Adobe Photoshop and CS

[Lachesis00]

What are your favorite FILTERS and where do you get them? I am looking for free filters...

 

[poconoboatniks]

Cute photo!

 

[Miss Kelly]

Are you referring to actions? I have PSE4 and I've bought some actions before.

 

[Anewman]

The Plug-in I use the most is Noise Ninja
I also use Genuine Fractals when printing big.

Other than that I tend to do everything manually.

Neither are free.

 

[orchjoe]

check out deviant art (www.deviantart.com) a lot of people create stuff for photoshop and you are allowed to download them and give then a try (most people like credit if you are using them for something other than personal).

** Note that website can be slow at times... I usually use firefox when I am playing around. **

 

[jann1033]

i like the filters on virtual photographer( free) http://www.optikvervelabs.com/ but usually use alien skin( not free).some stuff here http://www.thepluginsite.com/( has a free newletter as well) i like xero for some stuff as well http://www.xero-graphics.co.uk/

 

[woodlandsparty]

I use the filters/actions at atncentral.com and 1clickactions.com

 

[cdotla]

I am a brand spanking new user so please take pity on me!

I have a bunch of pics that I just downloaded from my camera to Photoshop Elements. Problem is, I can't figure out how to "drag and copy" them to upload onto another website. Everytime I have the other website minimalized on my screen, the moment I right clink the photos in Photoshop to try to drag it for uploading, the other site automatically disappears from the screen. It is like Photoshop has been programmed to expressly prohibit the copying of the photos.

The photos are also not appearing in the My Pictures folder on my hard drive -if they were there I could do it that way.

Please help! I only posted this what must be the most basic of basic questions after trying for the better part of 2 hours to accomplish this with no luck, EVEN after reading the Manual "Classroom in A Book" which I purchased for an additional $50 after buying the software! I don't find this helpful at all and I can't even find the answer to this basic question in it!

Thanks!

 

[ukcatfan]

They have to be on your drive somewhere, so try using the Windows search feature to find out where. Just search for a file name that you know and then figure out what the folder path is. You could also look at the preferences/options of the software as that folder is likely changable.

Kevin

 

[cdotla]

Thank you so much! I found it!

 

[shancan911]

It may be somewhat backwards, but I'll share what I do...
I load all of my photos onto the hard drive under "my pictures", and organize them how I want, and then put copies into Photoshop. That way, if I completely mess up the retouch or whatever it is I'm doing, I still have my original. You'll figure out a way that works for you...Keep playing!

 

[Amy]

It may be somewhat backwards, but I'll share what I do...
I load all of my photos onto the hard drive under "my pictures", and organize them how I want, and then put copies into Photoshop. That way, if I completely mess up the retouch or whatever it is I'm doing, I still have my original. You'll figure out a way that works for you...Keep playing!

My understanding of Photoshop is that Photoshop doesn't HAVE any photos or copies of photos within the program - when you "import" your photos into the Organizer, Photoshop merely references where the photos are stored on your computer. Otherwise, you'd have two copies of every picture on your computer!

Next time you edit a photo in Photoshop and rename it (like "flowers cropped" or whatever), look back in your My Pictures folder - you'll find "flowers cropped" in My Pictures even though you worked on it in Photoshop.

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[LMarge]

Amy is correct. Photoshop does not maintain a "file" on your photo - they are all held and accessed from another file in your Documents folder(usually - like My Photos). I learned this the hard way - thinking I had 2 sets of every photo I deleted all the pics in the My Photos file - well - long story short - when I went back into PS to edit a few they gave me a "broken" sign? It's a red box that's torn in two - It means the path/link to your photo is gone! Terrible, painful mistake!!! Don't delete from My Photos or your permanent file unless you really mean to!! And when you delete in PS, it will ask you if you want to delete from your hard drive as well - this will remove the pic from the perm. file. Hope this helps!!

 

[cdotla]

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate your advise/information on this.

LMarge -I am so sorry that you had that problem!!! What I can't figure out is why the HECK does Photoshop not give a simple sheet of basic instructions like this covering off just the basics like this which can cause heartache if it is not understood! I even went so far as to buy the $50 manual to attempt to learn - big mistake! I don't find it useful at all and this simple paragraph of crucial information you just typed was not included in the manual!

I am somewhat consoled by the fact that I am obviously not the only one who made this same mistake!

Amy is correct. Photoshop does not maintain a "file" on your photo - they are all held and accessed from another file in your Documents folder(usually - like My Photos). I learned this the hard way - thinking I had 2 sets of every photo I deleted all the pics in the My Photos file - well - long story short - when I went back into PS to edit a few they gave me a "broken" sign? It's a red box that's torn in two - It means the path/link to your photo is gone! Terrible, painful mistake!!! Don't delete from My Photos or your permanent file unless you really mean to!! And when you delete in PS, it will ask you if you want to delete from your hard drive as well - this will remove the pic from the perm. file. Hope this helps!!

 

[shancan911]

After I read the comments, I re-read my post. I wasn't very clear. So, I have my original files in "my pictures", filed under whatever. Let's say WDW2007. Then I make another folder named WDW2007/copies, and each picture I put in there also has / copy attached to the end of the file. So it's actually a whole different file. The copies are the ones i load into PS. So if something goes terribly wrong with the copy, I still have the original. Hope this clears up the confusion. AND, if I really truly am not doing my self any good, please let me know. But it seems to be working so far.

 

[Amy]

After I read the comments, I re-read my post. I wasn't very clear. So, I have my original files in "my pictures", filed under whatever. Let's say WDW2007. Then I make another folder named WDW2007/copies, and each picture I put in there also has / copy attached to the end of the file. So it's actually a whole different file. The copies are the ones i load into PS. So if something goes terribly wrong with the copy, I still have the original. Hope this clears up the confusion. AND, if I really truly am not doing my self any good, please let me know. But it seems to be working so far.

If it works that way for you, fine. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but you don't really "load" ANY photos into Photoshop - you merely tell Photoshop to look to your "copy" folder to find the pictures. It gets confusing because you tell PS to "import" pictures from certain folders, but you're not really importing them, just referencing them.

The way I do it: I use the software that came with my Canon camera to upload my pictures from the camera to my computer. I name my folders whatever I want within My Pictures, say "Aug 2007". When I open PS, I have my view set to "folder view" and it's expanded to show the entire My Pictures folder and subfolders. I can see the "Aug 2007" folder from within PS, but I can't see any of the pictures within that folder until I tell PS to "import" them.

I don't make copies of my entire "Aug 2007" folder - if I decide to work on a photo in PS, I'll open it in the Editor and first thing I do is right click and choose "Duplicate" to make a copy of it and then I work on the copy. When I'm done, I'll save that copy and it'll be saved to the "Aug 2007" folder as "img 123.copy".

Don't know about you, but I have tons of photos on my computer. I don't Photoshop all of them, just a few from each folder. Why make a copy of ALL the photos in a folder, when it's just as easy to only copy the ones you're going to work on? That way when you're looking for a certain picture, you'll know that "img 123" is the original and "img 123.copy" has been Photoshopped. You won't have to look thru an entire folder of "copy" photos to find what you're looking for.

Did I explain this ok, or did I confuse you more?

 

[LMarge]

I agree, the PS instructions are not the best. I had a good friend who has used the software for a while, she walked me through it the first few times. Hands on is so much easier than trying to read and do it! Everyone will have a different system for "uploading" or "copying" their photos into the software, so just find what will work for you and run with it. I,personally, use the "get Photos" option in PS4. I insert my SD card into the computer slot and click "get photos" - the program loads all my photos right into PS. They are also stored into the "My Photos" file at the same time. The My Photos file is organized by date of upload. I never change that. What I do to "organize" my pictures is done in the PS software - I group by themes, events, etc. I'm a scrapbooker so that's the way my brain thinks. And when I want to work/edit/print pictures it's usually from a particular event or for a particular person. All edited pictures in PS are automatically stored in the original file, My Photos as well. PS will save in "version sets", with the most recent edit on top. You can always open these to see what the original or other edits look like! I will go through and delete from the software and the harddrive any pics that I know are bad or that I will never use. In the event that I ever do want them - they are backed up on CD's. I hope this helps - good luck finding a routine that works for you. It does take some "play" time to get the feel, but once you do, you'll really enjoy the software!
Blessings,

 

[cdotla]

Thanks again everyone!

I am glad that I am not the only one who finds Photoshop "directions" (or lack thereof) very frustrating.

I agree it would be a lot easier to have a 1 hour hands-on lesson. I think I am going to hire someone from a local computer company to just come and teach me just the simple, straight-forward basics. Probably will be $60 well-spent!

 

[Miss Kelly]

Okay, this might not mean much to some of you but I'm so freaking excited. lol I got a great deal on CS3 ($319 shipped) and its coming tomorrow. Woot. I have Elements now but I just couldn't pass this up

 

[Furgus]

Congrats, you will love it.