Special Photo Effects in Photoshop Elements

Today Laura is sharing a Special Photo Effects in Photoshop Elements tutorial.

Special Photo Effects in Photoshop Elements

Introduction

Add a little, or a lot of grunge, with this easy photo effect in Photoshop Elements.

It’s a great way to salvage:

• Old photos, such as this scan of a color slide snapped in the 1960s.
• Technically imperfect photo images.

1. Select Photo

Choose and prepare your photo.

• Go to File> Open, navigate to your image and double-click to open into your workspace.
• Go t0 File> Duplicate (Elements) to create a copy of the image.
• Close the original image and work with the photo duplicate.

2. Apply Photo Effect

Select different effects from the Effects Panel.

• Click on the FX icon at the bottom right of the screen to access the Effects Panel.
• Activate the menu options by clicking on the downward facing arrow at the top of the panel.
• Choose ‘Show All‘ and hover your cursor over the thumbnails for more information about each effect.
• Double-click on the preview thumbnail to apply the effect to your photo.

Optional:

• You can add more than one effect.
• Each effect creates a new photo layer in the Layers Panel.
• View these layer(s) by clicking the Layers icon bottom right of your screen.
• You can toggle between the 2 panels.

Note:

• The Effects you have available to you may VARY according to the version of Photoshop Elements you are using.
• Laura applied the Florescent Chalk effect in Photoshop Elements 14.

3. Make Adjustments

Improve the appearance of the chosen effect with your photo.

• Change the Saturation via Enhance> Change Color> Hue/Saturation.
• Go to Enhance> Adjust Lighting> Brightness/Contrast or Levels to change the Contrast.
• Duplicate layers and modify the Blending Modes and Opacity.
• Apply a Layer Mask to ‘effects’ layer bring back underlying details in the ‘original’ layer using BrushSets.
• Go to Layer> Flatten Image to merge the layers into one.

Notice. Laura brought back the detail of the facial features.

4. Create a Layout

Blend your ‘special effect’ photo with aA DigitalART supplies.

• Blend the photo using a Layer Mask and Brushes or clip the image to a FotoBlendz mask.
• Duplicate the layers and apply Blending Modes modifying the Opacity of each layer as preferred to fine-tune light and dark areas.
• Add Transfers and Overlays, Embllishments and WordART to complete your layout.

Note.

• Laura used Solid Paper #3 from Artplay Palette Document plus three duplicate copies of her photo.

DigitalART Supplies

See designer process notes and complete list of aA DigitalART supplies.

Summary

Add a special effects to your photo from the Effects Panel in Photoshop Elements.

• Work on a copy of your photo so you do not change the original
• Experiment with applying one or more Effects to your photo.
• Modify the effect(s) using some of the Useful Techniques in Photoshop and Elements.

WE INVITE YOU TO:

• Read this Artsy Processing with Smartphone Apps on the aA Blog.
• Watch this Layers of Blending Modes video on the aA Youtube Channel.
• Learn how to create this Collage and ‘Window’ Effect.

AND IF YOU LIKED THIS MASTER DESIGN USING TEMPLATES, PLEASE CONSIDER SHARING IT USING THE SOCIAL MEDIA BUTTONS BELOW.