Watercolor Effects

Instructions and Videos

with Nicole S. Young

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Photoshop CC

Read the instructions:

Click below to toggle each section.

Step 1: In Photoshop, access the Actions panel. If you don’t see it in your workspace, go to Window > Actions.

Step 2: In the Actions panel, click the top-right menu drop down and choose Load Actions.

Step 3: Navigate to the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects.atn file and click Open. Your actions are now imported into Photoshop.

Step 4: To play an action from an action set, click the action you want to use and press the Play button at the bottom of the window.

Step 1: In Photoshop, access the Brushes panel. If you don’t see it in your workspace, go to Window > Brushes.

Step 2: Click the menu drop-down (in the top-right corner of the panel) and select Import Brushes.

Step 3: Navigate to the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects.abr file on your computer and click Open. The brushes will now be visible in the Brushes panel.

Step 1: In Photoshop, access the Patterns panel. If you don’t see it in your workspace, go to Window > Patterns.

Step 2: Click the menu drop-down (in the top-right corner of the panel) and select Import Patterns.

Step 3: Navigate to the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects.pat file on your computer and click Open. The patterns will now be visible in the Patterns panel.

Troubleshooting common errors:

Problem: An error message pops up when running one of the Watercolor Effects brush actions.

Solution: This happens when the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects BRUSHES have not been installed. Install the brush pack (.abr) and then re-try the action.

Problem: When applying one of the Watercolor Paper actions, a different pattern is being applied instead.

Solution: This happens when the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects PATTERNS have not been installed. Install the pattern pack (.pat file) and then re-try the action.

Watch the video tutorial:

In this video:

  • Import the brushes, patterns, and actions into Photoshop CC
  • Use the “main” action to apply a watercolor effect
  • Use the brushes to create a custom watercolor look
  • Add the watercolor overlays and paper effects to your photo

Photoshop Elements

Read the instructions:

Click below to toggle each section.

Step 1: At the top, make sure that you are in the Expert workspace.

Step 2: Next, access the Actions panel. If you don’t see it in your workspace, go to Window > Actions.

Step 3: In the Actions panel, click the top-right menu drop down and choose Load Actions.

Step 4: Navigate to the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects (PSE).atn file and click Open. Your actions are now imported into Photoshop Elements.

Step 5: To play an action from an action set, click the action you want to use and press the Play button at the bottom of the window.

Brush and pattern presets must be installed via the folder system for them to be permanently added to Photoshop Elements. Here’s how:

Step 1: On your computer, navigate to the Adobe Photoshop Elements application folder.

Step 2: Within this folder, you will find a Presets folder. Here’s where to look for it on your computer (the exact folder destination might vary, depending on your version of PSE):

Mac: /Applications/Adobe Photoshop Elements /Support Files/Presets

Win: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop Elements (your version)\Presets

Step 3: Next, you’ll copy the corresponding preset file into the folder it relates to:

Brush presets: Copy the .abr file into the “brushes” folder

Pattern presets: Copy the .pat file into the “patterns” folder

Troubleshooting common errors:

Problem: An error message pops up when running one of the Watercolor Effects brush actions.

Solution: This happens when the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects BRUSHES have not been installed. Install the brush pack (.abr) and then re-try the action.

Problem: When applying one of the Watercolor Paper actions, you receive an error.

Solution: This happens when the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects PATTERNS have not been installed. Install the pattern pack (.pat file) and then re-try the action.

Watch the video tutorial:

In this video:

  • Import the brushes, patterns, and actions into Photoshop Elements
  • Use the “main” action to apply a watercolor effect
  • Use the brushes to create a custom watercolor look
  • Add the watercolor overlays and paper effects to your photo

Luminar AI

Read the instructions:

Click below to toggle the instructions.

Step 1: In the menu, go to File > Add Luminar AI Template Collection

Step 2: Navigate to the nicolesy_watercolor_effects.ltc file and click Open.

Step 3: Your templates are now imported and can be accessed in the Templates tab at the top, and then in the Purchased section on the right.

Watch the video tutorial:

In this video:

  • Import the Watercolor Effects templates into Luminar AI
  • Apply a template to your image
  • Import the overlays to Luminar AI
  • Add watercolor overlays and paper effects to a photograph

ON1 Photo RAW

Read the instructions:

Click below to toggle the instructions.

Step 1: Navigate to the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects.ONPreset file on your computer.

Step 2: Right-click the file and choose to open the file with the latest version of ON1. (Note: If you have more than one version of ON1 installed on your computer, double-clicking the file oftentimes installs it into an older version of ON1, so right-clicking is the recommended process.)

Step 3: The presets will automatically be installed and can be accessed in the Presets panel on the left.

Step 1: Access the Manage Extras window by going to File > Manage Extras.

Step 2: Click the Brush Shapes tab at the top.

Step 3: Click Import at the bottom and navigate to the Nicolesy Watercolor Brushes – ON1.abr file and click Open.

Step 4: Choose a category or create a new one, then click OK and the brushes will import into ON1.

Watch the video tutorial:

In this video:

  • Import the Watercolor Effects presets into ON1 Photo RAW
  • Apply a preset to your image
  • Add and edit overlays and paper effects
  • Apply custom brush effects with the watercolor brushes

Affinity Photo

Read the instructions:

Click below to toggle the instructions.

Step 1: In the menu, go to View > Studio > Library and make sure that it is checked and visible in your workspace.

Step 2: In the Library panel, click the top-right menu drop-down and select Import Macros.

Step 3: Navigate to the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects.afmacros file and click Open.

Step 4: To apply the macro, open the file you want to apply it to and click the macro to add the effect to your image.

Step 1: In the menu, go to View > Studio > Brushes and make sure that it is checked and visible in your workspace.

Step 2: In the Brushes panel, click the top-right menu drop-down and select Import Brushes.

Step 3: Navigate to the Nicolesy Watercolor Effects.abr file and click Open. Your brushes are now ready to be used in Affinity Photo.

Watch the video tutorial:

In this video:

  • Import the Watercolor Effects macro into Affinity Photo
  • Import the Watercolor brushes into Affinity Photo
  • Stylize a photo in Affinity photo with the Watercolor macro, overlays, and brush effects