Photographers, start your shopping engines.  Buy actions or presets at MCP, and learn how to use them at Texas Chicks!  What more could you want?

Now, it’s time to feed my kids pumpkin pie for breakfast.  That’s ok, right?  Happy Friday everyone!

Food photography tips were, ummm, flowing in abundance here last week.  I have more for you today.

Smart Flour Foods hired to to work up some product shots for their website.  I shot these images outside, to maximize light.  I also used my Speedlight as a fill flash for some shots.  I’m just getting to know that Speedlight and I’m a bit disappointed with the wireless range between my 7D and the flash.  Does anyone else have that problem?  The Speedlight has to be pretty close to the camera, and basically needs to point at the camera to pick up the signal.  Am I doing something wrong?

Besides digressing, that is.

Here are my food photography tips, based on this fun (and gluten-free) shoot:

• Clean and simple backgrounds are the best.  We placed a white table cloth on the table, and propped the scrim from my 5 in 1 reflector set on a chair to serve as the background.

• A bit of backlighting makes the image look even cleaner, and pulls attention to the subject.

• Ditto for wide apertures to blur out the background and make the “spread” look plentiful and never-ending.

• Using ice cream?  Scoop it the night before.  Practice until you get the perfect scoop.  And then freeze the scoops individually so that they freeze just like you want them to look in the photo.  On the day of the shoot, set up your shot, then add the ice cream and work fast.

• Prepare the food exactly as you would serve it to guests – include condiments and garnish.

• Arrange the food to showcase individual servings and show off details like chocolate chips.

• Get close.
  

• Zoom out too.I’m excited because the photos of the cookies on the Smart Flour Foods website aren’t mine.  I get to photograph them next!  Don’t they look scrumptious?

Just in case you haven’t changed your bookmarks and subscriptions to my new blog at Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics, I wanted to let you know that the results of my Clickin’ Moms contest are posted there.

Check it out!

And don’t forget to update your subscription!  All my digital photography and Photoshop Tutorials will be posted there from now on.

Ok, you have heard Rita and I talking about this for a while now, and it’s about to happen.

I am so excited!

I have moved everything on this blog over to Texas Chicks.  And I’ve forwarded as much as possible so that your bookmarks will still work.  Let me know if there are any tutorials you can’t find, however.

Also, make sure you sign up for our new weekly newsletter over at Texas Chicks.  It’s called the “Rooster Roster.”  And don’t forget to resubscribe to the feed, either by RSS or email.

What will you find at Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics?

First off, all the wonderful digital photography goodies you’ve come to expect from Digital Photography for Moms and CoffeeShop Rita.  We will still publish all the free actions, tutorials, templates and tips you’re used to seeing on our blogs.  Check out the Texas Chicks Photog page here.

In addition to that, we are going to teach you to have a fabulous blog.  Yes, that’s right.  We will empower you to have a fantastic DIY blog with all the bling and none of the pricey design fees.  You can do it and we will guide you every step of the way.

What’s more?  Texas Chicks Blogs and Picks will have a forum where Rita and I will be available to help you!  Forgot how to install our latest free action?  We’ll help.  Curious about those cute little buttons that flash on and off that everyone else has on their blog?  We’ll tell you what they’re called and how to make them.

I’ve been out of the posting routine lately working on this new project, but we have got some great stuff in the works:

• How to get started with a blog.
• How to make money from your blog.
• Finally, that review of Nik’s Dfine software I’ve been talking about.
• And, the results of the Digital Photography for Moms contest.  3 of you will win 30 minute one on one tutorials with me in the next few days!

Can’t wait to see you over at Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics!  Check out the site and let us know what you think.

So your focus isn’t tack sharp, but you have a beautiful picture other than that?  It happens to me way too often!  Adding a texture is a creative way to improve your picture and follow one of the latest photo processing styles at the same time.

Textures are usually JPEGs that you bring into your blurry image as a new layer.  Using them make the lack of focus less important, or even effective. 

You can creatively mask out the texture on areas where it isn’t necessary, like faces.  Also, adjust the opacity of the layer and experiment with blending modes to get just the right effect.

Free textures can be found in lots of places on the internet.  I like textures that have vignettes added already.  Some of my favorites sources of free textures are:

• CoffeeShop Free Photoshop Actions
• Flickr (search for “Free Textures” and you’ll come up with a jillion)
• CG Textures

Make sure you check out the texture creator’s guidelines.  Some people like to be given credit whenever you use their texture, others don’t want it used if you will be selling an image.

When life gives you lemons, call your blurry photo glowing & dreamy!

Sometimes, a picture is just plain out-of-focus, and no amount of sharpening can make it look good.  The Orton Effect is beautiful on many shots – I especially love it in landscapes.  Plus, it works great when you need to disguise an out-of-focus blur.

Orton Effect Technique

• Start with a flattened image and duplicate the background layer twice (right click on the background layer and select Duplicate).
• The Blending Mode of the top layer should be Screen.
• Right click on the top layer and select Merge Down.
• Duplicate the new top layer.
• Select Blur/Gaussian Blur from the Filter Meun.
• To start with, enter a radius value of 20.  You can experiment with this value once you get the hang of the Orton Effect.
• Change the Blending Mode of this top layer to Multiply.  Adjust its opacity as needed.
• If you’d like, you can add a Levels Adjustment layer above the background layer to perfect the colors.

• Subtle Vignette- Use the Rectangular  or Elliptical Marquee Tool to select the central portion of your photo and invert the selection (Shift+Control+I).  Apply a high amount of feathering (75 – 150 pixels maybe).  Copy this selection to a new layer and change the Blend Mode to Multiply.
• Basic Vignette- Press D to set your colors to Default black and white and make sure that black is the foreground color.  Use the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee Tool to select the central portion of your photo.  Invert the selection (Shift+Control+I).  Apply a high feather (try 75 – 150 pixels again).  Create a new layer and fill the selection with black (Alt+backspace).
• Variation on Basic Vignette – Instead of black, sample a color from your image or use a complimentary color to fill the vignette with.  Midnight blue works nicely sometimes!  Or the green from my daughter’s Christmas pajamas:

• Gauzy Vignette – Use a Marquee tool or make an exact selection of the subject of your picture, invert (Shift+Control+I), feather just a bit, copy the selection to a new layer, and Gaussian blur the bejeezus out of this layer (Filter Menu/Blur/Gaussian/20-50 pixels).

  

• Adjustable Vignette- Create a new layer and fill it with 50% gray (Edit Menu/Fill Layer/Contents Drop-Down Menu).  Change the layer’s Blend Mode to overlay.  Use a soft round brush at medium to high opacity to darken corners, edges and other less important parts of your image.
• Correct Camera Distortion - Go to the Filter Menu and select Correct Camera Distortion.  (In Photoshop CS4, this is Filter Menu/Distort/Lens Correction.)  In the Vignette section, move the amount slider to the left to create a vignette.  Or, if you want to remove a vignette created by your camera, move the slider to the right.  Thanks to Callie C for reminding me of this method!
• Great & Easy Vignette Effect - Press D (and X if necessary) to set your foreground color to black.  Add a Gradient Adjustment layer (which isn’t the same as the Gradient Map).  Double click on the gradient box and choose the Foreground to Transparent gradient.  Make the Style Radial, Scale 150% and turn on the check marks in the Reverse and Align with Layer boxes.  Click OK and change the Blending Mode of this layer to either Soft Light, Multiply or Overlay.   This method is via Rita from CoffeeShop!

Remember that you can adjust the layer’s opacity to make the vignette more natural with any of these methods (except for Correct Camera Distortion).

If you just need a refresher, you might start with the sections on Adjustment Layers, Layers Masks and Selecting a Brush. And you might need to refer back to those sections throughout the tutorial.

And don’t get discouraged. Stick with it, because Rita’s latest free action is awesome. It is truly all you need for making a portrait extra special.

Install and Run CoffeeShop Perfect Portrait Free Action

• If you don’t already have CoffeeShop Perfect Portrait, download it.  See these instructions for installing actions in PSE 4, 5, 6 & 7 on Vista and XP if you need help.
• Open Elements, and open a portrait that you would like to spruce up.  Make sure the image is flattened (only has one layer).  If not, right click on the Layers Palette and select Flatten Image. 
• Make sure you are in the Full Edit workspace (see image below).
• Press the button in the Effects Palette that says Photo Effects when you hover your mouse over it (see image below).  (These last two steps, among others, may vary according to the version of PSE that you own.  Instructions for accessing your installed actions in your specific version of PSE are on the installation help pages.

• Scroll down in the Photo Effects Palette until you see the CoffeeShop Perfect Portrait Thumbnail.

• Double click on the Perfect Portrait thumbnail and you will get this message from Rita:

Welcome to CoffeeShop Perfect Portrait!  Please adjust color/contrast when the level’s adjustment layer pops up.  Then let the action run and make final adjustments after it is finished.

Adjust Levels

• Click Continue, then OK in the New Layer Dialogue Box.
• Next, the Levels Adjustment box opens.  All the pros say that just about every picture can use some levels work.  But, if the colors in your picture look correct, click OK to proceed to the next section.
• If you do want to adjust your picture’s color tones, click on the black eyedropper, then click on something that should be black in your image. The key words here are should be.  The beauty of Levels is that you identify what should be black and what should be white and Elements will set black and white points, plus all colors in between, accordingly.

• Now, if you need to set the white point also because the color still doesn’t look right, you can click on the white eyedropper and then click on something that should be white.  Keep clicking with both eyedroppers if you’re not happy with the results. 
• You can also adjust the Input Levels sliders to fine-tune your color adjustments.  The left slider (above the number 0 in the image above) adjusts shadows, the middle slider adjusts mid-tones and the right slider adjusts highlights.  I often use the eyedroppers for shadows & highlights (blacks and whites) and use the slider for the mid-tones.
• You can hit Reset if you don’t like your adjustments and want to start over.  However, if you click Cancel, you will have to start over with the whole action.  Click Ok when you are happy with your adjustments.

Adjust Brightness and Color Saturation

• The action will complete its processing.
• Look at your Layers Palette, usually on the right hand side of the screen.  If you can’t find yours, pull down the Window menu at the top of the screen and put a check next to Layers.
• In the Layers Palette, you should see 13 layers (from bottom to top):
  • Background
  • Sharpen
  • Brighten
  • Vivid Color
  • Color Pop
  • Urban Grit
  • White Teeth
  • White Whites
  • Eye Define
  • Bright Eyes
  • Soft Skin
  • Dodge/Burn
  • Vignette

Notes on Using Adjustment Layers and Layer Masks

Looking at the image of the Layers Palette below, a few notes will be helpful before we continue. 

• First off, the active layer is the layer that is darker gray – the Color Pop layer is active in this case.  You can activate any layer by clicking on it, and you can’t make changes to a layer unless it is active.

• The eyeballs on the far left of each layer indicate that the layer is turned on.  Clicking on the eyeball will turn the layer off and hide its effects.
• Each layer has an opacity that can be adjusted at the top right hand corner of the Layers Palette.  The current opacity of this Color Pop layer is 50%.  That means that the strength of the effect is 50% of its potential.  0% means that the effect isn’t showing at all, and 100% means that it is showing at full strength.
• The Blending Mode is the box near the top left that says Soft Light for this particular layer.
• Each of the layers in the image above have a black or white box almost in the middle of the layer.  This is the Layer Mask.  (Note that not all layers created by the Perfect Portrait action have layer masks.)
• Layer Masks are used to mask (hide) any given effect or enhancement from part of your image.  Where the Layer Mask is white, the effect shows through.  Where the Layer Mask is black, the effect is hidden.  And if there is a shade of gray on the Layer Mask, the effect is partially revealed.  So you can see from these layer masks that the completely white ones are showing the effects of that layer on all parts of the image.  And the black layer masks are hiding the effects on all parts of the image. 
• To “unmask” part of an image hidden behind a black layer mask, we will use a white paint brush to paint whatever we want to be affected by that layer.  And we will paint in black over parts that we don’t want to affect.

Select Color Options and Use Layer Masks

• Perfect Portrait has one layer for brightening an image and three variations on color and appearance (Vivid Color, Color Pop and Urban Grit).  You can use any or all of these on any given image, although I usually use Brighten plus only one of the others.
• Also, I usually apply the layer mask to constrain the effect to part of the image rather than the whole picture.  Skin in particular often isn’t improved by the Vivid, Color Pop or Urban Grit treatments.  You can also paint in white where you want the full effect, and paint in light opacity black (= gray) where you want a muted effect.  More on light opacity below. . . . Following is an example of using a layer mask on the Color Pop layer.
• I want to enhance the color of my daughter’s dress, but don’t want her skin to change.  First, I make sure the layer is active by looking for the eyeball on the Color Pop layer.  Then, I click on the Layer Mask itself to activate it – an active layer mask will be on a layer with a darker background than the other layers, AND the layer mask will be outlined in white.
• This step is very important and is worth repeating.  The Layer Mask thumbnail must be outlined in white, otherwise the mask isn’t active and won’t work.  See the white line around the Color Pop Layer Mask thumbnail in the image below on the right?

• On my activated Color Pop Layer Mask, I’m going to first fill the entire layer with black, because the part of the image I don’t want to “Pop” is bigger than the part I do want to “Pop” (my daughter’s dress).
• To fill the layer with black:
  • Press D to set the colors to Default Black and White
  • If Black isn’t the foreground color (see image below), press X or click on the double-headed arrow between the two color swatches in the tool box.
  • Click on the paint can tool in the Tool Bar.
  • With the Color Pop Layer Mask active, click once on the image itself and the effect will be hidden.
• Now, we’re going to paint in white on the dress, so that the “Pop” will return just to that area.

Selecting a Brush

• Press B to select the Brush tool, or click on the Brush Tool icon in the Tool Box.  If your brush doesn’t look like the one in the image below, right click on the icon and select the Regular Brush Tool.
• Press X to change the foreground color from black to white.

• After selecting the Brush Tool, choose a soft round brush by clicking on the drop-down arrow in the Tool Options Bar near the top left corner of your workspace.  Select the Default Brushes category.  When you hover your mouse over a brush tip, the brush’s name will appear.  The number under the picture of the brush is its size in pixels. 

• You can adjust the size of your brush at any point using the menu at the top of your workspace in the size field.  Also, make sure here that the mode is Normal and Opacity is 100%. 
• Using this brush, I’m going to paint in white over the parts of the picture where I want the color to Pop.  Double check that the Layer Mask thumbnail is outlined in white!  Are you tired of hearing that yet?
• When brushing, use short strokes, releasing your mouse frequently.
• To help you locate what you have painted already, click on the layer mask thumbnail while clicking shift + alt.  The masked area will be red.  Click + shift + alt again to turn off the red masking.
• As an alternative to the brush, you can use a selection tool to select the area that you want to Pop, and fill that area with white using the Paint Can tool.  On my picture, the Quick Selection Tool worked very well to select the dress.
• After masking the effect as needed, adjust the opacity of the Color Pop layer by using the Opacity Slider at the top right hand corner of the Layers Palette.  Click on the arrow next to 100% and the slider will appear.  100% means that the effect is showing at full force and 0% means that it isn’t showing at all.
• Here is a screen shot of my layers palette after masking the Color Pop layer.  The white part is Popped, and the black part (everything except the dress) is masked.  You can see from the Opacity box at the top right corner of the Layers Palette that I’m using this layer at 35% opacity.

Sharpen Layer

• If you want to sharpen your photo, turn on the Sharpen layer by clicking on the eyeball square.  You can use the opacity slider to reduce the amount of sharpening, if you don’t like it at 100%. To adjust the Sharpen layer, make sure you click on it first in the Layers Palette to activate it. 
• The Sharpen Layer has a mask, so that you can sharpen only certain parts of your image.

Whiten Teeth

• Click on the White Teeth Layer Mask in your Layers Palette to activate it. 
• Zoom way in to enlarge the teeth, using the magnifying glass tool at the top of the Tool Box.  (I zoom in until the teeth are as large as they can be without losing detail due to pixelization.)
• Select a very small brush.  It should be smaller than each tooth and small enough that you can follow the curves of the tooth without “going outside the lines” of the tooth.
• Make sure that the brush Blending Mode is set to Normal, using the Brush Tool Options Bar.  (See image above – this is not the same as the layer blending mode.)  If your brush Blending Mode is not set to Normal, click on the arrow to pull down the menu.  Normal is the first option at the top of the list; however, sometimes you can’t see it and there are no scroll bars to move up and down.  If you can’t see Normal, use the up arrow to navigate to the top of the list.
• Make sure that white is your foreground color.
• I like to paint with the brush at 100% opacity, which looks terrible.  After painting, I dial back the layer opacity to a low level.  Alternatively, you can paint with a low opacity brush and keep the layer opacity at 100%.
• Using your mouse as a paint brush, sweep over each tooth individually to whiten.  Undo (control + z) if you go outside the lines.  You could also change your brush to black and paint over any changes that you want to delete.  If you want to ditch all your changes and start over, go to the Edit Menu, select Fill Layer and select Black from the drop-down menu in the Contents box.  Set the Blending Mode to Normal and opacity to 100%.

Whiten Eyes

• Click on the White Whites Layer Mask thumbnail to activate it.  Make sure that the black Layer Mask thumbnail on this layer has a white outline around it.
• Zoom in to enlarge the eyes.
• Follow the steps above to choose brush settings, or use the same settings from the Whiten Teeth step.
• Paint in white over only the whites of the eyes to remove redness.
• Adjust the layer’s opacity as needed.  I used about 50%

Eye Define

• This layer will sharpen the eyes and help them pop.
• Click on the black layer mask thumbnail of the Eye Define layer to activate both the layer and the layer mask.  Double check that the layer mask thumbnail has a white outline around it.
• Use a brush no wider than an eyelash, or decrease the size of the brush when you are ready to define the eyelashes.
• Make sure the foreground color is white.
• Brush over the entire eye, including the rims where the eyeliner would go.  Brush up each eyelash individually.
• Adjust the layer’s opacity if needed.

Bright Eyes

• Click on the Bright Eyes layer in the Layers Palette to activate it.
• Select a brush, as noted above.  I used a very small brush at about 10% opacity.
• With white paint, paint over the colored part of the iris only.  Avoid the pupil and rim of the iris. 
• If you want to delete your changes to this layer and start over, fill the layer with 50% gray, as explained in the Whiten Teeth section.
• Try switching the color to black (type X) and paint over the pupil, rim of iris, eye liner lines and each individual lash.
• Adjust the Bright Eyes layer’s opacity to taste.

Soft Skin

• Click on the black layer mask thumbnail box of the Soft Skin layer to activate both the layer and the layer mask.  (Notice that I didn’t say double check that the black box has a white outline around it here?  Oops, guess I did!)
• Select a brush.  I used a small brush at 15% opacity in the normal Blending Mode.
• Make sure that the foreground color is white.
• Brush over the areas where you would like the skin to look softer and smoother.  It might take more than one pass with the brush to achieve the desired effect.  You can also use this layer, possibly with a higher opacity brush, to slightly blur the background.
• Adjust the layer’s opacity if needed.

Dodge/Burn Layer

• Use the Dodge/Burn layer to darken or lighten highlights and shadows of your image, if necessary.
• With a black brush, paint over areas that are too light or that you would like to de-emphasize.  Adjust the brush’s opacity, as needed.
• With a white brush, brush over skin or other dark parts to brighten it up (you should probably increase the brush size before working on the skin).  Special tip straight from the brilliant Rita at CoffeeShop:  A very low opacity (5-10%) brush can give you that light porcelain skin tone that is so popular these days.

Vignette Layer

• Running the image turns on the Vignette automatically.  You can turn it off by clicking the eyeball.  To adjust it, click on the layer to activate it.  Reduce the opacity if needed.  Also, you can experiment with blending modes on this layer.  Multiply will increase the  effect.  I sometimes like Soft Light or Overlay as well.

Flatten the Image

• That should do it!  To flatten the image, right click on one of your layers in the layers palette and select Flatten.  Flattening is especially useful is you want to apply further edits to your picture.

Install and Run CoffeeShop Vivid 2 Action in Photoshop Elements

• If you don’t already have the CoffeeShop Vivid 2 free action, download it.
• See these instructions for installing actions in Photoshop Elements 4, 5, 6 & 7 on Vista and XP if you need help.
• Make sure you are in the Full Edit workspace.

• Press the button that says Photo Effects when you hover your mouse over it.  (See image above.)  This step and the next one, among others, may vary according to the version of PSE that you own.  Instructions for accessing your installed actions in your specific version of PSE are on these installation help pages.  (If you can’t find your effects palette, go to the Window menu and click on Effects.)
• Scroll down in the Photo Effects Palette until you see the green and white coffee cup icon for this action. 

• Double click on the Vivid 2 thumbnail and you will get this message from CoffeeShop:

CoffeeShop Vivid 2 Color Pop Action!

When the levels adjustment layer pops up, make color/contrast correct by using the eyedroppers.

Adjust Levels

• Click continue, and then click Ok in the New Layer dialogue box.
• Next, the Levels Adjustment box opens.  All the pros say that just about every picture can use some levels work.  But, if the colors in your picture look correct, click OK to proceed to the next step.
• If you do want to adjust your pictures color tones, click on the black eyedropper, then click on something that should be black in your image. 

• Now, if you need to set the white point also because the color still doesn’t look right, you can click on the white eyedropper and then click on something that should be white.  Keep clicking with both eyedroppers if you’re not happy with the results. 
• You can also adjust the Input Levels sliders to fine-tune your color adjustments.  The left slider (above the number 0 in the image above) adjusts shadows, the middle slider adjusts mid-tones and the right slider adjusts highlights.  I often use the eyedroppers for shadows & highlights (blacks and whites) and use the slider for the mid-tones.
• You can hit Reset if you don’t like your adjustments and want to start over.  However, if you click Cancel, you will have to start over with the whole action.  Click Ok when you are happy with your adjustments.

Choose Color Pop Option

• The action will do some processing, which might take a few moments.  Then you will get this message:

Turn on color pop of choice, adjust opacity and use layer mask if needed.  Turn on/off sharpen/vignette layer, adjust opacity to taste.  For stronger vignette use multiply blending.  In Lighten/Darken, use white brush to lighten, black brush to darken areas.

• Press continue, then look on your Layers Palette at the 4 Color Pop options (Bright, Urban, Vivid and Soft).  The Layers Palette is usually on the right hand side of the screen.  If you can’t find yours, pull down the Window menu at the top of the screen and put a check next to Layers.
• Your Layers Palette should have 8 layers and look something like this:

• Note that the eyeballs in the Color Pop layers as well as the Sharpen layer are turned off.  This means that the effects of those particular layers are hidden.  Clicking on the box next to the image thumbnail in each layer will place an eyeball in the box and show the effects of that particular color pop layer.

Use Layer Masks

• Rita of CoffeeShop recommends that you mask out skin on some, if not all of the Color Pop layers – especially the Vivid Layer.  The effect is great on clothes, landscapes, etc. but skin does not need to be Vivid-ized!  Keep reading for help using layers masks.
• The Layer Masks are the white thumbnails to the right of the image thumbnails on some of my layers.  Layer Masks are used to mask (hide) any given effect or enhancement from part of your image.  Where the Layer Mask is white, the effect shows through.  Where the Layer Mask is black, the effect is hidden.  And if there is a shade of gray on the Layer Mask, the effect is partially revealed.
• When you run the Vivid action, the Layer Masks are all white, indicating that the effects are applied to the entire image when you turn on that particular layer by clicking on the eyeball.  To constrain the effects to certain parts of your image, use a black paint brush to paint on the mask wherever you want to hide the effect.  Here’s an example:
• I want to make my daughter’s skirt and the shrubs more vivid, but I don’t want her skin to change.  First, I click on the eyeball to turn on the Vivid layer.  Then I click on the Layer Mask to activate it.  You can see in this image that I have the Vivid Layer turned on at 100% opacity.

• This step is very important.  The Layer Mask thumbnail must be outlined in white, otherwise the mask isn’t activated and won’t work.  See the white line around the Vivid Layer Mask thumbnail in the image on the right below? 

• On my activated Vivid Layer Mask, I’m going to paint in black everywhere that I don’t want the Vivid effect to show (my daughter’s skin and shirt).  To do this:
  • Press D to set the colors to Default Black and White.
  • If black isn’t the foreground color, press X to make it the foreground color or click on the double-headed arrow between the two color swatches in the tool box.
  • Then, press B to select the Brush, or click on the Brush Tool icon.  If your brush icon doesn’t look like the one in the image below, right click on the icon and select the regular Brush Tool.

•  
  •  After selecting the Brush Tool, choose a soft round brush by clicking on the drop-down arrow in the tool options bar near the top left corner of your workspace.  Select the Default Brushes category.  When you hover your mouse over a brush tip, the brush’s name will appear.  The number under the picture of the brush is its size in pixels.  I chose a 65 pixel Soft Round brush.  You might need to choose a smaller or larger brush depending on the resolution of your picture.

•  
  • You can adjust the size of your brush at any point using the tool options bar at the top of your workspace, using the size field.  (Sorry if that’s obvious!)  Also, make sure here that the Mode is Normal and Opacity is 100%.
  • Using this brush, I’m going to paint in black over each part of the picture that I don’t want Vivid.  Double check that the Layer Mask thumbnail is outlined in white!
  • When brushing, use short strokes, releasing your mouse very frequently.
• As an alternative to the brush, you can use a selection tool to select the area that you don’t want to Vivid-ize, and fill that area with black using the Paint Can tool.  On my picture, the Quick Selection Tool worked very well.
• After masking the effect as needed, adjust the opacity of the Color Pop layer by using the Opacity Slider at the top right hand corner of the Layers Palette.  Click on the arrow next to 100% and the slider will appear.  100% means that the effect is showing at full force and 0% means that it isn’t showing at all.
• Here is a screen shot of my layers palette after masking the Vivid layer.  The white part is Vivid-ized, and the black part (the baby’s skin) is masked.  You can see from the Opacity box at the top right corner of the Layers Palette that I’m using this layer at 75% opacity.

Sharpen Layer

• If you want to sharpen your photo, turn on the Sharpen layer by clicking on the eyeball square.  You can use the opacity slider to reduce the amount of sharpening, if you don’t like it at 100%. To adjust the Sharpen layer, make sure you click on the it first in the Layers Palette to activate it.  You will know when a layer is active when its color is a darker gray than the other layers, like the Vivid layer in the image above.

Lighten/Darken Layer

• Use the Lighten/Darken layer to darken eyes and brighten eyes, skin and teeth.  You can also darken or lighten highlights or shadows of your image, if necessary.
• To emphasize the eyes, select a black brush as explained above and make the size very small.  Reduce the brush’s opacity to about 10-15% on the tool options bar near the top of your workspace.  (This isn’t the same as adjusting the layer’s opacity on the Layers Palette.)  Brush over the pupils of the eye, the dark line around the iris, each eyelash individually and possibly the eyeliner line under the lashes.
• To use the Lighten function on eyes (the whites and possibly the inside of the iris, depending on the color), teeth and skin, press X to switch your foreground color from black to white.  You can also click on the double sided arrow to change the background color to the foreground.

• Adjust the size of your brush if needed, and adjust the brush’s opacity to somewhere between 5% and 20%.  You can always go to Edit/Undo if you paint with the opacity too dark and need to redo it.
• Brush over the whites of eyes, possibly the iris, and the teeth.  You can also brush over skin or other dark parts to brighten it up.  (You  should probably increase your brush size and reduce the brush’s opacity before working on the skin.)  Painting over the iris might lighten or brighten the eye color, depending on the color of the eyes.

Vignette Layer

• The vignette is automatically turned on when the action is run.  To adjust it, click on the layer to activate it (make it dark gray).  Reduce the opacity if needed.  Also, you can experiment with blending modes.  Some work better than others, depending on the picture.  I like Multiply or Soft Light in addition to the default Overlay mode.

Flatten the Image

• That should do it!  To flatten the image, right click on one of your layers in the layers palette and select Flatten.  Flattening is especially useful if you want to apply further edits to your picture.  When flattening, PSE will ask you if you want to discard hidden layers.  This is ok – it means that it is discarding the data for the layers that you didn’t use.

Warning:  This Photoshop Elements tutorial is EXCRUCIATINGLY detailed and may cause eyes to cross!  Read the instructions that came with PowderRoom first, and read my tutorial only if you still need help!  

CoffeeShop PowderRoom 2 is a fantastic action created by Rita at CoffeeShop Free Actions!  A few clicks of your mouse will completely retouch your photo.  Skin will magically appear softer, eyes brighter, whiter and more defined, and teeth will be whiter too!

And yes, it is free.  Not only is Rita incredibly talented in creating free actions, tutorials and templates for Photoshop Elements users, but she is also generous!  She spends so much time helping us neglected PSE users that I want to help her in return.  I created this tutorial to help folks who are new to actions, layers or layer masks.

If you are completely new to Photoshop, take a deep breath.  It will be much easier the 2nd time around.  Really, most of Rita’s actions produce their beautiful effects with just a few minutes of work, once you get the hang of it.  And learning how to use this action is a great introduction to everything that PSE can do, including layers and layer masks.

Before we begin, here are a few notes to keep in mind while following this tutorial.  First, the settings for brush sizes and opacity levels that I used are for reference only.  Your optimal settings likely will differ from mine.

Also, when painting on layer masks (or anywhere in PSE, for that matter), short quick brush strokes are often better than long ones.  This means that you should release your mouse button or pick up your tablet pen often.  This is a good practice to get in the habit of so that, if you need to undo a stroke, you will only undo a little and won’t have to redo a large portion of your work.

Finally, my screenshots and instructions come from PSE 7.  However, you should easily be able to apply these instructions to any version of Photoshop Elements, or even Photoshop itself.

CoffeeShop PowderRoom 2 Tutorial Part 1 – Install and Access Action

CoffeeShop PowderRoom 2 Tutorial Part 2 – Brighten Teeth

CoffeeShop PowderRoom 2 Tutorial Part 3 – Enhance Eyes 

CoffeeShop PowderRoom 2 Tutorial Part 4 – Soften Skin, Create Vignette and Complete Project