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Hidden Power Monthly
April 09, Vol.3
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In this issue:
More Free Actions
Hidden Power Site Updated
Q&A Selections
Actions News
The Hidden Power website:
http://hiddenelements.com
The Hidden Power forum:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=142
The Hidden Power newsletter archive:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hpe
I made a new package available for those using the Hidden Power Actions II interface. The package includes over 40 of Bud Guinn's frame actions. I am hoping to get together a few more things this coming month, and hope to finally have recruited a few actions developers to convert their actions for Elements users.
If you want to download the actions, you can get them here:
http://hiddenelements.com/freetools.html
If you haven't yet gotten the Hidden Power Actions II interface, you can download it from the hiddenelements.com site at the same time. the Password is hpa2.
I expected to be both a little more and a little less busy and a little less with action requests and additions. I was expecting more people to request specific actions, and was expecting to spend less time working with the interface. I'm wrong twice. If you have other suggestions and interests, or you want to help out developing compatible action sets, please let me know!
There is a developer kit included with the package. I've heard from Susan Stewart that if you can find a demo copy of Photoshop 6, you can use it to successfully record your own actions to use in Elements!
The Hidden Power site has been updated. There should be no dead links. If you find any, let me know. The Q&A section was replaced with a forum, which will better serve the purpose of immediacy. See the link in the beginning of the newsletter. I've updated the errata, and added a download for the new Hidden Power Actions II action package for Bud Guinn's matte frames and other goodies.
1. iNova Aerial Photo Actions-
2. Orchid Exercise on 154
3. Gradient Map Exercise
4. RGB Separation Explanation?
5. Monitor Calibration with Adobe Gamma?
6. Why are my images too large at 100%?
<<There seems to be a lot of interest in actions, and I thought there might be interest in Peter iNova's corrections. will they be converted?>>
I would convert these and have mentioned the interest to Peter, but I am not sure that it is the best thing for those correcting aerial photos. The correction he provides is static, and I think that will not necessarily provide a better correction than doing a manual correction yourself.
Perhaps a better explanation is: functions that don't depend on the individuality of the image can be made into actions. You see, depending on the amount of haze, the effects of the light source (overcast, sunny, hazy), and other factors, the unique lighting is better corrected by hand. You WOULD automate channel separation, and in my opinion you would not automate correction of a hazy image or one taken from a specific altitude.
Instead, start with a Levels correction as outlined in Hidden Power, and I think you'll get much of the way there.
<<I was wondering if the instructions on p 154 for selecting the orchid are correct? Should the tolerance for the magic wand be set to 0? Very tiny selections are made when I do this. I select larger areas when I use the default values for the magic want tool. Also, does step 9 read correctly? What exactly are you hiding? The selection? or the border created in step 5.>>
I've looked these over, and everything seems correct. As stated in step 6, the Magic wand settings should be contiguous, tolernace 0 and Use all layers. If you have successfully made a complete outline, when you click in the areas OUTSIDE the flowers, you will create a selection of them. You will then expand this selection so you can fill the area OUTSIDE the flowers to make your mask.
In step 9, you are hiding the mask you just completed. The really interesting thing here is the mask will work for you functionally even when you can't see it in the image. That is, when you lower the opacity to 0% or if you shut off the view, you will still be able to load the selection from the mask by ALT/Option clicking on the layer where the mask is stored. this mask layer should include the border created in step 5, with the rest of the area outside the orchids filled. Some people like adding a step or two here to create a new layer. Don't do that.
<< I followed the instructions in your book but got somewhat confused. On page 55, step one, the book says to merge Gradient Map 1 with the background, then on page 56, step eleven, it says to activate Gradient Map 1 to select the areas as a mask. I think this is just an oversight and I ignored the merge instruction. >>
This should actually just say "Gradient Map 2". If you don't merge and use Gradient Map 1, it won't work. I corrected this via the errata on the book website.
<<My real problem is the choice of Paint Bucket as a fill tool. When I use the Paint Bucket to fill this area, it fills only a small area of blue, as shown in the gradient map one layer preview; it would require several clicks to fill the entire selected area. My confusion is: Why would I use the Paint Bucket instead of Edit>Fill into the selected area? What is the advantage of the bucket over the edit>fill in this application? What am I missing in this procedure?>>
Your paint bucket may be set to Use All Layers, and that would affect the result you describe. It should only take one click with this option off. It really doesn't matter how you fill the layer (there are a bunch of methods you can use). The advantage of the bucket is you can get it by pressing K, which is quicker than reaching for the mouse, opening the Edit menu, locating the Fill function, setting the options and choosing OK.
You can certainly use another method, such as Edit>Fill. I had to pick an option to fill the layer, and as i was going through, I tried to vary them a little to be sure users knew the different ways to do stuff. what I didn't want to do was name every option for each step, because the book would become 3 times as long, and says the same thing :-). In this case I am trying to show my sensitivity to the value of different ways to create a fill...some people become rather partial to various methodology.
In the long run, it doesn't change the result. The key idea is to fill the layer.
<< I'm trying to understand RGB separations better. I painted a blank page with circles of pure red, green, and blue in a column without touching each other. Then I use your Split RGB Command and obtain the 3 color layers. Sure enough, in the Red layer, there are 2 black circles where the Green and Blue color circles are. Where the Red circle is, there is just white space. Please explain. I am missing something? >>
The RGB Channel separations represent light. The brighter a light, the WHITER it is. When there is more red, red will display as brighter on a black to white scale. The channel represents intensity of the red color, lightest being the strongest.
White is full intensity of Red Green and Blue. Red is 100% red, 0% Green and 0% blue. The black spots you see on the red channel are actually correct, showing that the red is blocked out when representing green and blue. Likewise, looking at the green and blue separation will have the green and blue blacked out where the red spot is. This means the intensity of the green and blue in pure red is 0% -- exactly the result you are looking for.
OK?
<< The Display Calibrator has very different interface from what is in your book, page 19, etc. Also I did not find Adobe Gamma in my Photoshop Elements CD. Sorry. >>
About Adobe Gamma not being on the CD, I can only go by what I am told by Adobe and their standard MO. Books go well into production before the product is released. I was not currently on OSX when the book was being written (I am now) and couldn't check. However there is a Display Calibrator with a similar look and somewhat similar screens.
I was under the impression (too late to include with the book) that Adobe Gamma was provided but by another name. I had a look at OS X months ago when working on the book and shooting the screens, but what I was looking at did not seem significant enough as a difference to re-write and delay a targeted publishing date. Adobe Gamma also comes with other related products. Adobe Gamma installs with Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe InDesign. Tryouts of these products should also contain the utility.
Apple has monitor calibration information here: http://www.apple.com/colorsync/benefits/training/calibrate.html
The Monitor Calibration Assistant can help you out. Look at the Monitor control panel and start the process by clicking the Color button. Then click on Calibrate. Again, these screens will be similar to those used with Adobe Gamma.
Find the steps here:
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/colorsync-display/colorsync_2.htm
Do read the section in my book for tips on following calibration.
Other calibration solutions are listed on the bottom of the web page here: http://www.adobe.com:80/support/techdocs/1401a.htm
It is very difficult (read: impossible) to make a book to cover all operating systems and user possibilities, and late changes by Adobe (they make a bunch of those). What I don't mean to say here is that I refuse to help you out...just explaining the reality. Let me know if this is enough to go on. If not, I'll look deeper into a satisfactory solution. If anyone knows a good way to get ahold of Adobe Gamma (legally, please), let me know and I'll pass it on.
<<When I look at my 300ppi image at 100%, they look like they are about 4 times as large as they should be on screen. why is that?>>
The % that you see on screen reflects, essentially, the percentage of pixels you are seeing. At 100%, you are seeing 100% of the pixels. At 200+% you are seeing the pixels enlarged. At lower resolutions you are seeing only portions of the pixels. It won't matter what the resolution of the image is, you will always see pixels at screen view sizes over 100%. Paying attention to this sizing works for web images or other display on a monitor.
Print resolution is generally much higher than screen resolution. To make the most of printer resolution you need to target the output resolution, which is independent of the sizing on screen. This is not a straight-forward calculation, and can vary according to the type of printer. Usually you'll want the resolution between 233-300 ppi, about 3 to 4 times the resolution you see on screen. That means at 100% on screen you'll actually be seeing the result about 4 times the size as it should be in the final output.
Instead of working at 100% all the time, glance at things at 25% to see the output size. Use 300 ppi for most general purpose images that will go to print (I like to tell people that is often overkill, 288 is sometimes a nicer number for certain purposes like viewing accurate output size, and less can often suffice).
In advanced use you can get even better results and sharpness in type using vectors.
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Actions Corner
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This section will be included to help share information on Actions and working with them in Elements. I hope to create a collection of Elements-tested actions, but need reader help. If you run actions successfully in Elements, and think others would like to, let me know about them! (rl@ps6.com)
<< I have read and printed out Readmepc.rtf, but nowhere can I find a list of files. Am I looking in the wrong place? >>
There is an advanced.rtf which has the list of files. This free package includes:
This free package contains additional tools, including:
The installed interface replaces the default Elements Welcome menu display. The Hidden Power Actions can be accessed by choosing Welcome from the Windows menu, or through the Hidden Power interface on the "Other" tab for Hidden Power users (the Other tab works on Elements 2 only. Elements 1 Hidden Power users please request a customization for Elements 1).
This package will not enable action recording.
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2. What do I do with the free tools?
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<< Perhaps my biggest problem is that I haven't yet learned what to do with the free tools. Are they explained in your book? >>
Actually the free tools are ... free. they are either samples of what is in the book, or additions. If you don't have the book, you can use them. There is no instruction on the free tools in the book. The book includes a different, comprehensive set of tools and instruction. To me the added tools on the Hidden Power tab on the actions palette are mostly redundant if you have the book -- with the exception of the actions.
The actions help you complete tasks. These may warrant more complete description, but the previews on the menu (click Preview or the glasses) show what the actions do.
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3. Using True Layer Masks
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<< When using a layer Mask with the free tools, I often want the mask filled with black so I can paint in white for the areas of the image i want to see. Right now I use the paint bucket tool set to 100 tolerance and just flood the mask with black. Seems kind of inelegant. Can you make that tool so it defaults to filled?>>
I could, and may do that as an option in a later enhancement.
About filling the layer, you have several steps there and it would be quicker to do the following: Press D, X, K, clicking the image and then pressing X, B. That will change the default colors, put black in the foreground, choose the paint bucket, exchange the colors again and choose the brush tool for painting in white. You can do that pretty quickly and use it for now. I've timed myself at under 5 seconds.
It is a free tools after all...I understand your point, and actually agree, but feel two or three things:
None of this is to say no.
Brought to you by Richard Lynch
in conjunction with
The Hidden power of Photoshop Elements 2
and
http://hiddenelements.com
Get it the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0782141781/newwriting/
Copyright (c) 2003 Richard Lynch