"Signature & ©" brush/stamp Help!

[six-h]

I would like to create a tool be it called a brush or stamp, that incorporates a handwritten signature and a "©" on any photo that I wish to so embelish!

Looking at http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42229, and Simion's post #5, this seems to be what I would like.

Some time ago, I created Formal, Informal and personal bitmap sigs for use in Word.
These are Brown on white (Brown ink has become something of a charicteristic of mine over the years, and I would like to continue using it)
Eg. http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh220/Theracles/geoffsig.jpg
The image size is 389 pixels wide x 216 pixels high, bit depth 24
The others are 471x220 pixels approx.
Are they suitable to use?
Can someone tell me how to proceed?

[six-h]

Woo Hooo!!!

Just messing about, and I think I've done it!!
Took the bitmap image, and converted the background to transparent (messy, lots of touching up with the pencil tool and the eraser!)
and inserted the © and year, then "assigned it" as a brush.

Magic!!
I can resize the brush to give an apropriate size stamp, but have to fiddle to get the ink colour right, but it's worth the effort!!

Example: -http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh220/Theracles/6PortMerion1978-9Copyrighted.jpg

Yahoooo!!:D:rolleyes::cool:

OMG, Time for bed me thinks!

[ladybug]

Hey good for you. You did a great job.:D

[ladybug]

check out these tutorials by wendy ,you will be interested in post 14 of the complex copyright brush tutorial. She has many great tutorials here. But you did a great job with yours you should be proud.
http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34599&highlight=mini+tutorial

[six-h]

Thanks Ladybug,
It was one of those rare occasions when everything seems to go right :)

Just looking at Wendy's tuts, in particular, the one regarding use of
"Pre-set Manager".
I'm a little confused.
My sig brush has tacked it's self on to the end of the standard brush list, is this only a temporary home?
Am I likely to lose it at some point?
What is it that the Pre-set Manager does exactly?
Does it just replace what I call the "standard brush list", or do I then have two brush lists?
If the latter, how do I access the different lists?

Finally, I had terrible trouble making the Photobucket links work, they kept appearing in the post preview with the "http://" repeated twice.
Just deleting one htpp:// didn't work, since clicking the modified link still brought up the double "http://" in the browser address bar, leading to a "Windows cannot display..." window.
In the end, I found that deleting both http://'s and typing one in their place worked.
Evidently I'm either doing something wrong, or Elements Village doesn't like Photobucket!:D
Sorry about the false link, I've tried to "de-activate it, aparently without success!

[ladybug]

Ok i am not the best to be telling you how to do this but i will try. When you make a brush it will temporaily be attached to whatever brushes you have open. Go to edit preset manager find the new brush or brushes you want to save and Ctrl click on them. They now will have a black border around them. Click on save set give it a name like 0sixx( i give it a 0 so it shows towards the top of my list). Where it says Save in go to program files-adobe-photoshopx-presets-brushes then you should be able to click on save. and when you open up elements again it should be there.

[six-h]

Thanks Ladybug, but I understand the instructions in the tut. but it's the reason I need to do it that escapes me.
The brush is still there even though I've shut down my PC, and re booted today.
What's likely to make it disappear if I don't use the Pre-set Manager?:confused:

[ladybug]

Because it only temporarily makes a brush unless you save it. You dont have to shut off your computer just close photoshop elements program. Some where along the line you must have actually save it to the brushes that already exist. Perhaps it asked do you want to save changes to the current brush set and you may have said yes.

[ladybug]

six h you use the preset manager so you can save the brushes in there own set and not have them attached to the brush sets that already exist.

[six-h]

Ahh!
It's beginning to make sense now!
I think you may be right, somewhere along the way I seem to recall that it asked if I wanted to save it, so that is the reason it's now become a permanent item in my "standard" brush list!
I've noticed that it's also available in all the "Right click" options (except the colour replacement tool)

I presume that if I save it as a new set (albeit for the moment, a one brush set) :) it will then be added to the options when right clicking the brush tool.

[ladybug]

You are correct! It is still hard for me to understand. Once i made me a set it is easy to add to it. Before i make a new brush i make sure i am in the brush set i want to to be added to, if i already have a set started.

[six-h]

Gr8,that sorts me out!
No need for the preset manager palaver, each time I want to add a special brush!!
Thanks again Ladybug,
Much apreciated> :D

[Wendy]

Hi ...

You really do need to save it into a new brush set using the preset manager ...

At the moment it is at the bottom of your current brush set and you do have the option when you come to change brush sets to save the brush you made into it ... but if you do that then you brush becomes part of an unrelated brush set.

If at any time in the future you have to reinstall Elements or you update to a new version then your brush will be lost.

If you don't choose the option to save the current brush set then when you change sets your brush will be lost.

I donlt think its a good idea to save new brushes into the existing elements brush sets ... and using the preset manager to create a new set is really easy :)

Wendy

[ladybug]

Wendy thanks for jumping in and helping. I am not real good at explaining this. I know how to do it, but not good at explaining.

[six-h]

Hi Ladybug and Wendy,

I guess I just don't think like a computer!
I'm still a bit confused.:confused:

First off, I created a brush with my sig on it and when clicking "define brush", was asked if I wanted to save it...I clicked yes, and it was as you say, added to the bottom of the current brush set.
Altering it, I was again asked if I wanted to save it, I'm not sure if it then gave me the option to delete the first when "assigning" the amended one, but I seem to recall that the second one over wrote the first. Maybe I can only have one additional brush in the original list

Now the conundrum!

If I follow Wendy's excellent and lucid tut on "Preset Manager", and select only the sig brush, saving it as, say "Geoff's brushes.abr".
Will I then find that there is an extra menu item of that name when right clicking on the brush tool,:cool:
or horror of horrors, will I find that I've only got one brush!?:eek:

[Wendy]

Hi Geoff ..

If you save the brush using the preset manager and give it a new name then as long as you save it back into the Presets folder then you will have an extra brush set ... it won't wipe out all the others :)

Wendy

[six-h]

Hmm...
Thanks Wendy, following your reassurance I have followed your tut, and things didn't go as expected.

Opened "Preset Manager", selected the one "Sig brush", and clicked "Save Set".
This is where things varied from your screen shots.
I got the normal save window that you would get if saving an image.
Navigated to Adobe Photoshop Elements 5>Presets>Brushes, and saved as "Geoff's Brushes.abr" this then left me with your "Image 1" window, so I clicked "done" and it went away.

Nothing has changed, I still have only the original brushes list, including my "sig" brush as before.
Right clicking on the Brush tool still brings up only the same four options: - Brush Tool, Impressionist Brush, Colour replacement Tool and Pencil Tool.

At this point, I tried to do the whole thing again, but by mistake did a "Control Click" on my "Sig " brush, and it promptly disappeared:(.

Have I lost it for good?
Why did I not see a new brush list with only my "Sig" brush in it?:confused:

[six-h]

Can you tell, I've not really explored the "Brushes" feature yet!
I thought the only brush options available to me in PSE 5, were accessed by right clicking on the tool in the tool dock!
I've since been on a voyage of discovery!:cool:
Clicking on the options in the "Top Tool Bar" after selecting the brush tool from the dock.
Wow!, so many options:eek:
......er by the way, Found my "Geoff's Brushes" set along the way:D

Since I've only got the one sig brush, can I add it back to the Default list as well?

[Candy3]

HI there
six-H
you need to load your brush with the preset manager it is only temporarily housed in that location - if you switch brushes you will loose what you did! If you have different brushes you can save them in the same set then move them to your preset manager and you will see them in the drop down menu of brushes

After reading your posts I was inspired to create my own brush. I can't wait to use it!

[Wendy]

Hi Geoff ...

Now that you have saved your brush into its own set, its now a permanent brush set and its better to leave the brush like that where it is ... as you make more brushes you will be able to add them to your own brush set.

Wendy

[ladybug]

Geoff i agree with Wendy once i started making my own brushes, it took no time to get my own collection going.

[six-h]

Hi Wendy and Ladybug,
Thanks for sticking with me on that!
I think I was being a little impatient in expecting the brush set to show up immediately.

I have a terrible fear of messing up my installation of PSE5, borne of my fraught experience in coaxing the original installation to work!
Don't want to have to go through that again if possible!:eek:

Candy3; hope you're as pleased with your efforts as I am with mine!:)

Thanks to everyone for your help and encouragement:D

[ladybug]

You are quite welcome , and as you can as a team we can get each other through all kinds of I DONT KNOWS. I still have my moments of insecuritys within pse, but ya gotta jump in with both feet.

[six-h]

Thanks Ladybug, don't know if you have used it, but I've been using the original "Photoshop Elements" (No version number) circa 2001 for the last 5 years and was only forced to upgrade when my poor PC turned to a cinder and I had to build this one using Vista.
Ergo the giant leap to PSE5.
I'm having the time of my life playing with all its bells and whistles!
It's so different to the old program, and I'm so grateful that there's help out there!!
Especially since I've not been able to get the help files to work!!:rolleyes:

By the way, I'm not that clever that I could build this machine all by myself, I was fortunate enough to have a lot of help from a very knowledgable friend!

I've got to look after this one though, 'cos I can't keep pestering him!:D

Thanks again to all for your help.