Puzzle Effect

[klwmsrd]

Does anyone know how to make a picture look like a puzzle?
Kari

[Carbone]

Kari,

Look under Filter / Texture / Texturizer. Then click on the little arrow near the Texture and choose Load.

Navigate to Photoshop Elements folder (the application) then Presets / Texture, and choose Puzzle.psd

Hope this helps,

Ray

[klwmsrd]

Thanks. I also found another thread on the subject that I didn't see when I first searched.

[Wendy]

Hi there ..

It makes a really good puzzle effect ... try putting a bevel on it to make it look more realistic :)

Wendy

[CarolLHB]

Hi-I have a question about this filter. The maximum size for the pieces is 200%, at that setting I had a milllion puzzle pieces. Other than Scott's piece in D&DT, is there anyway to make fewer pieces just using the filter? :)

[Wendy]

Carol ...

Try reducing the size of your image ... usually when you are making a puzzle you tend to put on on a background like a desk. So making it smaller is usually OK ...

Wendy

[pigtailpat]

Wendy -

How is a bevel applied for the puzzle effect to make it more realistic?

Thanks!!

Pat W.

[Wendy]

Pat ...

Have the puzzle on its own layer then go to the styles & effects palette>Layer Styles>Bevels ... try out a few different ones and see which looks the best :)


Wendy

[pigtailpat]

Wendy -

I tried that, and I am getting a grey-ed out layer style on the layer - it's so weird. Now I got the puzzle originally from hitting texture fill-in. Is there a difference?

Also, how can I make less puzzle pieces? The texture fill-in went to a 1600 x 1200 image size (not all that big).

Thanks Wendy!

Pat W

[Wendy]

Hi Pat ...

The only way I can think of to get less pieces is to reduce the image size ...

When you have made your puzzle ... it looks more realistic if you then distort it so that it looks as though it is lying on a table. Once you have done that then you may find it looks a little more realistic with a slight bevel on it.

I suspect that the reason you can't apply a bevel is because you are working on the background layer ... double click on it to rename it.

Hope this helps :)

Wendy

[pigtailpat]

Thanks - I'll try. I figured out why the greyed out stuff - I totally forgot about present manager to the right - I got the bevels, but still back to figuring out to make more realistic. I'm going to try transforming the thing and see what happens.

I was hoping to get an effect close to the puzzle action available for the full Photoshop -

Richard Lynch - if you're looking - a workaround to add a puzzle like action to PSE 3 would be lovely!!!! The reason? Because making a photo into a puzzle can later be utilized in a slideshow - to make is appear that the photo "breaks up" into puzzle pieces, or, they can be slowly "joined" to form the puzzle. I'm really hesitant to upgrade to PSE 4 because I really love Grant's tool's quick mask. It really is tremendous, and that alone makes me want to keep ver. 3 until I can ever afford the full PS CS2.

Is this available in the one-click WOW thing?

Pat W

[Wendy]

Pat ...

I like the idea of a puzzle breaking up :)

You can do the puzzle yourself by using the puzzel shaped pieces in the custom shapes ... but it takes a while to do :(


Wendy

[pigtailpat]

Yes - I know - I'm fully aware of the technique laid out by Scott Kelby in his book, I even followed it for awhile. I got up to like 3 or 4 pieces, and that alone was ALOT of work. It'll take FOREVER to finish a simple photo.

That's why an action like this for PSE 3 makes alot of sense - it anyone can write it.

I'm unsure whether the puzzle action written for the full CS2 will work inside PSE 3. Alot of actions written for CS2 will not work inside PSE 3. I'm alittle afraid to try it for fear of messing up my install of PSE 3. The one I am referring to is the one at Adobe Studio's page.

Pat

[Wendy]

Pat ...

If its the one by Panos then it won't work ...

When Actions are part of action set (just means that there is more than one action in there) then they don''t work in Elements. The trouble is that a lot of them are written that way.

The best way to see if they work is simply to install them ... some work and some dont but either way they shouldn't mess up your install of PSE3.

Wendy

[Carbone]

I have an idea, but I'm not sure how good it is... but, here goes :

:arrow: Open the image on which you want to apply the puzzle effect.

:arrow: Create a new layer, Overlay Blending mode, fill it with 50% neutral gray (Layer / New..), see next image :

http://homepage.mac.com/carbmac/Photoshop_Elements006.jpg

:arrow: Apply the puzzle filter on this overlay layer.

:arrow: Click on Command - Minus (the - sign) or Control - Minus for Windows, a couple of time, then resize the window border to give you "elbow room". You now have your image surrounded by a gray area.

:arrow: Press on Command - T (Control -T for Windows) then press and hold both the SHIFT and OPTION (or Alt for Windows) to enlarge, from the one of the corner handle. Holding both keys resize keeping the same proportion and from the middle. Untill a satisfactory size is reached.

:arrow: Press on Enter when satisfied.

Voilà!

Ray

[pigtailpat]

Wendy -

Whew! I think I found a solution!! And free - boy oh boy, this involves downloading a free .png file and defining a puzzle AS A PATTERN!! (Isn't this ingenious!!) and adding it as a layer. When you fill the layer with the puzzle pattern, you can even increase the scale, so that the puzzle pieces get bigger - and more realistic - not the itty bitty stuff.

Where I am stuck - is that the page said you adjust the puzzle line color - I'm trying to do that so it isn't as black - I want the puzzle to look more like part of the actual photo not as much as the black lines.

Please go to http://www.escrappers.com/puzzle.html to take a look, download the .png files and define those as patterns, and see if you can figure it out.

Thanks for helping - if we can work on this - this is a FREE solution!!

Sincerely,

Pat W.

[DavidJacques]

Hi, I couldn't figure out how to do a puzzle effect, couldn't find any puzzle shapes, so I decided to create one myself. I did it in a work path, thinking that it might be more flexible.

I'll share what I did, I hope this can be helpful to someone.

2 PSD files, the path is in the workpath.
Puzzle-workpath.psd (http://www.customerinput.com/download/files/puzzlepsd/puzzle-workpath.psd) : first version
Puzzle-workpath2.psd (http://www.customerinput.com/download/files/puzzlepsd/puzzle-workpath2.psd) : distorded the lines a bit

Here's a rendering of puzzle-workpath2:

http://www.customerinput.com/download/files/puzzlepsd/puzzle-workpath2.gif

If you use, please feel free to share the result, I would love to see. email: david.jacques (AT) gmail.com
And if possible, give credit to the source...


I'm really not proficient with Photoshop, and although I've created the shape, I don't know how to use it to do what I want! All I wanted to do was cut up an image along the paths, to separate the pieces! (in other words, put whitespace between pieces of the puzzle). I also create a shape of only one "piece" of puzzle, to no avail. Still struggling to figure out how to attach paths together and only use parts... Duh.

regards,
david

[Wendy]

Hi David ...

As most people here are using Photoshop Elements sadly they they won't be able to use your workpath ... Elements doesn't have that facility.

Now your problem ... I can't think of a way that you can cut an image along with paths. You need to do cut out each individual piece of the jigsaw ...

Did you try using the Filter>Texture method?

Another thought is why not try the puzzle action by Panos ... its a lot quicker than doing it yourself ... and if you take a look at how the action works you will be able to see how you can do it manually (Panos's Actions are Photoshop Only ... they don't work in Elements)

http://www.panosfx.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Wendy

[GlennK]

This has probably been mentioned elsewhere, but a few days ago I e-mailed Panos to see if any puzzle effect actions are in the works for PSE. Here is part of his reply (thank you, Panos!):"Frankly, when I started the site 4 months ago I couldn't imagine that there would be a demand for PSE actions! I keep receiving emails from people all over, asking me for PSE stuff!

"I recently downloaded the trial version of PSE 4 from Adobe. I will install it this week and I will see if I can convert my works. If everything goes well I will first convert my most popular free and commercial works to this platform.

"I will let all PSE users know on the site's first page. I hope it will work out at the end."

***********************

I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Glenn

[Wendy]

Hi Glenn ...

Panos writes wonderful actions but they are very complex so I doubt that conversion of most of them would be easy ... especially in view of the way Adobe disabled so much of the access when they introduced PSE4 ... but lets keep our fingers crossed.

If you have PSE3 then the PET Special Effects .. Filmstrip is based on one of the actions by Panos.

Wendy

[GlennK]

Hi Wendy (and congratulations for breaking the 10,000 barrier! :) )!

I have PSE 3 and the PET Special Effects and have played with the filmstrip (cool, to say the least). I noticed that the filmstrip on Panos' site looked "stunningly" similar to the PET effect and was wondering if there was a family connection.

Puzzle effects are pretty entertaining in PSG slide shows (at least the first time you see them), but I've held off trying to create one from scratch. I may give the techniques mentioned above a try while I wait to see what Panos comes up with and see whether his action will work with PSE 3.

Regards,

Glenn

[Wendy]

Hi Glenn ...

Panos does some amazing work ... if ever you get a chance to look at all the steps his actions have then it is well worth looking. (You do need access to Photoshop to do that)

Wendy

[TonyW]

If you're into Puzzle effects and are willing to pay for a plug-in then the one from AvBros is excellent. You can check it out and try a free demo at:

http://www.avbros.com/english/puzzlepro/index.html

Tony

[DavidJacques]

Hi Wendy

Oooh sorry, I didn't understand this was Photoshop *Elements* :( . Maybe Adobe should not have used a confusing name like that. :confused:

Well if anyone wants the pattern I did, I can make it in a PNG or which ever format, which even transparency, etc. Just email me with the details, I'll post the image here. :)

thanks,

david

[Wendy]

Hi David ...

Oh that is nice of you ...

Have you made any puzzles yet or are you still struggling with the effect ... if you have made any then do post a link to one as it would be nice to see what you have done:)

Wendy

[DavidJacques]

Hi Wendy

I haven't done anything yet. I saw Panos' site mentioned here and found a wealth of tips and actions there, including actions for puzzles. Great for those who want to "puzzle-up" and entire image, can save hours and hours of work! (for Photoshop users anyway). Great site, but seems mostly for Photoshop (-sans- Elements) users, unfortunately for this group.

Still not what I need though, what I require is too customized, so will probably just do it by hand.


rgds,
david

[Wendy]

Hi David ...

When you have tried it out do let us see your image ... good luck with the effect :)


Wendy

[margtvl]

I remember a similar thread like this awhile ago. In that thread someone had posted a puzzle they had done. They had actually pulled a piece of the puzzle out and had it off to the side. I have not tried to do that but was wondering how to do it. I figured if I just used the magnetic lasso on one of the pieces I could move it to it's own layer and then place it wherever I want in the picture. I am at work so I can't try it out right now. If this won't work and someone knows how to do it please let me know.

[Wendy]

Hi there ...

Yes that will work.

All you do is put a suitable backgrounnd below the image (like a desk) then remove a piece and let part of the dek show through ... you can use any of the selection tools ... :)


Wendy

[margtvl]

I got it to work this morning. I did not put anything in the background. I just played with it for 5 minutes before leaving for work.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Do let us know how you go on and perhaps later you will post an image :)


Wendy