How do you add a "Speech Bubble with Text" in Elements 4

[E***@adobeforums.com]

I was able to add a speech bubble with text using freeze frame and editing in my Photoshop Elements 6, BUT I want the speech bubble to ride on top of the clip rather than freezing the clip for a second or so. Like when I add text to a clip, it stays there while the clip is still moving and then disappears after the time you allocated it to be visible. I know there is a way to do this but I can't find the directions anywhere in the manual or help. I remember seeing something in Elements for Dummies about using a blank clip or something, but my Library copy is out. I have to find a book on line with better instructions than the manual they give you for Premiere Elements 4, I see alot for 7, but not 4. Any directions out there??? Thanks everyone.
Aliza

[B***@adobeforums.com]

In PE you can use the Titler. There are a lot of "speech/thought bubbles" on the Internet. Google will locate many of these for you. If they are not in GIF, JPEG or PSD format, use PSE to convert them. Use the Add Image icon at the bottom of the Titler Panel. Size and place as is necessary. You can either add your text there, or if you wish to animate it separate from the bubble, create another Title with just the text.

Hunt

[E***@adobeforums.com]

Steve, what do I do with speechbubble.psd? download to desktop? then what? Thanks Aliza

[g***@adobeforums.com]

Yes, then follow the instructions in my post above.

[E***@adobeforums.com]

Bill & Steve, when I go to titler, add image, window comes up IMPORT IMAGE AS LOGO with .png files, I could not locate a speech bubble but Steve posted one as a psd. file. Should I move it from my desktop to the LOGOS folder inside >Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 > Presets >Logos so that it appears there? Will I be able to then click on it and have it appear on the video? Also, I have photoshop elements 6.0 which has lots of speech bubbles, do you know where they are so I can add to the LOGOS folder also? Another question, are there any transparent bubbles that only show the outline with the text added inside?

Steve - I did not understand how to use your psd bubble in elements. How do I get it into Video 2 track from the desktop? and how to I add text to it then? Should I add it to Logos folder like I said above? Another big question, I have found your Premiere Elements 7 book at Amazon, will this work with my Elements 4? It seems I need help! Thanks Aliza

[g***@adobeforums.com]

The book will certainly work with version 4, Eleanor. In fact, the interfaces are not all that different.

To use the speech bubble graphic, you need to save it to your computer and then import it into a Premiere Elements project.

To import it, open a project and, from the File menu, select Import and then browse to and select the speech bubble.

Once it's in your project, along with your video, place the speech bubble on the timeline on the Video 2 track and the video on the Video 1 track, directly below it.

You can size and position the speech bubble as needed by clicking on it in the Monitor and then dragging on it or the corner handles.

[B***@adobeforums.com]

Eleanor Aliza Freeman,

As I use PrPro for most stuff, I could be wrong on this, but can you not navigate to another source folder for logos?

You could also just place the .PSD on, say Video Track (VT) 2, and your Title with text on VT3. That would work well too.

You might also want to look into adding a Keyframe Effect to your "thought bubble." Two that immediately come to mind would be Opacity, where you go from 0% Opacity to 100%, and then back to 0%, to have the bubble "fade" in, as though a thought was forming. The other would be to use the Gaussian Blur, Keyframed from, say 100 to 0 and back to 100. Similar, though visually different Effects.

Good luck,

Hunt

[A***@adobeforums.com]

Eleanor Aliza Freeman

Just in case you still want to know the location of the "thought & speech bubbles" files for Photoshop Elements 6.....

Based on Windows XP Professional/Photoshop Elements 6,

Local Drive
Documents and Settings
All Users
Application Data
Photoshop Elements
6.0
Slideshow Graphics
though & speech bubbles

Just make sure that none of the files are hidden ones.

ATR

[E***@adobeforums.com]

You Guys are all WONDERFUL, Thanks so much for such prompt and helpful replies. The files were hidden but I found them, thanks. I made a copy of the folder, renamed it and put it in >c: >program files >adobe >Copy of Adobe PSE6 Thought&Speech Bubbles. I didn't know if I moved it after using it in a video and then tried to burn the video it would not find it. I figured the safest place was within the program itself, this way I won't delete or move it in error. I am printing out all of these messages and keeping in my Premiere Elements Notebook just in case I forget where I put the folder. I am 58 and short term memory could become a problem Ha Ha.
Any suggestions on how to change the inside color of the bubble to transparent while still leaving the outline and text a color or black.
Would I have to do this in Photoshop or can it be done right in Premiere Elements? Thanks again everyone, Aliza

[A***@adobeforums.com]

Eleanor Aliza Freeman

Just something for you to explore....

If you took one of your Photoshop Elements 6 speech bubbles .png into Premiere Elements 4 Timeline, I suspect that you would have a white bubble...the black would be transparency.

So what if you applied the Chroma Key to the speech bubble on the Timeline and then did some adjusts in the Properties Palatte/Chroma Key Panel options??? In the Chroma Key options, check out "Mask Only" and using white for color.

Do you know how Chroma Key works to create a transparency?

I would probably create my own speech bubbles in Photoshop Elements.

ATR

ATR

[A***@adobeforums.com]

Eleanor Aliza Freeman

Add on thought.....I do not think that all those speech bubbles .pngs were created equal in Photoshop Elements 6, that is, not all the pngs may have a transparency built in around the white bubble.

Nonetheless, Chroma Key should do the job of creating a transparency in the region of a solid color that you target. (See Edit Mode/Effects/Keying/Chroma Key.

ATR

[B***@adobeforums.com]

Elenor,

If the files are .PSD, which I think Steve uploaded, you should be able to Open them in Photoshop, and depending on their state, alter the Stroke and the Fill. The Fill is what you are referring to. The Stroke is the outline.

Good luck,

Hunt

[B***@adobeforums.com]

Hunt,

I downloaded that file and it is a PSD - but I think that it has a characteristic that is not supported by Photoshop Elements.

My thought had been that using that PSD, yes it would be possible to make the interior of the thought bubble transparent. However when attempting to do that, I got a message saying that I needed to Simplify the Layer. However IF I simplify the layer and then save again in Photoshop Elements, I think that I would loose the ability in Premiere Elements to resize by dragging.

Reference to Steve's post in message 6

You can size and position the speech bubble as needed by clicking on it
in the Monitor and then dragging on it or the corner handles.




Perhaps Steve can clarify what might be possible.

[g***@adobeforums.com]

Sorry, folks. But I think you're all making this harder than it is.

That PSD file should NOT be simplified! That will flatten it.

As a PSD file, it is white inside (so you can lay text over it) and transparent around it, so you can float the bubble wherever you want in your video frame.

Re sizing and positioning -- now we're getting into deeper stuff. But place your video on Video 1 and your speech bubble on Video 2, as I've been saying. Right-click on the speech bubble on the timeline and select Show Properties and then, in the Properties panel, open up the Motion settings and set scale to, maybe 25%. Then just click on the speech bubble in the Monitor and drag it where you want it to be.

Once it's in position, click on the "T" at the bottom of the Monitor and create your title text, which will appear on Video 3 and you can position over the speech bubble.

As I say, these things are easier to explain with illustrations or in person, and don't loan themselves easily to explanation on a forum like this. So sorry if it sounds more convoluted than it is.

[B***@adobeforums.com]

For whatever reason, I cannot download the .PSD. I have turned off all Norton, and StopZilla, but the download never starts, even after authorizing IE7 to do so. I had hoped to Open it in Photoshop CS2, but I am stymied. Sorry.

Hunt

[g***@adobeforums.com]

Not sure what's up, Hunt. If you just click on it, you should get a download option window.

[B***@adobeforums.com]

Steve,

Rt-click took care of that. I was working to get the danged thing to download the conventional way, but something was getting in the way. All done now. Ignore the PM at Muvipix.com.

OK, the .PSD is a filled Shape. No Stroke.

If one wants a transparent bubble, here are the steps in PS CS2. Do not know exactly how this translates to PSE:

Open Paths Palette, if not open. Choose the little fly-out at the top of the tab, i.e. ►. Choose Make Selection and choose 0 pixels. Now, you have the "marching ants," and a Selection. Here, I'd choose Selection>Save Selection and name it "Bubble." You have a transparent Background so you do not need to worry about it. Create a New Layer (icon at bottom of Layer Palette. If the Selection is still active (ants are still marching), you are pretty much home. If not, Selection>Load Selection and choose "Bubble." Now, back to Paths Palette and choose Make Work Path from that same fly-out menu. Set your Colors and your Pencil Tool to something very small. Use the fly-out again, and choose Stroke Path (with this new Work Path active. You can delete the Shape 1 Layer, and do a Save_As, giving it a new name. You will have a bubble with only the outline, in the color of your choice, with transparency on both the inside and outside.

Import this new .PSD into PE, or PrPro, and drag it to the Timeline.

Hunt

PS If you are doing a "thought" bubble, rather than a "speech" bubble, you might want to create a series of small circles in PS/PSE, making each one slightly larger (or you can do this with Mostion>Scale with multiple instances of one "thought" bubble), than the preceeding. Import these into the Project and animate them with Blur and Opacity too, letting them "stream" up, until the full bubble comes in. You could also do the "stream" of circles as one image, and either use the Track Matte Keying, or the Crop Effect (Keyframed) to expose the trail of circles, leading to the bubble.

[E***@adobeforums.com]

Hi Again, Sorry to bother you guys with this question, but could not find a choice in preferences. How do you change your timestamp to reflect where you are from. I am on the east coast but it always shows up as PST. Thanks Aliza

[g***@adobeforums.com]

I don't know that that's possible to change, Aliza. I think it's by nature of Adobe's headquarters being located on the West Coast.

[B***@adobeforums.com]

Aliza,

"would think that something so simple as an outline around text would be say "simple", but I guess there is more to it than it appears."

Actually, once you have done it a few times, you WILL find that it is simple. It just takes a lot more words to write out how to do it. It's like me giving directions to my house. Sounds complicated, but because one can only go one direction at each intersection, when they do it the first time, they always comment, "man, this looked difficult, when you told it to me, but it's so simple, I cannot believe it... "

Once you get the "hang" of it, don't forget to imagine all sorts of other Effects that you can use to make it all even better. The only limiting factor is one's imagination. One could even add a Sound Effect (SFX) to the "bubble." Could be especially effective, if it's a "thought" bubble, rather than a "speech" bubble.

Have fun, and let us know how it turns out.

Hunt