Endless Possibilities Challenge No. 11 - New York Skyline

[Deleted]

Hi Sydney,

I'm not sure what Blendkit is either, but you can create the same or similar triptych effect using plain vanilla PSE without any plug-ins or add-ons.

Here is a quick and simple demo.

The basic steps are:

1. turn guide on and set vertical guides at your crop points to split an image into 3 parts.
2. select each "third" (doesn't have to be exactly 1/3) and copy and paste into a new single suitably sized blank document.
3 the new blank document will now have 3 layers in it, being the split "thirds" from the original image
4. position each layer where you like on the canvas.
5. add bevels, backgrounds, textures etc etc to your own taste using the Effects Panel in PSE

The "3D" effect is applying the perspective transform in PSE.  Another option is to use Filter->Correct Camera Distortion on the 2 end layers to rotate them inwards.

[Sepiana]

Jul 16, 2015 23:44:48 GMT Bayla said:

Sydney,

I also googled & found this:

www.photomorphis.com/store/textures/rule-thirds-blendkit/

I presume this is what Sepiana used.

Bayla

Bayla, thanks! Yes, indeed, this is what I used.

It is not an add-on (plug-in, action, etc.). It is just a Tiff file containing several layers.

[Sepiana]

Jul 17, 2015 0:44:14 GMT fstop said:

Hi Sydney,

I'm not sure what Blendkit is either, but you can create the same or similar triptych effect using plain vanilla PSE without any plug-ins or add-ons.

Just adding some clarification.

BlendKit is not an add-on (plug-in, action, etc.) It is just a TIFF file with several layers, organized in layer groups. It is basically a template which can be customized.

[Deleted]

Jul 16, 2015 23:44:48 GMT Bayla said:

Sydney,

I also googled & found this:

www.photomorphis.com/store/textures/rule-thirds-blendkit/

I presume this is what Sepiana used.

Bayla

Hi Bayla

I had a look at that web site and in the "fine print" it says

"...BlendKit files measure 3000 pixels on the long edge • Product is delivered at an immediate download • Download includes BlendKit file containing 12 frame styles, 10 texture layers and more; quick start PDF; link to online tutorial video • Download file size: 347.6 MB • This Photomorphis BlendKit is only compatible with Adobe Photoshop. (Sorry, it will not work with Elements.) BlendKit is a trademark of Photomorphis LLC...."

Also, it appears there is no free version, unless I missed it.

Think I'll stick with plain vanilla PSE

[Sydney]

f-stop, thanks for the do it yourself triptych tut - I will try creating one this salvo. Also, well spotted about BlendKit not being compatible with PSE - could save a lot of grief for anyone downloading it and not knowing otherwise.

[Deleted]

Jul 17, 2015 1:22:41 GMT Sydney said:

f-stop, thanks for the do it yourself triptych tut - I will try creating one this salvo. Also, well spotted about BlendKit not being compatible with PSE - could save a lot of grief for anyone downloading it and not knowing otherwise.

no problem

[Sepiana]

Jul 17, 2015 0:44:14 GMT fstop said:

5. add bevels, backgrounds, textures etc etc to your own taste using the Effects Panel in PSE

fstop,

Thanks for the detailed tutorial. However, I would like to add some clarification on Step 5 for the benefit of new users of Elements.

- Backgrounds are located in the Graphics panel (formerly called Content panel) in the Window menu.

- More recent versions of Elements have only two textures in the Effects panel (under the Photo Effects tab) -- Lizard Skin and Rubber Stamp. You will get more choices (26 of them) if you go to the Effects panel>Styles>Patterns.

[Deleted]

No problem Sepiana.

My reference to "backgrounds" in the demo was in a general sense as there are many ways to create a background in a background layer for an image. In the demo I used the Oak Layer Style and then added a texture to it, after simplifying the layer, and then used a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer to play with the colour, saturation and brightness of background.

I didn't include all this extraneous detail since it isn't relevant to the purpose of the demo, which was to show that triptych effects can be easily created in plain vanilla PSE

But yes, I agree it could be useful and helpful in a separate explanation as your post

[Sepiana]

Sydney,

I believe the reason they say BlendKit is not compatible with Elements is that this TIFF file contains layer groups.

Layer groups are a Photoshop feature (not available in Elements). They are used to organize your layers when you have too many of them; it is a very common feature in template files which consist of many layers. These layer groups can be collapsed and expanded. Unfortunately, you cannot do so in Photoshop Elements. Fortunately, a member at EV, dconsc, created an action to group and ungroup layers in Elements. The action was written for Elements 7 but, as a rule of thumb, actions written for this version will work in Elements 8 through Elements 13.

I am going to test BlendKit in Elements using this action. If it works I will provide this action file. In this way, if you want you can purchase BlendKit, which, BTW, is a very flexible file, with lots of opportunities for customizing your triptych.

[Sydney]

Thanks Sepiana, it will be interesting to see how you fare with your test using the action.

[JimD]

[verber10]

Thanks everyone for posting an image, or for helping each other out. They all look great. I guess I need to get going, and do something with this picture myself. This morning looks like a good morning since it's raining out.

Keep up the good work everyone.

[verber10]

Well I spent a couple of hours playing this morning with this picture. I added a ship going up river, and converted it to B&W. I seem to be on a kick lately about B&W.

[Sydney]

Great b&w conversion and the ship blends in perfectly.

[hmca]

People have really gotten creative with this, Mike! Love all the variations. It took me awhile to think of something but then I remembered these fighter jets from our 4th of July flyover!