"Guides"–a Photoshop-only feature?

LM
Posted By
Lou_M
Oct 2, 2003
Views
200
Replies
8
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Closed
Hi, folks. I’m following along this example ( < http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/shapes_drop_templates.h tml> ) which uses Photoshop (not Elements) to create buttons/shapes for DVD Studio Pro 2.

At one point it talks about "guides" which look like light blue lines. I don’t see anything like "show guides" in the View menu, and a search of the Elements help turns up nothing. (A search of this forum shows a million hits for "guides" but that’s basically people talking about user guides and whatnot.)

Are "guides" a Photoshop-only feature? I don’t need to create them; is there any way (hacks, tricks, etc.) to just show them in Elements?

Thanks!
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BH
Beth_Haney
Oct 3, 2003
Have you looked at View.Grids? Would that work?
EM
Elena_Murphy
Oct 3, 2003
You could also use the line tool to draw lines, in conjunction with the ruler. You’d just have to make sure the line(s) were always the topmost layer(s).
LM
Lou_M
Oct 3, 2003
Hey, Beth, good idea but it turns grids won’t do quite what I want. (Although I did play with them, and their Preferences, and found out they are pretty handy.) I’m trying to get a border inset from the edge of the frame–actually a series of concentric frames of various sizes. Then I remember from one of my books that I could do a selection and modify it. So I command-clicked a layer to select it (it’s the full width and height of the image) and tried to pull the selection in. But Select–>Modify–>Contract isn’t available??? So I tried Select–>Modify–>Border and that seemed to work, but then when I did an Edit–>Stroke of 1 pixel, it came out wide and diffuse. Hmmmm. . . I guess border doesn’t do what I thought it would. I’m so confused! 🙂

Elena: yes, I could draw the lines using the ruler, but I’m trying to fill either side of the lines with black or white and the lines themselves won’t become part of the selection. It should work if I Grow the selection by a pixel to include the lines.
EM
Elena_Murphy
Oct 3, 2003
In that case, you can make a selection that is a specific size by entering the dimensions yourself in the options bar. That might get you the accuracy you’re looking for without using the lines.
R
RobertHJones
Oct 3, 2003
Lou,

Elements does not natively provide a means to create guides. However, the code to create them does exist in Elements.

The book "Hidden Powers of Photoshop Elements 2" contains tools to access some of this hidden code and one of the tools provides a way to create guides.

I did a test and created a new image document and added several guides and saved it. I then closed and re-opened the document and at first I did not see the guides. I started to re-do the experiment and as soon as I created a new guide the previously saved guides became visible.

I would suspect that if you had the tools from the book, you could open the document you have and make the saved guides visible by simply adding a new guide.

I do not have a program to open a ".sit" file so I couldn’t try the file in the tutorial but I believe it will work. Perhaps one of our Mac users that has the hidden power tools could try it and see.

Bob
LM
Lou_M
Oct 4, 2003
Ah, Elena, yes that works. But any idea why the Select–>Modify tools don’t work (other than Border) if the whole image is selected?

Robert: I was delaying buying another book, but you just gave me a good reason to buy it. Thanks.
WE
Wendy_E_Williams
Oct 4, 2003
Hi Bob,

I’m a Mac user and have "Hidden Powers of Photoshop Elements 2" book.

I tried out your theory on the file and yes it does work. As soon as you create a new guide the "hidden" ones appear.

So Lou … the guides are there but I’m afraid you need the tools to be able to see them. The book is brilliant and I think it was well worth the money.

Wendy
LM
Lou_M
Oct 5, 2003
Hey, Wendy, nothing like a good excuse to buy a book. Makes it harder for my wife to contest the purchase. 😉

Oh, and I’m a fence straddler. I’m forced to use Windows for work, but I’m giddy when I’m on my Mac.

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