pixelupdate

Can't Save for Web, Error: “File not Found”

This problem has to do with the “Preview in Default Browser” setting in the Save For Web dialog. Here is one user's solution:

In Photoshop's “Save for Web” dialog, at the bottom right (to the left of the “Edit in ImageReady” button) is a drop-down “Select Browser” menu. It's one of those things most people don't normally pay any attention to. If left as the default, with no browsers in the list, I have the problem previously described. Once I put Firefox in that list (whether I make it the default previewer or not) my problems are solved. I would guess it's because I don't have the Firefox application in the main Applications directory with the other browsers and Photoshop wasn't able to locate the application on its own.

More details at: http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/[email protected]@.3bb830b2

Photoshop Elements 3 VCD/Slideshow quality woes?

Have you created a VCD using PSE3 and found that the quality is crappy? The problem with VCD format is its resolution and video bit rate. Images are down-sampled to 352x240 and constant video bit rate is set to 2000 kbps during the WMV encoding process. When the VCD is played on a television, the 352x240 images are displayed in full-screen mode and you lose the quality of the image.

The Elements 3.0 slideshow, which is based on WMV and VCD spec, is very strict about how the movie file is encoded for VCD purposes. The reason for low video bit rate is that VCD was originally intended to display 1 hour of video on a 650MB CD. The higher the resolution size and video bit rate, the larger the individual movie file on VCD. If you feel adventurous, you can increase the bit rate by editing the existing VCD NTSC Output.prx file, but that gets pretty technical and you don't want to dig yourself into a hole you can't get yourself out of.

Album 2.0 is a little different in as it is merely wrapping creations to PDF. Images are not down-sampled to 352x240 and it is not encoded in VCD movie file. It's merely a PDF creation with a movie file on a CD.

Photoshop Elements 3.0.1 Update (Win only, English & Japanese)

The Photoshop Elements 3.0.1 free updater for the English and Japanese versions is now available online at:  http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/new.jsp

Here are the facts:

• Which Platform: Windows only
• Which languages: English and Japanese (the updater won't work with German, French, etc.)
• This updater fixes 3 things:

    1. Provides new access point to download new creation templates for photo books and calendars.

    2. If a version of Photoshop Album or Photoshop Album Starter Edition is installed on the PC but was never launched, the Organizer in PSE3 failed to launch with a catalog error. This won't happen any longer with 3.0.1.

  3. British and Australian users are able to change the date format in the Organizer to day/month/year by using the shortcut key combination Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D, the same way as they could in PS Album 2.0.

Using the Cookie Cutter tool in PSE3 as mask tool

Here is a cool alternate use of the Cookie Cutter tool in Photoshop Elements 3. You can use any of the shapes available with the Cookie Cutter tool, in conjunction with adjustment layers, to create some fun and neat effects in your images. Here are some quick steps to try:

• Open an image
• Click on the 'Create adjustment layer' icon in the Layers palette (looks like a half white/half black circle) and select the type of adjustment layer you want to apply.  For this example, let's select the 'Hue/Saturation' adjustment layer.
• In the Hue/Saturation dialog click on the 'Colorize' checkbox and move the sliders until you get a result you like (I did Hue:50, Saturation:50, Lightness:-20) and click OK
• Select the Cookie Cutter tool (looks like a heart icon with a little person inside) and select your desired shape in the options bar (by default the shape is a heart).
• Click and drag your shape on the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer you just applied.
• Adjust the position, scale, and rotation and then apply your Cookie Cutter crop by double-clicking within the shape you created or click on the check icon in the options bar.
• There you go. You've used the Cookie Cutter tool to create a mask on your adjustment layer!
• If you want to play further, try applying some Layer Styles (See Styles and Effects palette) to your adjustment layer.  WOW!

Yet another way to covert to Black and White

In addition to converting your color images to Black and White by changing your color mode to Greyscale or by using the Channel mixer (PS only), here is yet another technique you might like to explore.

• Open a color image
• In the layers palette, click on the ‘Create adjustment layer’ (PSE) icon or ‘Create new fill or adjustment layer’ (PS) icon and select Gradient Map.
• From here you can choose among a number of different gradients, choose the 'Black,White' gradient.
• Bam, there you have it, a dynamic Black and White image. If it doesn't look right, you can try clicking the Reverse checkbox, changing the blend mode, or reducing the opacity in the Layers palette.

PSE3 Online Help error

If the hard disk name on your machine or your user account name contains double-byte or extended characters, you'll probably see this error message when you attempt to open Online Help in Photoshop Elements 3.0: “Cannot find the file... Either the password or Internet address is incorrect.” A side effect of this is that the How To palette becomes blank.

More info and solution here: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/331055.html

Troubleshooting system errors in Windows XP

This is a very thorough Adobe technical document describing how to troubleshoot errors in XP (on multiple levels): http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/328573.html  Though this document relates to Elements in XP, it is a useful guide that can be applied to other applications for troubleshooting.

Photo Browser vs. File Browser (PSE3 for Windows)

Confused about the difference between the Photo Browser and the File Browser in PSE3 for Windows? When and why to use one as opposed to the other? Here is a great Adobe technical document explaining the differences: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/330719.html

Elements 3 (Windows) ODBC errors

If you are getting ODBC errors in the Organizer of Elements 3.0, the problem is likely the Windows files that the Organizer relies on. The Windows ODBC drivers are probably damaged and need to be repaired. Initiate this repair by selecting the Update option from the Windows XP CDs.

Beware backing up onto DVDs from PSE3

There have been incidents reported where no data is written to some DVDs when attempting to back up your images and other content in Photoshop Elements 3.0 (Windows only). Follow the discussion here: http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/[email protected]@.3bb6c27d