Today’s Blueprint is in the form of a Watch Me Work Photoshop Video Tutorial. Learn how to enhance a senior portrait by popping colors, smoothing and brightening skin, and enhancing eyes using a variety of MCP actions all found in the Incredible Retouching Package.

To see the video, make sure you can view flash, and that you are on the MCP Blog.  You will not be able to see the video directly on RSS, email or Facebook.

Photoshop on your mobile device? If you are interested, read on…

Picture This: You want to edit photos on the go using Photoshop.  And you want to travel light.  You have your iPad or iPhone with you.  What do you do? Sure, you could use one of hundreds of light photo editing apps in the “App Store.” If you want to edit the photos that reside on your iPad or iPhone, at least for now, you will need to settle for using apps.  Even Adobe has a “Photoshop App” which is NOTHING like the real thing. The problem is that you cannot install “real” Photoshop software on these portable Apple machines.

So now for the “secret.”  How can you use the full Photoshop and edit on images on your desktop computer at home or in the office, right from your iPad or iPhone?   You just need your iPad or iPhone and the Log Me In Ignition app, or other desktop remote access app.  I use Log Me In Ignition which costs $29.99. I love it as I can access my desktop anytime. Seriously! I can check email, move around files, and do work on my Mac Pro, right from my smaller Apple devices.

You can even work on Photoshop, use actions, masking, and more while you remotely control your desktop that has Photoshop installed. Remember the catch, your photos need to be on your computer  not on the iPad or iPhone. If you have lots of editing to do, you may want to wait until you’re at the computer. But I had to share this video to show you what Photoshop looks like on the iPad.

This video was shot with my Canon point & shoot and clearly without a tripod. Sorry it is a little dizzying.

Installing Photoshop actions in Elements is not an easy task.  It is more complex installing and using them in Elements because historically they only worked in the full versions of Photoshop. In the most recent versions of Elements, 7 and 8, there is a guided actions palette. This method is relatively easy but not all products work when installed this way.  Many photographers using Elements actually prefer the “back door” method for using them – by installing in the effects palette with thumbnails. Our video tutorials will cover this more difficult method of installation.

Keep in mind that Photoshop actions cannot be created or modified in Adobe’s PS Elements. Also remember that many actions will NOT work in Elements because the features and functions are not available.  Actions using lab mode or advanced curves adjustment layers, for example, would not work.

Here is a link to some tips from a few weeks ago to troubleshoot actions for Elements, in case you run into any problems. And if all else fails after watching the video tutorials and trying on your own, Erin, the MCP’s Elements consultant, is ready to help you get up and running with your MCP Elements compatible actions. We hope to have more sets available to work in Elements soon.  In the comments, please let us know which MCP actions you most want for Elements.

Video tutorial to teach you to install actions in Elements ~ Inside Elements 6:

Video tutorial to teach you to install actions in Elements ~ Inside the effects palette of Elements 5: