Using the New Hub and Auto Creations in Photoshop Elements 2019

Have you ever taken a series of photos and videos at an event of some sort and would like to quickly and effortlessly turn a few of them into a an interesting presentation? But you are fresh out of ideas, and maybe time.

Maybe what Adobe has added into the newest release of Elements is just what you need. PSE 2019 now comes with a new home screen or Hub, where you must start if you want to go to the Organizer, Photo Editor, or Premiere Elements, if you have it installed. Included in the Hub is Auto Creations. Built into the Hub is a new feature in PSE 2019, Auto Creations.

To give you a brief overview of the new Hub and what Auto Creations are all about, I have added a new YouTube video. You can find it at the link below.

PSE 2019’s New Hub and Auto Creations Video

As I describe in the video, you have the option to turn Auto Creations off, but not the Hub. This is Adobe’s version of Auto Creations, and I will expect it to improve and evolve in future releases. 

That’s all for now. Until next time,

Happy Holidays! 

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New Webpage With Links to my Photoshop Elements Tutorials

Over the past couple of years I have been blogging tutorials on Photoshop Elements. When I started the latest version was PSE 15. When it was replaced with PSE 2018, I used screen shots from it for subsequent tutorials. I did the same when PSE 2019 was introduced.

Almost all of the tutorials are based on updated versions of my class handouts I used when I was teaching Photoshop Elements. The links are to PDF files for the most part which can be downloaded and printed if desired. There are also a few videos included. The tutorials cover both the Organizer and Photo Editing using Elements.

Click on the image below to go to the webpage that has the complete list.

Loading and Using Luminosity Masks in PSE 2019

A couple of months ago, I posted a tutorial on how to play back the sample Actions that have been a part of PSE for some time. A few years ago, Adobe made playing Actions easier, but they still can only be run. The Actions must be written by Photoshop in such a way as to use only those commands available internally in PSE or ones that are accessible by the user.

There are scores of Actions available online that can be loaded and played within PSE. In this tutorial, I demonstrate how to load and install a very creative set of actions by Tony Kuiper that make it very easy to apply Luminosity Masks in PSE for advanced photo editing. If you have been following photo editing topics, currently one of the most popular is using Luminosity Masks Now you can use this advanced technique from within PSE.

Below is the link to my PDF file of the tutorial that you can easily download or print. By the way, there is a lot of additional tutorials and other information available on Tony Kuiper’s website.

Loading and Using Luminosity Masks Actions

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and found it helpful. If so, please Like  it, give it a Star Rating and Share with others who may also find it helpful.

Until next time.

Adobe Announces Photoshop Elements 2019

Today Adobe announced Photoshop Elements 2019 and Premiere Elements 2019. Introducing new versions of PSE and PRE has become an annual event in late September or very early October.

Since new versions are released annually, the improvements are generally incremental. Depending upon what new features have been added, upgrading ever year may not be necessary for everyone. That being said, there is enough new in the 2019 versions to warrant giving them a good look.

In this post, I will highlight the new capabilities added to PSE 2019. In later posts, I will cover PRE 2019, Adobe’s video editing program.

Photoshop Elements Organizer

• Adobe has incorporated a new and efficient installer that should simplify and speed up the installation for those downloading both PSE 2019 and PRE 2019 from Adobe’s website.

 

• There is a totally redesigned Start page or Hub. This page always opens first in both PSE 2019 or PRE 2019. There does not seem to be a way to avoid this and going directly to the Organizer or Photo Editor in one click, short of manually putting a shortcut to the applicable .exe file. However, the new Start Page has some interesting links that most users will find helpful.

In addition to links to the Organizer, Photo Editor, and Video Editor (PRE 2019), it previews Auto Creations, a brand new feature in PSE 2019

• Auto Creations is probably the biggest innovation added to the Organizer. Auto Creations examines your photos and videos in the Organizer and automatically generates slide shows, photo collages, video collages, and interesting photos extracted from your videos. Many may not really be what you are looking for, but each can be fine tuned within the program or even deleted. These creations may take awhile to generate, but the process runs in the background. Up to 40 creations can be generated, and as you delete some, others will be added as new photos and videos are imported into the Organizer.

• There is one take away. You can no longer share a photo directly to Facebook from the Organizer. As of August 1^st, Facebook does not allow direct sharing from any desktop app. I suspect this is part of their security improvements. Perhaps when some dust settles, the capability may return.

Photo Editor

• Adobe has added some new fun and useful Guided Edits to this version. This includes creating a Meme (humorous image/video or text), Partial Sketch, Text and Border Overlay, and Multi-Photo Text.

• Text Tool now includes custom Leading and Tracking.

• The Open Closed Eyes tool now can select the source photo for eye replacement from the Photo Bin. This added capability makes this excellent tool even easier to use.
• The new Apple High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF) for JPEG images is available on Mac iOS 10.13. HEIF images  can be taken by an iPhone 7 or later or  the iPad Pro.

New versions of both PSE 2019 and PRE 2019 are available from Adobe now at the link below.

https://www.adobe.com/products/elements-family.html?promoid=V2XYKZ3B&mv=other

So far, I have not seen the new versions offered on Amazon. However, it was my understanding that it would be available in stores on the release date.

In the coming weeks, I will post additional information and demos on both PSE 2019 and PRE 2019, so stay tuned.

Until next time…

Facebook No Longer Supports Direct Uploads From Photoshop Elements

Since the first of August, Facebook does not allow you to upload pictures directly from desktop photo editing programs such as Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements could previously upload photos to Facebook from its Organizer, by clicking on Share > Facebook, as illustrated in the figure below.

 

 Since August 1^st, when you do that, you are greeted with the error message below.

Clicking on Continue, the following message appears.

 

This change affects only desktop applications. Uploading photos and videos from smartphones and tablets are not affected by this new restriction.

Click on the link below to learn more about this change by Facebook. It is unclear whether Facebook will once again be available from Elements in the future.

Learn More

So, for the foreseeable future, you will need to do it directly from Facebook, navigating to the physical location on your computer where the photo is located.  My general approach is to export the photo to a special folder on my desktop, and then direct Facebook to that location. I clean out the folder periodically, since once the photo is uploaded, I no longer need a copy in this special folder.  

Until next time...

 

Applying Photoshop CC Watercolor Painting Technique Using Elements

One of the advantages of using the Photo Editor expert mode in Photoshop Elements is that Elements is based on th same engine as used in Photoshop CC. This is quite evident once you get into the dialogs for specific commands and tools.

This post links to an AppTip Sheet that clearly illustrates this by applying a watercolor effect to a photo. This effect starts with applying the Watercolor filter, but goes well beyond this simple effect,

I learned the technique from an article by Colin Smith of Photoshop Cafe. He explains his technique using Photoshop CC. However, it uses the commands and tools that have long been a part of Photoshop.

I was able to apply the same technique in PSE 2018 with only a couple of modifications. My AppTip Sheet breaks with my usual practice and topics for these tip sheets. The technique involves many steps, and this the TipSheet is much longer than normal.

This technique allows for wide range of customization in the settings as you apply the steps. Below shows the before and after for the photo and settings I chose.

Here is the link to the AppTip Sheet.

Try this out and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Until next time…

Using Actions in Photoshop Elements 2018

One of the capabilities the Photo Editor has had for a long time is the ability to play Photoshop Actions.

An Action is similar to a macro in Excel or Word that will complete a series of steps or commands automatically, once started from a single click of the mouse. Using Actions can greatly increase the speed of performing tasks that take multiple steps and are something  you do repeatedly while editing a photo.

However, Elements cannot write Actions. The Action must be created using Photoshop CC, and then saved. Additionally, the Action cannot contain any commands that are not in PSE, or used by it internally.

The link below is to an AppTip Sheet that provides an introduction to using Actions in PSE 2018. The process is similar to earlier versions. It used to be a Guided Edit in an earlier version of PSE.

In my next post I will cover how to download, install, and run an Action written by a third party, of which there are hundreds of free ones online.

Until next time…