Thursday, June 10, 2010

Coffee With Amanda: Free Action, Make a PSE Thumbnail!

Me




Have you ever found a neat, free action online, added it to your Effects palette in PSE, only to be frustrated by the blank, black space for that action? Well, here is an action to help you quickly create a thumbnail. No, this isn't one that you will probably use a lot (although I did buy some PSE actions a month ago, only to discover that like 12 of the actions had no thumbnails, so I am using it a lot).

To download the Make A Thumbnail action, click HERE.

Step 1: Create a new file by simply going to File, New, Blank File.
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Step 2: In the pop-out box,
don't worry about changing anything except the resolution; it should say 72.
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Step 3: Click on the Make A Thumbnail action thumbnail and click apply. Note that I have a large, white image to start with (but resolution is 72).
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Step 4: After the action runs, you will have three new layers, a color fill adjustment layer and two Type layers.
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Step 5: To change the color of the background, just double click in the color box (where the arrow is pointing in shot below). A pop-out box will come up for you to pick a new color.
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Step 6: To choose a totally different color, move the slider (1st) to the color spectrum you want. Then move your cursor (2nd) around the shades in the new color. Hit Okay when you've found just the right color.
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New color:
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Step 8: To change the text of the name, click on your Type tool in the toolbar (or hit 't' on your keyboard).
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Step 9: Now that your Type tool is activated, put your cursor VERY close to the last letter of either word and click. This makes the word "live" and you can backspace and then rename it whatever you like. Do this for both words.

To add another line of text, click on the top layer in your layer palette, then go back to your image and click where you would like the new word to be. I added AmaPad up top.
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Step 10: To increase or decrease, or to move the words in the image, activate the Move tool in your Tool bar (or hit 'v' on your keyboard).
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Step 11: Click on the layer you'd like to change and a lined box with small circles on the corners will appear around the text. Click on a corner and pull out or in to change the size. Click in the middle of the box and you can move it around on the image.
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Step 12: To change the color of the words, activate your Type tool again and click very close to the word. Hold the shift key down and highlight the entire word.
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Step 13: Double click on the color box in the top menu area. A color picker box will pop out, do the same thing you did to change the background color. Repeat if you want to change more than one word.
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New colors:
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Step 14: If you are happy with how your thumbnail looks, flatten and go to File, Save As. Go to your Effects folder (where your actions were copied to). Name the file the exact same name as the action (.atn file), except give it a .png file ending.
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Step 15: In your Effects palette, click over to the icon with three circles (filers) and then back to the Show All folder. Your new button should have populated the once empty, black spot.
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Again, this isn't an action you will use a great deal, but will be handy when you need to make one and can't remember how, since it's not something you'll be doing daily. Anyway, I hope you find it helpful and easy to use!

Me
Meet Amanda! I am a "Pioneer Woman" of sorts, although not nearly as talented, witty or culinarily gifted as the real one. I grew up in the suburbs or on military bases, but ended up in country on a cattle and chicken farm an hour from any sizeable town. I am a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom to four children, ages 11 to 4.

My photography journey started last spring, and it has quickly become a passion. Most of my subjects are my kids, the cows, my mother-in-law's flowers and my weeds (they're prettier in a picture than in real life). I enjoy editing (with PSE 7) and continue to learn daily. The tutorials I write are very basic and well documented so that brand new users can learn how to use their editing software.

I recently started Everyday Elements, online workshops and video tutorials for PSE users. Also, I have a photography resource blog, PhotographyHaven where you can find lots of free actions, tutorials, workshops and more. You can view my personal pictures at Moving Forward or my Flickr stream.

10 comments:

  1. Thanks sooooo much Amanda! I do have multiple blank thumbnails, and I can't wait to put you tutorial to work! Thanks again, and I look forward to your next tutorial :)

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  2. Oh my goodness! THANK YOU!! I can't tell you how much time this will save me! I have sooo many blank thumbnails and it takes forever to find the one I'm looking for! You rock!

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  3. Thank you so much for this great tutorial!

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  4. This is awesome! I am a little overwhelmed with everything I need to learn about editing so I really appreciate the great tutorial.

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  5. I'm glad to help. I have several black holes in my Effects palette still myself. Need to spend some time working the action too! LOL

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  6. thank you! i'm in the same boat as others and will love having thumbnails for all of my actions!

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  7. The link to the action says it's been deleted :(

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  8. I just found this action this morning and it's fantastic. I needed several blank action labels filled in and I've worked on them now for hours lol.. Thanks Amanda

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  9. Hello...the link to this action isn't working....I really would like it though...Thanks!

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a message, I love reading them! All comments are personally moderated by me and I will post and answer them them as soon as possible.
Rita