How do you install styles in PSE 8?

T

taracotta7

New member
Okay.....I promise I am not a dummy when it comes to computers. I usually can get this kind of thing but I am struggling. HELP!

I purchased Jennifer Barrette's Get Real Shadow Styles. I haven't had a chance to install them in the last couple of weeks and thought tonight was the night.

This is what I did.....(using a PC w/vista)
Right clicked on the asl file and copied. Then went to....
Start - computer - C drive - Program files - Adobe - PSE8 - Presets - Styles

and then I pasted the asl file in the styles folder.

I had PSE8 closed when I did this. I even restarted my computer. It is not in my PSE8. I can't find it.

What am I doing wrong??????

ETA: Thinking about getting Graffi's Add-O-Matic if I don't get this figured out soon. Does anyone have it and is it as easy as they claim????
 
sometimes you have to rebuild the mediadatabase.db3... some instructions say to delete but I usually rename the file and then when you open PSE it will rebuild it for you and then once you know everything's ok you can delete the old one that you renamed... let me see if I can find instructions for you.
 
Okay, going into Program Data worked! Now.....I just need to figure out how to see them in my effects box on the right. If I do a "show all" I can see them but I can't find what section they are under. Any tips for that? I would LOVE if it was with the drop shadows. Is there a way to do that?
 
yes... Jenn also has a .xml file that needs to be installed in the right folder so that it shows up as a category... brb
 
I installed both folders in the path that was told above. Thanks Heather!!!! I appreciate you looking up these links for me! :)

Both of you gals are very helpful. I was about to loose my mind!
 
They are in my PSE. I am just a little OCD and would love it if they were in the category of "drop shadows". I can't get that to change. I will deal. Thanks ladies!
 
taracotta7 said:
They are in my PSE. I am just a little OCD and would love it if they were in the category of "drop shadows". I can't get that to change. I will deal. Thanks ladies!
Click to expand...

If it is really important to you, you just need to edit/copy from both XML metadata files. You would do the most editing in the Drop Shadows.metadata XML file - right click on it, open it in Notepad, and edit. PM me if you want a walk through, and I'll give it my best. Copy that XML file first! I've lost my Bevels.metadata file and I'm too lazy to re-install just to get it back, nor have I taken time to write another one.

Please note, though, as Jenn's product contains more than one style, if you edit, all of those shadows will now be in the Drop Shadow folder, but not grouped under Jenn's folder separately - it can get really confusing visually.

Hope that helps!

ETA: another great tutorial, plus instructions on how to write XML files for your own categories by Linda Stattgast of Scrapper's Guide - here - it's for PSE 7, but it works for PSE 8 too.
 
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Okay, so I got them to show up in my effects folder... BUT, there's no names. I have no idea what is what. And I would really like them in with all of my other actions.
 
Kat Stokes said:
Okay, so I got them to show up in my effects folder... BUT, there's no names. I have no idea what is what. And I would really like them in with all of my other actions.
Click to expand...

Kat - yay, they showed up! but to get them in a separate folder, you will need an XML file. I'm not thinking really clear right now, so any explanation would be hurky at best - but Linda's tutorial goes into how to write an XML file if one was not included either with your layer styles or your action purchase.

Sometimes it is as simple as making sure ".metadata" without the quotations is in the filename of the included XML file, deleting ThumbDatabase.db3 and restarting PSE.

PM me if you want and I'll do my best to help - I know it's frustrating!
 
Is all of this also true for Photoshop? Because I can't figure out how to install shadow styles, either.
 
Nettie, thankyouthankyouthankyou for linking to that tutorial. I'd heard about how to do this, but really had no idea, and this clarifies it so much!
 
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