Introduction
to
PhotoKit-EL
PhotoKit-EL gives you all the wonders of a darkroom
without the chemicals, letting you achieve the same effects on digital
images that you once could only do in a darkroom.
The PhotoKit-EL toolkit offers accurate digital replications of traditional
darkroom effects such as tone adjustment, color balance adjustment,
and conversion to grayscale. But it also offers effects that are
difficult or even impossible to achieve in a traditional darkroom,
such as sharpening to improve detail and graduated tone adjustments
to improve specific areas in an image.
PhotoKit-EL is an Automate Plug-in, a new breed of plug-ins for Adobe
Photoshop Elements 2.0 that allows custom programming to drive Elements
automatically-it's like having an expert Elements user at your beck
and call.
PhotoKit-EL's image enhancements and adjustments are easy to use.
Choose PhotoKit-EL from the File menu's Automate Tools sub-menu,
then a simple dialog lets you see the PhotoKit-EL tool sets from
which you can easily select the desired image effect and let PhotoKit-EL
do the work.

The main PhotoKit-EL
Dialog
PhotoKit-EL uses non-destructive editing-all PhotoKit-EL
Effects create a new layer labeled with the name of the effect, leaving
the original underlying image untouched, so it's always safe to experiment.
PhotoKit-EL never, ever, changes the underlying image data. By far
the easiest way to learn what PhotoKit-EL Effects do is to try them-they
can't do any harm.
PhotoKit-EL's layer-based approach is also very flexible. The layer
created by a PhotoKit-EL Effect is just a starting point. You can
vary the strength of the effect globally by adjusting the layer's
opacity, or locally by erasing the portion you don't want.
If you want a particular effect to be stronger, you can simply run
it again. You can easily see exactly what each effect does to an
image by turning the layer's visibility on and off, and if you don't
like it, you can simply delete the layer, leaving the original image
unchanged.
Each of the Effects in PhotoKit-EL provides a consistent, repeatable
result, day in and day out. You don't need to start from scratch
every time you open an image. This philosophy coupled with the design
of using all visible layers and returning the results as new layers-while
NEVER touching your original image-lets you use PhotoKit-EL easily
and safely.

The
PhotoKit-EL Sets offer a variety of Effects organized by category.To
see the Sets, launch PhotoKit-EL and click and hold on the PhotoKit
Set pop-down menu. To see the Effects in a Set, click on the PhotoKit
Effect pop-down menu
.
After
selecting both the Set and the Effect, simply click on the 'OK'
button and PhotoKit will run the effect on your image and return
the results in a separate layer. If you click on the 'Help' button
you will automatically launch the PhotoKit-EL User Guid. If you
click on the 'Info' button you will go directly to the PhotoKit-EL
Info Page at the Pixel Genius web site where you can check for
updates, download free recipes and effects and contact Pixel Genius
if you have any problems. Note: the 'Info' button require an Internet
connection. 
Elements
2.0 and PhotoKit-EL System Requirements:
NOTE:
To install PhotoKit-EL, a U.S. or International English version
of Elements 2.0 must already be intstalled. PhotoKit-EL can not
be properly installed in any non-English version of Elements 2.0
at this time.
Windows
Intel® Pentium® processor
Microsoft® Windows® 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows
Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, or Windows XP Home/Professional
128MB of RAM, 150MB of available hard-disk space
Color monitor capable of displaying thousands of colors at a resolution
of 800x600 or greater
Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5, or 6.0 (updated
with applicable Service Packs)
Macintosh
PowerPC® processor
Mac OS 9.1, 9.2.x, or Mac OS X v.10.1.3-10.3.3 (or above)
128MB of RAM with virtual memory on, 350MB of available hard-disk
space
Color monitor capable of displaying thousands of colors at a resolution
of 800x600 or greater
PhotoKit-EL
Sets & Effects List:
Color Corrections Set:
Warming 1, Warming 2, Warming 3, Warming 4
Cooling 1, Cooling 2, Cooling 3, Cooling 4
+Magenta, +Red, +Yellow, +Green, +Cyan, +Blue
Tone
Corrections Set:
Darken Blacks, Darken Shadows 1, Darken Shadows 2, Darken Shadows
3
Lighten Shadows 1,
Lighten Shadows 2, Lighten Shadows 3
Lighten Whites, Lighten Hilights 1,
Lighten Hilights 2, Lighten Hilights 3
Darken Hilights 1, Darken Hilights 2, Darken Hilights 3
Contrast Reduction 1, Contrast
Reduction 2, Contrast
Reduction 3
Boost Contrast 1, Boost Contrast 2, Boost Contrast 3
Lighten 1/4 Stop, Lighten 1/2 Stop,Lighten 3/4 Stop, Lighten 1 Stop
Darken 1/4 Stop, Darken 1/2 Stop, Darken 3/4 Stop, Darken 1 Stop
Darken
Gradations Set:
Darken Center Oval, Darken 4 Corners, Darken Top Corners, Darken
Bottom Corners
Darken Top 1/4, Darken Top 1/2, Darken Bottom 1/4, Darken Bottom
1/2
Darken Left 1/4, Darken Left 1/2, Darken Right 1/4, Darken Right
1/2
Lighten
Gradations Set:
Lighten Center Oval, Lighten 4 Corners, Lighten Top Corners, Lighten Bottom Corners
Lighten Top 1/4, Lighten Top 1/2, Lighten Bottom 1/4, Lighten Bottom 1/2
Lighten Left 1/4, Lighten Left 1/2, Lighten Right 1/4, Lighten Right 1/2
Sharpen
& Smooth Set:
Edge Sharpen 1, Edge Sharpen 2, Edge Sharpen 3,
Luminance Sharpen 1, Luminance Sharpen 2, Luminance Sharpen 3,
Luminance Sharpen 4
Detail Sharpen 1,
Detail Sharpen 2,
Detail Sharpen 3
Noise Reduction 1,
Noise Reduction 2,
Noise Reduction 3
Photo
Effects Set:
Grain 50,
Grain 100,
Grain 200,
Grain 400,
Grain 800
Fog #1,
Fog #2,
Fog #3,
Fog #4
Diffusion #1, Diffusion #2, Diffusion #3, Diffusion #4
Center Clear Blur #1, Center Clear Blur #2, Center Clear Blur #3
Black Rules 2px, Black Rules 3px, Black Rules 4px, Black Rules 6px, Black Rules
8px
Soft Black Rule Thin,
Soft Black Rule Medium, Soft Black Rule Fat
Soft Edge Vignette 4px, Soft Edge Vignette 6px, Soft Edge Vignette 8px, Soft
Edge
Vignette 12px
Color
To B&W Set:
Deep
Red Contrast, Red Contrast, Yellow Contrast, Orange Contrast, Green
Contrast, Blue Contrast
B&W
Toning Set:
Sepia Tone, Cold Tone, Selenium Tone, Platinum Tone, Brown Tone
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