Guided Edit: Saturated Film Effect

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My sister recently took her first real vacation in about 10 years. She and a friend took a driving trip around the Maritimes. My sister was born in New Brunswick, but hadn’t been back there since she was 2 years old… she’s 51 now. So she was more than thrilled to see where her very first home was. She took a MILLION photos, and has given me permission to use them for scrapping purposes. I think you know what I’m going to do with them, right? Anyway, when I was looking for a likely photo for this tutorial, one of hers lent itself to the task.

I’ve played with Guided Edits before and found some I really like to use. I never could think of a use for the one I’m going to show you today – until today. The Saturated Film Effect Edit may be a real game-changer! As you can see, this photo is a bit insipid, but I’m going to fix it.

OMG! I JUST noticed the seagull on the far right, after staring at this photo for hours!

This is the path to the Guided Edit: Guided>Color>Saturated Film Effect.

The text on the screenshot is verbatim from the instructions for the Edit. Each time you click the Add bar, the effect will be increased.

Here’s what it looks like after one click. Give the result a quick but thorough look before you click again.

After two clicks, I’m seeing a nice deepening of the blue of the water, but a less-pleasing change in the colour of the grasses in the foreground.

Yeah… no. The grass after three clicks looks ghastly!

So I clicked on the Cancel button. I’m working on that Copy Layer (the original layer is turned off) and I’ll Mask off the grass and try again.

I opted to use the Selection Brush set to Mask, with a 75 pixel hard round brush. The Overlay is set to 50%. I could go a bit lower and still see my Mask well, but let’s leave it. I’m not going to be too fussy about the individual blades of grass. Here’s what the Mask looks like.

I want the grass to be untouched going forward, so I’ll Invert the Selection by Select>Inverse or CTRL/CMD>SHIFT>I before moving to the next step.

Now that I’ve protected the rocks and water, I can Edit>Cut or CTRL/CMD>X the grass away from the Copy Layer.

Okay, let’s run the Guided Edit again.

Aha! That seems to be the ticket! There’s good definition in the rocks and the shadowed area, the water is a beautiful blue and the seagull is just hanging out. So I’ll click Next.

This is another fork in the road. I need to decide if I’m happy with my results so I can Save As the image, or if I want to keep tweaking in Expert. Y’all know me, so you know where we’re going…

I expected Elements to add a new layer with each click, so I’m not sure where these extra layers came from. But I’ll go with it.

I think I want just a bit more punch so I’ll change the Blend Mode on the topmost layer to Multiply.

Oh. Maybe not that much! But since I have so many other layers, I’m sure I can figure it out. Maybe an Opacity drop will help.

It’s better at 75%, but maybe still not quite there. What happens if I change the second layer there to Screen? Remember, Screen lightens.

I adjusted the Opacity on the two Blended layers until I was satisfied I hadn’t ruined my image. There’s good contrast, the rocks look sharp and the grass looks natural.

Here are the two versions side-by-side. I’m definitely going to use this Edit again!

If you’re planning to watch some fireworks tonight, I have a tip for you for getting the best photos from your phone, courtesy of Chari at Persnickety Prints. Turn off the HDR mode and use Live Photo instead. For Android users that’s called Single Take. Essentially, you’re taking a very short video which will allow you to choose the perfect image. Turn the flash OFF. Hold the phone as steady as possible, then tap the screen to lock the focus. Make sure you have some landscape or monument of some sort in the frame to give you a sense of scale and to add visual interest to your composition. If you’re using a DSLR, make sure you’re using a tripod to eliminate camera shake. Again, no flash. If your camera has a fireworks setting, choose it and the camera will take care of the other settings. If not, set it to Manual, ISO 200, Aperture F/8 and shutter speed at 5-15 seconds. Check the first couple of images and adjust the speed as needed. And have fun!!

Quick Trick: Scroll Through Blend Modes

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I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve suggested to try a bunch of Blend Modes on a brush, scribble, stamp or even photo layer. But I never thought to tell you how to do it quickly and easily. Let’s fix that right now! This will be one of the Quickest Tricks I’ve ever shared with you.

Make sure the layer you want to Blend is the active layer. Then just double-click on the Blend Mode control bar. Now you can use the scroll wheel on your mouse, or the ↑ and ↓ keys on your keyboard. It’s really just THAT easy! To turn it back off, just activate another layer. (If you forget to take that last step, Elements will continue to consider the ↑ and ↓ keys to be tied to the Blend Mode function and you won’t be able to usee them to nudge your layers up or down. You’ll figure it out fairly quickly!)

See? Quickest Trick ever!

Are They Scribbles? Doodles? 

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3PeNvRs

How was your week? Mine was ridiculously busy! We had a bit of a disaster-in-the-making when the top window frame molding in our family room just… came off. There’s a drapery rod attached to it, and it was hanging on to the wall just by a bead of caulk. <horrified> Turns out it was only secured to the wall with pin nails. Now it’s firmly screwed into the studs and everything is back in place. <whispers… my husband is NOT handy… pass me the drill and the screwdriver then step away from the ladder!> Anyway.

I was looking at my private messages and saw another one from Glee asking about using doodles. In May one of the Challenges required the use of either doodles or scribbles. They can be amazing additions to a layout, but how? And is there a difference? What follows is how I use them – and it’s all ONLY MY OPINION so consider what I say accordingly.

Doodles and scribbles are essentially the same thing, with doodles often taking some identifiable form. Some designers create doodles then colour inside the lines to make what looks more like a sticker. I’m not going to say anything much about those; I see them as simply another element to add to clusters. But scribbles? They can add such a cool touch. Scribble/doodle implies the result is sitting right on the paper, so my inclination is to put them in the background, on my (neutral) background paper. I pulled a bunch of scribbles from my GingerScraps stash and will show you what I mean. Keep in mind that you can recolour, change the Blend Mode and/or Opacity or add Layer Styles to all of them to change up the way they work with your layouts.

Scribbles and doodles are casual things, typically something we do with our hands while we’re required to pay attention to something else. When set into the background of a layout, they’re an anchor for everything that touches them and add a nice whimsy. That’s not to say they aren’t useful in a more formal setting. Ultimately, your layouts are YOUR layouts and you can do whatever you want.

Because I’m very visual, I tend to look at the scribble and think about the most appropriate use for it. With this one, oriented horizontally as shown, it almost looks like a scrawled signature. I might put it behind a ribbon or narrow strip of paper. It could also anchor a photo to the background.

I see this one in my mind’s eye tying together a list, a series of word strips or even several small photos.

Look at all that fury! The dark, heavy lines speak ANGER to me, making it perfect for art journaling.

Anybody like a #2 pencil? I have several boxes of them in my craft room. Maybe that’s why I like this scribble so much.

This is the actual size for this scribble when I dragged-and-dropped! I just had to play with it.

When I changed the Blend Mode to Overlay I loved the result. I might decide to Duplicate the layer though to give it just a touch more presence.

I like how sinuous this one is. I could see having several smaller photos overlapping the sides of it but letting most of the visual impact remain.

This aggressive scribble makes me think of people who sign documents with a great big flourish.

I instantly felt happy when I saw this. It’s so bubbly! It could make a sweet anchor for a cluster.

Sorta like this!

I would frame a face in a photo with this one. But my OCD would make me use it in such a way as to get the entire scribble inside the boundaries of that photo. Unless… I went down the realism rabbit hole… Maybe I’d turn it into a sticker by adding a white stroke around it. Then it would be a doodle. 😀

I might use this to underline a title or as a divider between title and journaling. Or. A border!

With a little Rotating, Flipping, Solid Fill Layering and decreasing Opacity I came up with this. It would be equally appropriate as a background paper border or a photo border.

I loved this one so much the second I saw it.

What say you?

This is definitely a background anchor.

It took me a minute to think about what I’d use this with. I think it could overlap the edge of a photo or even give it a don’t-like-this vibe.

But then… how about a very simple siggy?

Or a variation?

I’m going to use at least one scribble/doodle on a layout later today. See if you can pick out what I’ve done when it shows in the Gallery.

Next week is our monthly Challenge Spotlight, when YOU take centre-stage. See you then!

Quick Trick: Dropping Things Where You Want Them

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3oLcNMb

And that’s a wrap on May… Time for our Quick Trick of the month. This handy little tip may just blow your mind!

Back in the earlier versions of Photoshop Elements, dragging and dropping objects onto our templates was simple. You activated the layer where you wanted your (flower) and when you dragged it up onto the template it landed on the layer where it was intended to be. Then somewhere around Elements 14, that all changed. Suddenly it didn’t matter what layer was active, it seemed Elements put the (flower) wherever it wanted. Randomly. It’s incredibly frustrating and time-consuming to constantly have to move things up and down the template’s layers stack and I know it was a MAJOR pet peeve for me. Why mess with something that worked?? Well, let me show you how to get around Elements‘ penchant for doing its own thing.

I’ve got the May Template Challenge template from Tinci Designs open on my workspace. I also have a daisy-like flower element from Cindy Ritter‘s Real Moments-Metamorphosis open and plan to put it where the large dark pink place holders are.

If I just drag-and-drop… um NO! That’s not where I want it. It seems random but it really isn’t, as you’ll see in a second.

By taking an extra nanosecond to be precise and intentional, I dragged the flower up and positioned the Move Tool cursor – looks like a pointing finger as shown (enlarged for visibility) – over the exact place holder I want to swap out, THEN drop it.

And there’s the flower… right on the layer where I want it! (Of course, it still drops in the centre of the canvas, but at least it only needs to be shifted into place, not moved up or down the stack.) Now, this isn’t 100% perfect. For example, if you’re working with a particularly small object on the template, it may be difficult to get the cursor on the exact layer. I’ve found that if I Zoom in on the template I have better success in those situations. Going just a smidge slower actually speeds up my workflow!

Give this a try if you’re working with Elements 14 or later and let me know how you like it.

DIY Neutral Papers

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3MD2JN2

As I was pulling last week’s tutorial together, I got a private message from Jen (hclappy) asking me to consider a request. She sent me a link to a thread in the Forum, and I gave it a look. The first post in the thread is from Carla:

“I have found that there are quite a few designers that do not put plain solid papers in any of their kits. If you don’t purchase the “Bundle” then you have to purchase the solid papers separately. I prefer to have a selection of plain papers in the colors that match the patterned papers included in the kit and it is just so much easier. I do not always mix and match scrapbook kits, in fact, I rarely ever combine kits unless it is a challenge requirement. I could very easily MAKE my own but I don’t and I rarely every use the ombre papers as they are just not the same as a regular cardstock/plain paper and most of the time, must also be purchased separately. Please don’t hate on me because of it but I am retired and am not made out of money. ” Jen commented she likes to have lots of journaling on her layouts, and that her favourite papers or cardstock are the lighter, more neutral papers.

Jen’s request was a tutorial on creating solid/neutral papers that coordinate with those kits that don’t have them in the basic kit. I gave it some thought (about 5 seconds’ worth) and responded in the affirmative. Before I go any further, I’ll warn you that there are about 60 screenshots in this tut, but only about 15 of them are ACTUAL STEPS. The rest are just so you can see what the options are.

Remember that I don’t assume anything when I write these lessons. I want them to be achievable by anyone with any level of experience. I also include both Windows [CTRL, ALT] and Mac [CMD, OPT] keyboard shortcuts. So if the text seems pedantic and repetitive, go ahead and skip the parts you already know. I won’t mind! I’m going to use an older kit from Wimpychompers called She’s a Gem as my basic kit. (I just discovered that Wimpychompers has left the Shop… Sorry!) It has two solid papers but a lot of people wouldn’t want to use those darker colours as the background for journaling. So let’s make some lighter/neutrals!

First things first. Let’s talk about Color Pickers and sampling. (Experienced peeps, here’s your cue to skip ahead.) I chose this paper as my source for a lighter or neutral colour. The background looks to be white, but it actually is a very pale, blue-gray.

But first, we need somewhere to put the colour we pick. So open up a New>Blank File [CTRL/CMD>N].

Make the New Blank File the desired size, and with a transparent background. I like 12×12, and have created a preset so I can just choose Scrapbooking from the menu.

Now, using the Color Picker Tool, aka the Eye Dropper, click inside the source paper on the colour you’d like to work with. Zoom in if you need to. Here you can see the background isn’t actually white.

Once the swatch opens up, you can go lighter, darker, more or less saturated by clicking on the area of the swatch that you like. The colour will be within the same “family” and thus will coordinate with the rest of the kit.

Because Jen was specific about light/neutral, I won’t go with this darker lavender.

Let’s use this one.

Okay… onward and upward. Since Carla specifically mentioned cost, let’s first look at some ways to take this solid square up a notch without adding any expense. Photoshop Elements Filters to the rescue! Filter>Texture>Texturizer… will have some potential.

To see what’s happening, Zoom in using the little tiny button at the lower left of this screen. Then just play around! There are four basic textures in this menu: Brick, Burlap, Canvas and Sandstone. Each one can be customized to give you something you can work with.

The sliders make all the difference. These are the same settings I used for the Brick version.

I found the Canvas Filter to be a little insipid so I increased the Scaling to 100% and the Relief to 10.

Sandstone is quite a bit smoother. Of course, there are other things that can be done, such as adding a brush border or a vignette, to make the paper more special too.

Now let’s look at what we can do with some Commercial Use textures. GingerScraps is blessed with some very talented designers who also create tools for others’ use. All of these are currently available in the Store, and are linked in the text. Just click the images and give the sets a look. The first set we’ll look at is one from Aimee Harrison.

These textures look blah until you change the Blend Mode. So it’s all just a matter of choosing the one you like best. Here’s Aimee‘s texture with Multiply.

I tried each of the textures I’ve used in my samples with each of the Blend Modes. I’m not going to show you the ones that were definitely not suitable.

Color Burn

Linear Burn

Overlay

Oh, Hard Light doesn’t really look all that different.

Luminosity

On to some textures from Cindy Ritter Designs.

Multiply

Color Burn

Linear Burn

Overlay

Hard Light. Again, not too different.

Oh my! This was a surprise!! Vivid Light

Luminosity

How about some textures from Ilonka’s Designs?

Multiply

Linear Burn

Luminosity

Karen Schulz gives a suggestion with her textures to use Screen Mode.

And here’s the result.

I think Overlay might work well.

Soft Light

Vivid Light might be over the top. But with an Opacity tweak, maybe…

Neia Scraps has textures in her store too. This one has a pattern, but could surely be “read” as a solid/neutral.

Multiply

Color Burn

Linear Burn

Overlay

Hard Light

Vivid Light

Luminosity

And then there are these from The Scrappy Kat.

Multiply looked… wrong. Here’s Color Burn.

Linear Burn is probably too dark.

Overlay loses the plot.

Hard Light finds it again.

Vivid Light is harsh, but could work with decreased Opacity.

Linear Light same.

Bleahhh.

But… as a whole sheet it might be okay!

Full sheet, but light aqua and Aimee‘s texture.

And Karen‘s…

And with an Opacity decrease.

Now you’ve got some ideas, I hope you’ll give this a try! Don’t forget that you can add a messy edge, a brush border, a vignette and any number of other additions to these to make exactly the look you want. Have fun with it.