My biggest complaint about Photoshop Elements is how hard it is to install styles. I use a lot of styles, especially my shadow styles (get them free here) and they’re a pain to install.
Then I came across the Add-O-Matic! It promised to make installing styles, actions, etc. quick and easy, but frankly I was skeptical. But the great folks at Graffi’s offered to let me give it a spin so I could tell you about it!
When you start up the program, you get a screen with
a gray box on it. You are instructed to drag the files you want to install onto the box. So I opened a Windows Explorer window to the folder where I keep my presets, and picked some styles and an action, dragged them to the box and clicked GO.
This program is SO smart, it noticed that I have three different versions of PSE on my computer, and asked which one I wanted to use! I chose PSE8, and in just a few seconds it was done! Then it offered a button to click to close the Add-O-Matic and start up PSE8. (Yes, you do need to do this with the program closed, or you will need to restart the program after installing).
It was super super easy, and worked great! Everything showed up where it was supposed to, named with the filename. The action did show up with a generic thumbnail that said “Add-O-Matic” so if you want the cute little preview image, you’ll still have to go put that in by hand.
I think for $11.99 you will buy a lot of peace of mind. I know I have styles languishing in my styles folder I never use because I don’t want to take the time to install them. Now I have a quick way to install when I’m in the middle of a project and decide I need a particular style. Sure, I’ll have to save and restart the program, but that’s a lot better than trying to find the right folder to put them in and still having to save and restart!
So I’m adding the Add-O-Matic to the list of programs I recommend to our students to make your scrapbooking life easier! If installing styles frustrates you too, give it a whirl!
The kind folks at Graffi’s are making it easy for you too: use coupon code 5cdfa1d0ba to get 25% off your entire purchase at the site! Check out their Handy Actions to make more of your PSE tasks easier!
And just to say ‘thanks’ for reading this far… we’re giving away Graffi’s Action Effects Bundle (Includes Add-O-Matic)! This is a $73.00 value, FREE to one lucky reader. Leave us a comment telling us why you like PSE, and we’ll choose a random winner!!
Jenn
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May 20, 2010
helped me jump right in and start creating without a lot of expense or training. I still have to use “cheat sheets” to get through some parts, including styles and actions. But, the results keep me trying new things even if they are not very intuitive. I use tutorials from many sources (including this web site) to help me figure out faster and better ways of doing things. I may not be the most artistic, but I definitely am determined. Thanks for sharing this information on Graffi’s Add-o-matic. I’m sure it will give me a much needed boost.
Abby
I love PSE because it has opened up a whole world of scrapbooking the way I always wanted to, but couldn’t, with paper scrapping. The Add-O-Matic sounds great. Thanks for the opportunity to win!