How Elements+ Works

PSE, just like the Photoshop full version, supports JavaScript language. It is this ability which lets E+ reach the hidden functions of the application.

The E+ kit includes 8 "main" or "top level" scripts (Color and Tone, Selections, Layers, Masks, Smart Filters, Paths, Text, and Scripts) and dozens of "supplementary" scripts. You launch the "main" ones by double-clicking their thumbnails in the Effects palette (fig. 1). These scripts are designed for accessing the undocumented PSE features.

The supplementary scripts, intended for some specific tasks, are to be run from the "Scripts" dialog box (fig. 2).

NB Actually, the difference between the "main" and "supplementary" scripts is purely conventional, because any of the "supplementary" ones may be added to the Effects panel as well (more about).

By default, all effects appear in the palette as thumbnails. To see the correspondent script names, you either hover the mouse pointer over thumbnails (fig. 1) or choose the "Show Names" option from the palette menu.

Please keep in mind that the effects won't work unless an image is open in Photoshop Elements. So, you can't run an E+ script until you create or open at least one document.

Besides, PSE doesn't let you apply effects in case if:
- more than one layer is selected in the Layers palette;
- the color depth of the current image is more than 8 bits;
- its color mode is "Indexed Color" or "Bitmap".

Windows version of " Elements+ for PSE 9" also provides an alternative method for launching the scripts. Both, "main" and "supplementary" scripts can be started from the tray menu (fig. 3).

The scripts started in this way may be applied to virtually any image. Moreover, some scripts may be run without opening any images in PSE (more about).