5 Useful Photoshop Effects

Special thanks to Andrea Austoni for posting this tutorial to the Photoshop 911 Tutorials page! Andrea, from Milano, Italy, now Krakow, Poland graduated from Politecnico di Milano university with a degree in Architecture. Starting in 3D art Andrea then branched out into identity, advertising and packaging -- now specializing in icon design and illustration, with a strong focus on realism, three-dimensionality and fun. See lots of bright, sincere design and visuals at the www.cutelittlefactory.com

5 Useful Photoshop Effects in 3 Easy Steps

In this fun tutorial Andrea will explain how to create 5 essential effects in 3 easy steps, using basic Photoshop tools. Useful for a range of situations, these effects work best when you don't have time to reach high quality standards. If you work in an agency you know how it goes -- these techniques are lifesavers! Andrea submits the following ...

 

Elements Plus - plugins

Independent author Andrei Doubrovski has announced Elements+ 1.0, his new enhancement patch for Adobe Photoshop Elements 8. Elements+ is a handy add-on that unlocks the undocumented advanced functions in Photoshop Elements featured in the latest versions of Photoshop.

Elements+ is JavaScript-based, so the script behavior will depend on current circumstances. The unleashed features can be accessed via dedicated dialog boxes that include undocumented commands and panels for exploring and using the hidden (officially unsupported) contents, such as paths, color channels, and more. The kit includes smart filters, vector masks, and many more advanced tools normally hidden under the hood.

Image Framer

Apparent Software's ImageFramer 2.42, is a very cool custom image framing utility for Mac OS X. With a focus on ease-of-use, ImageFramer can apply photo-realistic frames to digital images, drawings or any original artwork. Users can add single frames (with multiple mats), watermarks, batch process several images at a time, as well as colorize or adjust Hue, Saturation and Brightness of the frames for maximum flexibility.

Image Framer

Photo + Graphics Bundle for Mac

Apparent Software has launched the MacGraPhoto bundle -- Mac users get 7 premium graphics applications for the price of one -- or even for free. Applications in MacGraPhoto bundle will satisfy most of imaging needs of any Mac user: image editing, applying effects, format conversion, batch processing, vector drawing, geo-tagging photos, framing them or even creating posters and postcards.

Most Mac bundles lack focus - they collect unrelated applications, and many Mac users usually need only a couple of them. MacGraPhoto bundle is focused exclusively on graphics: it is a hand-picked selection of 7 premium applications from 7 different companies. Most of these applications received Apple "Staff Pick" or Apple Design Award.

 

Tutorial: Brushed Silver Text Effect

Thanks to Lita for sending in this tutorial last month. Lita writes:

IN THIS ETC TUTORIAL we will be creating a brushed silver reflective text effect. We will also be creating the accompanying abstract reflective watery background scene.

Here we're going to show you how to create the image below -- an elegant brushed silver text effect immersed in an abstract reflective watery scene.