Adobe Community: Is Photoshop worth it?

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1. Barbara B.,

Apr 8, 2012 9:13 AM in reply to hank131md

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I cant enlarge the image to work on like I can with DPP

Why not? What happens when you try?

I'm not sure what you're doing to make this so complicated, but this:

the edges of the rings took on a red shade

sounds like maybe you're working on the same layer for the conversion and the color and using too large of a feather value for the selection.

You shouldn't have to keep sending an image back and forth to DPP. Maybe if you can tell us the steps you're following, it would be easier to help you figure out where you're going wrong.

But you should definitely be able to zoom way in to work, so maybe start by explaining how you're trying to zoom the view that isn't working for you.

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2. hank131md,

Apr 8, 2012 11:00 AM in reply to Barbara B.

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Hi Barbara,

When I open the image in editor it comes in a 6x4ish size. If I click on the square icon on the top right of the box it doesnt get any bigger and I dont know where the icon is to make the image larger.

I open what I do get, use the lasso/marching ants around the edges of the two rings and invert the image so i can then make everything but the two gold rings B&W. When I save it though I get red edging/shadows between the B&W and some of the retained colour area.

I also have problems getting the colour to do the stamping, where in DPP you grab a colour and can put it anywhere in the image, in PSE7 it seems to only work part of the time and when it doesnt it comes out black.

I havent been able to send it back to DPP, I just thought that if I could invert the B&W and colour in PSE I could then work on the stamping and fine tuning in DPP which I find easy to use.

Thanks

Leigh

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3. Barbara B.,

Apr 8, 2012 12:05 PM in reply to hank131md

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You don't use an icon to zoom the view. Use the magnifying glass tool (the zoom tool) or just press ctrl + the equal sign key. You can think of it as command plus the plus sign but since you don't need shift adobe prefers to think of it as command plus the equal sign these days.

I don't understand at all what you mean by "color stamping", sorry, and I have DPP, but it should not be necessary.

Here's a simple way to do this in PSE 7:

1. Open your image and press Ctrl+J to duplicate the background layer.

2. In the layers palette, click the new layer to make sure it's active, then go to Enhance>Convert to Black and White to turn that layer black and white.

3. Get out the eraser tool and erase the rings to let the color show through from the underlying layer.

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4. photodrawken,

Apr 8, 2012 12:05 PM in reply to hank131md

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You'll get some targetted advice for this specific image if you would include the image in your post.

In general, with PSE7, you could make a duplicate of your colour background layer, convert the duplicated layer to B&W, then use the Eraser tool on that B&W image to carefully erase areas of the B&W layer to reveal the colour image below. Zoom in to get an accurate view of your erasing.

Ken

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5. hank131md,

Apr 8, 2012 12:54 PM in reply to Barbara B.

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Thanks Barbara I shall give that a try. By colour stamping I mean choosing a sample area in DPP stamp tool and transfering that sample to the area I want to stamp. Cheers Ken, I hadnt realised I could add pics so you can see I am having trouble smoothing the edges of the rings but I shall try your advice

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6. Barbara B.,

Apr 8, 2012 1:04 PM in reply to hank131md

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In PSE you would use the clone stamp for that. You will need to first alt-click the spot where you want the stamp to sample from.

EDIT for your trouble with getting the edges, you need to zoom in more and use a smaller brush in those spots.

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7. hank131md,

Apr 8, 2012 1:27 PM in reply to Barbara B.

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Thanks very much, thats cracked it!

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8. hatstead,

Apr 8, 2012 1:35 PM in reply to Barbara B.

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If I understand correctly, you wish to convert the picture to b/w, yet retain the gold rings and diamonds unaltered. Please correct me if indicated.

I would use a mask for this purpose. You have PSEv.7. You posted a picture which has been altered partially, hence I restricted my effort the ring on the viewer's left:

Open picture
Duplicate background layer
Convert the background copy layer to b/w
Open a levels adjustment layer between the background and background copy layers. Do nothing with the levels sliders. We shall hijack the layer mask
Clip the background copy layer to the levels adjustment layer with CTRL+G on the keyboard
Left click the mask (the white rectangle) and paint with a black brush to reveal the gold color. If you go too far, correct with a white brush

TIPS: The bracket keys next to the letter P decrease and increase the size of the cursor for the brush tool

x will allow you to toggle between white and black (color chips, lower left)

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9. hatstead,

Apr 8, 2012 1:44 PM in reply to hatstead

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Further to above, it is even easier to do the following:

Open picture
Duplicate background layer
Open a Hue/saturation adjustment layer above the background copy layer. Slide the saturation slider all the way to the left
Paint with a black brush to reveal the gold color, correct with white

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10. hank131md,

Apr 8, 2012 2:13 PM in reply to hatstead

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Thanks for the help, the second picture posted is the one I wanted, the ring colours are as taken and the background is now B&W but it is interesting to see the number of variations on how to get the same result.

Leigh

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11. photodrawken,

Apr 8, 2012 2:26 PM in reply to hank131md

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Glad to help. You're absolutely right about PSE usually having more than one way of achieving an effect. With PSE10, you not only gain all the bug fixes since PSE7, but also features (specifically the ability to create a layer mask) that make your example very easy to do.

Ken

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12. hatstead,

Apr 8, 2012 4:19 PM in reply to photodrawken

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You're welcome. Use of a layer mask is the way to go here. You can make small corrections easily.

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13. hank131md,

Apr 9, 2012 1:06 AM in reply to hatstead

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Cheers, I might need to get back to you for some tips on that as well, the guide books I bought dont seem to always relate to whats on my screen!

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14. hank131md,

Apr 9, 2012 1:08 AM in reply to photodrawken

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If I buy PSE10 will it just 'blend' into PSE7 or do I need to remove PSE7 first?

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15. hatstead,

Apr 9, 2012 3:51 AM in reply to hank131md

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You can have both programs on your computer. Don't be in a hurry to remove v.7, esp.if you utilize the organizer.

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16. hank131md,

Apr 20, 2012 3:47 PM in reply to photodrawken

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i have just tried doing the (what i think is) the same thing to another picture and cant get it to work, all the bruch is doing to the B&W is removing everything

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17. snyder2201,

Apr 21, 2012 5:50 AM in reply to hank131md

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In reply to the original question if you are a Mac user this program is not ready for prime time. Still to many bugs and also things which you can do on a PC you will not be able to do on a Mac.

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18. photodrawken,

Apr 21, 2012 11:56 AM in reply to hank131md

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Post a screenshot of your layers, you're probably working on the background image.

Ken

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