Photoshop Element help needed!

[Laurabearz]

I have been putzing around with Elements 5.0 for a couple of weeks and so much of it stumps me.

Right now what's driving me crazy is... The magic wand tool. I get the fact that it will outline something, but I can't for the life of me cut that outline out and put something else in it.... Example, the large mickey head shape, I want to put a photo of my family IN it... sigh

Anyone want to swap MSN Messager info so I can bug you endless as I get stumped?

 

[rumblytumbly]

I wish I could just tell you off the top of my head how to do it but for me it's a matter of going back to it and actually doing it, writing down each step and then typing it all out here..a rather cumbersome process...

Is your PSE 5 registered? If so, try this site: http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/

Additionally, you could google tutorials for this or use your help functions.

I stumbled around for awhile and finally found this. I actually paid the $ for the courses and for me it was $ well spent. I never would have figured it all out without the video tutorials. I hope this is helpful for you. And I hope someone will come along that can easily describe how to put a picture in a shape.

 

[Laurabearz]

Thanks for the link but I wont PAY to take classes... I guess I will just stumble around until I figure it out.

Sigh

 

[bethbuchall]

I'm not sure how to use the magic wand to do that either. Here is how I would fill the large Mickey head with a photo. (I hope that I get all the steps correct...feel free to PM me, if not). If I am understanding what you want to do. Do you want to fill the entire large Mickey head with a photo of your family?

Have the large Mickey head as Layer 1. Add your photo as layer 2 (have this layer "above" layer 1). On the side where it describes the Layers, click between Layer 1 and Layer 2 while holding down the Alt key (if you are a Mac user, sorry I don't know those keys). You can then move the photo around and resize it as needed to get everything to fit into the shape as you want it.

I think that you can also use the Layers menu at the top of the screen to merge the two layers with the "Group with Previous" command.

This results in something like this elephant that I filled with Expedition Everest.

Then, you can Add another layer with a background color and use the bevel (Layer Styles menu) on the Mickey ears layer to get an effect like this:

 

[rumblytumbly]

If your PSE is registered there are a few free video tutorials.

 

[rumblytumbly]

Here is a link to a thread where Beth posted some links to tutorials which were really helpful to me.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1474520

 

[Laurabearz]

That is exactly what I want to do... I am stumped at the part about How you get the shape of the elephant..... See I want to use just the shape of the mickey head I have, not the photo.. it's solid so It blocks things out in layers

I'm not sure how to use the magic wand to do that either. Here is how I would fill the large Mickey head with a photo. (I hope that I get all the steps correct...feel free to PM me, if not). If I am understanding what you want to do. Do you want to fill the entire large Mickey head with a photo of your family?

Have the large Mickey head as Layer 1. Add your photo as layer 2 (have this layer "above" layer 1). On the side where it describes the Layers, click between Layer 1 and Layer 2 while holding down the Alt key (if you are a Mac user, sorry I don't know those keys). You can then move the photo around and resize it as needed to get everything to fit into the shape as you want it.

I think that you can also use the Layers menu at the top of the screen to merge the two layers with the "Group with Previous" command.

This results in something like this elephant that I filled with Expedition Everest.

Then, you can Add another layer with a background color and use the bevel (Layer Styles menu) on the Mickey ears layer to get an effect like this:

 

[rumblytumbly]

That is exactly what I want to do... I am stumped at the part about How you get the shape of the elephant..... See I want to use just the shape of the mickey head I have, not the photo.. it's solid so It blocks things out in layers

Laura,

Another thing you could do is do a stroke outline of the mickey head in a different color than what the mickey head is filled with. Then cut the pixels inside the stroke outline to make it clear. Does that make sense?

 

[bethbuchall]

If you put the Mickey layer behind the photo layer and then group the two images (either by pressing Alt while clicking between the two layer names or by using the Layer menu and clicking "Group with Previous"), you should get the desired effect. You won't see the Mickey head layer until you combine them, because it will be hidden behind the photo layer. Once you group them, the only part of the photo that you will see is the part that is directly over the Mickey head. The rest of the photo will still be there, so you can move the photo around to see different parts. Make sure that the Mickey head has no background.

I don't know if that made any sense...I'm trying to figure out how to explain it. Also, I am using Photoshop Elements 3.0, so I'm not sure what the differences are.

Also, that first elephant is one that I did before I knew this technique. I actually put the elephant template on top of the photo and then carefully erased all around the edge. It's a lot more tedious, but it does give the same basic result.

If you don't get it and are getting frustrated, you can PM for my e-mail address and send the photo to me, and I'll do it for you.

 

[Dom13]

I'm not sure what version of PSE I'm using but the way I would do what you are asking is to make a mask of the Mickey head by turning the head transparent usin the "white" outside as the mask I then overlay it on the picture I want to use. Once I get the picture the size and where I want it I just flatten the image and make the mask transparent if I'm going to be using it on the 'net. The transparent eraser is found by right clicking on the eraser tool on the toolbar.

This is how I made my logo and several others for friends.