Help with PS elements 3.0

Eric&Susan

I got PS elements 3.0 today and I've been fooling around with it for the last four hours, fooling being the key word. Anyways there is so much to learn and so little brain power in my head:scratch that I'm having some problems. Can anyone recommend book(s), site(s), anything that will help me better understand. Also can anyone explain to me how to do the drop shadow frames that I see so many people use here?

Thanks Eric

John Mueller

Here is one that I had bookmarked since the beginning.
I have others,just a hard time locating them.

digismile

Try this website and magazine dedicated to Elements 3:

www.photoshopelementsuser.com

You will find a wealth of info, including links for a host of great books by Scott Kelby.

Regards,
Brad

Eric&Susan

These are both great. Thank you guys. Guess I should pick up a book or 10 Anybody willing to tell me the drop shadow frame process?

Thanks Eric

Eric&Susan

Ok so I searched the hall of wisdom and found Pathfinders tut on making the drop shadow frame. Thanks Pathfinder. Now I have another question. Using the brush mode I created a signature but I can't make it stay on the picture frame. Everytime I put it on there is has the "little ants" running around it and it won't stay. Maybe somebody can explain how to put a signature on there, PLEASE !!!!Thanks
Eric

cletus

Eric&Susan wrote:

Ok so I searched the hall of wisdom and found Pathfinders tut on making the drop shadow frame. Thanks Pathfinder. Now I have another question. Using the brush mode I created a signature but I can't make it stay on the picture frame. Everytime I put it on there is has the "little ants" running around it and it won't stay. Maybe somebody can explain how to put a signature on there, PLEASE !!!!Thanks
Eric

Not sure exactly whats going on, but it sounds like you've got PSE in a masking mode. Instead of painting with the brush the brush is creating selections. Have you tried searching the PSE help for paintbrush or painting?

digismile

Eric,

I'm not really sure where you are geting the marching ants from. The marching ants indicate a selection, which is not what I would expect it to do.

I am assuming you want a brush to stamp something like "© John Doe 2005". Here's what you need to do to create a brush in PS or PS elements 3.

1. Open a blank canvas (File -> New), eg. 2" by 3" @ 300 dpi. You will have one layer, the background layer.

2. Select the Text tool (hit the letter T) and type the phrase you wish to use for your brush. It will now be on a new layer. ( I would use a font size of 20 - 30). The copyright character is alt-0169 using the numeric key pad.

3. Make any edits you wish for font size, bold, etc. Then hit Enter or the check mark at the top of the screen.

4. You now need to select the text. Hit the letter M to select the marquee tool and drag a box around your text, just slightly larger than the text. You will have a marching ant box around your text.

5. From the pull down menu, select Edit->Define Brush from Selection. Give the brush a name, such as "Eric 2005". You're done!

You now have a brush that can be used like any other brush. This means that you can select its size, colour, opacity, etc.

So let's test it.

6. Create a new layer by hitting Ctrl-Shift-N.

7. Make sure nothing is currently selected by hitting deselect (Ctrl-d)

8. Hit "B" for brush and select your new brush from the pull down menu. You can now adjust its size ([ key makes it smaller, ] makes it bigger). If you want to change its colour, double click the foreground colour on the bottom left and pick a new colour.

9. Click once anywhere on the screen where you want to put your signature. Voila, you have a brush that writes text!

10. If you don't quite position it correctly, this is an object that can be moved using the move tool (hit the "v" key). I usually put my signiture on its own layer for this very reason.

Hope this helps!

Brad

cletus

Nice post brad

Eric&Susan

WOW WOW WOW!!!!!! Thank you so much for the help Digismile. I think where I went wrong last night is I didn't click the check mark or hit enter, so maybe that didn't finalize my action? I have sooooooooo much to learn here. There is a PSE wokshop in San Fran on Monday March 21 I think I might have to make the two hour drive down there. Thank you again



Eric