Just to say, there is nothing that other interface does that mine can’t. I think I’ll make the switch for HPA 4 so everything gets installed to the recipes — though it was something I wanted to avoid functionally.
About the tools and instructions…there isn’t a lot of instruction, but there is stuff in the readmedo.rtf. The following is taken directly from that file:
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About the New Tools
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The new tools included with this set include some additional natively functioning Elements features that were not originally included with Hidden Power tools in The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2. These tools were requested by users (like yourself). I have added these without much additional support beyond the description here. We can discuss them further in the newsletter or in the RetouchPro forum (retouchpro.com) which has been established for Hidden Power tools support. See <
http://hiddenelements.com> for more information.
Fade effect will allow Elements users to duplicate the Fade function from Photoshop. This function is applied after a filter to lessen the impact/opacity, apply the effect via a mode or both. It is a little more manual than Photoshops tool, but it is also more versatile as you can use it with any filter, effect, change or enhancement.
Shadow Mask Creates a selection of the lightest portions of the image, where the intensity of the selection is in proportion to the darkness of the tone. This is very tricky to do in Elements, but here is simplified to a mouse click. The idea is to mask the shadowed areas from change.
Highlight Mask Creates a selection of the darkest portions of the image, where the intensity of the selection is in proportion to the lightness of the tone. The opposite of a Shadow Mask. This is very tricky to do in Elements, but here is simplified to a mouse click. The idea is to mask the highlight areas from change.
Trim Image This function trims an image based on corner pixels. For example, if there is a white field in the image background, and you want to remove it to make an image smaller, you can use trim image to automatically reduce the image. This comes in handy when attempting to accurately minimize web graphics, such as buttons with drop shadows.
Reveal Image Sometimes when you move layer content (such as with the Move tool), layers retain the information though you cant see it in the image area. This function reveals the hidden image information that has become displaced by expanding the canvas. Good for when you lose something off the visible image area.
Action speed controller will allow the user to control playback speed in actions. This allows you to slow actions down so you can learn what is going on behind the scenes, and gather new techniques and understanding of how images are altered and effects created. The speeds are fast, step-by-step, step and pause and step and long pause. Once the speed is set it remains in that mode till changed. Fast moves through actions at maximum speed, not waiting for redraw. Step-by-step waits for each step to redraw. Step and pause waits for the redraw to complete and pauses an additional second. Step and long pause waits for redraw to complete and waits 2 seconds.
Quick Mask mode will allow you to switch to a red overlay mode (rubylith) to adjust masks and selections based on tone. Some people prefer this for working with masking and selection, and it is more like manual darkroom methods.
Layer Mask insert will add a layer mask to the currently active layer. This is an alternative to clipping layers as described in The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2. This method may be more convenient for following some step-by-steps in Photoshop books. Only layers can be masked backgrounds must be converted to layers first.
Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer adds an option for mixing channels using the native Adobe interface. It is an alternative to methods described in The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2 for mixing channels. The layer, once created, cannot be edited.
Selective Color Adjustment Layer allows you to adjust color based on a preset color range selected from a drop menu. It may be considered an alternative to Hue/Saturation or Color Balance as described in The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2. The layer, once created, cannot be edited.
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Please discuss the tools on the forum at retouchpro.com: <
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&for umid=142>