How to apply feather to selected shape (Elements 5)?

[nrsmdwf]

I done everything available in Help, but cannot make the feather actually HAPPEN. Selected area .... Feather, # of pixels, etc. The twinkling selection line changes its location on my chosen shape, but the feathering never actually HAPPENS. There's no check box or "apply" box or anything else available ..... what am I missing?

BTW, I've had Elements 5 a couple of months, use occasionally until the frustration level exceeds tolerance, then quit for a few weeks. I find it very un-intuitive and the Help sections very unhelpful. It is miserable to have to contact a forum for every third action I want to take.

Thanks for any suggestions
Bobbi

[Juergen D]

Bobbi,
If you type 'feather' into the search box of >Help, the first 4 results will explain feathering quite nicely.
No, there is no "apply", just "OK"... :)

Juergen

[lisabee]

Hi Bobbi,

Welcome to the forum, :)

If your selection is part of an image, with your selection made (ie marching ants round it), along the top tool bar go to the drop down menu SELECT > Feather
enter the number of pixels (feather radius _____ pixels), then check the OK box.
Then if you do Ctrl J this will put your selection on its own layer and you should be able to see the feathering (softening) there.

If you are trying to select and feather a 'shape' layer then you might need to simplify that layer before you can edit it.


hth as I'm not entirely sure what you are selecting/feathering.

Spend some time on the Forum and you will always find someone willing to help, which is much easier than battling with help on the pc :)

Lisa

[nrsmdwf]

Thank you so much for your responses!! Lisa, I followed every step of your instructions, which was pretty much what I had already done. Again, the shape does not show the effect of the feathering. I started over. Here's what I did:

New>blank file>Rectangle Tool (placed solid rectangle)>Rectangular Marquee Tool (selected edges of shape, feather on top toolbar at 50 pxl)> (no feathering evident)>Select>Feather>(50 pxl)>OK

The shape is unchanged. I went through the above again, after first Simplifying the layer .... still no change to the edges of the shape. The only thing that happens is the selection border (marching ants) changes shape when I change the pxl number. The object/shape itself is unaltered.

Bobbi

[Juergen D]

I don't think it can be done that way. Try the Rectangular Marquee Tool instead. Draw the rectangle and then >Select >Feather. Next fill the selection with black (>Edit >Fill Selection) and you should get something like this:

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1ftXOtbsyj8fg2jQovJ5T3SLu50hQN0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1ftXOtbsyj8fg2jQovJ5T3SLu50hQN0)

Juergen

[nrsmdwf]

Thanks again for suggestions. So far, none of this works for the simple task I want to accomplish. I want to have a solid or gradient shape with alterations on the edges to be behind some text. I am having great difficulty "applying" any kind of effect to a shape (or text, or selection, or whatever) ....

I think I am having difficulty with the whole layer concept.... It seems when I try to make a layer, I get something completely different from what is intended ... the last suggestion got me a transparent (but feathered!!) rectangle in a white background.

I think I need to take another break from this today. Too aggravating. Some tutorial on making layers (and what to do with them) might help.

Bobbi

[Wendy]

Hi Bobbi ...

One of the ways that helped me with layers was to visualize them as sheets of paper stacked on on top of each other.

Some are ordinary paper and you can't see through the layer but others are like transparent film with just a small area that is solid paper ...

So if you want a background, with a feathered area behind some text you would have

Top layer ... Text
Middle Layer ... A Feathered area (like Juergen showed you)
Bottom Layer ... A solid filled layer

Here is a something I did a while back for someone ... is a very simple run through of the The Basics of Layers (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?p=272738)

Hope that it helps

Wendy :)

[cats4jan]

When I want to feather a selection, I choose my marquee tool and then set the feather BEFORE making my selection.

then
control j

places the selection on it's own layer.

Turn off the original layer - using the eyeball (left side of layer in layer's palette) - otherwise you can't see your selection because it's stacked on top of the original.

Keep your layers palette open at all times so when you are having trouble, you can double check whether you are on the correct layer.

[Byron Gale]

Bobbi,

Perhaps another observation will help...

When you adust the Feather setting via the menu, you are not feathering the image, you are feathering the selection. Once the selection is feathered, anything you do with that selection will take on the feathered edge.

In the case where you have drawn with the Rectangular Marquee tool, then set the Feather, and seen the marquee "soften" -- you could then invert the selection (CTRL-SHIFT-I) and tap Delete to leave the feathered remains of your original rectangle.

HTH,

Byron

[nrsmdwf]

Thanks to ALL with your suggestions! I plan to try each of them when I get another hour or two at the computer in a couple of days. As helpful as everyone has been, I promise to post my results. Maybe one day I'll have stuff to make a "My Gallery" too!

Thanks again! Will let you know.
Bobbi

[slkozul]

I've been a user for 30 days now so I'm a newbie too - it wasn't intuitive in the beginning but it's getting easier.

I definitely found that you have to set the amount you want to feather before you make your selection.

Then I goto the menu selection of "Inverse" and then I delete - so I'm deleting the feathered part - this has always worked for me. Be sure to make a duplicate layer first so that you can a backup handy instead of having to place a new layer.

[Benny Pedersen]

I've been a user for 30 days now so I'm a newbie too - it wasn't intuitive in the beginning but it's getting easier.

I definitely found that you have to set the amount you want to feather before you make your selection.

Then I goto the menu selection of "Inverse" and then I delete - so I'm deleting the feathered part - this has always worked for me. Be sure to make a duplicate layer first so that you can a backup handy instead of having to place a new layer.

Why not feather it with "Alt+Ctrl+D" after you made a selection?

Benny

[Juergen D]

Why not feather it with "Alt+Ctrl+D" after you made a selection?

Benny

Benny,

I'm with you on this one!

Juergen

[slkozul]

Why not feather it with "Alt+Ctrl+D" after you made a selection?

Benny

Benny,

I'm with you on this one!

Juergen

I'll have to try it - this is what happens when one figures out a way to do things before they stumble across a support community. I've realized that a lot of users seem to use Ctrl/Alt commands and the only one I use so far is Ctrl+J. Is there a good place to reference all the commands to have a handy cheat sheet printed at my elbow?

[Byron Gale]

...Is there a good place to reference all the commands to have a handy cheat sheet printed at my elbow?HERE (http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18624&highlight=shortcut) you go!

[nrsmdwf]

Well, I was the the thread starter, and have tried the suggestions presented. Thank you so much!

I was able to get a selection feathered by cutting and pasting it into another layer. Is there a simpler way to feather the edges of a photo or shape without having to essentially crop out a section and paste it to another layer? Sometimes I just want to soften the edges of something just as it is .... not cut away part of it .... seems like a lot of steps for getting this done?!

The Layers parts 1 & 2 from Wendy were helpful. I already 'had' how to move them around, size, etc. I think what I gained is the sense of actually USING layers to make the project. Turning them on and off really helps see where I am working.

So glad this forum is specifically for "Beginners"! Makes me feel a little less like a fool, or at least that other fools are reading my foolish questions!!

Bobbi

[shanwick]

IBTW, I've had Elements 5 a couple of months, use occasionally until the frustration level exceeds tolerance, then quit for a few weeks. I find it very un-intuitive and the Help sections very unhelpful. It is miserable to have to contact a forum for every third action I want to take.
Bobbi

Hi Bobbi

I appreciate your frustration but I am wondering if you are trying to run a little bit before you have learnt how to walk properly?

May I suggest "Photoshop Elements 5 - The Missing Manual" by Barbara Brundage? It is an excellent book which takes you through everything in PSE5 from the very beginning? I have a reasonable level of proficiency in using Elements but I wouldn't be with out this book - I often refer to it.

Hope this helps.

[Benny Pedersen]

HERE (http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18624&highlight=shortcut) you go!

If you have problems with that ZIP download (content a DOC file), one could grab this one instead:

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?p=257916#post257916

Benny

[cats4jan]

this is what happens when one figures out a way to do things before they stumble across a support community

I learned the way you did - now I'm relearning the proper way - but, hey, if the project gets done, there is always time to learn the "better" way of accomplishing tasks.

For selections - I now use
control j
all the time.

That way, there is no need to make an additional layer to make your selection from. Control J does not compromise the layer you made your selection from. It merely makes a copy on it's own layer of just the area you selected.

nrsmdwf - Is there a simpler way to feather the edges of a photo

I suggest you use your marquee tool with the feather set at a small number - select just the tiniest bit of the outside edge of your photo and use control j instead of cut/paste

- after making a selection, it's one click (control j) and your selection is on it's own layer.

(You'll need to turn off your original layer to see the selection otherwise it's hidden by the original -
in the layers palette, there is an eyeball to the left of each layer - that turns your layer off and on)

[kathydel]

Bobbi, I'm a newbie to PSE6 and to this forum. Layers was a real hinderance to me in the beginning also and also applying effects etc. I kept creating layers I didnt' want or didn't expect, I didn't understand them at all. Many folks here helped me and I also did some google searching and tutorial viewing and reading to understand them. I also was stuck on using a couple features that just eluded me and it was terribly frustrating. Like you I hated to ask for every little thing I couldn't get. PSE is not user friendly in the beginning and I found that to be the case because you can't just dive in without knowing what you are doing. There are so many variables in this program that make it the wonderful editing tool that it is.

It's like baking a complicated recipe. No one can expect you to know what ingredients go in it, that you might have to separate the egg whites, that you might have to do certain steps in preparation before another step when they ask you to make that cake or pie etc. PSE needs tutorials to understand how to accomplish certain effects. ( that's why you see so many tutorials around) There is a long learning curve to this program, but once you do a certain effect a couple of times you begin to build on the process. I suggest you take notes as you are doing something new. I had to slow down, take a deep breath and pay close attention to the steps I needed to take to complete an action or effect. I also find the HELP section not much help either. Many of the instructions and explanations seem to assume you know what they are talking about. and I don't..You need to build your knowledge of this program one step at a time I find.

Some programs are easy, like making scrambled eggs, some require detailed instructions that must be followed in a certain order, like a complicated recipe..If you take your time and take a few notes along the way you will 'get it' I still have trouble with layers, not in understanding them so much now, but in remembering to stay on the layer I want to be on and find layers created that were a mistake several steps back and wonder, 'How did that get there?' LOL It is frustrating but I don't think anyone here knew this program in a week when they started, it takes time. Hang in there and when you achieve your goal we want to see it..OK? :)

Kathy