Thinking of Chris and you. Please keep in touch. ... View more

Right you are, CP. Sorry. ... View more

Are you working with 8 bit files? ... View more

Oops! I meant to write Film Grain in #4 ... View more

Are you looking for Filter > Filter Gallery > Artistic > Fine Grain? ... View more

I have to ask: If you are going from dng directly into jpg without editing, why shoot raw at all? ... View more

If you are using a Mac and have Time Machine engaged, you will be able to recover the larger file by going to an earlier date or time. Otherwise it is probably gone forever. As a regular practice, though, I suggest that when you were working on a file that has taken weeks to prepare, it is a good practice to make sequential saves, each time with a modified file name, such as filename_1, filename_2, etc. ... View more

Stick with it, Jack. This version used only an Average command and Curves (no masks), but the Curves were in 3 different Modes, each Mode offering special advantages. (I wish I had opened the shadows more. Sorry about that. I will now leave it to you to eliminate the stains and do local correction. Good luck.) ... View more

Drag diagonally. (My typo. A lesson not to talk on the phone while typing.) You wrote: I found that if I did the first part of you instructions it sort of worked. I did: Click and hold, then hold Shift, then start to drag I will edit your reply for the correct method: "I found that if I did the first part of your instructions it sort of worked. I did: Click and hold the Shift key. Then while still holding down the shift key also hold the Alt key, and start to drag diagonally. ... View more

Click and and down the Shift key. Now, with the Shift key still held down, click and hold down the Alt key as you drag diagonally. For a concentric circle create a dupe layer. Then Edit > Transform > Scale Once again first hold down the Shift, then click and hold the Alt as you drag the bottom-right corner handle inward diagonally ... View more

Is "eye" off on the chosen Layer in the Layers panel? ... View more

Eliminating the background so it is transparent can be done with precision by using the Layer Style's Blend If command. 1. Open the file and if the layer is locked, trash the lock. 2. Cmd+click on the New Layer symbol in the Layers panel to place a blank layer below the object layer. 3. Return to the top layer and double click on it in the Layers panel to bring up Layer Style. 4. In the Blend If section at the bottom of Layer Style, move the right slider of the top grayscale to the left until the background in the illustration disappears. For extra precision, at the point where the background is about to disappear, you may Option-click on the left half of the slider to split it and gently move it to the left as you watch the tone in the illustration disappear. 5. Layer > Merge down  and then File > Save ... View more

Google psd to dds and you will find freeware sites that do the job. Same for jpg to dds freeware. ... View more

One more comment regarding the method I outlined. (Here comes the pitch to sell this approach) 1. You are free to use another Selection tool -- including the lasso -- to create an irregular outline before vignetting. 2. You have the option of choosing the bottom layer and Edit > Fill with a color. ... View more

There are several ways to create a vignetted image using Photoshop. One which will allow you to view and adjust the degree of edge fade visually as you work is this: (It takes longer to describe than to do.) 1. Open the file containing the image you want to vignette. In the Toolbox, set the foreground color to black, and the background color to white by striking the D key. 2. In the Layers panel, drag the Background layer lock into the trash. This will convert the Background to an unlocked, editable layer: Layer 0. 3. Cmd click on the Create New Layer symbol at the bottom of the layers panel next to the Trash symbol. It creates Layer 1 beneath Layer 0. To fill Layer 1 with white choose Edit > Fill and in the Contents field select Background Color or White. Or: Use a key shortcut: Since the Background Color was set to white in Step 1, Cmd+Delete to fill Layer 1 with White. 4. Click on Layer 0, which contains your image. Then select the Elliptical Marquee tool, and in the Options bar, set Feather to 0.  Select part of the image. To reposition the selection, click in its center and drag it. Note: If, after creating the selection, you want to alter its dimensions, choose Select > Transform Selection, and make the adjustment. Then either click on the Commit checkmark in the upper right of the Options bar, or use the Return key to complete the change.) 5. Still in Layer 0, click on the Add Layer Mask symbol at the bottom of the Layers panel. It is the second symbol from the left. This will produce a hard-edged oval containing the selected portion of the image. CS5: With the mask in the Layers panel highlighted, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, adjust the slider to produce the degree of vignette you prefer, and click OK. CS6  and later: Choose the Properties panel, move the Feather slider to produce the degree of vignette you prefer and click OK. If the Properties panel does not currently appear, choose Window from the Menu bar and click on Properties from the drop-down menu. At this point you may drag Layer 1 (the image with its linked mask) over another Image. Simply click on Layer 1 and drag it to the new image. Then use the Move tool to place it with greater precision.  You may also resize the vignetted image by choosing Edit > Transform > Scale. When scaling, hold down the Shift key to maintain the current proportion. Then either click on the Commit checkmark in the upper right of the Options bar, or use the Return key to complete the change. ... View more

I don't know whether this adds fuel to the fire, but both of my entries generated the note in my mail shown here. Is someone filtering all entries? Is this new? ... View more

I suggest you check the Adult Education courses that are probably available at a nearby college. Check its site for course descriptions. Avoid the one-day cram courses. They are usually worthless: too much, too quickly. Not to be overlooked is the opportunity to meet other people in your area with a similar interest in  photography and build mutual-assistance networking that extends beyond the sessions. As an example: this is the course description for an Into to  Digital Photography course that is offered in my city. I am sure that similar courses are offered countrywide.  "This course allows students to explore digital photography and the cameras that have opened new possibilities in the medium.  This hands-on class will cover camera operation, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, file formats, white balance and traditional photographic principles such as the creative control of light and the art of composition. There will be an emphasis on shooting and students will be asked to show and discuss work in class sessions. Digital editing and file management will also be covered. For this class, a camera that offers some manual control over f-stops and shutter speeds is recommended but not required. The first class meeting includes information on what to look for when purchasing a digital camera. This is not a course in Photoshop." And, as Tevor advised: practice, practice, practice. Good luck. ... View more

After  you add a mask to the top layer, paint on the image (actually, the mask) in black with a hard edge brush. It will hide the overlapping part of the top S and reveal the contour of the lower one. ... View more

If this is how the file is constructed, just add a mask to the top layer and mask the area of the top "S"  that is circled to reveal the contour of the middle layer "S" ... View more

If the images have a common height-to-width ratio, what you have in mind can be accomplished automatically with Photoshop's Variables feature. I suggest you watch the ten minute video PS CS5 - Working with Variables | The Complete Picture with Julieanne Kost | Adobe TV Construct the template (modified from the example demonstrated) and use Excel with a column for the file's name and a column for the file's name as text . You can copy the file names from the Finder into it. A sample is shown below. In your case the frame is not necessary, the type placement, including on the image, and the font and its color are up to you. (The text file headings and layer names are: photo. name and file) ... View more

Is your ACR 8.4 or later? Until you can determine the source of the problem, I suggest you download and use from Adobe the free Adobe DNG converter. ... View more