Help with Photoshop Elements 9 PLEASE!

[mkymouse40]

My family gave me PSE9 for Mother's Day and I was very anxious to create some disigns on my own. WOW!! Much more difficult than I expected. I have searched tutorials and the internet, but have not been able to do much with it. Can someone please tell me how to make the shape of a disign with rounded corners or the whole disign oval, heart shaped, etc. All of the shirts that I have made from all of the wonderful disigners are square shaped and I would like to change it up a bit. Also, does anyone know of a good tutorial that helps make these t-shirt disigns, not just editing photos. I even down loaded the hundreds of pages in the PSE9 online manual, but it is quite confusing. I considered myself intelligent and creative, but apparently NOT! I hope that I can eventually use it for more than changing corners considering the price it cost. THANK YOU to any and everyone that might want to offer help - all is welcome. Oh I almost forgot, how do you load special Disney fonts, borders, etc. to the program itself so they can be selected (does that question make sense?, hope so). Thank you again.

 

[ShellsShirts]

I have worked with Photoshop for many years. While not in Elements, there are many similarities. The best advice is to learn to work in layers and Clipping masks in the layer's palette (right click in layer's.) This will help you create designs that are not square, like images in Mickey heads. Adobe has very good tutorials, or look on You Tube, Amazon or local bookshop for an instruction book. Many have DVDs that you can follow.

To give you a breakdown on the structure of a file. The following mickey head has 8 layers.
Layer 1 is a black Mickey head that was imported from an art file. (You can use this method for Hearts, Ovals, diamonds, or even type created in photoshop for name fills etc.)
Layer 2 is the background color which was pink, purple and blue with the filters Wave and Twirl applied. This layer is a Clipping mask.
Layer 3 is Minnie with 80% opacity (in layer palette). This layer is a Clipping mask
Layer 4 is Donald 80% opacity. This layer is a Clipping mask
Layer 5 is Mickey 80% opacity. This layer is a Clipping mask
Layer 6-8 is the type and Make a Wish logo. The type has a drop shadow and Bevel Layer Style applied.

Many layers have "Layer Styles" which gives you drop shadows, inner glow, bevels, etc. Layer Styles will make your design pop.

Filters - my advice for filters is to open a photo and see what each one does. And finally, PLAY! Just explore the program. Try every button, filter, layer style and see what happens. That is the best way to learn.

 

[mkymouse40]

Thank you for your tips. My head gets spinning every time I open the program. I've managed to get a square border around pictures and a line of text (not Disney font though). I will definitely try your tips. Oh, and, I made your Thumper Easter shirt and love it. It is so colorful and I got so many compliments (I didn't edit anything obviously!!) Thank you again. Any additional help still welcome!

 

[ShellsShirts]

These are photoshop instructions, they may or may not be accurate to Photoshop Elements. I highly recommend a book - They make a "Dummies version". It would help explain what everything does. And look for tutorials online that go step by step.

To answer your original question on how to create an oval or rounded corner object. In the marquee selection tool (looks like a dotted line square) should be a sub menu that has an elliptical marquee tool. Select that tool and draw your oval. It will just be a dotted selection. Select a color you want to fill it with and then go to Edit-fill-foreground color.

If you want a border, Select a color and go to Edit-stroke- A menu with pop up. Select how many pixels wide you want the stroke - you can always undo and go back if too small or large. Select center and OK.

For a round corner box. Go to the square marquee tool and make a box. go to select - modify-smooth and the marquee will show a rounded edge. THEN fill the box. Don't fill before you do the smooth.

 

[RustManFan]

and you can go to the custom shapes feature and find all kinds of shapes to use for your lowest layer from hearts, stars, speech balloons, diamonds, spades, moons....there is no limit as you can also install additional free custom shapes, layer styles, patterns, brushes etc.

You may want to also visit ElementsVillage.com and see questions answered

 

[mkymouse40]

RustManFan & ShellsShirts - thank you both so much for your help. I haven't tried your tips yet because my mother-in-law was just unexpectedly admitted to the hospital and it's been a little crazy. I'm anxious to tackle this program again armed with your help. I think once I can accomplish something printable on it, I will be more confident to experiment; it is very overwhelming. I'll let you know how it works out. If I can figure out how to download a picture, I might be able to show you (baby steps though!). It is so nice to have a group of such helpful and friendly people to share my love of Disney with. Thank you again from me and from all of us who have found a new way to express our love of Disney and appreciate you sharing your experience and talents with us.