Open the photo into Photoshop. For this tutorial, try to use a high resolution image where you can see the skin texture. Create a duplicate layer and put it into a group. To do this, press Ctrl+J to duplicate the layer then Ctrl+G to place the new layer into a group. Name the group "Airbrush" and the layer "Blur". To retouch the skin, there will be two layers in the Airbrush group. The first layer we’ve created (the Blur layer) will be used to blur the skin. After that, we’ll add another layer to restore the natural skin texture.

Have the Blur layer selected. To blur this layer, use the Surface Blur filter. This filter blurs like the Gaussian Blur filter except it can retain edge detail. We’ll need to blur the layer so that the skin is smoothed and somewhat blurry without having the edges visible. I normally use radius of 37 and leave the threshold at deafault or slide it up to 19.  If the eye becomes blurry, your settings are too strong. Undo and redo the Surface Blur filter with a lower setting.

Create a new layer and move it above the Blur layer. Name this layer "Texture" and change the blend mode to Hard Light. This layer, as the name states, will be used to add a slight texture to the skin and also adjust the skin tonality.  The texture created in this layer will contribute to the final results very minimally – the difference can only be easily seen zoomed in on high resolution images and varies from image to image. Even though the result is very minimal, it ensures that no area of the skin looks too smooth or plastic.

Make sure that you have the "Texture" layer selected. With that layer selected, press Shift+F5 or choose Edit > Fill. In the Fill tool, set the settings according to the image below. This will fill your layer with a 50% gray color. Open the Add Noise filter from the Filter > Noise menu. I use 3 for the amount and click the Guassian blur button under distribution.  This will add some noise to the image that will prevent skin from looking plastic. It may look a little too sharp, but in the next step, we’ll fix this with a Gaussian Blur filter. Choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Blur the layer by 1 pixel. Open the Hue/Saturation tool by pressing Ctrl+U or choosing Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Check the Colorize option and adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness values to match the HSB values from the color we sampled in the previous step. For the brightness, set this to H:10, S:-56 and L -8. Click Layer> merge visible and you can really see the difference.

Don’t forget to “Save as” so that you don’t lose your original picture. The original tutorial that inspired me to do this one is located here.

Please feel free to leave comments or share some other ways you may have for airbrushing photos.

I decided to share this painting tool that I used when I did textures in SecondLife. I thought that some of you out there could find some really cool uses for the 3d effects it creates so easily.

I thought of this mainly to give some elements a 3D look. You could create anything imaginable, use a screen capture program like Jing and then cut the element out in Photoshop Elements.

PLOPP is a creative painting tool for cartoon-like 3D scenes without the effort that comes with professional 3D modelling programs. You can build 3D objects very easily! Just paint them in a 2D environment and PLOPP will transform them into 3D! 

This program is mainly used for kids as a painting program however, I think there could be many uses for it.

Please post any of your ideas on how to use this program to the comments.

Some other 3D programs that could be used for digital scrapbooking:

http://www.planet-plopp.com/

http://www.cbmodelpro.com/

http://sketchup.google.com/

25 free 3d modeling apps – http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/25-free-3d-modelling-applications-you-should-not-miss/

http://www.autoq3d.com/

http://www.blender.org/

maya – http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=13577897

I’ve been seeing a lot of urban and city digi kits popping up all over the place. I started thinking how cool it would be to find a program that would make graffiti effects on photos to make these kits pop out even more. One of the free kits I found is here at Lumik Scrap.

Method #1

Open your brick wall image. Select the text tool and then choose a font and font color. Type in your desired text onto the image.  Rasterize the text: right click on the text layer and then select rasterize.  Select the text using the Magic Wand tool. Expand your selection using by 3px (Select > Modify > Expand).  Add a new layer behind the current text layer (Shift + Ctrl + N).  Fill the selection with a color of your choosing.

Giving Graffiti Text a Worn Look

Give the graffiti text a worn or faded look; Select both of the layers (text and background layers). Merge the two layers together (Ctrl+E). Select the erase tool, and choose a round brush 250px size. Adjust the brush hardness to 0. Erase some of the text edges and portions of text. Reduce the fill to 90%. Save your image. And you are done!

Method #2

Select a font and font color, and then type in your desired text onto the image. Rasterize the text: right click on the text layer and then select rasterize. Expand your selection using by 3px (Select > Modify > Expand). Add a new layer behind the current text layer (Shift + Ctrl + N). Fill the selection with a color of your choice. Select the text layer. Select the text color using magic wand tool, and then delete the color.Select the gradient tool. Adjust the settings to create a funky gradient scheme.  Add this scheme to your selection.  Give it a worn look by following the steps in Section #2 above. Save your image. And you are done!

A found a very cool tutorial for Photoshopusing images here.

Feel free to post links to graffiti brushes, images and tutorials you’ve found or any work that you’ve created using these methods.

A sepia tone is a reddish brown monochrome tint. When applied to a photo, it gives the picture a warm, antique feeling. It's easy to do in Photoshop!

To accomplish this effect, open your picture in Adobe Photoshop Elements. It can be color or black and white. If your picture is in color, click on "Enhance" and choose "Convert to Black and White." A box will pop up. There are many different shades of black and white, so pick the one you like best and click OK.

There are a few ways to get a sepia tone on your picture. Here's what I do. Click on "Enhance." Choose "Adjust Color." Choose "Adjust Hue/Saturation." A box will pop up. Click the box that says "Colorize." Adjust your Hue to around 30. Adjust your Saturation to around 25. Play around till it looks sepia enough to you. Click OK.

I found this amazing tutorial that is very detailed if you really want your photos to look aged. Please check out this easy tutorial from Graphic Reporter for all the details.

Please feel free to share any methods or tutorials you have for aging photos.

A lot of you that have dabbled with scrapbooking knows that the linen pattern is a staple for paper texture. Today I want to share with you how to create it digitally.

We’ll start out by making a new document 400 x 400. Fill the background layer with a light yellow color. I have used # C7AE7A. Then go to Filter > Noise > Add noise and enter the settings shown below:

Amount = 100 
Distribution = Uniform 
Monochromatic checked.

Now we are going to make the texture. Go to Filter > Blur > Motion blur and enter the settings shown on the right.

Next,  To get the effect of linen, duplicate the layer and go to Edit > Transform > Rotate 90 CW (on the new layer) and set the layer style to overlay.

Finish up by cropping the image to get rid of the edges. You can also merge the two layers together.

I lowered the opacity on both layers to 50%. Then I added a new layer and placed it below the other layers. I then filled it with the same yellow color I used on the first layer (1). This makes it a bit smoother.

On the two other examples I just changed the color (after merging the layers together) by adding some Hue/Saturation, Image > Adjust > Hue/Saturation (Ctrl + U) and move the handles until you are satisfied. Remember to check Colorize.

If you have another method of creating this effect, please feel free to share it with us.

Whenever you perform a repetitive task in Photoshop, you can save yourself time and effort by using actions.

Similar to macros in programs like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, Photoshop actions are recorded steps that you perform on an image; these steps can be saved and replayed on another image at a later date.

Photoshop records the steps as you perform them and stores the steps for you. You tell Photoshop when to start and stop recording. You can then replay the action at any time, on the current image or any other image. The action does everything you recorded just as if you were executing the commands yourself, and it does them much faster than you could do yourself.

Installing Actions into PSE 8:

I found a tutorial that explains in such detail I couldn’t have written it better myself at Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics.

Some sites I would recommend for finding actions would be: For photography Coffee Tea Photography, Design Mag, Creative Nerds and Maggie Holmes, The Ultimate Collection of Useful Photoshop Actions can be found here, time saving Photoshop actions can be found here, and also some creative actions at Deviant Art and Filmstrip Action and Atomic Cupcake has some of my favorite actions.. Creating a cube can be found here and here. Create a box here. Lastly, most shapes can be turned into 3d here. So as you can se if you Google any action that you may want to use, you’ll find one out there already.

There you have shortcuts to make scrapbooking and photo editing even easier with these time saving actions.

Please post some actions you’ve found or created.

Overlay puts two clips on top of each other with an optional displacement of the overlaying image, and using different overlay methods. Furthermore opacity can be adjusted for the overlay clip.

For example, if you would like to create an overlay to serve as a border around your images, you can quickly do this using Photoshop Elements.

Load the images you want to use in the scrapbook page onto your computer. If they are in digital format your can simply transfer them from the camera or digital storage media they are on. If they are only in a printed format you will have to scan them in. If you use a scanner, make sure that you adjust the resolution settings in the scanner software to at least 600 DPI.

Open Photoshop Elements, Select "File" and click "New." In the dialog box that opens, set the size you want for you scrapbook page to what you will be printing it on. For example, if you will be printing on standard size paper make the size 8 ½ inches wide and 11 inches high. Set the resolution to 300 pixels per inch, unless it is being placed on the web, in which case set it to 72. Name the document "Scrapbook 1" and click "OK."

Select "File" and click "Open." In the dialog browse to one of the images that you want to use on the page and open it. Select "Select" from the menu and click "Select All." Now use the "Copy" and "Paste" function under "Edit" to place the image in the "Scrapbook 1" document. Resize the position the image where you will want it in the final layout. Repeat this step to place all the images in the document.

Click on the "New Layer" icon to add a new layer. Select the "Paintbucket" tool, select the color or pattern your want to use as the basis of your overlay and click on the canvas to fill it. Then reduce its opacity to 50 percent so you can see the images in the layer below.

Select the "Rectangular Selection" tool and use it to make a selection on the layer that conforms to one of the images. You might want to make the selection slightly smaller than the image so you can trim it. Hit "Delete" on your keyboard. Now repeat this step for all the images on the page.

Raise the opacity of the layer back to 100 percent. Select "File" and click "Save." Save the scrapbook page as a high resolution JPEG.

Using Pattern Overlays

Creating patterns and making patterns overlay can save you a lot of work and also can look really good if you know how to use it right.

To begin with we are going to need a pattern. Lets use this one. You can use this image as a pattern or you can use any other of your choice. To transform this image into a pattern you have to open it on Photoshop, press Ctrl+A and go to Edit > Define Pattern and lets name it “zebra pattern”, once you do that the pattern will be saved on your Photoshop until you delete it from there.

Now that we have our pattern we are going to move up to use the Pattern Overlay effect. Open a new document, you can do it at the size of you background, I’m going to use 12”x12” with a black background and using the font Duality found here. Now type Duality in white. We are going to apply the Pattern Overlay on the text layer now, by clicking on Add Layer Style on your layer pallet and click on Pattern Overlay (select the zebra pattern).

When I decided to write this tutorial, I found a similar one out there and Paul even added some brushes to the design to really give the design some flair. You can find his tutorial on pattern overlay here.

Please feel free to share any overlays that you have found or created.

Lets start out with what a Layer Mask is. Layer mask is one of the most used elements in PhotoShop. Well, at least I have used it in majority of more complicated design projects and graphics. It enables us to get rid of a PART of the layer but with the possibility to edit the result. It in fact blocks part of the layer from appearing, as if erased, while still being there. 

Layer masks are right up there at the top of the list of things you really need to know about when working in Photoshop because without them, your work, your creativity and your flexibility all suffer. It's that simple. It's a good thing for us, then, that layer masks are so incredibly simple and easy to understand!

So what are layer masks then? Well, if the term "mask" is what's confusing you (and who could blame you), replace the word "mask" in your mind with "transparency", because that's exactly what a layer mask does. It allows you to control a layer's level of transparency. That's it, that's all. There's nothing more to them than that. Now, you may be thinking, "But… I can already control the transparency level with the Opacity option, can't I?", and yes, you certainly can. The Opacity option in the top right corner of the Layers palette also allows you to control a layer's transparency.

But here's the difference. The Opacity option changes the transparency level for the entire layer at once. If you lower the Opacity level down to, say, 50%, the entire layer becomes 50% transparent. That may be fine for some situations, but what if you want onlypart of a layer to be transparent? What if you want the left side of the layer to be completely transparent, the right side to be completely visible, with a gradual transition between the two through the middle of the layer? That's actually a very common thing to do with a layer in Photoshop, allowing you to fade from one image to another. But you can't do that with the Opacity option since as I said, it's limited to controlling the transparency of the entire layer at once. What you would need is some way to control the transparency of different areas of the layer separately. What you would need is a layer mask.

Layer masks are one of the features in Photoshop that Adobe did not carry over to Photoshop Elements. However, it's easy to duplicate this effect by grouping your layer with an adjustment layer.

Here's how:

If the layer you want to mask is the background, first convert it to a regular layer, by double-clicking the background layer in the layers palette. Type a name for the layer and click OK.

Add a solid color adjustment layer using any color as the fill.

Drag the color fill layer below the layer you want to mask. in the layer's palette, select the layer above that you want to mask, and press Ctrl-G to group it with the color fill layer. Your layers palette should look like the image shown on this page.

Now the mask of the color fill layer will act as a mask on the layer above.

Paint or fill with black on the mask to erase, white to reveal.

To create your own decorative clipping mask, start with File > New > Blank File. Set your dimensions and make sure the Background Contents is set to Transparent. Make the resolution 300 if you are going to use the mask on images you wish to print.Use the Rectangular Marquee to draw out a rectangle smaller than the document, leaving space around the edges for some decorative strokes. Then fill the selection with Black: Edit > Fill Selection – Use: Black.

Make sure your Foreground color is Black. Select a decorative brush… flowers, swirls, whatever… and stamp around the edge of the black rectangle, remembering that where the black is will be where your photo will show through when you apply the mask to a photo.

After completing your mask, save it in PNG format to preserve the transparency. Then you can use it the same as any other clipping mask… add a photo in a layer above the mask, resize the photo to cover the whole black area of the mask, then with the photo layer active, press Ctrl-G to clip the photo to the mask.

If you simply want to download some masks to use on your photos you can find them here and here.

Why would you want to use a displacement filter? Displacement maps are used in graphics programs to superimpose an image or text field to the side of or on another image. This technique is widely used in advertising and web page design. 

The Displace filter uses an image, called a displacement map, to determine how to distort a selection. For example, using a parabola-shaped displacement map, you can create an image that appears to be printed on a cloth held at its corners.

This filter requires a displacement map file composed of either a flattened image saved in Photoshop format or an image in bitmap mode. You can use your own files or the files included in the Photoshop Elements 8/Plug‑Ins/Displacement Maps folder or the Photoshop Elements 8/Presets/Textures folder.

First we need to apply the Displace filter. In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.

Choose Distort > Displace from the Filter menu.

To define the magnitude of the displacement, enter a value between ‑999 and 999 in the Horizontal and Vertical Scale text boxes.

When the horizontal and vertical scales are 100%, the greatest displacement is 128 pixels (because middle gray produces no displacement).

If the displacement map is not the same size as the selection, select how you want the map to fit the image:

Stretch To Fit-  Resizes the map.

Tile –  Fills the selection by repeating the map in a pattern.

Select how to fill voids that are created by the filter in the image, and click OK.

Wrap Around – Fills voids with content from the opposite edge of the image.

Repeat Edge Pixels – Extends the colors of pixels along the image’s edge in the direction you specify.

Select and open the displacement map. Photoshop Elements applies the map to the image.       

I found a couple very descriptive tutorials using pictures here and here.

Please share some links of projects you created using the displace filter.

I’ve been having a lot of fun playing with some of the photos I’ve taken of my flower garden since everything is in bloom. I wanted to share what filters are and how to install them to let you all have as much fun as me.

Filters got their name from the world of photography, where you could change how a picture looked – brighter, redder, fuzzier, etc. – by placing a filter over the lens. Photoshop filters do the same thing, just with much more variety and weirdness. The program comes with dozens of built-in effects that can make your photograph look like everything from a Seurat painting to a bad photocopy. And once you get tired of those, you can pick up some free ones or buy some from third-party companies.

If you already have Photoshop Elements 8 installed on your system, some plugin filters will have a smart enough installation utility to automatically place the files in a location where the photo editor can access them. If you haven’t done so already, download and install the plugin filter. Some of my favorites are Topaz Adjust 3, Eye Candy 6000  , Auto FX, The Plugin Site,  Photo Filtre, Xaos, Flaming Pear and  Photoshop Plug ins. Most of these have demo versions and some have free filters.

Pay close attention to the directory in which the files for the plugin are being installed. You may even want to jot down this directory path in case you need to reference it later.

Test to see if the plugin filter is now accessible in Photoshop Elements 8. If you had the software open while you were installing the plugin, shut it down and restart the program. 

Next, open any photo in Photoshop Elements 8. It doesn’t matter which one you use – but you need to have at least one image open before you can check to see if a certain plugin is accessible.

Now, check to see if the plugin is listed in the Filter menu on the main toolbar of Photoshop Elements. All third-party plugins will be shown at the end of this menu as shown in the screenshot below.

If you see the plugin filter that you’re looking for here, then you’re done. Otherwise, continue on to the next step.

If you still can’t access the plugin after restarting Photoshop Elements, then you probably have the filter installed in a non-standard directory. This is quite normal for me since I usually install plugins in a special location so that I can easily access them for multiple image editors, such as Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements. In order to access plugins stored in these locations, we’ll have to tell Photoshop Elements where to look for them.

To do this, first select Preferences from the Edit menu on the main tool bar, and then choose Plug-Ins.

You should now see the Preferences dialog box on your screen.

First, make sure that the box next to Additional Plug-Ins Folder is checked. Next, click on Choose and navigate to the directory that contains the plugin you want to use. (Note: Unlike with Paint Shop Pro, you can only specify one additional folder here. So, if you plan to install multiple plugins, it would be a good idea to set up a folder on your computer called Photoshop Elements Plugins or something similar and install all plugins into subdirectories of this folder.)

Once you’ve found the directory, click OK. Then, in the Preferences dialog box, click OK again to return to the application’s main interface.

Close Photoshop Elements and restart the application. Note that if you have just added several plugins that it might take the program a little longer to load now since it is also scanning for these additional filters.

Check again to see if the plugins are now available by first opening any image and looking in the Filter menu as we did in Step 2. If you picked the proper directory, you should now be able to access the additional plugin filters.

Here at webmonkey Josh shows many examples of what filters look like once applied to photographs.

Share some filters that you found and let me know what uses you’ve found for some of the plug-ins you use; whether its for photo editing or scrapbooking.