Post by Tpgettys on Sept 11, 2018 22:42:36 GMT
I received this email from Rick today and wanted to share it with our community. The links and formatting are lost, but the text is intact.
Here is a link to the CDP website: link
Photoshop Elements Techniques update
September 2018
In this issue: Rick's book update; fall foliage tips; PET cheatsheets; July survey results; Elements/Camera Raw tip.
Greetings, my friends,
Fall is fast approaching here in Oregon. While I wish I were out shooting, I've got way too many things going on to take much of a break.
Mostly, I'm working on the 9th edition of Ben's Complete Digital Photography, which we're still hoping to get out in late November or early December. It's a big book, and, because we're publishing it ourselves, it means that we do everything, from writing to editing, to design, proofing and setting up with a printer and distributor. There are times when I question the wisdom of this project, but it is one of the finest photographic instruction books I have ever read, and I believe that it should be available in an updated version.
If you're interested in the project, we've posted a few things on the CDP website, including a short, humorous video from Ben about his progress, and a more traditional update, penned by yours truly.
One last CDP plug: If, like me, you are hoping to capture some fall color before it's too late, I just posted Fall Foliage Tips on the website, with tips from Ben, Hudson Henry and myself. And, if you're looking to time things right, check out smokymountains.com's Fall Foliage Prediction Map; it's the best one on the web for folks living in the US. (I haven't been able to find similar maps for other countries, but TripSavvy has a (seemingly) decent list of fall color resources for my friends in Canada.)
PET cheatsheets are live!
The long, slow process of adding all the old Photoshop Elements Techniques content continues. This past month, I added a new page on the CDP website that includes 183 of the cheatsheets that accompanied PET website videos from 2010 through 2016. The PET cheatsheets index is much like the article index for the magazine, sorted by year, with title, author, description and tag information. You can search and filter the table to help narrow down a search, and clicking on a cheatsheet's title will automatically download it for you. You can also download a PDF of the index to keep on your computer, and, if you want them all, there's a link to a ZIP archive of the group.
The PET videos are going much slower than I would like, but I have to work to pay the bills right now. I have settled on putting everything up on a YouTube channel; that way, people can embed the videos wherever they would like, but I keep some of the copyright issues at bay. There are now three videos up on the Photoshop Elements Techniques channel; what I hope to be able to do over the next few months is spend one workday each month doing the prep work to post the videos.
(For the curious: the problem with the videos is that the descriptions, titles and authors were all lost in the shutdown of the website, and, while I have access to all the videos, posting them without the extra information doesn't make a lot of sense, especially if you're searching for something. I did dig up a couple of lists from the site with some of that information, and it's just a matter of watching parts of each video in YouTube's back end, finding the video info, adding it to the description/title text, and making it live.)
And, if you're a recent addition to our email group, you can find out more information via my blog post about the project; or go right to the Photoshop Elements Techniques back issues home page.
Elements survey update
Thanks to everyone who took part in July's Photoshop Elements survey. It was helpful to me, and, in the interest of transparency, I wanted to share some of the results with you:
• I was quite surprised at the high number of folks who said that they were still using Elements as their primary image editor: 83%.
• Lightroom Classic and ON1 Photo Raw were the top editors mentioned by the recipients who were no longer using Elements as their main app.
• Only 30% of Elements users said they used the Organizer. That seemed a bit high to me, based on my days running the magazine, when we'd see only about 20% to 25% from year to year, but it's still consistent with the fact that the Organizer really isn't as great a solution as it could be.
• More than half of Elements users were using one of the last two versions (Version 15 or 2018); three quarters if you went back to Elements 14. The remaining 25% were using really old versions.
• In the list of "what type of Elements info would you like in the future," PDF tutorials and videos were pretty much neck-and-neck, slightly under 50% for each type. I had hoped that books might come in higher, but I understand it.
Again, I truly appreciate the fact that so many of you took the time to reply—and to those who left suggestions or lovely comments about our time together. You guys really are great.
If you didn't take part in the survey, and you would like to have your say, it will be online though the end of September. Please, though, only one survey per recipient. Click here to take part.
PET tip: Using an old version of Elements with a new camera
If you have an older version of Elements, and you get a new camera, you'll quickly find out that Adobe Camera Raw and Elements won't read the new camera's raw files (JPEGs are fine). Adobe regularly updates Camera Raw to include new cameras, but generally, the updates only work with the current version of Elements. (There are some exceptions: sometimes the previous version of Elements will get an ACR update, but that's rare.)
Anyway, you don't have to upgrade to the latest version of Elements—or switch to another app—to make it all work. You can use the latest version of Adobe's free DNG Converter utility to convert your new raw files to DNG format, and Camera Raw will read them easily.
To find out the specifics, check out our blog post, Using DNG Converter with Lightroom 6 (and Elements) and a new camera. It mostly talks about Lightroom Classic, but the procedures work identically when you're using Elements.
Ciao for now...
As always, thanks for listening. You can send me an email if you have any questions or comments. Il look forward to hearing from you. And, remember, if you no longer wish to hear from me, just click the ‘unsubscribe from this list’ link below, and that will be that; no hard feelings.
Filthy lucre addendum: A few members of this group asked if there was a way to show their appreciation for some of the stuff I've been doing regarding the old articles, cheatsheets and videos. My response has generally been "no"; I am honoring a promise I made to you all when PET unceremoniously shut down, and I haven't done any of this for renumeration. However, if you would like to say thanks, and you shop at Amazon, you could use my affiliate link when you purchase something. Amazon gives me a very small fee (and I mean small) for anything people purchase via my affiliate link. The next time you order something on Amazon, click Rick's Amazon Link first, and shop as you normally would. (Photoshop Elements 2018 is still on sale on Amazon for $60, which is as cheap as it gets,)
Take care, and have a lovely autumn, wherever you may be,
Rick
September 2018
In this issue: Rick's book update; fall foliage tips; PET cheatsheets; July survey results; Elements/Camera Raw tip.
Greetings, my friends,
Fall is fast approaching here in Oregon. While I wish I were out shooting, I've got way too many things going on to take much of a break.
Mostly, I'm working on the 9th edition of Ben's Complete Digital Photography, which we're still hoping to get out in late November or early December. It's a big book, and, because we're publishing it ourselves, it means that we do everything, from writing to editing, to design, proofing and setting up with a printer and distributor. There are times when I question the wisdom of this project, but it is one of the finest photographic instruction books I have ever read, and I believe that it should be available in an updated version.
If you're interested in the project, we've posted a few things on the CDP website, including a short, humorous video from Ben about his progress, and a more traditional update, penned by yours truly.
One last CDP plug: If, like me, you are hoping to capture some fall color before it's too late, I just posted Fall Foliage Tips on the website, with tips from Ben, Hudson Henry and myself. And, if you're looking to time things right, check out smokymountains.com's Fall Foliage Prediction Map; it's the best one on the web for folks living in the US. (I haven't been able to find similar maps for other countries, but TripSavvy has a (seemingly) decent list of fall color resources for my friends in Canada.)
PET cheatsheets are live!
The long, slow process of adding all the old Photoshop Elements Techniques content continues. This past month, I added a new page on the CDP website that includes 183 of the cheatsheets that accompanied PET website videos from 2010 through 2016. The PET cheatsheets index is much like the article index for the magazine, sorted by year, with title, author, description and tag information. You can search and filter the table to help narrow down a search, and clicking on a cheatsheet's title will automatically download it for you. You can also download a PDF of the index to keep on your computer, and, if you want them all, there's a link to a ZIP archive of the group.
The PET videos are going much slower than I would like, but I have to work to pay the bills right now. I have settled on putting everything up on a YouTube channel; that way, people can embed the videos wherever they would like, but I keep some of the copyright issues at bay. There are now three videos up on the Photoshop Elements Techniques channel; what I hope to be able to do over the next few months is spend one workday each month doing the prep work to post the videos.
(For the curious: the problem with the videos is that the descriptions, titles and authors were all lost in the shutdown of the website, and, while I have access to all the videos, posting them without the extra information doesn't make a lot of sense, especially if you're searching for something. I did dig up a couple of lists from the site with some of that information, and it's just a matter of watching parts of each video in YouTube's back end, finding the video info, adding it to the description/title text, and making it live.)
And, if you're a recent addition to our email group, you can find out more information via my blog post about the project; or go right to the Photoshop Elements Techniques back issues home page.
Elements survey update
Thanks to everyone who took part in July's Photoshop Elements survey. It was helpful to me, and, in the interest of transparency, I wanted to share some of the results with you:
• I was quite surprised at the high number of folks who said that they were still using Elements as their primary image editor: 83%.
• Lightroom Classic and ON1 Photo Raw were the top editors mentioned by the recipients who were no longer using Elements as their main app.
• Only 30% of Elements users said they used the Organizer. That seemed a bit high to me, based on my days running the magazine, when we'd see only about 20% to 25% from year to year, but it's still consistent with the fact that the Organizer really isn't as great a solution as it could be.
• More than half of Elements users were using one of the last two versions (Version 15 or 2018); three quarters if you went back to Elements 14. The remaining 25% were using really old versions.
• In the list of "what type of Elements info would you like in the future," PDF tutorials and videos were pretty much neck-and-neck, slightly under 50% for each type. I had hoped that books might come in higher, but I understand it.
Again, I truly appreciate the fact that so many of you took the time to reply—and to those who left suggestions or lovely comments about our time together. You guys really are great.
If you didn't take part in the survey, and you would like to have your say, it will be online though the end of September. Please, though, only one survey per recipient. Click here to take part.
PET tip: Using an old version of Elements with a new camera
If you have an older version of Elements, and you get a new camera, you'll quickly find out that Adobe Camera Raw and Elements won't read the new camera's raw files (JPEGs are fine). Adobe regularly updates Camera Raw to include new cameras, but generally, the updates only work with the current version of Elements. (There are some exceptions: sometimes the previous version of Elements will get an ACR update, but that's rare.)
Anyway, you don't have to upgrade to the latest version of Elements—or switch to another app—to make it all work. You can use the latest version of Adobe's free DNG Converter utility to convert your new raw files to DNG format, and Camera Raw will read them easily.
To find out the specifics, check out our blog post, Using DNG Converter with Lightroom 6 (and Elements) and a new camera. It mostly talks about Lightroom Classic, but the procedures work identically when you're using Elements.
Ciao for now...
As always, thanks for listening. You can send me an email if you have any questions or comments. Il look forward to hearing from you. And, remember, if you no longer wish to hear from me, just click the ‘unsubscribe from this list’ link below, and that will be that; no hard feelings.
Filthy lucre addendum: A few members of this group asked if there was a way to show their appreciation for some of the stuff I've been doing regarding the old articles, cheatsheets and videos. My response has generally been "no"; I am honoring a promise I made to you all when PET unceremoniously shut down, and I haven't done any of this for renumeration. However, if you would like to say thanks, and you shop at Amazon, you could use my affiliate link when you purchase something. Amazon gives me a very small fee (and I mean small) for anything people purchase via my affiliate link. The next time you order something on Amazon, click Rick's Amazon Link first, and shop as you normally would. (Photoshop Elements 2018 is still on sale on Amazon for $60, which is as cheap as it gets,)
Take care, and have a lovely autumn, wherever you may be,
Rick
