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Defin�ve

paint the moonp hotoshop™ act ions and textures

Action Installation and Troubleshooting Guidep h o t o s h o p f o r m a c o r p c

the

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What’s inside 3 . Insta l lat ion steps - detai led

4 . Insta l lat ion screen shots

5 . Play your act ions in Photoshop

6 . Hello, n ice to meet you! And how to get in contact with Annie.

7 . Shoot!? ! Got t rouble? { find your answer }

. Layer mask t ips and troubleshoot ing

12. Tweak and customize your act ions

. T ips and tr icks for us ing your act ions

. Helpful resources, l inks and informat ion

. What are act ions? Who is Paint the Moon?

click to jump to the page you need and check out the helpful resources and links page for video tutorials, paint the moon communities, training resources and more

N o t e : t h i s g u i d e i s v e r y c l i c k a b l e !

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Download your actions. You will be directed to a page where you can click on the words "Click here" to

immediately download your products a�er the payment goes through. You will also receive an e-mail at

your payment address with the link in it.

Locate the downloaded file and open the folder. If it is not unzipped (if it still has the .zip extension at the

end), unzip it. Most machines have pre-installed so�ware that allows you to double click it to unzip. If you

find do not have unzipping so�ware, you can download free so�ware to do this online. A popular, highly

rated FREE one are for the Mac is YemuZip. A popular, highly rated application for PC users is 7zip.

Follow instructions located on page four to install the actions. This can be done by double clicking on the

atn file, dragging the atn file onto an open Photoshop window or by selecting Load Actions (see page four

for screen shot) from the actions panel fly out menu.

1 .

2 .

3.

Installation Steps

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This covers everything from downloading to finding your installed actions.

First time action user?c l i c k t o s e e s o m e t i p s , t r i c k s a n d a s h o r t v i d e o s h o w i n g h o w t o i n s t a l l

a n d s o m e t i p s f o r g e t t i n g t h e m o s t o u t o f y o u r a c t i o n s

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Easy installation three ways to install ... each one incredibly quick and easy

The eas ies t way to ins ta l l act ions in Photoshop i s to drag and drop the act ions fi le on an opened

photoshop window. OR you can jus t double c l ick the .a tn fi le and i t should automat ica l ly open

Photoshop and ins ta l l the act ion for you. Th is should work both on Mac and on Windows.

The method below i s a l so easy, but I prefer one of the firs t methods firs t .

Open Photoshop.

Go to your Actions panel.

If you don’t see it, go to Window > Actions.

Click on the little arrow in the top right

corner of the panel. From the fly out menu

select “Load Actions” and then navigate to

where you saved your actions. All done!

Take precaut ions . . . Photoshop s tores act ions in the defau l t Photoshop preferences fi le . Th is fi le may get corrupt and need to be deleted or i s replaced automat ica l ly by Photoshop. I a lways recommend back ing up your act ion fi les to a CD or externa l hard dr ive for safe keeping.

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Play your actions

Once your actions are loaded, open your image, select which

action you want to play (see how the Creamy Skin Brightener

is highlighted?) and simply click the Play button.

Sit back and watch the magic happen!

Note that some sets will have the actions in categories to make

your workflow easier. The lines that have the bullet point across

are meant as dividers and the little “vvvv” is denoting that

category is below that particular category title.

Be sure to take a look at the video tutorial for organizing your actions into favorites folders too!

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Hi. I’m Annie.

So nice to meet you!I want to thank you for your support and bus iness . I t ru ly hope you are thr i l led wi th your Paint the Moon products . Your sat is fact ion is my number one pr ior i ty , and I take pr ide in provid ing excel lent customer serv ice. I f you find, a�er looking over the insta l la t ion guide, t roubleshoot ing guide and tutor ia l v ideos avai lable , that you are s t i l l in need of ass is tance, p lease feel f ree to e-mai l me at annabel le@paint themoon.net and I ’m more than happy to help.

I wi l l need to have the fol lowing informat ion in order to get you taken care of as quick as poss ib le :

• Paint the Moon product you are us ing

• Your computer ’s operat ing system

• Your vers ion of Photoshop

• What exact ly your i ssue is , or where in the insta l la t ion process you are running into a h iccup. The more detai led informat ion I get up f ront , the better and faster I can get you taken care of and star ted us ing and enjoying your new act ions.

Thank you!

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@!#?@#! ?@#!!?@!#!?@?@#!#Shoot! Got trouble?t r o u b l e s h o o t i n g : p s

First make sure you are running Photoshop versions CS2 or up.

I ran the action and it doesn't appear that anything has changed?

Most likely you are using an action that has a layer mask that requires you to paint where you want the effects visible. Please see Layer Mask Basics for help (page 10), as well as the video tutorial on Layer Masks to understand how they work better. You'll need to use your white brush with the layer mask selected (the black box on the right of the layer) - paint where you want the effect to appear.

The effect is too strong for my image or it’s too bright!

Adjust the layer opacity on the action’s layers, turn lightening and brightening or darkening layers on or off ... tweak the action until you get the right look for your image.

I keep getting a message saying "The object "layer "Background" is not available." 

Flatten your image prior to running actions, so that you only see the "Background" layer. If you need to do this, just right click on one of your layers and select "Flatten Image."

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Everything is acting all wonky on me!

I frequently get emails from customers who tell me that Photoshop seems to be acting up and giving them strange errors or just doing oddball things. Sometimes this will look like an action isn’t working properly. The random things that can go wrong and errors that pop up with a corrupt preferences file are extensive but include freezes and crashes, tools acting weird or missing from toolbox, menu commands all of a sudden not available, unusual errors or results while running actions, crashing upon start up and more. I have found that almost 95% of the time when customers are running actions and experience strange problems or error messages, the issue is easily fixed by deleting the preferences file. It’s super easy and usually clears up the problem immediately. Be sure not to let go of the keys until you see the message about deleting the settings or preference file ... just click yes and then you may let go of the keys. Here is how to do it:

To dump your corrupt preferences file and give Photoshop a fresh start:

For a Mac, when you restart Photoshop make sure you hit the Command, Option and Shi� keys at the same time. When it asks if you want to delete the settings file, click yes. It will go ahead and delete the settings and then automatically restart. Getting the timing right can be a bit sensitive, so be sure to hold down those keys immediately a�er launching the Editor, but before the program actually opens completely.

For a PC, when you restart Photoshop make sure you hit the Control, Alt and Shi� keys at the same time. When it asks if you want to delete the settings file, click yes. It will go ahead and delete the settings and then automatically restart. Getting the timing right can be a bit sensitive, so be sure to hold down those keys immediately a�er launching the Editor, but before the program actually opens com-pletely.

Note: If it doesn’t work the first try, hold the keys this way … Hold down the Ctrl + Alt keys, then restart PS, and immediately press the Shi� key. In that order. For Mac, Hold down the Command and Option keys, then restart PS, and immediately press the Shi� key. In that order.

Then restart PS. Try again and hopefully Photoshop will begin to play nice. :)

Also, this will not delete your actions in your action panel, however, I always strongly advise Photoshop users to have their actions backed up in a safe place because problems can come up that will cause the actions to be zapped, and there are no hard copies of your action files on your drive that Photoshop has saved - you have to do this yourself. The easiest way to do this is simply make a backup copy of your atn files once you download them.

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I’m getting odd errors like “Invert not available” or “Clipping mask not available.”

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Go to your Adjustments panel (if you can’t see it, go to Windows > Adjustment and make sure it’s checked). In the top right corner, click on the three little lines next to the arrow for the fly out menu to appear. You just need to make sure two things are set correctly:

Make sure the Add Mask by Default is CHECKED

Make sure that Clip to Layer is UNCHECKED

Run the actions again and you should have no issues.

If you are still having problems, see the section about deleting the preference file when PS goes wonky.

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t r o u b l e s h o o t i n g : l a y e r m a s k s i n p s

I'm painting on my layer mask but nothing is changing!

See next page for things to look for when your layer masks don’t appear to be working correctly.

Layer masks are a perfect way to achieve targeted results when running actions. They allow you to have the action’s effect appear on part of the photo, but not the entire image. Using them is also essential for most of the actions in the Miracle Makeover action set ... such as the Sparkle Eyes actions, which requires you to paint on the layer masks to make the effect appear where you need it. Here I will teach you the very basics on layer masking.

First you need to know that white reveals and black conceals. This is your layer mask - the black or white box next to your layer thumbnails:

If the eyeball to the le� is on, it means this layer is visible. If the layer mask is white (as it is here), it means the layer effects are visible. To mask (or hide) any specific areas of this layer or group, simply paint on the layer mask (make sure it is selected as it is here) with a black brush. The opposite is also true. If you have a black layer mask, it means everything on that layer is masked (or hidden) and to reveal anything you need to paint with a white brush. This is important to remember when using actions such as the Makeover series - because when the action finishes running you won’t see any difference until you start painting (i.e., revealing) on your layer masks.

You can always switch back and forth between a black and white brush if you paint too much and need to correct it. You can also use a lower opacity or harder/so�er brush to really control the effect to the greatest possibility. Most of the time you’ll want to use a so� airbrush at 0% hardness for best results (unless needing a hard edge for detail work).

REMEMBER . . . Black Conceals - White Reveals

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A black layer mask means everything is h idden unt i l you paint with a white brush

A white layer mask means everything is v is ib le unless you paint with a black brush to hide part of the effect

C L I C Kfor layer mask video

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The top color is your brush color. Black conceals, white reveals.To quickly switch colors, hit “X”

Click small boxes for default black and white colors, click the little arrows to swap foreground and background. To quickly go back to default black & white hit “D”

Make sure you have selected the default brush on top

Select your top brush tool

Painting basics for layer masks.

Make sure you have the layer mask selected before painting:

Layer mask selected and ready to paint on.

Layer mask not selected - NOT ready to paint on.

Blend mode:Normal

Opacity:100%

Flow:100%

If you can’t see your anything happening when painting, check these settings:

Try resetting your preferences - instrutions for doing this are on page eight.

I’ve checked all the above and everything is set correctly!

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Adjust layer opacity and use layer masks to adjust the effects of actions. For

information on using your layer masks and painting on layer masks see the

pages on layer masks.

Almost all of the actions by Paint the Moon, except those with just one or two

layers, will be grouped into a folder so you can adjust the opacity on the entire

group of layers created by the action at once - giving you the ability to

customize your look from subtle to dramatic.

Customize your look

Opacity of Layers

Adjust up or down to vary intensi ty of

that layer ’s effect

Layer MaskWhite RevealsBlack Conceals

(read more aboutlayer masks in thelayer mask basics)

Visibi l ity(eyebal l )Turns LayerOn and Off

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Layer GroupAdjust the opacity

(or use a layer mask) on al l the act ion’s

layers at once

Three Ways To “Tweak” Your Actions To Get an Individualized, Custom Look

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Fix color casts and exposure issues first.Always get your color right using the color correcting actions first (Picture Perfect and Miracle Makeover), then fix exposure issues (too

dark or light) next ... leaving room for a little more lightening depending on which action you will be running. If you are using one of the all

in one workflow actions, there will be lightening and darkening layers to work with, as well as basic warming and cooling layers and other

adjustments al built in. If you run a skin smoothing or artistic action on an image with obvious color issues (too cyan, red, magenta, green,

yellow or blue), it will tend to exaggerate the color problems. So, fix color and exposure problems first, then move on to the rest of your

edits. Remember that the artistic actions play with the color in each individual image, shi ing the colors and these actions may look differ-

ent on different images depending on what colors are prominent in your photo.

Make sure you understand your layer masks.Also remember when working with layer masks that white reveals what is underneath a mask on the layer and black conceals the effects. If

there is a black box on a layer, you will need to paint on that layer mask to make the effect visible where you want it. See the layer mask

basics in the Install Guides for more help, as well as our video tutorials on layers and layer masks. You can also adjust the opacity and the

so ness or hardness of your brush while painting on layer masks - this can help achieve a more natural look as you paint and build up the

effect gradually (I especially recommend doing this on skin smoothing and darkening/lightening layers.

Play with layer opacity.Don’t forget to adjust your opacity on your layers - either by selecting the layer group (the little folder at the top of your layer palette) to

adjust all the action’s layers at once or by selecting individual layers as desired. This is a must to get the best results much of the time since

every image is unique. When an action is first finished running, many times the opacity of the action layers or group will be at 100%

opacity ... and you may think, "Whoa - not what I was going for," at first glance. However, I most likely it will need just to a 5 second tweak

to the action (see page 12) to get just the right look depending on the photo.

Things you should know.

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Tips and tricks to get the most out of your actions.

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Paint the Moon Storeshop hundreds of actions, textures, and templates to save you time and make your images look their very best ... love editing again - love your photos - come on, get happy!

Paint the Moon Facebook Communityshare, be inspired, ask questions, learn! our very active Facebook wall is a wonderful place to visit! come share yourimages edited with your Paint the Moon products, get feedback and find the latest updates on new releases, free product samples, giveaways, tutorials and so much more!

Paint the Moon Blogtutorials on processing, using actions and photography - plus step by step recipes and many more free resources

Paint the Moon YouTube Channela wellspring of resources at your fingertips ... video tutorials covering installation methods, action basics, getting the most from your actions, general Photoshop/Elements tips and editing, texture use and much more!

Paint the Moon Flickr Groupshare your images processed with Paint the Moon productsand browse through the albums to be inspired by others’ work

Paint the Moon Flickr Let‘s Do 52 Groupjoin at any time ... take a photo a week, follow the theme orgo out on your own - grow, learn and be inspired!

Paint the Moon on Twitterfor those who Tweet ... so do we!

Tips and Basics Plus Install Video Tutorial for Photoshop

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Finding what you need s h a r e •   l e a r n •   g r o w

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Thank you for your support!

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Save time c r e a t e a r t

What are Photoshop™ actions? Most simply stated, Photoshop™ actions help you make your photos more awsome and do it much faster. The boring ex-planation is that they are a recording of all the commands and steps used to create an effect in Photoshop™ or Elements™. They can be replayed at the click of a button, saving you hours of time in editing as well as creating complex effects with ease. When using actions extensive Photoshop™ processing knowledge is no longer required to get professional, beautiful results and do it quickly so you can get back to doing what you love - taking photos. Watching your images transform before your eyes will have you whistling and singing while editing!

Actions can save you time and take a good (or even a ho-hum) image and turn it into a WOW image in seconds.

Paint the Moon offers Photoshop™ and Elements™ actions to help bring new life to your images and take hours off of your editing time. Offering professional editing tools that help you do everything including professional retouching, essential workflow edits, and beautiful and unique artistic processing ... all at the click of a button. Paint the Moon actions work like magic to make processing amazingly quick and are a breeze to use. Paint the Moon actions are also highly “tweakable” to customize the results for just the right look to fit your image and your style. Many of them are batchable so you can process entire sessions with little interaction and breeze through hundreds of images easily. They help turn your photos into works of ART, taking your images to the next level!

We also offer fine art and vintage textures to add a unique and high end look to your images.

To help guide you through all steps of the editing process, Paint the Moon also has a wide variety of video tutorials available with new ones added regularly. Want to take them for a spin before making a purchase? We have beautiful free actions and textures to try before you buy! Be sure to also stop by our Facebook page for Exclusive free downloads and a supportive, inspiring and warm community of fellow photographers (likepaintthemoon.com).

Paint the Moon Photoshop™ actions transform your photos into art - saving time and making magic.

paint the moonp hotoshop™ act ions and textures

Thank you so much for your support! you rock. M y g o a l i s t o h e l p y o u s u c c e e d i n d o i n g w h a t y o u l o v e - m a k i n g i m a g e s .

m a k e t o d a y