Pat,
Elements itself cannot run actions but there are some Ad ons which can run ones that have been specially adapted for Elements … some Ad ons to look at are Paul Shipley’s, Richard Lynch’s and Snap Actions.
Wendy
I tried Ray’s way from this thread: <
http://tinyurl.com/2rndq>
No teach support on this, so try it at your own risk.
One thing that is missing from the above thread is that you need to empty the Effects Cache folder (Photoshop Elements 2\Previews\Cache\Effects Cache). PSE will rebuild it when you restart. Ray wrote about this in another thread.
It works! I tried several image effect actions so far and three of them work fine (a photo sphere one, a romantic soft focus one and Katrin Eismann’s Fill Flash). The fill flash one is really nice. I’ve downloaded the raindrops one, but haven’t tried to add it yet. I don’t plan to add that many and if they don’t work the first time they’re outa there. 😉
Patti
Thanks Wendy and Patti for the info. I do have Shipley’s and Lynch’s. I am a bit timid about attempting Ray’s way..
I understand your hesitation, Pat. Ray’s method isn’t automatic like Snap Actions, even though it’s basically doing the same thing. Some of the extra Snap Actions are kind of cool, some are not. I use JC Imaging’s Soft Focus a lot.
I tried LBG’s Raindrops action (Ray’s way) but it doesn’t work and I assume the reason is because it uses Curves which is not native to Elements.
Patti
Patti,
It might not be the Curves ’cause you can do them with Hidden Elements and some of the stuff you can use with Ling’s aren’t native either, you just can’t re-visit them after you’ve used them. I think it might have to do with the .xml files that have to be written to make the actions compatable with Elements.
CR
Patti, just checked out the raindrops actions at the exchange, Says they were created by following a pdf tute available with CS. Anyways, The exchange seems to be down at the moment…I can’t log in to download so I wasn’t able to try out the action in PS to see what it looked like. I’ll keep you informed when and if i can get in there.
Patti,
The other possibility is that the action’s name, within the action’s file is different from the file name itself. For example : BlurMore.ATN, the action file, contains an action calle Blur More (notice the space between Blur and More). My method cannot function if the name of the action and the name of the file are different.
Perhaps then you could send me the action file, and I’d be happy to check it out of you. If you wish, send it at this address :
Ray
Oh, we must keep this going as several people have asked me how to install the Shipleys and other stuff, Ray to the Rescue! I could never have gotten them installed with out Rays help! Perhaps Ray will write a class on how to install all these elusive things like Lynch Power tools and more! Hint hint hint,,,,,,,
Jane
Oh… No no no no… 😉
Jane, I did it for you (as I would for any other friend), but I don’t usually do this. It’s too complicated. Trouble shooting the tools of someone who created them and can’t troubleshoot them himself… It’s kind of asking for troubles!
Ray
Ray tried LBJ’s raindrops and he couldn’t get it to work either. It’s got something to do with the way the author implimented the Curves. I REALLY appreciate your trying, Ray!
I’ve got four new actions that work in Image effects now, though. Katrin Eismann’s fill flash is still the most useful. I got it here: <
http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm>
Jodi, if you’re able to download it and you discover something, let me know.
Patti
Patti, I did download it and tried it out. It’s ‘OK’…lots of tutes out there that do the same thing…but of course the tutes are diected towards full PS users….layer style blending options is a must have for these. I copied the actual layer style used in the action so if you want it just mail me. You’ll have to create your own water/rain drops to apply it to though. Again, lots of tutes out there for that as well.
If the action uses a curves adjustment rather than a curves adjustment layer then it won’t run in Elements…it could well be that simple, although I haven’t looked at the action to check. Actions which have blending options from the PS layer styles palette usually work fine, so that shouldn’t be an issue.
Learning to write actions in CS is something on my to do list – and I want to try to write them in a way that Elements users will be able to run them as well! (although I note that some of the Elements version actions that I have – presumably written in 7.0- don’t run reliably in CS, so there may be subtle differences which will require some getting around.
Susan S.
Learning to write actions in CS is something on my to do list
Susan, it won’t take you five minutes. The hardest part is understanding the folder structure of the actions palette.
I tried installing Katrin’s *Fill Flash* action and I can’t get it to appear. Have emptied the cache and it wouldn’t show up.
Patti, could you give me the info on just where you put it so that I could try and get it to work?
PSE 2, OS X
Maccie
I placed the action file in the Image Effects folder:
Photoshop Elements 2\Previews\Effects\Images Effects
Is that what you needed?
Patti
It still isn’t working for me. I had never noticed the Image Effects folder before. I originally just put the file in the Effects folder with the rest of them. So I tried your way and it still won’t show up.
Anyway, I’ve emptied the cache before launching PSE many times and it still doesn’t show up. I even repaired permissions thinking that could be it.
I might just DL a dupe of the same file and try again. I would love to be able to use it.
I have her book and tried following her steps but there was a point where I was stymied as to how to progress. At Step 5 I had to return to original color image and choose Select>Load Selection and those steps were grayed out. Whether this is just for Photoshop or I just don’t understand something I didn’t get far.
Appreciate your help though.
Maccie
