Sky replacement in PSE 2021 ... example

[pontiac1940]

If this is in the wrong place please move.

Sepiana posted about the new PSE 2021 here.

So I downloaded the trial version because the ad showed that sky replacement was a charm. Well, it just so happened that last month I needed to replace a blah sky with something a little more interesting. The gardener at the local Pincher Creek Hutterite Colony near our summer place asked me of I could come to their 10-acre veggie garden and take photos of corn harvest. Sharon wants to make a 4-ft banner for their sales tent....they sell veggies, pickles, pies, eggs etc at local venues. Well we only had one day in which to take the photos and the sky was low and dull. It was what it was and so I took the photos anyway and then (in PSE 2018) replaced the blah sky with a cloud-and-blue-sky photo I'd taken some time ago. It took me at least 10 minutes (maybe 20 minutes) to do crudely, but was suitable for the banner.

Fast forward to today when I downloaded the trial version of PSE 2021. Replacing the dull sky with something better only took a few seconds. Great. My only concern (and I assume there is a way around it) is that I had to use the skies provided by PSE. I assume there's a way to add our own images to the sky library.

Here is the original photo, followed by the one I did manually (middle) and the PSE 2021 version at the bottom. It was pretty slick. 
 

[pipsternat]

Oct 10, 2020 2:55:29 GMT pontiac1940 said:

If this is in the wrong place please move.

Sepiana posted about the new PSE 2021 here.

So I downloaded the trial version because the ad showed that sky replacement was a charm. Well, it just so happened that last month I needed to replace a blah sky with something a little more interesting. The gardener at the local Pincher Creek Hutterite Colony near our summer place asked me of I could come to their 10-acre veggie garden and take photos of corn harvest. Sharon wants to make a 4-ft banner for their sales tent....they sell veggies, pickles, pies, eggs etc at local venues. Well we only had one day in which to take the photos and the sky was low and dull. It was what it was and so I took the photos anyway and then (in PSE 2018) replaced the blah sky with a cloud-and-blue-sky photo I'd taken some time ago. It took me at least 10 minutes (maybe 20 minutes) to do crudely, but was suitable for the banner.

Fast forward to today when I downloaded the trial version of PSE 2021. Replacing the dull sky with something better only took a few seconds. Great. My only concern (and I assume there is a way around it) is that I had to use the skies provided by PSE. I assume there's a way to add our own images to the sky library.

Here is the original photo, followed by the one I did manually (middle) and the PSE 2021 version at the bottom. It was pretty slick. 
 

That looks like it could be very useful as here in the UK we do have a lot of bland skies lol. However, being able to use some of my own skyscapes would be nice. How many choices do you get from Adobe?

[popcorn]

Hi Pontiac 1940

That is amazing, the selection of the tree-tops would have taken me an hour to fine tune!
You can't have had to make many corrections if it took about 20 secs in total.

Not being able to use my own skies would be a game breaker for me.
Skies here in SA are unique to the area. The Cape has mostly streaky wing clouds while Gauteng will have more dramatic formations.

[pontiac1940]

Oct 10, 2020 2:55:29 GMT pontiac1940 said:

at least 10 minutes (maybe 20 minutes)

First, I misspoke. I thought about how I worked around the trees and corn tops and it was more like 30 or 40 minutes. 

pipsternat and popcorn, this really worked well. I made no adjustments, but you can make adjustments with the new sky. The whole process only took a few seconds. Impressed. 

I agree about needing to use our own sky and cloud images. This is something I'd rarely use, but would want to use my own clouds.  

Sepiana can we drop our own cloud/sky images into the sky library folder in PSE 2021? (I hate messing inside the bowels of these programs. ) 

Thanks 

Clive

[pontiac1940]

Oct 10, 2020 7:50:15 GMT pipsternat said:

How many choices do you get from Adobe?

pipsternat
There are six blue sky-and-cloud options that I can see. Plus there six "arty" skies such as a sunset and night sky. 
I'll see if I can find the folder. 

Clive

[Sepiana]

Oct 10, 2020 13:58:08 GMT pontiac1940 said:

Sepiana can we drop our own cloud/sky images into the sky library folder in PSE 2021? 

Clive,

I had already tested if this would be possible. I resized my own sky image to the same dimensions used by Adobe and installed it in the appropriate folder. When I launched PSE 2021, there was no error message, no crashing/freezing. Unfortunately, my image didn't show up in the Perfect Landscape interface. I'm suspicious Adobe limits the number of background images made available. I need to try again and test my theory by removing one of their images and replacing it with mine.

[pontiac1940]

Oct 10, 2020 16:32:38 GMT Sepiana said:

I need to try again and test my theory by removing one of their images and replacing it with mine.

Thank you!
Like I said, I can be dangerous messing in the bowels of a program ... might start an international incident.  
Clive

[Sepiana]

Oct 10, 2020 7:50:15 GMT pipsternat said:

How many choices do you get from Adobe?

You get 12 background images + 12 gradients. They are in . . .

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 2021\Required\GuidedEdit\PerfectLandscape

[pontiac1940]

I added a new sky image to the designated folder. As you said Sepiana perhaps I have to delete one of the Adobe skies for mine to display. 

UPDATE: I got it to work with my own photo. I deleted (or think it was deleted) one of the provided skies, shut down, restarted and opened PSE 2021 as an admin....and still did not work, i.e. my added photo did not display. Continued below. 





So I went into the PSE 2021 folder again (as provided by Sepiana) and I renamed my sky photo to the same name as the one deleted. It was renamed to PerfectLandscapeBackground1
But in the actual PSE 2021 editor, the "Blue Sky 1" thumbnail is still the default thumbnail (with default name) even though it represents my own image. Note that "Blue Sky 1" thumbnail is the link to the actual image file that is named: PerfectLandscapeBackground1

This image is similar to the first one shown. The sky was replaced in PSE 2021 using my own image and it took seconds.
I actually do not like this effect but it shows we can use our own sky images in PSE 2021.  

[Sepiana]

pontiac1940 ,

I came to the same conclusion -- renaming your own Sky image to match the Adobe image is the key to success. Great minds think alike!

I didn't notice your post until now. I was busy creating this thread -- Customizing Perfect Landscape (Guided Edit) -- PSE 2021.

[shaun]

Could you not also use the mask that Photoshop elements 2021 created and then drag your sky in as a new layer. Just a thought as I haven't got the new version.

[Sepiana]

Oct 10, 2020 20:34:10 GMT shaun said:

Could you not also use the mask that Photoshop elements 2021 created and then drag your sky in as a new layer.

shaun, are you a mind reader? I had thought about this possibility earlier today. This is what I did.

- Opened the SkyPresetGroup.
- Used File>Place to bring in the sky image of my choice (PDaily summer clouds 2). In this way, it would come in as a Smart Object.
- Deleted the PerfectLandscapeGE MergedLayer.
- Created a Composite layer.

[pontiac1940]

Thanks for the suggestions. Will follow up.
popcorn  ...  here is another example using my own cloud/sky image that has been placed in to the correct folder.
Super fast to do. 

[Sepiana]

Oct 10, 2020 10:54:24 GMT popcorn said:

Not being able to use my own skies would be a game breaker for me.
Skies here in SA are unique to the area. The Cape has mostly streaky wing clouds while Gauteng will have more dramatic formations.

popcorn, you will be able to use your own skies. Check these options.

photoshopelementsandmore.com/thread/7245/customizing-perfect-landscape-guided-edit

photoshopelementsandmore.com/post/73180

[popcorn]

Hi All,

This sounds amazing but....
I have only one problem, I have Elements 2, 10, 13 and 2018, no 2021 so, unfortunately no PerfectLandscape.
Thank you all again for your support.