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One of the most popular additions for Elements 2 that I released was Bud Guinn's picture frames. These were released with the Hidden Power Actions player that works with Elements 1 and 2 (to run actions in Elements 3, see my article: How to Run Actions in Elements 3). The purpose of the frames is to create a picture-framed finish for your images. The different effects reflect different wood and framing types.
Bud's Frames A is a set of Bud's frame actions that have been updated and are available here for free for Elements 3 users. This set of frames will install into the Effects palette like other Hidden Power tools for Elements 3. The Effects palette provides both a preview of the effects, and easy access to the tools. Additional Bud's Frame actions will be made available if these prove to be a popular download. This package should also work in Elements 1 and 2, but has not been tested on these versions of the program.
Information on the actions included in this set, downloading, installation and using the actions can be found later on this page.
This frame set contains 22 different frames. Most of those in this set are distinctive wood frames.
Basic_Matte.atn — imitates a matte board framing
Blackwood.atn — imitates blackwood wood frame
Cherry_1.atn — imitates cherry wood frame (rich, dark)
Cherry_2.atn — imitates cherry wood frame (pale, rosey)
Cherry_3.atn — imitates cherry wood frame (pale, blond)
Double_Matte.atn — imitates a matte board framing with two mattes
Huanghuali.atn — imitates huanghuali wood frame
Japanese_Ash.atn — imitates japanese ash wood frame
Mahogany_African.atn — imitates mahogany wood frame (dark)
Mahogany_Phil.atn — imitates mahogany wood frame (medium, red)
Mahogany_Stripped.atn — imitates mahogany wood frame (medium and dark patch)
Maple.atn — imitates maple wood frame (medium-blond)
Oak.atn — imitates oak wood frame
Padauk.atn — imitates padauk wood frame
Pine_Curly.atn — imitates pine wood frame 9alternating wood grain)
Pine.atn — imitates pine wood frame
Rosewood_Honduran.atn — imitates honduran rosewood wood frame (pale)
Rosewood.atn — imitates rosewood wood frame (medium-dark)
Teak.atn — imitates teak wood frame
Teili.atn — imitates teili wood frame
Tulip_Wood.atn — imitates tulip wood wood frame
Zitan.atn — imitates zitan wood frame
Bud's Frames A can be downloaded for free or with a donation made through PayPal. Your donations help support the Hidden Power site and addition of future tools, and encourage low- and no-cost development. If you do not choose to donate, a valid email address will be required; download instructions will be mailed to this address immediately. Please complete either process using a browser that can navigate to FTP sites (e.g., Internet Explorer or FireFox/Mozilla, not Safari).
Donate $5 and Download: |
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Download Only: |
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As an option, please feel free to download and test out the tools and make a donation later.
Installation for Bud's Frames for Elements is manual, but simple. The instructions are in a readme.html in the the download as well as below. The frames will appear on the Styles and Effects palette under Effects after installation. The basic steps for installing the frame effects are:
1. Decompress the downloaded files.
2. Install the effects into Elements.
3. Delete the Effects Cache folder.
4. Restart Elements.
1. Decompress the downloaded files.
Details: Files are compressed in order to make them smaller, safer, and more predictable. Decompressing files restores the files to their original state. To decompress the file, you will need a decompression utility. Sometimes these are built into operating systems so the step may be completed for you. If the file does not automatically decompress, try double-clicking it after it is downloaded. If nothing happens, you may need to download and install a decompression utility. These can be downloaded for free from the internet. The following utilities have been tested for compatability with Hidden Power effects.
PC: http://website.lineone.net/~chris_m/
Mac: http://download.com.com/3000-2254-5040047.html
NOTE: When unzipped there should be 1 folders with the following name: Buds_Frames_A.
2. Install the effects into Elements.
Details: Move the folder that was decompressed in Step 1 into the Effects Folder in Elements 3. Move the folder, do not copy the files out of the folders. The folder should contain only action files (.atn) and an image file (.psd); it should contain no other folders, and should not nest or bury those files in additional folders. The Effects folder can be found inside the Photoshop Elements program folder as follows on PC and Mac:
PC: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 3\Previews\Effects
Mac: Applications\Adobe Photoshop Elements 3\ Previews\Effects
3. Delete the Effects Cache folder.
Details: Elements keeps track of the effects you have loaded to save time on startup. it does this by creating a Cache file. The problem is that the cache doesn't regularly get rebuilt, so new effects that get installed will not be recognized. To force Elements to recognize new files, you have to manually delete the Effects Cache folder so the cache will be rebuild the next time you start the program. Delete the Cache folder located in the following places on PC and Mac.
PC: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 2\Previews\Cache
Mac: Applications\Adobe Photoshop Elements 2\ Previews\Cache
4. Restart Elements.
Details: Close out of elements if it is open and re-start the program. Restarting Elements will force Elements to recognize any new files. Be sure the Effects palette is showing, and give the cache file several minutes to rebuild.
At this point you should be able to apply the added effects.
To apply the effects, be sure you have the Effects palette open (This is called the Styles and Effects palette in Elements 3; choosing Effects from the drop list at the upper right will display the Effects).
1. Choose the category for the effect that you want to apply from the category drop list. In this case you will want to choose Buds_Frames_A.
2. Open any image to apply the effect to.
3. Double-click one of the frame effects in the palette.
Double-clicking should execute the effect on the current image. If nothing seems to happen, or if an error message appears, please check the troubleshooting information on the How to Run Actions in Photoshop Elements whitepaper on this site.
Let me know if you have any trouble: rl@ps6.com |
