Welcome to my package of add-ons for Photoshop Elements 2.
Photoshop Elements 2, while being a major improvement over Photoshop LE and a minor improvement over the original version of Elements, is still missing several key functions, such as being able to create layer masks, edit selections in Quick Mask mode and curves adjustments. Additionally there are several functions in Photoshop 6 & 7 that are not in Elements 2, such as Actions and Channels. After some investigation and experimentation, I found that there was a lot of additional functionality in Elements 2 that was not widely known and that it could be easily accessed.
This is very much a personal effort for my own use which I am now sharing around so that other people may also benefit. Please feel free to pass this package on to anyone that may find it of interest. I will update the download file on my web page as I add to the package.
I have provided extensive help files - the main features of the package are described below.
Recipes
Effects
Tools
Filters
Installation
Adding your own Recipes and Effects
Sites of interest
License
There are no Recipes in this version of Extra Elements 2 as Adobe have changed the way Recipes are defined with Elements 2. The Recipes for the original version of Elements do not work with Elements 2 and currently there is no way of creating your own Recipes. Sorry, complain to Adobe.
Most of the recipes from the original version of this package are now an Effect. Just go to the Extra catagory in the Effects palette. Refer to the documentation for descriptions of the Effects.
What were Recipes in the orginal version of this package have now been defined as Effects to get around Adobe's limitation of not being able to define your own Recipes. This collection of Effects enable many additional "hidden" commands, such as Layer Masks. Just go to the Extra Tools catgory in the Effects palette.
These tools are described here .
Photoshop Elements does not have a Channels Palette or Channel Mixer. These filters provide a basic channel mixer functionality. There are four filters under the category Extra in either the Filter palette or from the Filter menu.
The Mono Channel Mixer mixes the RGB values to create a grayscale image. The resulting image is still in RGB mode so it can then be toned if desired. This is an excellent way of converting color images to monochrome. The actual values of the sliders are irrelevant, only the balance between them is important. For example if you set Red=100, Green=200, Blue=50, then you will have twice as much green and half as much blue as red.
The Red Channel Mixer, Green Channel Mixer and Blue Channel Mixer mix the RGB values into the specified channel in the same manner as for the Mono Channel Mixer allowing you to adjust individual color channels.
These filters have been created with the Adobe Photoshop Filter Factory included with Photoshop 5. They will not work "as is" on a Mac but I have included the source so they could easily be re-compiled.
This distribution has been tested with Photoshop Elements 2 under Windows ME and Windows XP. It should work "as is" in other Windows environments and be portable to the Mac though the Channel Mixer filters will need to be re-complied.
Follow the instructions to install the package.
To uninstall the package just delete all of the files and directories listed in the installation instructions. No operating system or Adobe supplied files are modified by this package.
Adding your own Recipes and Effects
Unlike the original version of Elements it is not possible to add your own Recipes to Elements 2.
There is a PDF document from the Photoshop 6 SDK contained in this package that describes how to add Effects. To add additional Effects requires use of the full version of Photoshop (at least temporarily). Adobe suggest that you need Photoshop 6, however I used Photoshop 5.02 to create this package. Everything you need to know is in the document. If you do not have the full version of Photoshop, you only need access to someone that does for a few minutes to create your Action. Once saved and copied to your machine you can use the Effect without access to the full version of Photoshop.
I would not have been able to put this package together without the great ideas and tips from the following people.
Adobe where else!
Jay Arraich's PSE Tips great Elements tips and much more
Creative Pro great techniques to try for yourself
Yahoo! - Photoshop Elements
chat with other Elements users
Yahoo! - MCC Digital
chat with some of the best digital experts
Some other places of interest.
VuePrint/VueScan
the best scanner software available!
Scan Tips
everything there is to know about scanning!
The Plugin Site
more plug-ins than you could ever use
The Panorama Factory
make your own panoramas
panoguide.com
the guide to panoramas and panoramic photography
The contents of the package are supplied "as is" and without any warranty what so ever. You are free use the tools contained within the package in any way. You may also copy and distribute the package provided no fee is charged. Commercial distribution is totally prohibited.
Feedback and comments are welcome; I do not provide support.
I hope you find these tools of use.
© Copyright 2002 Paul Shipley, Melbourne, Australia