Watercolor Artist Action Set from Adobe Create Magazine?

[Teire]

Does this work for anyone with Adobe Photoshop 2021? It would be an amazing action set to have, but it just errors out saying "Could not rasterize because the selected pattern is not available." and that a bunch of the actions just don't work or aren't available.

This would be so cute and useful... if it ever worked. THe original article outlining the steps of how to use it is here Transform Photos into Watercolors with a Free Photoshop Action.

EDITED BY MOD: Deleted dead hyperlink.

[Teire · Accepted solution]

OMG folks. Okay. SO OF COURSE, as soon as I posted this, I discovered the steps for Adobe Photoshop 2020:

https://creativecloud.adobe.com/discover/article/transform-photos-into-watercolors-with-a-free-photo...

So. I installed as per this documentation on Adobe Photoshop 2021, used a 3000 pixel image, and it took a good 5 mins on my laptop, in order to complete, but this Action Set works. And I quite seriously got the shakes somewhere in the middle there -- not gonna lie -- because it works so well. The output, given a photo with good dark and light values, is ridiculously beautiful.

Charles Purdy, wherever you are: Thank you!

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[ftconroy22]

These links no longer work. Please update them so they don't dead end. Thanks.

[c0untryg1rl]

The Updated Watercolor Artist Action Set from Adobe Create Magazine
https://creativecloud.adobe.com/discover/article/transform-photos-into-watercolors-with-a-free-photo...

I uploaded my successful result of running the action. It takes quite a long time to run. I use Photoshop CC 2023.

EDITED BY MOD: Removed dead hyperlink; inserted correct hyperlink.

[deane4work]

Thank you so much! THIS is the answer everyone!

[Wendy Walkin]

That link is dead now.  They sure don't make it easy for us

[c0untryg1rl]

Here's the original link to the Watercolor Artist Action. This is a
Photoshop action and may not work in Photoshop Elements.
https://creativecloud.adobe.com/cc/discover/article/transform-photos-into-watercolors-with-a-free-ph...

[Wendy Walkin]

Thank you!!

[c0untryg1rl]

Moderator, please delete these links above, as they no longer work:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/62ualeqm3xf6hyw/Watercolor%20Artist%20-%20Guid
The Updated Watercolor Artist Action Set from Adobe Create Magazine
https://assets.adobe.com/public/c942ff9a-6c74-4437-5b2f-9f3592f4c1e1

[c0untryg1rl]

To anyone new to this post wondering if this Photoshop Action still works with your version of Photoshop, it should, but make sure you have the most recent version of Creative Cloud Photoshop installed. My recent image created with the action is attached below. The most recent update of this action includes 1) SETUP & 2) WATERCOLOR ARTIST, so you don't have to worry about setting it up manually. The action takes awhile to complete. It's not a "one-click-and-done" action. After it finishes running, look at the Layers panel, where you'll find over 50 layers that can be adjusted and tweaked to make it look good. If you aren't experienced using Adjustment Layers and Masks, you may get frustrated with it. Below is a screenshot of a partial view of the layers. The top layer is a "Stamp Visible" layer I added, which is a combination of all of the layers beneath, and which I tweaked further in Photoshop's Camera Raw Filter. To create a Stamp Visible layer, with the top layer active, depress Shift-Ctrl-Alt-E (Windows) or Shift-Cmd-Opt (Mac). Once that layer is created, you can't make further adjustments to the layers beneath, unless you delete the Stamp Visible layer which covers up all the layers beneath. 

[Lugiachan]

I seem to be running into the same issue that was originally posted, I've made sure that I am running the newest version of photoshop as well as installing the brush pack. it works through setup fine but always gives the same error at the watercolour artist phase. is there anything that could be causing it or is it most likely user error?

[c0untryg1rl]

Lugiachan, did you also install the pattern files? If so, what is your error message when running 2)...

[Lugiachan]

the error message says "could not rasterize because the selected pattern is not available". it turns out that I didn't install the pattern file so that should help hopefully!

[shewillcreateit]

I am in need of the updated links for this action, please. Is anyone able to help with this?

I would really appreciate it!

Thank you ahead of time!

[c0untryg1rl]

Below is the original link that was posted from Adobe Create Magazine. Scroll down at that page to find where the Download link to the updated action files were added. There is also a video and written instructions on that page . There are 3 files in the download you need to install - the Action file (ATN), the Brushes file (ABR) and the Pattern file (PAT). In the most recent versions of  Photoshop CC, the easiest way to install those is to double-click on each of those 3 files. To see that they have been installed, check their respective Photoshop panels. There is an image of PS screenshots below. 
https://creativecloud.adobe.com/cc/discover/article/transform-photos-into-watercolors-with-a-free-ph...

[elisen34419454]

I've uploaded it all and there are still bugs in it - it won't allow me to get past the first 'Smooth' part of 2 Watercolor artist (step 15 of the action) and then it says it's not available, I've tried it in 8 bit, 16 bit and 32 bit, and it's always the same, if you click continue there are also tons of errors further on that stop it from function ing properly - they need fixing as it's not usable as it is in CC2024

[c0untryg1rl]

Since you're having problmes with this action in Photoshop CC2024, why not update to the most recent version.  From another post: 

Nu1 • New Here , Apr 23, 2024

Hi! Just wanted to point out that the links in the official Adobe Discover page are now working with and updated version of Watercolor Artist (update late March 2024, tested on PS 25).

You can delete the previous version and use just this one.

Here is the link:

https://creativecloud.adobe.com/cc/discover/article/transform-photos-into-watercolors-with-a-free-ph...

[robertk31536873]

this does not work either.  With zero help from Adobe,  install directions that are incorrect and work aroounds that do nothing, it's time to give up.  I think 3 years is long enough to kick a dead horse.  It used to be awesome.  

[robertk31536873]

I kept getting  Could not rasterize because the selected pattern is not available. error message every time I ran the action.

[weso94744947]

Fixed that by Manually installing everything, import the Brushes in the Brush menu and install the Patterns in the Patterns menu. Adobe mess around with the Preset Manager.  Besides that everything in the guide works the same

[elizabethn52808604]

Can you provide a little more detail as to how you "manually install everything"? Thanks; I'm trying to run a much-vaunted Painterly Brushes Action and PS is giving me the same error: "Could not rasterize because the selected pattern is not available." What pattern would this be and how do I install it?

[c0untryg1rl]

You can automatically install the action file (atn), brush file (abr), and the pattern file (pat) by double-clicking on each one. Then go to the Brush tool, click on the brush picker and scroll all the way to the bottom, and you'll find the newly installed brushes. To view the newly installed patterns and action, in the Window menu, click Patterns and Actions to open those panels.
Make sure you have the most recent update to the Action files. There is a set of instructions in the Download, but ignore the instructions to use the preset manager (Adobe changed that in the most recent versions), just install the files by double-clicking. If you can't find a link amongst all these posts, try this one: one: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/odxnppvh7zgmyvz/AADFrWHbRcfzrLvOPpn-08Vda?dl=1

[syreetap47320604]

You're a godsend for sharing these links!  Thanks so much.  I was able to install and it worked like a charm *yay*

[c0untryg1rl]

Syreetap47320604
I'm so glad I was able to help and it worked for you. 

[D02]

There was a problem with the old action files (action just hangs midway) AND the updated files were missing from Adobe. So cool of you to have provided them separately on dropbox and now it works like a charm! Thank you so much!