The Newsletter for Elements Users

In this issue:

Links
Catching Up
Long Answers (8)
Short Answers (8)

The Hidden Power website:
http://hiddenelements.com

The Hidden Power forum:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=142

The Hidden Power newsletter archive: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hpe

Free Hidden Power Tools:
http://hiddenelements.com/freetools.html

Get the Hidden Power book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0782141781/newwriting/

Didn't mean to miss the August issue, but too many things in the fire -- one of them had to burn. I caught up a lot of questions here, so there shouldn't be any that haven't been answered that were asked since June!

Have been working on a book for Photoshop users based on similar techniques to those in Hidden Power for Elements. Also was working on a column featured in Digital Photography Techniques.

A Healing tool will be made available for Elements later this month. I am looking for a few testers who are interested and have some idea what the tool should do. If you want to test, send me an email with a little bit about what you want to use the tool for. rl@ps6.com.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS: please either go to the forum and ask them, reply to this newsletter, or send them to me directly. It is easiest to get things in the newsletter if you just reply! The forum will get you quicker answers most of the time.

Feel free to let me know about tool, action and other Elements enhancement requests!

1. Sharpening
2. Adding Captions
3. Extracting Wispy Hair
4. Getting Impressive Results
5. Using Blend If with Elements
6. Learning Photoshop Elements Quickly
7. Using the Fade Tool
8. The Book Steps Aren't Right!

- > What is the best way to sharpen 10D images in PS Elements 2.0.
> Everyone talks about certain actions on this forum but do they work
> with elements? Are there some other steps to sharpen photos that
> work for you all? Thanks in advance.

The way to sharpen images taken with one device or another should be relatively the same. That said, there are many methods and means of targeting and applying sharpening...and none are magic.

Most of the best/most advanced sharpening processes will use more than one technique. Most often at least one of these techniques will confine the result of the mask to an edge, rather than performing a general sharpening (which may increase image noise). Edge masks can be created from tone, color or both, using find edges.

The original process of sharpening that the Unsharp Mask filter is named after uses a blurred, inverted duplicate of the original image to pick out the edges. Try this:

1. Flatten a copy of your image and duplicate the background.
2. Invert the image (Cmd/CTRL+I).
3. Blur with Gaussian Blur 5-10 pixels.
4. Set the layer mode to Overlay, and reduce opacity to 50%.

This increases the contrast in the highlight and shadow for the image (side effect being flattening the midtones). It can sharpen up detail in high contrast images (wedding pictures) and is best used with a midtone mask (rather than edge masking).

The point is, the applicability of the technique really depends on the image and HOW you want to sharpen it.

Plug ins and other tools are not magic, though they may increase utility. Plug ins like focalblade obviously rely on edge masking (note the special effects), but call into question the power of advertising when the original has more intense jpegging than the corrected image (suggesting reverse engineering -- as may be evident in the feather example), and when they don't give you reliable settings to achieve the ends they show. And I don't know of a plugin that doesn't require learning how to use it.

My suggestion would be to learn the technique and the power of the program you are using rather than depending on something else to do it for you. all you need are edge, tone and color masking techniques, and a basic understanding of a few sharpening processes (and which works best in particular situations).

Hope that helps. Find some free tools for elements here: http://hiddenelements.com

Usually captions will be assigned in a layout program, as type in Elements (and Photoshop) can be a little tricky to handle. If you really want to export with a caption, change the background to white (press D for default color), then expand the canvas down using Canvas Size rather than Image Size. Click on the top center box in the dialogue and change the height of the image enough so your caption box will be created at the bottom. Now select the type tool and add your type by clicking on the image to create a type layer and typing the text.

If you have hidden power tools from the book, it is HIGHLY recommended that you convert the type to vectors and leave them in the image as vectors for print. This will help keep the type sharp. Save the file as an EPS (encapsulated postscript).

Again, though you can do this as outlined, usually the layout program is considered better for handling type matters.

Hope that helps!

I disagree. To do it right you'll need patience. Knockout and other such masking programs don't do any magic, and they cost quite a lot. All they really do is allow you to select a color range to knock out (or something similar to that). I've never used a program that doesn't make a mask I have to adjust. If you see areas of the image that are over the type of background that are easy to extract, I'd learn to use either Extract or Blend If (I prefer the latter) and save the cost. What I'd be more likely to do is some careful manual masking, and perhaps trim some of the wispy hair.

Most images not taken specifically with the purpose of cutting the hair from the background will prove difficult or very difficult to extract -- no matter what you use. Learn to create manual masks either using alpha channels or via Quick Mask. Don't be afraid to adjust those masks. Hidden Power's ability to separate color and target zones (Blend Mask) should come in handy for speeding up the process.

Don't go assuming you get those kind of results (good or bad) with 10 minutes using the airbrush (not really the right tool). You will probably need an impressive array of tools and techniques to come close to those results. Not to mention a few hours.

At the same time, not all of the result may be what you want/need to accomplish. There are certainly some impressive enhancements (e.g., pore reduction, which can be accomplished over broad areas at times using the right techniques), but, ahem, as a rendering of reality...I would not pose these as a study of the human animal. What is more impressive is, perhaps, the creative visualization needed to achieve the result, than the ability of these images to 'restore' reality.

Clearly this image serves a particular purpose. Not all images need to look this way nor need to be so heavily manipulated, and some might do more to retain the 'reality' of the subject. 'Tis a matter of taste (so long as you have the vision and technique).

Definitely NOT just the airbrush.

Don't fast forward to the end, enjoy the movie!

Actually, Blend If happens to be one of my favorite tools in Photoshop, so it was one of the first things I duplicated in Elements. In fact it is the basis for Blend Masking, which you can do in Elements. I call my version Blend Mask (p. 84-88).

There are ways to work around this Blend If thing to some extent, and I am not sure this application in the tutorial is really anything that you'd want to use Blend If for. One way to achieve the same results as the tutorial is to create use a duplicate of the type layer to create a mask.

1. Make the gradient mask shown in the tutorial.
2. Make the type layer and shut off the visibility (Adobe eye) on the new layer.
3. Duplicate the type layer.
4. Group the gradient mask and ONE of the type layers.
5. Merge the layers grouped in step 4
6. Load the duplicate type layer as a selection (press CTRL/Cmd+click on the type layer).
7. Invert the selection.
8. press delete. As long as the gradient layer is still active, this will delete the area around the type.

The tutorial does not show an optimal use of Blend If, and really the selection using it according to the article seem a little random and awkward to me. If you are creating the elements (type in this case) better to use that element to make an exact selection.

Actually, you really don't need the extra type...You can simplify this tutorial to:

1. Make the gradient mask in the tutorial using the color you want the type to be (rather than using black).
2. Make the type layer and shut off the visibility (Adobe eye) on the new layer.
3. Load the type layer as a selection (press CTRL/Cmd+click on the type layer).
4. Invert the selection.
5. Press delete. As long as the gradient layer is still active, this will delete the area around the type.

I knew something bothered me about that technique. I've noticed a lot of tutorials make things harder than they really are and don't really demonstrate what they need to.

BTW -- yet another way to get the result of this tutorial:

1. Create the type as a selection.
2. Fill with the desired color to transparent gradient.

Now I'm not really sure what this tutorial had to do with Blend If at all.

What Blend If is really good for is making pixels in a layer TRANSPARENT according to what is in the layer or what is in the layer below. NO OTHER FUNCTIONALITY does this without masking.

The actual Blend If settings CAN be edited in Elements, but holy-cow it is a production. Like I said Blend Mask is a good work-around, and you can adjust it so it works for any color or tone -- just like Blend If.

To do this WITHOUT Bleind If or Blend Masks, you coult use Layer Masks (which you can get from the free tools on Adobe Studio http://share.studio.adobe.com/axBrowseSubmit.asp? d=164028&dn=Richard+Lynch ) You can do all sorts of things with masks to make them function like Blend If. For example:

1. Open an image (a frog or animal or something)
2. Select All
3. Define a new pattern (Edit>define Pattern)
4. Create a new layer
5. Add a Layer Mask (using the free Hidden Power tools)
6. Fill the mask with the pattern (Edit>Fill>select the pattern just saved)
7. Fill the layer (not the mask) with, say, blue.
8. Shut off the background view.

You should end up with a blue negative of the frog. Think about that one and you'll come up with some rather interesting methods for targeting color application. For example, say you wanted to turn just the midtones blue...you could duplicate the image and create a Gradient Map that has 3 color tabs: black on either end and a white tab in the middle. Then apply this to the duplicate image, create the pattern from that and use IT for the mask fill. Miraculously, only the midtiones will be filled with blue. In this case, the Gradient Map is acting like Curves as I use them in Blend Masking.

Advanced stuff, but certainly in the realm of the type of thing you'd want to accomplish with Blend If -- but you get the result without reaching for anything but free tools.

TIME is the main ingredient in the soup of proficiency. As an author of Photoshop and Elements books, I'd say time is the one thing people do not allow themselves. To really get digital image editing takes not weeks or days or months, but, regretfully, years. I have had many readers write me notes just expecting too much (e.g., "Mr. Lynch, I am a beginner and I bought your book and read the whole thing. While I learned a lot but can't seem to get the results I think I can. I've been at it over a month already!). While a better book should help you distill months (and perhaps even years) of learning, I am still learning every day -- for each of the 11 or more years I have been working with Photoshop. A snip of theory here, a technique there, a creative way to apply a tool...You become expert by using the program and discovering ways to do things. Books and tutorials help. Looking at an image and visualizing what you want to do and thinking up solutions is where you retain the effort.

If you are serious about learning, get books that give you images and allow you to work through examples from the book. Do the book image then one or two of your own. Work on just one image a week to develop your workflow from capture through print...and that's where you'll establish your style.

But you won't pick it up 'quickly' just like you won't become an artist in a few weeks, or a photographer, politician, musician, engineer, or RICH...unless you are very, very lucky, or very, very gifted.

Setting realistic goals for your own achievement may be a better idea than asking someone else "how long?"

Hey, Fade was no big deal, really...Understand that all Photoshop does is treat the image like it was layered and blends using opacity. What the Hidden Power tool does (that even Photoshop's Fade does not) is work after you apply ANYTHING.

1. Apply the effect.
2. Click FADE. The program will duplicate the current state over a duplicate of the state prior to the effect applied (step 1).
3. Adjust opacity.
4. Option: adjust layer mode.

This is exactly what Photoshop does -- though you can't see the layers in Photoshop, and Photoshop won't apply Fade to any action.

I really should have put some instructions with that one...I don't know where my head was. However, use it a few times and you'll catch on. It may be slightly buggy with repeated application...something I'll work out. However, it is good to hear the tools are appreciated!

Well, there are typos, and most should be published on the hiddenelements website by now. These are unavoidable in publishing. That's why I have a newsletter, a website and a forum. Can you name another book that does this?

For most of image editing we are talking horseshoes or handgrenades rather than sniper bullets or shoing nails. There are not always absolute settings, and sometimes it is BEST TO EXPERIMENT. If something completely blows up, I would worry about it...if not, see if you can weigh the difference between the choices and come to a better understanding. My book does ask readers to think, or it'd be a lot longer...and the answers aren't always very easy. Take your time going through and don't feel bad about going back! As I have said many times in answers to various readers, there is about 10 years of digital image editing experience there in that book -- if you got it all in a few weeks of reading it would almost be embarassing for me. Not that I tried to make it hard, it just isn't all black-and-white, and it isn't all easy.

I hope the book is not proving ardorous, and hope you see the value of trying to convey concept -- which will be more broadly applicable to images you work on in general. I understand the need for more detail, and am glad when readers point out omissions and details, and I'm you asked the questions. There is always a place to improve, and these spots do show some things missing. The point of leaving them out (which was not intentional) is that the exact details aren't always important: the reader should weigh the options and work to grasp ideas. It is a lot to ask, I realize, because the options swiftly mount, and the concepts aren't always easy. You are asking the right questions, and are observing the details, which is good. Have faith that over time your understanding will grow.

The book is not for absolute beginners...A background in images from working with photography or a little time spent with Elements to learn the basics of tool use is really necessary to get what I set this book up to do.

Sort-a. Lots of stuff going on behind the scenes! This is more of a newsletter than a discussion group. It should appear once a month.

-
2
-
> I have Photoshop Elements I and don't
> have the Hidden powers book or CD.
> Will I be able to apply the information
> in this group to my program?
> I am presently working on old black and
> white photos, some of which are very poor.

I would hope the information would be applicable in many situations. While there may be times that I discuss specific tools, the hope would be to answer ALL interesting questions. If you feel your question is not being answered, ASK IT. If you are not sure how it applies, ask additional questions for clarification.

-
3
-
> Can you tell me how to record an
> action using PS Elements 2.0?"

Well, yes and no. The only way that I have been able to accomplish this is so cumbersome that I don't know if it is worth attempting to explain.

The best solution I have come across is finding a DEMO version of PS6. This demo does not expire, is free, and will allow you to save actions which you can then play in Elements using the Hidden Power actions III interface.

-
4
-
> Is there
> something that is available but with a fee that will help
> me with PE2? I searced through the web site and didn't
> see anything.

If you have the book (http://hiddenelements.com) it comes with a bunch of tools. If you got the free tools for actions, that will come with additional tools and 87 installed actions, etc. There is also a batch addition -- go to the freetools page and read from the top. The batch addition adds some things to batch functionality with one simple file that you swap into elements.

-
5
-
> I'm trying to calibrate my iMac monitor and in the book
> on page 18 at the bottom, there is a note that reads
> "...I'll walk you through the Mac OS9 version, and you
> can adapt this to your computer." I can not find where
> the OS9 walk-thru is in the book.

That, right there on the page, is the OS9 walk-through for Adobe Gamma -- I did the screens on OS9. It looks like the PC interface and functions on Mac. There are some differences between this and OSX, which uses Apple's built-in calibration found in the System Preferences. If you don't have Adobe Gamma, try looking in the Control Panels (OS9) or on the Elements CD. If you still can't find it, try me again.

-
6
-
> Does the book tell us how to run actions?
> I am really wanting to try this out.

Actually the readme files that come with the free tools tell you how to run actions. None of the free tools are covered in the book, as they came after publication. There is a discussion list on RetouchPro.com where we discuss tools and uses. You can ask questions here as well.

The book has a lot of technique, and not just tools -- but the tools there are very powerful, and completely different than the free set.

-
7
-
> Photoshop can help sharpen fuzzy photos using the tutorial by George
> Imrie(www.psmeg.co.uk/tutorials/sharpen_fuzzy_images.htm.
> It doesn't work for Photoshop Elements....but could it be made to?

If you have Hidden Power, all you need to do is separate out a channel and use it as described. I found the page here: http://www.psmeg.co.uk/pages/tutorials/sharpen_fuzzy_images.htm

If you need more help with that, let me know.

I can't vouch for the process, but it would be entirely possible. If you have the hidden power book, you will see an example of almost exactly this when you take the 3 parts of an image taken before there was color film and put them together to make a color photo. The color components are black-and-white. They come together and interact to make color!

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Do let me know about questions and comments, and let me know what you think about the newsletter. rl@ps6.com
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Brought to you by Richard Lynch
in conjunction with The Hidden power of Photoshop Elements 2

http://hiddenelements.com

Copyright © 2003 Richard Lynch