.0\Photo Creations\photo effects

on Vista:
C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\7.0\Photo Creations\photo effects

on Mac OS 10.4+:
[your system drive]:Library:Application Support:Adobe:Photoshop Elements:7.0:Photo Creations:photo effects:

  1. Delete the ThumbDatabase.db3 file.

on Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\7.0

on Vista:
C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\7.0\

on Mac OS 10.4+:
[your system drive]:Library:Application Support:Adobe:Photoshop Elements:7.0:

  1. Delete the MediaDatabase.db3 file.

on Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\7.0\Locale\en_US

on Vista:
C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\7.0\Locale\en_US

on Mac OS 10.4+:
[your system drive]:Library:Application Support:Adobe:Photoshop Elements:7.0:Locale:en_US:

  1. Restart Elements 7.

When you restart Elements, the ThumbDatabase file and MediaDatabase files will be rebuilt. During this process, a progress bar will appear, and rebuilding may take a while. Please wait for it to complete. When the progress bar terminates, installation is complete and the tools can be used. If the database does not rebuild, you have not correctly deleted the database files (steps 5 and 6) or did not restart Elements.

LOCATION AND USE
When the update/rebuild is complete you will be able to locate the new effects in the Effects palette. To do this:

  1. Open Elements.
  2. Display the Effects palette (Window>Effects).
  3. Click the Photo Effects button at the top of the Effects palette.
  4. Choose the category entered in the XML file from the drop list at the right of the Photo Effects button. If you have not entered a category, select All from the list; you will have to scroll through the list to look for your action.
  5. Double-click the icon you created for the action.

[Note: In all cases, you have to have an image open to apply the tools.]

TROUBLESHOOTING
If the action does not appear in the Effects palette you have not done the installation correctly and may need to revisit these instructions.

If the action appears in the Effects palette and will not run, and no error appears, the action may not be compatible with Elements, or you do not have an image open.

If the action appears in the Effects palette and runs with an error, the error should explain the issue. Resolving the issue will depend on the wording of the error, but some of the following may apply (this is not an exhaustive list):

  • the action, XML and/or image file are not identical
  • the action contains a step which causes an error in Elements and the action will need to be edited

If you need an action edited and know the origin of the action and have permission to edit it, you can try sending it to me via email: Richard Lynch thebookdoc@aol.com. I will need to know the origin of the action before I bother doing any editing. I would hope to make such actions available from the hiddenelements.com website.

For a sample of how the action installation works, you can download the free tools for Elements 7. This will allow you to compare files.

Copyright © 2009 Richard Lynch, hiddenelements.com
11-30-08
       

Copyright © 2008 Richard Lynch