So frustrated - I need help with Katie's Drop Shadow Styles

[MarriedLadyTara]

I have a MacBook with Leopard (as of 2 weeks ago). I am trying the free PSE6 trial. I wasn't a whiz with PSE4 to begin with. And so I'm stuck.

I followed the directions about moving the file into the Photoshop presets/Style folder. I have no idea if they show up. I can't find anything that relates to Katie at all.

And...I searched through old stuff and Cassie and Pattie were REALLY helpful to some folks - but they were (I think) talking about using Windows or Vista.

Can anyone help?

Thanks.

[katie pertiet]

hoping someone can help--I'm on a mac but not with leopard and an earlier version of PSE... anyone out there??

[cheekymonkey]

That's because those folks at Adobe make it harder to install custom styles, shapes, etc. with each version of PSE! It took me a few days and some internet searching to figure it out... and I'm certain Cassie might be able to explain this one much better, but here goes!

You also have to put the .asl file here on your hard drive:

Library\Application Support\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\6.0\Locale\en_US\Photo Creations\layer styles

They will not show up on their own in the menu palette, however, you will have to choose "view all" to see them...

...unless (and this is where it gets tricky!) you also create a .xml file and install it here:

Library\Application Support\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\6.0\Locale\en_US\Photo Creations Metadata\layer styles

I've created .xml files for my purchased styles by opening an existing .xml in text edit and copying the information, creating a new file replacing the necessary file names. I'm certain if you google around a bit you might find an actual tutorial on that, because I really don't know how to break it down to teach someone.

I hope that helps a little, if not, hopefully a real mac guru will come along soon to better explain it!

[MarriedLadyTara]

Christine - your directions were really easy to follow - thank you

Ok, when I go to show all - how do I know if Katie's are actually there? I must be missing something!

[cheekymonkey]

Make sure you are in the layer styles palette (not filter or photo effects), and I think "show all" lists all the styles in alphabetical order, I believe they all start with "KPertiet".

You might need to reset the defaults in PSE, before they show up, too. This is what I had to do... Go here:

Library\Application Support\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\6.0\Locale\en_US\MediaDatabase.db3

and delete that file "MediaDatabase.db3". It will rebuild as soon as your start up PSE again. Then your styles should be there when you choose show all in the layer styles palette.

I know there is another way to do it by holding down a few keys right when starting up PSE, but I can't remember what they are right now, and I have not been fast enough on my iMac to get them to work. When I had a PC, I could have started up PSE, made myself a cup of tea and still had time to press those buttons to rebuild!

I hope that helps, I have pretty much exhausted my two months worth of knowledge in Mac and PSE6!

[Cassie Jones (1gr8muggle)]

The shortcut keys for resetting as you launch the software are Shift + Command + Option. Just hold them as you launch PSE and you'll be prompted to reset to defaults.

[MarriedLadyTara]

Thank You SO Much!

I wasn't fast enough to get it on startup, but I used Christine's method and it worked like a charm!

Thanks everyone!

[mbdblue]

In a frustrated Google search, I just found this 2 years after the first writing and am so thrilled!!! Thanks for all this info---Christine, you are great! I am so happy to get my styles installed that I recently bought. =)

[jesshunt]

holy wow - I was trying to figure this out tonight too....it appeared at just the right moment thanks to all!

[mbdblue]

Does anyone know if installing styles has changed with PSE 8 (mac)? I just installed PSE 8 and need to get it loaded with all my actions and styles. Thanks!

[Bush Girl]

After a lot of struggling and online help, I've managed to load all my actions & styles in PSE8 Mac, but can't get the info from the .xml files to show up. The styles are there all right, but you have to a) know where they fall alphabetically in the long list of "show all", b) recognise them if they have a name that isn't instantly recognisable and c) learn to recognise the picture PSE gives them.

I've found this very frustrating and consequently will probably end up using my purchased styles far less as they are so difficult to locate and differentiate between.

If anyone can shed any light on .xml files in PSE8 I would be so grateful.

[mbdblue]

Selena, I have some good instructions for this that worked great for me in PSE 8 if you want them----I sent you a private message...if you reply back then I will send them to you in an email. =)

[Bush Girl]

Thanks Michelle, have pm'ed you back.

[mbdblue]

For anyone else interested in the instructions I wrote up for installing styles/actions and creating xml files for PSE 8 - Mac, I have uploaded a pdf file for download, which is here.

[mbdblue]

One more thing! Make sure that PSE 8 is NOT running when you follow those steps for installs. ;-) I forgot to put that in my notes.