Elements 8.0 and add ons etc.

[Angelhales]

Hi guys.

I saw that theres the free 50 frames on the site which I'd love to make use of, I have photoshop elements 8.0, is this possible? How do I go about it?

Also are these action things possible? I see this one "Free Photoshop Actions for Portraits" Is that possible in elements 8.0?

Thanks! I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to technical things like this!

[GeoffWessex]

Those frames are very much like textures, rather than the kind of frames that come with Elements.
So just save them in a folder of their own (possibly inside the 'My Pictures' folder) and treat them like textures.... and you'll see another tutorial here on PhotoRadar for adding textures.

Actions (which are similar in some ways to a WP or Spreadsheet macro and have to be 'written' in full Photoshop) may work in Elements as long as the features and techniques used in the Actions are on both programs. (The people who write Actions which can be used on both programs should test them out on both). By the way, Elements uses thumbnails for Actions, viewable in the "Effects Palette", so a PSE Action usually consists of an atn file plus (for Elements 6 and later) a png file. Installation varies a little from version to version and from system to system.

However..... those PhotoRadar Portrait Actions that you refer to have been compiled as 'sets' of Actions - and Elements cannot handle sets. So those particular ones are a no-go for Elements.

[Angelhales]

Great detailed reply thank you very much Geoff!

Ok so the frame, textures, can be used? Like an extra layer? But the actions not those specific ones but some may be possible!?

Maybe i'm going to have to think about some serious investing into photoshop!

[GeoffWessex]

Yes, Actions (even those that were only written with full Photoshop in mind) could work in Elements as long as the features, commands, menu choices etc are available in both programs. In PS, you just get an Action file (.atn), while in Elements you get the same .atn plus a .png file.

Those two files (which must have identical names) can be put into the 'photo effects' folder which, with PSE8 on Windows 7, you will find via the following path.....
Start > My Computer > C: (Local) > Documents and Settings (which is known as Program Data in Vista and Windows 7) > Adobe > Photoshop Elements > 8.0 > Photo Creations > photo effects. ("Program Data" is not the same as "Program Files"). (If you don’t see Program Data, it’s probably hidden. Go to Start. Enter “folder options” in the “search programs and files” box. Click the View tab of the Folder Options dialog box. Click the radio button “show hidden files, folders, drives.”)

Once those two files are in place, you then need to find another file, inside the Photo Creations folder as above and then via Locale > en_US. It's called MediaDatabase.db3 and you can delete it or rename it. It will be rebuilt when you next start and kicks Elements into a search for all components, so it will find anything new you've put in the 'photo effects' folder or the Plug-Ins folder. Then restart PSE.

Instructions for each version of PSE, and each operating system, are slightly different...... if anybody wants to find out how to put an Action into their version of Elements, on their system, let me know.

Oh, and never, ever, be tempted to buy an Action online - there are loads of them, for all kinds of editing, and you can get just about anything you need for free (with some searching).

[Angelhales]

Oh my word your amazing! I managed it! Finally! Been trying to do that for yonks! Have now found the folder you were on about, I'm a vista user so had to do the thing with folder options but I eventually found it. Now to do some searching for some actions thatwork!

[Angelhales]

Yes I've cracked it! Took me a while but they are now loaded into photoshop elements! Thanks SO much for your help!