Channel Mixer in PS Elements 4.0... is it possible?

Don Simon · Oct 3, 2006

Hello all, as the thread title suggests I'm trying to find a way to get Channel Mixer in Elements 4.0. As it is the program doesn't have a Channel Mixer function; the idea presumably being that I have to upgrade to CS2 in order to get that. That's fair enough; I should be prepared to pay extra for extra features, but tbh Channel Mixer is the only thing absent in Elements that I feel I could really use, and in fact I much prefer using Elements to the times I've tried to use the more advanced version.

When I used Elements 3.0, I downloaded a free plugin from earthboundlight.com which enabled both Curves and Channel Mixer (and which I highly recommend to anyone with Elements 3.0 or earlier). However I've since upgraded to Elements 4.0, and some of the new features in 4.0 (like the Shadows/Highlights function) have become pretty much indispensable. But the same plugin doesn't work with 4.0. The result of this is that for black and white conversions I have to use Elements 3.0 on one computer to use Channel Mixer, before transferring the file onto another so I can use Elements 4.0 to do other processing. Which is fairly inconvenient.

So I was hoping some of you good folks here might know of a decent plugin or workaround for getting Channel Mixer in Elements 4.0. I'm not necessarily looking for something free; I'm happy to pay for a good plugin which gives me Channel Mixer, it's just that I'd rather not upgrade to CS2 when I think Elements is otherwise a very good program. Anyway thanks for reading and for any suggestions!

gizmo2071 · Oct 24, 2006

Don't know if this is what your after.....

http://hiddenelements.com/hidden_power_4_tools/

Don Simon · Oct 24, 2006

Hey, thanks for the reply. I have tried the Hidden Power tools before, they're quite good considering they're free but the Channel Mixer is not IMO as good as the one on the Earthbound Light plugin. I just realised that I made a mistake in the previous post; when I said I had used Elements 3.0 I actually meant 2.0 - I had 2.0 and 4.0. I've since realised that 3.0 has the benefits I wanted from 4.0, but also works with the Channel Mixer and other unofficial plugins like 2.0, so I've currently 'downgraded' to 3.0. Although I'm also using CS2 on a friend's computer, and finding it fairly difficult going back to using Elements where not only are there less functions but it takes ages for anything to happen :meh:

Digital Matt · Oct 24, 2006

I don't know if you can make a hue/saturation adjustment layer in Elements 4.0, but you can make one with -100 saturation, and make one underneath that, and just adjust the hue, and you'll get lots of variations of black and white. If you can't use an adjustment layer, you can duplicate the background layer, desaturate it, and set the blend mode to color, then duplicate the background layer again, so it's under this B&W layer, and just adjust the hue/sat of the layer.

Don Simon · Oct 24, 2006

Thanks Matt, yes you can layer in Elements. I've tried that method and I like the result but sometimes find the other way easier. Elements is actually pretty good, but none of the versions are ideal - 2.0 is a little too old, lacking some of the nicer features like Shadows/Highlights, and 3.0 and 4.0 are both really really slow, much slower than either Elements 2.0 or CS2. I'm sticking with Elements for now but if I can get CS2 for cheap I will.