Adobe Photoshop and CS

[DVC Jen]

For Christmas DH got me Photoshop Elements and some books to help me learn how to use my Canon XTi that I got earlier this month.

Well this morning before anyone else was up I was reading through the Photoshop section in the book "Digital Photography" and found so many things I have wanted to do for a long time.

As soon as everyone was up and I was able to get on the PC I started playing around with two pictures I took during our Disney cruise. These two pictures were taken at the Grand Cayman Butterfly Farm.

Here are the pictures I used...

and

I changed the color in the butterfly - and flipped it around ... AND... this is what I ended up with.

It took me longer than I had expected - but I was also just learning. Now that I know how to do it, it should go faster.

 

[Philagoofy]

Nice job. Good luck with it & have fun.

 

[jann1033]

glad you are having fun with your new toys! nice job

 

[Amy]

Nice job! I've had Elements 4 for a couple of months, and I'm getting nowhere with it; maybe I'm just using the wrong pictures for my "experiments"? Our community college has a beginner class for Elements that I'm going to sign up for, but it doesn't start until mid-February. I'm going to keep trying on my own, but I don't think I can do what you did as a beginner. I'm having trouble using the extractor tools to pull out a part of a picture. You've given me the inspiration to try again.....

 

[Beth]

Curious....

To isolate your flower in Elements, do you have to trace around it, or are you able to tell it to isolate it, for you, by looking for common color, etc.?

I don't have Elements, but have considered it... My current program has a way to isolate things by color, etc., differences, but it never does a good job, even when I adjust the tolerance. I end up having to trace around it, by hand. ...Which isn't a huge deal, until I get distracted, and the file somehow gets closed, or something, and I have to start all over!!! (Can you tell that that has happened to me more than once?!?)

Thanks!
~ Beth

Oh - and great job, by-the-way!!!!!

 

[DVC Jen]

Curious....

To isolate your flower in Elements, do you have to trace around it, or are you able to tell it to isolate it, for you, by looking for common color, etc.?

I don't have Elements, but have considered it... My current program has a way to isolate things by color, etc., differences, but it never does a good job, even when I adjust the tolerance. I end up having to trace around it, by hand. ...Which isn't a huge deal, until I get distracted, and the file somehow gets closed, or something, and I have to start all over!!! (Can you tell that that has happened to me more than once?!?)

Thanks!
~ Beth

Oh - and great job, by-the-way!!!!!

I used the lasso tool to completely trace around both the flower and butterfly - it was a bit of a pain and I had to redo it a few times - but that is how I did it.

 

[Beth]

Thanks for your response.

Then I know exactly what you're talking about... I've done that many times, too....

If you really enjoy that type of shot... something I did one time that was REALLY cool... I had a picture of my DH shaking the hand of a gentleman dressed up as Andrew Jackson. (We were visiting the Hermitage in Tennessee.) ...He was standing next to his horse.

...I isolated Jackson and his horse, then made them black/white. It was as if my DH was shaking the hand of a ghost! Pretty neat..... if you're ever taking a picture of someone dressed as a historical character...

 

[Olaf]

Isn't it great, Jen? I find myself spending hours messing around with my photos in Elements. Be sure and check out the Photoshop Elements learning center--lots of good stuff there.

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/subscriber/

 

[DueyDooDah]

Make sure you check out the book The Photoshop Elements 4 (or 5) Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby. He is THE authority on Photoshop and the book is excellent (although, he takes too many opportunities to make a joke, which is distracting to me).

 

[jann1033]

Curious....

To isolate your flower in Elements, do you have to trace around it, or are you able to tell it to isolate it, for you, by looking for common color, etc.?

I don't have Elements, but have considered it... My current program has a way to isolate things by color, etc., differences, but it never does a good job, even when I adjust the tolerance. I end up having to trace around it, by hand. ...Which isn't a huge deal, until I get distracted, and the file somehow gets closed, or something, and I have to start all over!!! (Can you tell that that has happened to me more than once?!?)

Thanks!
~ Beth

Oh - and great job, by-the-way!!!!!

pse5 does have a magic selection brush that is supposed to work more like what you are talking about. it works better is there is a lot of contrast between what you want and the rest and if the background is plainish. you just make some marks over what you want to select and it selects it out...it works ok, not great imo, depending on the above situation...

there is also another selection brush ( not magic evidently )where you paint over what you want and it selects it and you use the same tool as a tool to mask something too

 

[Amy]

I used the lasso tool to completely trace around both the flower and butterfly - it was a bit of a pain and I had to redo it a few times - but that is how I did it.

pse5 does have a magic selection brush that is supposed to work more like what you are talking about. it works better is there is a lot of contrast between what you want and the rest and if the background is plainish. you just make some marks over what you want to select and it selects it out...it works ok, not great imo, depending on the above situation...

Maybe that's my problem - I had a picture of my mom (with white hair) standing in front of a beige wall and I was trying to cut her out of the picture and put her on another background and the magic selection brush/selector thingy in PSE4 just wouldn't select what I wanted no matter what I tried and I got discouraged and decided I needed time away from PSE4. I guess there wasn't enough contrast between her white hair and the beige wall. I'll have to try the lasso tool. Gee, I was going to clean the house tomorrow, but I think I'll just play with Elements instead

 

[milkabum]

Wow, that looks great! You took some wonderful pictures! I bet by the end of next month you'll be whipping pctures like that up in no time.

 

[DVC Jen]

Amy I had more luck with the lasso than the magic brush. For me it wouldn't include all of the picture either. The first thing I did was a rose and parts of the rose went black and white. I couldn't deselect much without losing all of it - so I gave up and used the lasso. You have to go slowly and have a pretty steady hand - but after a few tries you should be able to get it.

One thing I found with the lasso - after you trace around whatever it is you are tracing around - double click the lasso or it will continue to trace and make a mess.

 

[jann1033]

Amy I had more luck with the lasso than the magic brush. For me it wouldn't include all of the picture either. The first thing I did was a rose and parts of the rose went black and white. I couldn't deselect much without losing all of it - so I gave up and used the lasso. You have to go slowly and have a pretty steady hand - but after a few tries you should be able to get it.

One thing I found with the lasso - after you trace around whatever it is you are tracing around - double click the lasso or it will continue to trace and make a mess.

if i had more fingers and toes i could count how many times i've done that
one good hint i read somewhere was after you finish with a tool click the hand tool then you won't damage something unintentionally forgetting you have a tool open..i've been trying to cultivate that habit... semi successfully...
i think the magnetic lasso is the easier one also although i did use the magic selector yesterday for something and it worked pretty well but then my program crashed onceagain ( you know that thing adobe swears no one else in the known universe has ever had happen that happens to me at least once every 2 day ) so it wouldn't save... so another hr shot. by the time i can acutally save a picture i will be a master photoshoper

 

[KarenB]

I got this program for Christmas too. I am a novice, but I had fun exploring this afternoon. I am waiting for the mising manuel book that I ordered from Amazon. I want to make note cards as gifts using my own edited photos. I was able to get pretty far by myself, but I know I will need the manual soon.
Karen

 

[Amy]

Ok, you gave me the incentive to delve into PSE4 once again today. Here's my original picture:

I tried the magic selector since I had a lot of contrast between the flower and the leaves, made the background black & white and blurred it:

Not too bad! I can't wait until I take the class at our community college and I'll actually know what I'm doing instead of "let's try this and see what happens" which is usually followed by "oops, where's the undo button"!

I'm still working on that picture of my mom - I DO have to use the lasso because there's not enough contrast between her hair and the wall, but it's tough. I was never good at drawing to begin with, and using a mouse to outline parts of a picture is NOT easy.

 

[KarenB]

As I posted earlier, DH got me Elements for Christmas. I just went to a blah picture I took. It was a cricket along a sandy trail. I cropped and edited it and WOW-I am so impressed. Of course, I can't get it posted here in a timely manner. I am such a beginner with all of this. I can't wait to try more. Amazon delivered my missing manual today. Good bedtime reading tonight. OMG-do I need a life?

Karen

 

[DVC Jen]

Amy that is great! It is so much fun isn't it?

Karen - I think you have a completely normal and understandable life.

 

[jann1033]

As I posted earlier, DH got me Elements for Christmas. I just went to a blah picture I took. It was a cricket along a sandy trail. I cropped and edited it and WOW-I am so impressed. Of course, I can't get it posted here in a timely manner. I am such a beginner with all of this. I can't wait to try more. Amazon delivered my missing manual today. Good bedtime reading tonight. OMG-do I need a life?

Karen

my bold after i got to page 300 or so i just put it by my computer and just use it when i do something. you know something i did really learn though is i started shooting in raw and it has helped so much...it gives me so much more latitude in fixing exposure etc...it's worth the step of converting it first...i have a few photos i want to get before adorama 99.1,99 sale is over so i hope i can get them saved and really ought to be doing them now i guess instead of reading this

 

[jann1033]

Ok, you gave me the incentive to delve into PSE4 once again today. Here's my original picture:

I tried the magic selector since I had a lot of contrast between the flower and the leaves, made the background black & white and blurred it:

Not too bad! I can't wait until I take the class at our community college and I'll actually know what I'm doing instead of "let's try this and see what happens" which is usually followed by "oops, where's the undo button"!

I'm still working on that picture of my mom - I DO have to use the lasso because there's not enough contrast between her hair and the wall, but it's tough. I was never good at drawing to begin with, and using a mouse to outline parts of a picture is NOT easy.

nice job Amy..if you have the missing manual book it shows some way to cut out a portion and fill it in where you are missing that little bit of the flower....can't recall how to do it but i know it's thereweird... when it tried to post this i just got a "message to short message" huh?????