August 18, 2009

Horsing Around with Photoshop Elements

Now that I have gotten well enough to sit a while at my desktop computer, I am teaching myself some more new tricks on Photoshop Elements. I am using multiple sources of information, including those that I discussed in a couple of June posts.
One web site that I recently discovered is Jessica Sprague, who specializes in digital scrapbooking. She offered a free online class for photo editing techniques for frame-ups and special effects, and I signed up to try it. I am more than halfway through the series of online videos for the class and have learned several new techniques. In addition to informative videos, her courses include some text instructions and digital support files for download. I believe that it would be best to have a little bit of Photoshop Elements experience before signing up for one of her online classes.
I have previously delved into creating altered photos by adding a textured layer. Some of you may remember the photos that I shared in my March 7, 2009, post for a photo challenge. Jessica Sprague’s class had me again venturing into this territory, this time using multiple texture layers on one image.
How cool is this? In my digital library, I had this image of one of my horse neighbors…

Appaloosa horse
And I transformed it into this antiqued image within a few short minutes!
Appaloosa horse - antiqued image
Another web source I have found very helpful is Rick Peterson’s Essential Photoshop Elements. I found this fellow’s site through Twitter. It includes useful handy tips, tutorials, and instructive videos. His information has aided me already. For example, I didn’t know about Element’s “magic extractor” tool. But I followed his video and was able to put the knowledge to use immediately. The web site is relatively new and Rick is adding more features to it on a regular basis. If you are new to using Photoshop Elements, make sure that you visit his web site!

7 comments:

  1. i love these, donna....and always want to be able to do it,....start reading through the tutorial and get impatient!!!! i need to just set aside time to do it one of these days...cuz i love it!!
    hugs,
    kimberly

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  2. Way cool! You've got it goin' on, Ms Donna!! Good for you. :)

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  3. Oh Donna!! This is Gorgeous!! I Love the look of it!!hughugs

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  4. Thank you for the site information! I'm going to find the time to read through all the information soon.

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  5. Hey sweetie
    Thanks for visiting! I will definitely be trying to get back to normal with blogging and reading.
    I get by with my photoshop programs. Took a short online course and then, you know, life happened. Don't know when I can get back to it. Love to learn new stuff!
    You are GOOD
    lots of hugs

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  6. Wow! What a treasure trove of information this post is. And it's just what I've been looking for, thanks Donna.

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  7. Oh boy! I love it when Bloggers give such great links and I'll be sure to look for them again when my computer is up and at'em.

    Speaking of which, I see that you are not one to sit idly by. Congrats on doing the hard work that comes with getting back on your feet. It was a delight to read that you are feeling stronger every day. Take good care now...

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Marty, here! Donna loves comments, and I faithfully pass them on to her. Thank you so much for visiting!