I have Photoshop CS and find the learning curve really steep when compared to PSP.  As a result I haven't done much in Photoshop except to apply a brush and then I go back to PSP.

However, I once asked someone how they achieved a particular effect in their art, and they were kind enough to respond.   Now years later I decided that I want to try it.

Only I can't for the life of me find the section I need to work in.  I was told "Paper, Canvas & Other Texture Overlay section "

Where exactly is that in the program? I've tried the help, but when they talk about overlays they are talking about blending modes. I found that, but it doesn't seem to be the area I need to work in.

I wonder if maybe they mean the Texturizer filter?  This would be in Filter/Texture/Texturizer.  From there you can load additional textures besides the few that are in the little drop down menu and the ones that come with photoshop would be located in your photoshop folder in presets/textures (although you can also load your own,I think they have to be greyscale and psd but not 100% sure).  I don't know if this is what they're referring to though, it would be easier if we could see  the image.

I tried to link to their gallery, but they have removed it. 

EDIT:  I found him at DA  http://kenernest63.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=72#/d1e3hge

http://kenernest63.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d245mvr

Basically the entire effect was a very, very realistic aged painting with a cracked paint effect.

I've seen cracked paint in images, but nothing like what this person did. 

When I asked him how he achieved it, he told me that he used Photoshop and did the following:

**In the Paper, Canvas & Other Texture Overlay section apply #04 - impasto brush strokes
**

next #09 - watercolor with salt stains

finally #08 - cracked paint. Change from overlay to linear light and lower the opacity

 

I couldn't find an Impasto brush in Photoshop. According to searches, Photoshop doesn't have such a brush.

I did manage to find "Watercolour", but nothing with "Salt Stains"

And I don't know what he means by changing the overlay to linear light. I don't know where the overlay area is.

 

I'm so lost when it comes to Photoshop, LOL

It's the **Paper, Canvas & Other Texture Overlay section** that stumps me...  What versions of photoshop are you using?  I'm using CS3 and there's nothing called **Paper, Canvas & Other Texture Overlay section** in it but I'm thinking maybe that's something in a newer version?  It almost sounds like he just used overlays that he put over the image on new layers and played with the blending mode of those layers.  Overlays are like images of textures or other that you'd paste on a new layer.  So he would have used an overlay of impasto brush strokes, an overlay of a watercolor painting with salt and an overlay of cracked paint.  When he says he changed the overlay to linear light, if you double click on a layer a window pops up, here's an image cause it's worth a thousand words...  ;)  When you change the blending mode to something other then normal and play with the opacity percentage, you get a variety of effects. 

If that's what he did, I have no idea where he got the overlays from, maybe they come with a newer version of photoshop...  :unsure:  He also doesn't say what blending mode he would have use for the other two overlays, that confuses me too...

I'm using Version 8.0.  The email was sent to me in 2007, so I'm not sure what the latest version of PS was at that point.

It sounds like he have me the recipe, but left out some information.

Quote - It's the Paper, Canvas & Other Texture Overlay section that stumps me...  What versions of photoshop are you using?...maybe they come with a newer version of photoshop...  :unsure:  He also doesn't say what blending mode he would have use for the other two overlays, that confuses me too...

Lucie, I have the latest PS and if it's in there then I haven't found it yet.  smile  This sounds more like a Painter function than PS to me.

You know Dani, I thought maybe he meant to say he made it in Painter but wrote photoshop instead but I don't have painter so wouldn't be able to verify. 

Quote - > Quote - It's the Paper, Canvas & Other Texture Overlay section that stumps me...  What versions of photoshop are you using?...maybe they come with a newer version of photoshop...  :unsure:  He also doesn't say what blending mode he would have use for the other two overlays, that confuses me too...

Lucie, I have the latest PS and if it's in there then I haven't found it yet.  smile  This sounds more like a Painter function than PS to me.

 

You know, that makes sense.  When I was trying to find the impasto brush in Photoshop, I googled hoping to find some easy instruction on where it was hidden. However, "Painter" kept popping up, and I saw several links that stated the impasto brush is not in Photoshop.

I'm not looking for another graphic program, especially one made by Corel, but I'll see if there is a trial version of the program, just out of curiousity to see if he really did mean Painter.

Acadia, even if he made it in Painter, I'm pretty sure you could accomplish something that comes pretty close to that paint effect with photoshop just the same, it would be mostly a matter of finding the right textures and then trying different blending modes with the layers. 

It definitely is Painter, not Photoshop.  And man! I'll never complain about the learning curve in Photoshop ever again!  Painter is a nightmare!! I couldn't get the watercolor brush to work, and I couldn't find "cracked paint" and I couln't find "linear light", despite combing the help section and doing google searches.

I prefer to use PSP only because it was the program I started with and know it inside out, which is why I'm having such a hard time wrapping my head around Photoshop. Even the tutorials that I've tried for Photoshop leave a lot to be desired in that most forget to tell you, or even show an icon, of where to find something. So if you don't know the program, you can't do the tutorial.

I'll play around with some filters in PSP and see what I can come up with.

Thank you both for your help :)

I'll sit down one day and try and muddle through learning Photoshop again. I am really intersted in the styles, which can't be used in PSP.

reading through the thread, i kept thinking it sounded a lot like functions in painter... but like lucie said, you can probably create a similar effect in photoshop.

a lot of times i scan random watercolor pieces and other effects (such as salted watercolor) and use them in pieces that i want to replicate traditional works. 

do you have a sample of something you'd like to achieve?

it'd be fun brainstorming solutions....

:)
retrocity