
davescm
Community Expert
davescm
Community Expert
Activity
24m ago
It seems this thread has drifted away from the OP's request. However, to avoid any misleading info, remember that Photoshop does not run natively in Linux.
Dave
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5 hours ago
Thanks to all who took part in our last rocky terrain challenge. It was great to see the different ideas and approaches to bring that scene to life.
I post this new challenge on March 14th which happens to be Pi day (3.14......). So I thought we should honour this remarkable number, which has been calculated to trillions of decimal places, by using its Greek symbol as a starting point. What can you make with it?
The “rules”:
Use the starter image as at least part of your own image entry.
Anything goes, as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright, etc.
Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to have a go, whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert. This is not just for our forum “regulars”.
There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off your skills, or bring a bit of humor and fun. Don't be shy, join in and have a go!
The starter image is made available for you to use in this forum challenge only.
To download the starter image, hover over the image and click on the circle with the arrows at the top right. Then, when the image opens in its own window, right click and choose “Save Image As/Save Target As” (or similar depending on your browser). The background is transparent so you don't even need to mask it.
When posting back your image — please use the blue reply button in this first post and use the 'Insert Photos' icon at the top of the reply box. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry, then please use the grey reply button next to their image post.
Have fun!
Dave
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5 hours ago
1 Upvote
The oldest version I have installed on this PC is v22 and it is the same. I'll try and check another PC with some earlier versions later.
Dave
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Mar 13, 2025
@gener7 I've been caught out with it before 🙂
Dave
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Mar 13, 2025
You're welcome 🙂
Dave
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Mar 13, 2025
1 Upvote
It sounds like it is being recognised as a 'bullet point'. You can turn off that detection in Preferences > Type > Automatic Detection of Bulleted and Numbered lists while typing.
Dave
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Mar 13, 2025
2 Upvotes
Can you confirm you are seeing this only on the cursor. Here the cursor is not anti-aliased but the actual brush stroke is.
Dave
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Mar 13, 2025
1 Upvote
To add to the answer from @Aleke , when you created the shape as a simple rectangle, it was a live shape. Hence the controls shown in the properties panel, and the corner controls on the screen. Those were retained when you moved it and rotated it. However one of your transform actions changed the shape from a rectangle to a irregular polygon (by transforming it without retaining the aspect ratio). At that point it is no longer a live shape and the properties panel now shows the shape path as it does with any other 'non-live' shape.
The rest of the answer from Aleke explains how to change the stroke and fill etc.
Dave
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Mar 13, 2025
You cannot buy Photoshop outright, it is available by subscription only. Anywhere claiming to sell a perpetual licence will be selling pirated software with all the risks of malware that that brings.
You can take out a subscription direct from Adobe and there are some resellers that also sell the subscription. For Photoshop, the best value is the Photography plan which gives you Photoshop, Lightroom for less than the price of Photoshop alone. It does require a 12 month commitment though.
As far as I am aware, a credit card is required to start the trial.
If you need the full CC package (you mention editing PDFs) and you are a student, check whether your college qualifies you for an educational discount. This would appear to be even better value, if you qualify.
https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/buy/students.html
Dave
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Mar 12, 2025
02:30 PM
1 Upvote
Welcome to SFTW critter_monster. I like the new placement of the rocks by the sea. The magpie though, wasn't it "one for sorrow..." ? 🙂
I've used the image widget at the top of the posting box to embed your image in your post so that others can easily see it. Dave
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Mar 11, 2025
03:23 PM
I'm not sure which would more scary, going up or down that hill 🙂
Dave
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Mar 11, 2025
03:22 PM
1 Upvote
It's not cheating at all, particularly as I modelled, textured and rendered the starter image in 3D applications.
Dave
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Mar 11, 2025
09:24 AM
It looks like a bug to me and I can replicate it here. The same function used to control the grayscale value in a uniform colour node works fine, it is just the text node in which the result is as you show above. I'll move the thread to 'bugs'
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
10:13 AM
1 Upvote
The mask would normally apply to all channels on the layer. Are those channels (normal, AO etc) enabled for your fill layer? If so, when you switch the layers panel view to show one of them, say normal, is the mask still there (it should be)?
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
09:40 AM
1 Upvote
The scratches are commonly called swirls and occur in surfaces that have been polished using a circular motion resulting in very fine scratches in the polished surface. You can see them on cars where they have been polished in that manner.
To replicate it, I would try and do something like that in a clear coat, leaving the surface underneath to reflect the background. You will of course need to use a shader that can render a clear coat.
You can make a set of concentric scratches fairly simply :
Then use an FX-Map to iterate those scratches each in a random position (use random functions on the position in the quadrant node)
Then you can tile further if required and use it to control the normal map, and colour, of a clear coat.
Rough and ready, but hopefully it gets you started down the right lines.
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:38 AM
It needs two things, a shadow on the donkey to try and match the scene lighting, and a shadow from the donkey on the ground again to match the shadows in the scene.
Add a new layer above the layer on which the shadow will fall and clip it to that layer. That way, for example, the shadow on the donkey will not fall elswhere. Set that new layer to multiply blend mode. Paint in the shadow on that layer with a soft brush with it's opacity set to around 30% and colour set to black. Repeat for the shadows on the ground, remembering that the darkest shadow is closest to the donkey's feet and it will fade as it gets further away.
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:29 AM
So this is why the land is so barren, thanks for showing us the story 🙂
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:28 AM
Haha - we often see aliens portrayed as humanoid or ants. But now we have space frogs, it made me smile. 🙂
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:26 AM
A nice bit of story telling, Danielle. A good job with the waater and reflections too.
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:24 AM
Excellent Jill. Your photo of the zebra works well and those distant mountains could always have been there.
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:21 AM
1 Upvote
Three for the price of one Nils!
The second one is my pick of the three, I love the greenery which work well with the new sky colouring.
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:20 AM
1 Upvote
Very good Monika. There were no references for scale in the starter image so the large boot is as valid as any other interpretation. Trevor, I love the expression on the ant as the boot comes down. Excellent. Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:17 AM
Haha - a nice use of the rocks and the top of the alien head in the helmet tells the story. Nice!
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:16 AM
In the best pantomime tradition - ' He's behind you...'
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:13 AM
It is amazing how the scale of the empty landscape can be interpreted differently, and yet they all work. I like this, warming up the rock colours helps, and the water also works well. Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:11 AM
1 Upvote
I was wondering where this new planet was. It has some atmosphere, judging by the sky, so either it is a newly reached planet, or you have discovered a way of introducing an atmosphere to the moon. Either way, it is a win!
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:08 AM
2 Upvotes
Now this is an original use of the starter image. Strange and surreal, I like it. 🙂
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:06 AM
I like the atmosphere here. He does, though, need to cast some shadow on the ground to help him sit in the scene. 🙂
Dave
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Mar 10, 2025
03:02 AM
1 Upvote
@Shayde48 Adobe make available the current version and previous version for download in the CC desktop app. Today, that means v26 and v25. In addition, v22.2 is still available for download as it is the last version that supported 3D functions. Windows 11 is not a system requirement, the current versions will work with Windows 10. https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/system-requirements.html
Dave
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Mar 08, 2025
04:14 AM
'No it isnt illegal if you paid for it.'
It depends who is selling it, or giving it away. If someone bought CS5 from Adobe, or an approved reseller, then of course they can still use it. However, buying or downloading pirated software does not make it legal to use. The age of the software does not alter that.
Dave
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