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iii Contents Chapter 1: Introduction to Photoshop Elements What's new in Photoshop Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 System requirements | Photoshop Elements Photoshop Elements manual (PDF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 . . . . . . . . .
iv PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS Contents Gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Work with Asian type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
v PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS Contents Layer styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Opacity and blending modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 Chapter 1: Introduction to Photoshop Elements What's new in Photoshop Elements Effortlessly edit, create, and organize with new automated options powered by Adobe Sensei AI technology — there’s always room to add your personal touch. Revitalize your photos with automatic colorization. Auto-select your subjects with just one click. Make people look their best with automatic skin smoothing. Enjoy new Auto Creations: B&W Selection, Pattern Brush, Painterly, and Depth of Field effects.
2 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Colorize a photo in Photoshop Elements Select your subject with just one click Selections just keep getting easier. Click once to auto-select the main subject of your photo, and then easily enhance it with an effect or cut it out and add it to another photo to create something all-new. Powered by Adobe Sensei. See how it works - Quickly select a person or thing in your photo.
3 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Smooth skin automatically Easily reduce wrinkles or blemishes to make the people in your photos look their best. Powered by Adobe Sensei. See how it works - Smooth skin in photos. Smooth skin in photos Enjoy new Auto Creations Now an even wider variety of Auto Creations will be waiting for you when you launch the home screen.
4 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Access Auto Creations such as Pattern Brush in Photoshop Elements Add creative sparkle with patterns Jazz up any photo with a fun pattern like hearts or stars. The Pattern Brush Guided Edit makes it easy to create a photo that really stands out in print or online. See how it works - Pattern Brush guided edit.
5 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Add creative patterns to your photos and create memorable keepsakes Make unwanted objects vanish Quickly remove power lines, pedestrians, or anything else that distracts from your main subject with the Object Removal Guided Edit. See how it works - Object Removal guided edit.
6 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Quickly remove a person or thing from photos Find new things to try Check out the Try This area of the home screen to discover fun photo editing tricks and techniques to try, like opening closed eyes in photos, restoring old photos, and more. Then just click to jump right to them. See how it works - Try out exciting features.
7 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Click the 'Try this' card of your choice to learn about the feature Faster performance and expanded HEIF and HEVC support Work faster and better in Photoshop Elements! Now you'll experience faster performance for everyday tasks like adding and editing photos, and you can switch between large catalogs faster. Plus, import and edit HEIF photo files and HEVC video files on Windows as well as macOS. See system requirements.
8 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Add photos faster including HEIF files in Photoshop Elements Order photo prints, gifts, and gear (U.S. only) Create and order beautiful prints and over 140 photo gifts and keepsakes like wall art, mugs, phone accessories, and more with the new FUJIFILM Prints and Gifts service right inside Photoshop Elements.
9 Introduction to Photoshop Elements System requirements | Photoshop Elements Photoshop Elements 2020 Windows • 1.6 GHz or faster processor with SSE2 support • 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 10 (versions 1809, 1903 are recommended) or Windows 8.1. (32-bit OS version is not supported). Windows 7 is not supported. • HEIF/HEVC import is supported only on Microsoft Windows 10 versions 1809, 1903, or higher. Learn more. • 4 GB of RAM (8GB recommended) • 6.
10 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Fujifilm Prints and Gifts service is available only in USA. Photoshop Elements 2019 Windows • 1.6GHz or faster processor with SSE2 support • 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 10 (recommended with version 1607 or later), Windows 8.1, or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 • 4GB of RAM (8GB recommended) • 5.2GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation and additional 2.
11 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Windows • 1.
12 Introduction to Photoshop Elements macOS • 64-bit multicore Intel processor • macOS X v10.10, v10.11, or v10.12 • 4GB of RAM • 5GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation and additional 2GB to download all optional content) • 1024x768 display resolution (at 100% scale factor) • DVD-ROM drive (for installation from DVD) • Internet connection required for product activation and content download* * Internet connection required.
13 Introduction to Photoshop Elements * Internet connection required. This product may integrate with or allow access to certain Adobe or third-party hosted online services (“Online Services”). Online Services are available only to users 13 and older and require agreement to additional terms of use and Adobe’s online privacy policy (see www.adobe.com/go/terms).
14 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Older versions Photoshop Elements 12.0 Windows • 1.6 GHz or faster processor (including single-core support) • Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista® with Service Pack 2, Windows 7, or Windows 8 & 8.
15 Introduction to Photoshop Elements • Internet connection required for Internet-based services Mac OS • Multicore Intel® processor • Mac OS X v10.6 through v10.8 • 1 GB of RAM (2 GB for HD video functions) • 4 GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation) • 1024 x 768 display resolution • DVD-ROM drive • QuickTime 7 software required for multimedia features • Internet connection required for Internet-based services Photoshop Elements 10.0 Windows • 1.
16 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Windows • 1.
17 Introduction to Photoshop Elements • Mac OS X v10.4.11 through 10.5.8 or Mac OS X v10.6 • 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended) • 64 MB of video RAM • 2 GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation • 1,024 x 768 display resolution • DVD-ROM drive • QuickTime 7 software required for multimedia features • Internet connection required for Internet-based services Languages Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.
18 Introduction to Photoshop Elements • 1 GB of RAM • 1.5 GB of available hard-disk space • Color monitor with 16-bit color video card • 1024 x 768 monitor resolution at 96 dpi or less • Microsoft DirectX 9 compatible display driver • CD-ROM drive • Web features require Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or 7 or Mozilla Firefox 1.5 through 3.x Languages Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.
19 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Languages Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 for Windows was available in the following languages: • Czech • Dutch • English • French • German • Italian • Japanese • Polish • Russian • Spanish • Spanish (Latin American) • Swedish • Turkish Mac OS • PowerPC G4 or G5 or multicore Intel processor • Mac OS X v10.4.8 through 10.5.
20 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Windows • Intel® Pentium® 4 or Intel Celeron® (or compatible) 1.3-GHz processor (dual-core processors and processors with Hyper-Threading Technology supported) • Microsoft Windows Vista (32 bit only), Windows® XP, or Windows Media Center Edition (Windows XP and MCE require Service Pack 2) • Windows XP: 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended) • Windows Vista: 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended) • 1.
21 Introduction to Photoshop Elements Windows • Intel® Pentium® III or 4 processor at 800 MHz (faster recommended) • Microsoft® Windows® XP® Home or Professional with Service Pack 1 or Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 • 256 MB of RAM (512 MB or more recommended) • 800 MB of available hard disk space • Adobe Reader¨ 6.0.1 and Microsoft DirectX 9.
22 Introduction to Photoshop Elements • Color monitor with video card capable of thousands of colors • CD-ROM drive • Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5 or 6.0 (for Help menus) Photoshop Elements 1.0 Windows • Intel® Pentium® processor • Microsoft® Windows® 98, NT 4.0, 2000, ME or XP • 128 MB of RAM (512 MB or more recommended) • 150 MB of available hard disk space • Color monitor capable of displaying thousands of colors • CD-ROM drive • Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5 or 6.
23 Chapter 2: Workspace and environment Get to know the Home screen When you launch Elements 2019, the Home screen helps you to easily get started with Elements applications. The Home screen showcases a carousel of cards to help you discover new features, try out exciting features, and explore and personalize Auto Creations. You can also quickly search for Help resources of your desired features. The Home screen also allows you to start from scratch with one of the Elements applications.
24 Workspace and environment The Home screen after the first launch of an Elements app; Notice the Last Used Version section. Note: • Apart from selecting the previously used version in the Select Version drop-down list: • If you don't remember your previously used Elements version, select Don't Know. • If you are a new user, select First Time User. • In the Windows Application Store version of Adobe Photoshop Elements, the Select Version drop-down list for Premiere Elements is unavailable.
25 Workspace and environment The Home screen on a subsequent launch of an Elements app. Under Auto Creations, click Add Media to import media. You can then view Auto Creations when you relaunch the app. Explore and customize Auto Creations Auto Creations, or auto-generated creations, are available to you on the Home screen. Under the section Auto Creations, you can view auto-created photo collages, slideshows, video collages, and Candid Moments.
26 Workspace and environment Import media to view Auto Creations such as slideshows, photo and video collages, and more. Note: In the Windows Application Store version of Adobe Photoshop Elements, video creations such as video collages and Candid Moments are not supported.
27 Workspace and environment Use the arrows on the sides of the upper panel to learn about new features. Find out exciting features In the carousel of cards displayed in the upper part of the Home screen, you can find cards labeled Inspiration with an orange tag. These cards help you to discover fun features and access resources for the same. Use the arrows on the left and right side of the carousel to view these cards. Hover over a desired Inspiration card and click View.
28 Workspace and environment Click the Inspiration cards to learn exciting features. Try out exciting features The carousel of cards displayed in the upper part of the Home screen includes Try This cards (with green tags). These cards help you try many exciting features. The features can range from basic to advanced and are updated based on the actions that you perform in the app. Use the arrows on the left and right side of the carousel to access the Try this cards.
29 Workspace and environment Use the left and right arrows to find the Try This cards on the Home screen. Search for Help resources of features On the Home screen, use the Search bar at the top to quickly search and find Help documentation or tutorials of your desired features. You can search projects such as slideshow, photo collage, greeting card, and more. Use the Search bar to search resources for features such as slideshow, photo and video collages, and more.
30 Workspace and environment Open your desired Elements application You can open any of the three Elements apps from the Home screen. Click the icon of the desired Elements app to open and work with it.
31 Workspace and environment Workspace basics The Adobe Photoshop Elements workspace presents an easy-to-use interface that helps you enhance your images--the way you want. Based on your level of expertise with Photoshop Elements, you can choose to work in Quick, Guided, or Expert modes. Note: If you are using Photoshop Elements 2018 or earlier versions, you will also see the eLive tab.
32 Workspace and environment On the Welcome screen, click: • Photo Editor, to enhance your images or add special effects. • Click the Photo Editor icon to open the editor in default mode. • Click the Photo Editor drop-down icon to open the editor along with one of the recently opened files, a new file, or choose a file to open. • Organizer, to import, tag, or organize your photos. • Video Editor, to creatively edit and create fun movies with your videos.
33 Workspace and environment eLive - a view to access content and resources • By default, all the articles are shown. • You can filter the articles for channels available: Learn, Inspire, News Quick Enables you to edit photos in the Quick mode. Use this mode to make quick and simple edits to your photo such as fix the exposure, color, sharpness, and other aspects of an image. For more information, see Enhanced Quick Mode.
34 Workspace and environment Quick mode Guided Enables you to edit photos in the Guided mode. The Guided mode is a wizard-like interface that allows you to accomplish certain predefined effects. Each guided edit has an associated image that displays the applied effect when you hover the mouse pointer on it. For more information, see Guided mode.
35 Workspace and environment Guided mode Expert Enables you to edit photos in the Expert mode. The Expert mode has tools to correct color problems, create special effects, and enhance photos. The Quick mode contains simple tools for correcting color and lighting, and commands to quickly fix common problems, such as red eye. The Guided mode contains tools for basic photo edits, guided activities, and photographic effects.
36 Workspace and environment Photoshop Elements in Expert mode A Active tab B Inactive tab C Active image area D Options bar E Toolbox F Tool Options bar / Photo bin G Taskbar H Panel bar Menu bar Contains menus for performing tasks. The menus are organized by topic. For example, the Enhance menu contains commands for applying adjustments to an image. Mode selector Contains buttons to enter the three available editing modes.
37 Workspace and environment Viewing the original photo and the edited photo at the same time Note: The ability to work split-screen with the original photo and the edited photo in view is available only in Quick mode. Use context menus You can use context menus in both the Photo Editor and Organizer workspaces. Context-sensitive menus display commands that are relevant to the active tool, selection, or panel. These menus are often another way to access the commands in the main menus.
38 Workspace and environment In the Save dialog box that opens, select the Include in the Elements Organizer checkbox. You can then see the image in Elements Organizer. Exit Photoshop Elements To exit Photoshop Elements, close both the Photo Editor and Organizer workspaces—closing one does not automatically close the other. 1 From any workspace, do one of the following: • In Windows, choose File > Exit (Ctrl + Q). In Mac, choose Photoshop Elements > Quit Photoshop Elements (Cmd + Q) .
39 Workspace and environment • Select • Enhance • Draw • Modify Expert mode toolbox A View tools B Select tools C Enhance tools D Draw tools E Modify tools F Color Tools in the View group of the Expert mode toolbox Zoom tool (Z) Zooms in or zooms out your image. The related tools shown in the Tool Options bar are Zoom In and Zoom Out. For more information about the Zoom tool, see Zoom in or out. Hand tool (H) Moves your photo in the Photoshop Elements workspace. You can drag your image using this tool.
40 Workspace and environment Refine Selection Brush tool (A) Adds or removes areas to and from a selection by automatically detecting the edges. For more information on this tool, see Edit and refine selections. Auto Selection tool (A) Automatically makes a selection when you draw a shape around the object you want to select. For more information on selection, see Make selections in Photoshop Elements.
41 Workspace and environment Eraser tool (E) Erases the pixels in the image as you drag through them. For more information about the tool, see Use the Eraser tool. Background Eraser tool (E) Turns color pixels to transparent pixels so that you can easily remove an object from its background. For more information about the tool, see Use the Background Eraser tool. Magic Eraser tool (E) Changes all similar pixels when you drag within a photo. For more information, see Use the Magic Eraser tool.
42 Workspace and environment Cookie Cutter tool (C) Crops a photo into a shape that you choose. For more information about the tool, see Use the Cookie Cutter tool. Perspective Crop tool (C) Transforms the perspective of a picture while cropping it. For more information about the tool, see Perspective Crop tool. Recompose tool (W) Intelligently resizes photos without changing important visual content, such as people, building, animals, and more.
43 Workspace and environment Edit tool preferences You can modify the default preferences for tools. For example, you can hide the tool tips or change the appearance of a tool pointer. Edit General preferences 1 Do one of the following: • In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences > General. • In Mac, choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General. Set one or more of the following options: • Select Show Tool Tips to show tool tips.
44 Workspace and environment Reset tool settings to default You can restore the default settings of a selected tool or all tools. 1 Select a tool from the toolbox. Alternatively, press keyboard shortcut for the tool. 2 Click to open the pop-up menu in the Tool Options bar and do one of the following: • To reset the selected tool, click Reset Tool. • To reset all the tools, click Rest All Tools.
45 Workspace and environment Dragging a panel. Panel menus Some commands appear in both the panel menu and the menu bar. Other commands are exclusive to panel menus. Click panel menu to view the different commands in each panel. Pop-up sliders within panels Some panels and dialog boxes contain settings that use pop-up sliders (for example, the Opacity option in the Layers panel). If there is a triangle next to the text box, you can activate the pop-up slider by clicking the triangle.
46 Workspace and environment To increase or decrease values in 10% increments when the pop-up slider box is open, hold down Shift and press the Up or Down arrow keys. Different ways to enter values A Dial B Click to open window C Text box D Menu arrow E Scrubby slider F Check box G Hotkey H Pop-up slider triangle Work with panels Panels contain features, information, or functionality, in logical groups, for fast and easy access. The Panel Bin is on the right side of Photoshop Elements.
47 Workspace and environment The Panel Bin 1 To show or hide the Panel Bin, Choose Window > Panel Bin. 2 In the Panel Bin (Custom Workspace), • To remove a panel from the Panel Bin, drag the title bar of the panel out of the Panel Bin. • To add a panel to the Panel Bin, drag the title bar of the panel into the Panel Bin. • To rearrange panels in the Panel Bin, drag the title bar of the panel to a new location. • To expand or collapse panels in the Panel Bin, double-click the name of the panel.
48 Workspace and environment 3 To use panels outside the Panel Bin, in Custom Workspace view, do any of the following: • To open a panel, choose the name of the panel from the Window menu, or click the arrow next to the More button in the taskbar and select a panel. • To close a panel, choose the name of the panel from the Window menu. Or click the Close button bar of the panel. in the title • To change the size of a panel, drag any corner of the panel.
49 Workspace and environment The Photo Bin ? Do any of the following: • (Windows only) To open an image, drag a file from any location on your computer (including the Photo Browser) or from any storage device connected to your computer into the Photo Bin. • To bring an opened image forward as the frontmost image, click a thumbnail. • To rearrange photos, drag thumbnails in the Photo Bin. The order here does not impact the photo’s order in the Elements Organizer.
50 Workspace and environment Open files Working in the Edit workspace of Photoshop Elements gives you choices about working with your files. You can set options for opening, saving, and exporting files by type, by file size, and resolution. You can also process and save camera raw files. These tools make it easy to combine files of different types and optimize them in Adobe Photoshop Elements.
51 Workspace and environment • Click the Open drop-down (above the tool box). The Open drop-down is a list of recently opened files. • Drag an image from a folder on your computer or storage device, and drop it in the Editor. 2 In the dialog box that appears, set format-specific options, and continue opening the file. There may be instances when Photoshop Elements cannot determine the correct format of a file.
52 Workspace and environment Each page is shown as a thumbnail. To increase the size, choose an option from the Thumbnail Size menu. 1 Choose File > Open. 2 Select a PDF file, and click Open. You can change which types of files are shown by selecting an option from the Files Of Type menu. 3 To import just the images from a PDF file, choose the Images option from the Select area, in the Import PDF dialog box. Select the image or images you want to open.
53 Workspace and environment 6 (Optional) Rotate the placed artwork by doing one of the following: • Position the pointer outside the bounding box of the placed artwork (the pointer turns into a curved arrow), and drag. • In the Tool Options bar, click and drag the pointer in the Angle option. 7 (Optional) Skew the placed artwork by holding down Ctrl (Command in Mac OS) and dragging a side handle of the bounding box. 8 To blend edge pixels during rasterization, select the Anti-alias option.
54 Workspace and environment 8 To attach a label to the images, choose an option from the Labels menu, then customize the text, text position, font, size, opacity, and color. (To change the text color, click the color swatch and choose a new color from the Color Picker.) Note: The Watermark option enables you to add a permanent visual watermark to images. For more information, see Add permanent watermarks to a batch of photos.
55 Workspace and environment Change the rulers’ zero origin and settings ? In Expert mode, do one of the following: • To change the rulers’ zero origin, position the pointer over the intersection of the rulers in the upper-left corner of the window, and drag diagonally down onto the image. A set of cross hairs appears, marking the new origin on the rulers. The new zero origin will be set where you release the mouse button.
56 Workspace and environment Each panel has ten thumbnails. Each thumbnail is a live preview. Clicking a thumbnail applies the effect, texture, or frame, to your image. Names for these effects, textures, and frames is displayed when you hover the mouse pointer on the thumbnail. Effects Eleven available effects each have five variations. Transform your photo by applying an effect.
57 Workspace and environment Effects are applied as a new layer with layer mask. You can edit the layer mask in Expert mode to remove/reduce effect from certain areas. The following list provides a brief description of each of the available effects: Auto Smart Looks LinkAnalyzes the image available, and, based on the content of the image, provides options with different effects applied.
58 Workspace and environment Black & White Applies a Black & White effect to the image. Available variations: • Simple B & W • Silver • Old School • Platinum • Tinted Black Lithograph Applies a lithograph effect to the image. Available variations: • Sepia • Black • Copper • Blue • Green Cross Process Applies the effect of processing of photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film.
59 Workspace and environment • White Leak • Yellow Streak Textures Use the Textures panel to choose from ten textures you can apply to your photo. Textures simulate various surfaces or backgrounds that the photo could be printed on. For example, old paper look, cracked paint texture, rough blue grid, chrome feel. Textures are applied as a new layer with layer mask. You can edit the layer mask in Expert mode to remove/reduce texture from certain areas (face/skin).
60 Workspace and environment Frames Use the Frames panel to choose and apply from ten available frames for your photo. The frame is automatically fitted in best possible way. You can also move or transform the image and frame. This can be done by using the move tool and double-clicking the frame.
61 Workspace and environment About file information (metadata) When you take a photo with your digital camera, each image file includes information such as the date and time the photo was taken, the shutter speed and aperture, the specific camera model, and so on. All of this information is called metadata, and you can view it and add to it in the Properties panel of the Elements Organizer and the File Info dialog box in the Photoshop Elements.
62 Workspace and environment Make sure the Info panel is visible in your work area if you want to view information while dragging in the image. 1 Choose Window > Info (F8) to display the Info panel. 2 Select a tool. 3 Move the pointer into the image, or drag within the image to use the tool. The following information may appear, depending on which tool you’re using: • The numeric values for the color beneath the pointer • The x- and y-coordinates of the pointer.
63 Workspace and environment Document Dimensions Displays the size of the image in the currently selected units. Scratch Sizes Displays RAM and scratch disk space utilized to process the image. The number on the left indicates the amount of memory currently being used by Photoshop Elements to display all open images. The number on the right indicates the amount of RAM available to Photoshop Elements to process images.
64 Workspace and environment Use preset tool options 1 Select the tool you want to use. 2 In the Tool Options bar, open the pop-up panel. (Only certain tools have pop-up panels.) 3 Do any of the following: • To view and select currently loaded preset libraries, click the panel menu icon. • To select a preset, click an item in the library. • To save a brush, open the pop-up panel menu, choose the Save Brush command, then enter a name in the dialog box provided and click OK.
65 Workspace and environment 2 Select a view option: Text Only Displays the name of each item. Small Thumbnail or Large Thumbnail Displays a thumbnail of each item. Small List or Large List Displays the name and thumbnail of each item. Stroke Thumbnail Displays a sample brush stroke and brush thumbnail. (This option is available for brushes only.) Note: Not all of the above options are available for all pop-up panels.
66 Workspace and environment Rename a preset 1 In the Preset Manager, do one of the following: • Select a preset in the list, and click Rename. • Double-click a preset in the list. 2 Enter a new name for the preset. If you selected multiple presets, you are prompted to enter multiple names. Multitouch support If the hardware and operating system of your computer supports the Touch functionality, you can scroll and zoom in on an image.
67 Workspace and environment Change scratch disks Photoshop Elements needs contiguous hard drive space to create a scratch disk. Frequently defragmenting your hard drive ensures that there is contiguous space available, especially the disk containing your scratch disk. Adobe recommends that you use a disk tool utility, such as Windows Disk Defragmenter, to defragment your hard drive on a regular basis. See your Windows documentation for information on defragmentation utilities.
68 Workspace and environment Select an additional plug-ins folder You can select an additional plug-ins folder in which to load compatible plug-ins stored with another application. 1 In Windows, choose Edit > Preferences > Plug-Ins. In Mac, choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Plug-Ins. 2 In the Preferences dialog, select Additional Plug-Ins Folder, select a folder from the list, and click Choose. 3 To display the contents of a folder, double-click the directory.
69 Workspace and environment Undo, redo, or cancel actions Many operations in both the Elements Organizer and Photoshop Elements can be undone or redone. For example, you can restore all or part of an image to its last saved version. Low amounts of available memory limit your ability to use these options. 1 To undo or redo an operation, Choose Edit > Undo or choose Edit > Redo. 2 To cancel an operation, hold down the Esc key until the operation in progress has stopped.
70 Workspace and environment Revert to a previous state of an image In Quick and Expert modes, do any of the following: • Click the name of the state in the History panel. • Click the Undo or Redo buttons in the taskbar. • Choose Undo or Redo from the History panel menu or the Edit menu. To set the keyboard command for Step Forward and Step Backward, choose Edit > Preferences > General in Windows (Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General in Mac), and choose from the Step Back/Fwd menu.
71 Workspace and environment To use the Hand tool while another tool is selected, hold down the spacebar as you drag within the image. Dragging the Hand tool to view another area of an image. Zoom in or out ? Do one of the following: • Select the Zoom tool from the toolbar, and click either the Zoom In or Zoom Out button in the Tool Options bar. Click the area you want to magnify.
72 Workspace and environment Fit an image to the screen ? Do one of the following: • Double-click the Hand tool in the toolbox. • Select a Zoom tool or the Hand tool, and then click the Fit Screen button in the Tool Options bar. Or, right-click the image and choose Fit On Screen. • Choose View > Fit On Screen. These options scale both the zoom level and the window size to fit the available screen space.
73 Workspace and environment • To view the same section (upper-left corner, center, lower-right corner, and so on) of all open photos, choose Window > Images > Match Location. The view in all windows shifts to match the active (frontmost) image. The zoom level does not change. • For more options to arrange images, in the Taskbar, click Layout, and choose a new layout from the pop-up menu.
74 Chapter 3: Fixing and enhancing photos Resize images About image size and resolution The image size (or pixel dimensions) of an image is a measure of the number of pixels along an image’s width and height. For example, your digital camera may take a photo that is 1500 pixels wide and 1000 pixels high. These two measurements indicate the amount of image data in a photo and determine the file size. Resolution is the amount of image data in a given space. It is measured in pixels per inch (ppi).
75 Fixing and enhancing photos Constrain Proportions lets you change image size without altering any image data The Constrain Proportions option lets you maintain the aspect ratio (the ratio of image width to image height). If you select this option and change the image size and resolution, the image does not stretch or shrink. The Resample Image option lets you change the size of an image without changing the resolution.
76 Fixing and enhancing photos View the print size onscreen ? Do one of the following: • Choose View > Print Size. • Select the Hand tool or Zoom tool, and click Print Size in the Tool Options bar. • The magnification of the image is adjusted to display its approximate printed size, as specified in the Document Size section of the Image Size dialog box. Keep in mind that the size and resolution of your monitor affect the onscreen print size.
77 Fixing and enhancing photos Resampling an image A Image downsampled B Original image C Image upsampled If you’re preparing images for the web, it’s useful to specify image size in terms of the pixel dimensions. 1 Choose Image > Resize > Image Size. 2 Select Resample Image, and choose an interpolation method: Nearest Neighbor Fast, but less precise. This method is recommended for use with illustrations containing edges that are not anti-aliased, to preserve hard edges and produce a smaller file.
78 Fixing and enhancing photos 4 In Pixel Dimensions, enter values for Width and Height. To enter values as percentages of the current dimensions, choose Percent as the unit of measurement. The new file size of the image appears next to Pixel Dimensions, with the old file size in parentheses. 5 Click OK to change the pixel dimensions and resample the image. For best results in producing a smaller image, downsample and apply the Unsharp Mask (Enhance > Unsharp Mask).
79 Fixing and enhancing photos 3 Drag over the part of the image you want to keep. When you release the mouse button, the crop marquee appears as a bounding box with handles at the corners and sides. 4 (Optional) Adjust the crop marquee by doing any of the following: • To change the aspect ratio, choose values from the drop-down list on the left in the Tool Options panel.
80 Fixing and enhancing photos Crop an image To use the automatic cropping suggestions: 1 Open a photograph in Photoshop Elements. 2 Select the Crop tool. Four thumbnails displaying the automatic suggestions are visible in the Tool Options panel. 3 Click a thumbnail that you think is the best fit. However, you can look at more suggestions when you select a different aspect ratio from the drop-down list in the Tool Options panel.
81 Fixing and enhancing photos Marquee drawn using the Perspective Crop tool. 4 Use the corners of the selection to modify the shape of the marquee. Hover over any corner and when the pointer turns white, click and move the corner. For best results, move the corners to align the vertical edge of the marquee with a pattern or object in the photo to appear vertical.
82 Fixing and enhancing photos Modify the shape of the marquee to align the vertical lines in the image. 5 You can also provide values for the width (W), height (H), and the Resolution fields in the Tools Options panel. The final image is transformed to the specified height, width, and resolution. Perspective Crop tool options 6 Click to transform the perspective and crop the image to the region of the marquee.
83 Fixing and enhancing photos Perspective-corrected image. Use the Cookie Cutter tool The Cookie Cutter tool crops a photo into a shape that you choose. Select a shape and drag it on your photo to crop the photo in that shape. You can also move and resize the bounding box to get the desired area you want to crop.
84 Fixing and enhancing photos Use the Cookie Cutter tool to clip a photo into a fun shape. 1 In the Expert mode, select the Crop tool. 2 Select the Cookie Cutter icon in the Tool Options panel and select a shape. To view other libraries, select a different library from the Shapes drop-down. 3 Double-click a shape to select it. 4 Drag within the image to create the shape boundary and move it to the desired location in the image.
85 Fixing and enhancing photos Change the size of the canvas The canvas is the workspace around an existing image, within the image window. It is the full editable area of an image. You can increase or decrease the size of the canvas, on any side of an image. Added canvas appears in the currently selected background color on the Background layer (by default), or selected canvas extension color from the Canvas size window. In other layers, the added canvas is transparent.
86 Fixing and enhancing photos Manually straighten an image in Expert mode 1 Select the Straighten tool. 2 Choose from the available option buttons: Grow Or Shrink Canvas To Fit Resizes the canvas to fit the rotated image. Straightening causes corners of the image to fall outside the current canvas. The straightened image contains areas of blank background, but no pixels are clipped. Crop To Remove Background Crops the image to remove any blank background area that becomes visible after straightening.
87 Fixing and enhancing photos Automatically fill empty edges The Straighten tool has an enhanced option to automatically fill the edges with relevant image data intelligently, instead of filling in background color or transparent pixels. The Autofill edges option is available only in the Grow or Shrink and Original Size modes. Before you draw a line to enable image straightening, select Autofill edges.
88 Fixing and enhancing photos Divide a scanned image containing multiple photos When you scan several pictures in one file, you can automatically divide and straighten the scanned image into its component photos. To do this, the photos must have a clear separation between them. Separating images scanned from one page into three separate images ? Choose Image > Divide Scanned Photos. Photoshop Elements automatically divides the image and places each photo in a separate file.
89 Fixing and enhancing photos Process Versions A Process Version is a method of deciphering the raw file format. The default version used is Process Version 2012. This method of deciphering the raw file format provides you with ways to work with the most recent and improved features in the raw file format. Photoshop Elements contains three Process Versions (one current, and two legacy versions).
90 Fixing and enhancing photos Camera Raw dialog box A View options B Click the Basic or Detail tab to access different controls C RGB values D Histogram E Image settings F More menu G Tools H Zoom levels I Bit depth options Open and process camera raw files 1 In the Edit workspace, choose File > Open. 2 Browse to select one or more camera raw files, and click Open. The histogram in the Camera Raw dialog box shows the tonal range of the image at the current settings.
91 Fixing and enhancing photos 8 Do one of the following: • To open a copy of the camera raw image file (with the camera raw settings applied) in Photoshop Elements, click Open Image. You can edit the image and save it in a Photoshop Elements-supported format. The original camera raw file remains unaltered. • To cancel the adjustments and close the dialog box, click Cancel. • To save the adjustments to a DNG file, click Save Image. (See Save changes to camera raw images.
92 Fixing and enhancing photos Moving the Luminance Smoothing slider to the right reduces grayscale noise. Save changes to camera raw images You can save changes you’ve made to a camera raw file. The Camera Raw dialog box saves the camera raw image with your changes in a .dng file. Saving the file does not automatically open it in Photoshop Elements. (To open a camera raw file, use the Open command. Then you can edit and save the file like any other image.
93 Fixing and enhancing photos Camera raw controls Zoom tool Sets the preview zoom to the next preset zoom value when you click within the preview image. Alt-click (Option-click in Mac OS) to zoom out. Drag the Zoom tool in the preview image to zoom in on a selected area. To return to 100%, double-click the Zoom tool. Hand tool Moves the image in the preview window if the preview image is set at a zoom level higher than 100%. Hold down the spacebar to access the Hand tool while using another tool.
94 Fixing and enhancing photos Original photo (left), and photo after blurring the background (right). 1 In expert mode, select the Blur tool from the Enhance section in the toolbox or press R. 2 Set options in the options bar: Mode Specifies how the pixels you blur, blend into other pixels in the image. Brush Sets the brush tip, from the brush pop-up menu. For more brush shapes, click the Brush drop-down inside the pop-up, and then select a brush thumbnail. Size Sets the size of the brush, in pixels.
95 Fixing and enhancing photos 3 Choose a brush size from the Brush menu in the options bar. 4 For Tolerance, specify a low percentage to replace colors similar to the pixel you click, or raise the percentage to replace a broader range of colors. 5 For Mode, keep the blending mode set to Color. 6 For Limits, choose one of the following: Discontiguous Replaces the sampled color wherever it occurs under the pointer. Contiguous Replaces colors that are contiguous with the color immediately under the pointer.
96 Fixing and enhancing photos Original photo (top), after adding starfish with the Clone Stamp tool (center), and after removing a person with the Clone Stamp tool (bottom). 1 In expert mode, select the Clone Stamp tool from Enhance section in the toolbox or press S. 2 (Optional) Set options in the options bar: Brush Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
97 Fixing and enhancing photos Auto Hide To hide the overlay while you apply the paint strokes, select Auto Hide. Invert Overlay To invert the colors in the overlay, select Invert. 4 Position the pointer on the part of any open image you want to sample, and press Alt (Option in Mac OS) and click. The tool duplicates the pixels at this sample point in your image as you paint. 5 Do one of the following: • Drag or click to paint with the tool on the same image.
98 Fixing and enhancing photos 3 To apply the style of an image, double-click the style image in the Style bin or drag the image from the Style bin to the Style Image placeholder. 4 To refine the image, use the options in the Edit panel. Intensity Controls the amount or intensity of the style to transfer. The maximum value implies that you want to transfer 100% style of the style image. Clarity Improves the local contrast of a stylized image.
99 Fixing and enhancing photos Adjust color and tonality using the Smart Brush tools The Smart Brush tool and the Detail Smart Brush tool apply tonal and color adjustments to specific areas of a photo. Certain effects can also be applied using these tools. You simply pick a preset adjustment and apply the correction. Both tools automatically create adjustment layers. This feature offers you flexibility in working with your photos because the original image layer is not altered.
100 Fixing and enhancing photos Available presets However you cannot change the settings of an effect because the layer with the effect is a pixel layer and not an adjustment layer.
101 Fixing and enhancing photos The Textures presets help provide the following effects to your images: • Enhance dull and boring backgrounds. • Create a Satin effect for clothes/textiles in an image. • Add flowery patterns to dresses in an image. • Add designer patterns to walls or backgrounds in an image. The Detail Smart Brush tool enables you to paint the adjustment to specific areas of the photo just like a painting tool. This tool helps adjust fine details with pattern and effect presets.
102 Fixing and enhancing photos The correction is applied on its own adjustment layer and a color pin appears where you first applied the brush tool. 5 (Optional) Do any of the following: • To add the current adjustment to more areas of the photo, paint or drag in the image. If necessary, make sure Add To Selection is selected. • To remove parts of the current adjustment, select Subtract From Selection and paint in the image.
103 Fixing and enhancing photos About Levels adjustments The Levels dialog box is a powerful tonal and color-adjustment tool. You can make levels adjustments in the entire image or a selected portion. (To access the dialog box, choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels.
104 Fixing and enhancing photos Before adjusting shadows and highlights (top) and after (bottom). Adjusting softens the face and reveals more detail behind sunglasses. Adjust shadows and brightness using Levels 1 Do one of the following: • Choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels. • Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels, or open an existing Levels adjustment layer. 2 Choose RGB from the Channel menu. When set to RGB, your adjustment affects all three (red, green, and blue) channels.
105 Fixing and enhancing photos Dragging the highlight slider to the left lightens the photo. Press Alt (Option in Mac OS) and drag the Shadow slider to see which areas will be clipped to black (level 0). Press Alt (Option in Mac OS) and drag the Highlight slider to see which areas will be clipped to white (level 255). Colored areas show clipping in individual channels.
106 Fixing and enhancing photos 2 Drag the sliders to adjust the brightness and contrast, then click OK. Dragging to the left decreases the level; dragging to the right increases it. The number at the right of each slider displays the brightness or contrast value. Quickly lighten or darken isolated areas The Dodge tool and the Burn tool lighten or darken areas of the image. You can use the Dodge tool to bring out details in shadows and the Burn tool to bring out details in highlights.
107 Fixing and enhancing photos 2 Set the tool options in the options bar. Brushes pop-up menu Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up menu, and then select a brush thumbnail. Size Sets the size of the brush, in pixels. Drag the Size slider or enter a size in the text box. Mode Sets whether to saturate or desaturate. Flow Sets the strength of the tool with each stroke. In Saturate mode, a higher percentage increases the saturation.
108 Fixing and enhancing photos Select a face and adjust the facial characteristics of a person 4 For a selected face, you can adjust the following features using the available sliders: Feature Characteristics Lips Smile, Height, Width, Upper lip, Lower lip Eyes Height, Width, Size, Tilt, Distance Nose Height, Width Face Width, Forehead height, Jawbone shape, Chin height Click the Before/After toggle button to review the changes caused by moving the sliders left or right.
109 Fixing and enhancing photos Move the sliders to make effect changes on the face. 5 (Optional) To reset edits to a particular characteristic, double-click the slider. Modifications for that characteristic are canceled. 6 Do one of the following: • To cancel the set of modifications you have made to facial features, click Reset. • To apply the modifications made to the facial features, click OK.
110 Fixing and enhancing photos Correct red eye by selecting an eye (top) or clicking an eye (center). 1 To manually fix red eye, select the Eye tool in Quick or Expert mode. 2 In the Tool Options bar, set the Pupil Radius and Darken Amount. 3 In the image, do one of the following: • Click a red area of an eye. • Draw a selection over the eye area. When you release the mouse button, the red is removed from the eyes.
111 Fixing and enhancing photos 3 Do one of the following: • Draw a rectangle around the eye region. • Click on the eye in the picture. Note: When you select the Pet Eye check box, the Auto Correct button is disabled. Open closed eyes The Open Closed Eyes feature lets you open closed eyes in your photos. You can open a person's eyes by using the eyes from another photo from your computer or the Elements Organizer catalog. 1 Open a photo in Photoshop Elements.
112 Fixing and enhancing photos 9 Save the photo with the changes. Move and reposition objects The Content-Aware Move tool allows you to select an object in your photograph and move the selection to a different location, or extend it. The original photograph (left); the kite has been positioned closer to the ground (middle); the kite has been moved higher into the sky (right). 1 Select the Content-Aware Move tool .
113 Fixing and enhancing photos Drag the mouse around the object you want to select 5 When you have made a selection, move the object to a new location. To do this, click and drag the object to a new location. The area where the selection is moved from is automatically filled, based on the image content surrounding the area. 6 Transform your selection at the new location. Click one of the following options: • Rotate Enables you to rotate your selection to a different angle in the image.
114 Fixing and enhancing photos Easily remove spots or imperfections using the Spot Healing Brush tool. 1 Select the Spot Healing Brush tool . 2 Choose a brush size. A brush that is slightly larger than the area you want to fix works best so that you can cover the entire area with one click. 3 Choose one of the following Type options in the Tool Options bar. Proximity Match Uses the pixels around the edge of the selection to find an image area to use as a patch for the selected area.
115 Fixing and enhancing photos Spot healing works best on small objects. If the image you're working on is large and has a large unwanted object, make sure that you work with high-end computer configuration. You can see the Photoshop Elements system requirements for the recommended computer configuration. If you experience problems with large images, try the following approaches: • Draw smaller brush strokes at a time. • Downsample the image. • Increase the RAM allocated and relaunch the application.
116 Fixing and enhancing photos If there is a strong contrast at the edges of the area you want to heal, make a selection before you use the Healing Brush tool. Make the selection bigger than the area you want to heal but precisely follow the boundary of contrasting pixels. When you paint with the Healing Brush tool, the selection prevents colors from bleeding from the outside.
117 Fixing and enhancing photos Horizontal Perspective Type a number in the box or use the slider to correct perspective by making horizontal lines in an image parallel. Angle Rotates the image to correct for camera tilt or to make adjustments after correcting perspective. Type a number in the box or drag the angle dial to rotate the image to the left (counterclockwise) or right (clockwise). Scale Adjusts the image scale up or down. The image pixel dimensions aren’t changed.
118 Fixing and enhancing photos Manually remove haze A photograph taken under foggy conditions Last updated 11/5/2019
119 Fixing and enhancing photos Photograph treated with Haze Removal and additional exposure and contrast modifications 1 Open an image in Photoshop Elements, in the Quick or Enhanced room. 2 Choose Enhance > Haze Removal. 3 Use the Haze Reduction and Sensitivity sliders to achieve the desired level of haze reduction.
120 Fixing and enhancing photos Low levels of haze removal applied Last updated 11/5/2019
121 Fixing and enhancing photos Haze removal applied until the picture is clearer Remember that using too much of either of the sliders may result in an image with high levels of contrast or minor imperfections in the photograph getting magnified. Play with both sliders till you get the right result. 4 Use the Before / After toggle button to see the effectiveness of the Haze Reduction feature on the photo. 5 When done, click OK. To cancel Haze Removal edits to the image, click Cancel.
122 Fixing and enhancing photos • Sharpen your image on a separate layer so that you can resharpen it later if you need to change the adjustment. Set the layer’s blending mode to Luminosity to avoid color shifts along edges. If you find that highlights or shadows are lessened after you sharpen, use the layer blending controls to prevent sharpening in highlights and shadows. • If you need to reduce image noise, do so before sharpening so that you don’t intensify the noise.
123 Fixing and enhancing photos Strength Specifies the amount of sharpening that occurs with each stroke. Sample All Layers Sharpens all visible layers. If this is deselected, the tool sharpens only the active layer. Protect Detail Select Protect Detail to enhance details and minimize pixelated artifacts. Deselect this option if you want to produce more exaggerated sharpening effects 3 Drag over the part of the image you want to sharpen. Precisely sharpen an image 1 Choose Enhance > Adjust Sharpness.
124 Fixing and enhancing photos 3 Select the Preview option. 4 Set any of these options and click OK: Amount Determines how much to increase the contrast of pixels. For high-resolution printed images, an amount between 150% and 200% is usually best. Radius Specifies the number of pixels to sharpen around edges. For high-resolution images, a radius between 1 and 2 is usually recommended. A lower value sharpens only the edge pixels, whereas a higher value sharpens a wider band of pixels.
125 Fixing and enhancing photos The Shake Reduction dialog 4 Use the Sensitivity Slider to vary the shake threshold. Increasing the sensitivity may improve the resultant image. 5 Use the pin ( ) at the center of a Shake Region to move it around. When you move a Shake Region, the area under the region is re-analyzed for shake corrections, and the image is optimized again. 6 To further analyze the photograph and reduce blurriness, add more Shake Regions.
126 Fixing and enhancing photos The Shake Reduction dialog. The Shake Region at the lower-right corner is currently being processed, and the progress bar is visible. Note: If the Shake Region created does not have enough area or information to sample the amount of shake, a warning ( appears within the Shake Region. Use the handles of the Shake Region to increase the size of the Shake Region.
127 Fixing and enhancing photos 90° Right, Layer 90° Right, or Selection 90° Right Rotates the photo, layer, or selection a quarter-turn clockwise. 180°, Layer 180°, or Selection 180° Rotates the photo, layer, or selection a half-turn. Custom Rotates the item by the amount you specify. If you select this option, enter the number of degrees you want to rotate the item by, and the direction in which you want to rotate the item.
128 Fixing and enhancing photos Use the Free Rotate Layer command to straighten the image, and click the Commit button to apply the rotation. 1 In the Edit workspace, select the layer or selection you want to rotate. 2 Choose Image > Rotate > Free Rotate Layer or Selection. A bounding box appears in the image.
129 Fixing and enhancing photos 3 Do any of the following to specify the scale amount: • To maintain the relative proportions (avoiding image distortion) as you scale, select Constrain Proportions, and then drag a corner handle. Alternatively, press Alt (Option in Mac OS) as you drag a corner handle. • To scale only the height or the width, drag a side handle. • Enter a percentage for the Width, Height, or both in the options bar.
130 Fixing and enhancing photos If you select a photo that is a background layer (such as a photo imported from a camera or scanner), you are given the option of turning it into a regular layer so that you can transform it. 3 Drag a corner handle on the bounding box to apply perspective. 4 Do one of the following: • To commit the transformation, double-click inside the bounding box, click the Commit button Enter. • To cancel the transformation, click the Cancel button , or press , or press Esc.
131 Fixing and enhancing photos Apply a transformation to a Background layer Before you can apply transformations to the Background layer, you need to convert it into a regular layer. 1 In the Edit workspace, select the Background layer in the Layers panel. 2 Convert the background. 3 Apply the transformation. Auto Smart Tone The Auto Smart Tone feature uses an intelligent algorithm to modify the tonal value of your image. The Auto Smart tone feature applies a correction to your photograph.
132 Fixing and enhancing photos Last updated 11/5/2019
133 Fixing and enhancing photos Thumbnails on the left of the main image: Moving the joystick to the darker regions (foliage or shade) causes the overall image to turn darker. Thumbnails on the right of the main image: Moving the joystick to the brighter parts (bright sky or grass) causes the overall image to turn brighter. Apply Auto Smart Tone to a photograph 1 With an image open, click Enhance > Auto Smart Tone. A default tonal correction is applied automatically.
134 Fixing and enhancing photos Recomposing The Recompose tool facilitates intelligent resizing of photos without changing important visual content such as people, building, animals, and more. Normal scaling affects all pixels uniformly when resizing an image. Recompose affects pixels in areas that don’t have important visual content. Recompose enables you to upscale or downscale images to improve a composition, fit a layout, or change the orientation.
135 Fixing and enhancing photos Use Quick Highlight You can quickly highlight the required regions for protection. Encircle the subject to highlight the required regions. For example, to highlight the area within a circle, trace the boundary of the circle. Quick Highlight ensures that the area within the circle is marked for protection. You can specify the size of the brush and the photo. Green indicates the areas marked for protection.
136 Fixing and enhancing photos 5 Do one of the following to erase portions of unwanted marked areas (red): • Erase using the Eraser tool. • Right-click the photo, and select Clear Remove Highlights. You can specify the size of the brush and the photo. 6 Drag the handles of the image to Recompose your photo. On completion, click the Commit Current Operation icon. Recompose options You can use the following options while using the Recompose tool. Size Enables you to define the brush size.
137 Fixing and enhancing photos Photoshop actions that contain steps that are unsupported in Photoshop Elements will fail to play. Not all action that are created in Photoshop can be played in Photoshop Elements. Play an action file on an image 1 Open an image that you want to process using an action. 2 If the Actions panel is not open, click Window > Actions. 3 In the Actions panel, click an action, or click the triangle next to an Action Set.
138 Chapter 4: Adding shapes and text Add text You can add text and shapes of different color, styles, and effects to an image. Use the Horizontal Type and Vertical Type tools to create and edit text. You can create single-line text or paragraph text. About text Use the Horizontal Type ( ) and Vertical Type ( ) tools to create and edit text. The new text you type is entered in a new text layer. You can create single-line text or paragraph text.
139 Adding shapes and text • To create paragraph text, drag a rectangle to create a textbox for the type. The small line through the I-beam marks the position of the type baseline. For horizontal type, the baseline marks the line on which the type rests; for vertical type, the baseline marks the center axis of the type characters. 3 (Optional) Select type options, such as font, style, size, and color, in the tool options bar. 4 Type the characters you want.
140 Adding shapes and text Applying anti-aliasing A Anti-aliasing off B Anti-aliasing on Use the Text on Shape tool You can add text to the shapes available in the Text on Shape tool. 1 Select the Text on Shape tool . To quickly change the current text tool, press Option and click the current tool. Text on Shape tool 2 From the available shapes, select the shape on which you want to add text. Drag the cursor on the image to create the shape.
141 Adding shapes and text Use the Text on Selection tool Add text on the outline of a path created from a selection. When you commit a selection, the selection is converted to a path on which you can type text. ? Select the Text on Selection tool . To quickly change the current text tool, press Option and click the current tool. Text on Selection tool 2. Place the cursor on the object in the image and drag the cursor till you get your desired selection.
142 Adding shapes and text Use the Text on Custom Path tool You can draw and add text along the custom path. 1 Select the Text on Custom Path tool . To quickly change the current text tool, press Option and click the current tool. Text on Custom Path tool 2 Draw a custom path over the image. You can commit/cancel the drawn path to redraw from the tool options bar. 3 To refine or redraw the path, click Modify in the tool options bar. Use the nodes that appear on the path to modify it.
143 Adding shapes and text Horizontal type mask used to create a filled selection. 1 Using the Expert mode, select the layer on which you want the selection to appear. For best results, don’t create the type selection border on a text layer. 2 Select the Horizontal Type Mask tool or the Vertical Type Mask tool . 3 Select additional type options (See Type tool options), and enter your text. The type selection border appears in the image on the active layer.
144 Adding shapes and text 3 Commit the text layer by doing one of the following: • Click the Commit button in the options bar. • Click in the image. • Select a different tool in the toolbox. Select characters 1 Select a type tool. 2 Select the text layer in the Layers panel, or click in the text flow to automatically select a text layer. 3 Position the insertion point in the text, and do one of the following: • Drag to select one or more characters. • Double-click to select a single word.
145 Adding shapes and text Choose a font size The type size determines how large the type appears in the image. The physical size of the font depends on the resolution of the image. A capital letter in 72-point text is approximately 1-inch high in an image that is 72 ppi. Higher resolutions reduce a given text point size because the pixels are packed more tightly in higher resolution images. 1 If you’re changing existing text, select one or more characters whose size you want to change.
146 Adding shapes and text Warp type Warping allows you to distort type to conform to a variety of shapes; for example, you can warp type in the shape of an arc or a wave. Warping applies to all characters in a text layer—you cannot warp individual characters. Also, you can’t warp faux bold text. Text layer with warp applied 1 In the Edit workspace, select a text layer. 2 Do one of the following: • Select a type tool, and click the Warp button in the tool options bar.
147 Adding shapes and text About shapes In Photoshop Elements, shapes are vector graphics, which means they are made up of lines and curves defined by their geometric characteristics instead of pixels. Vector graphics are resolution-independent—that is, they can be scaled to any size and printed at any resolution without losing detail or clarity. You can move, resize, or change them without losing the quality of the graphic.
148 Adding shapes and text Draw a circle or ellipse 1 In the Edit workspace, select the Ellipse tool . Note: Press Alt/Option and click a shape tool to cycle through all the available tools. 2 (Optional) In the Tool Options bar, you can set the following options: Unconstrained Lets you set the width and height of an ellipse by dragging. Circle Draws a perfect circle instead of an ellipse. Fixed Size Draws an ellipse at the exact size you specified in the Width and Height text boxes.
149 Adding shapes and text Choose options for an Arrow head. Arrowheads Width and Length Specify the proportions of the arrowhead as a percentage of the line width (10% to 1000% for Width, and 10% to 5000% for Length). Concavity Defines the amount of curvature on the widest part of the arrowhead, where the arrowhead meets the line. Enter a value for the concavity of the arrowhead (from -50% to +50%). Simplify Converts the shape drawn into a raster graphic.
150 Adding shapes and text The Custom Shape tool has ready-made frames that you can drag around a photo. Create multiple shapes in the same layer 1 Select a shape layer in the Layers panel (Expert mode) or create a new shape layer. 2 If you want to create a different type of shape, select a different shape tool. 3 Select a shape area option to determine how shapes should overlap, and then drag within the image to draw new shapes: Add Adds an additional shape to the existing shape.
151 Adding shapes and text 2 Do one of the following: • Click the shape you want to transform, and then drag an anchor to transform the shape. • Select the shape you want to transform, choose Image > Transform Shape, and then choose a transformation command. Change the color of all shapes in a layer 1 In the Expert mode, double-click the thumbnail of the shape layer in the Layers panel. 2 Select a new color and click OK.
152 Adding shapes and text About painting tools Photoshop Elements provides various tools for applying and editing color. When you select a painting tool, the Tool Options bar displays various preset brush tips and settings for brush size, paint blending, opacity, and airbrush effects. You can create new brush presets and save them in brush libraries. You can customize the brush and settings for any of the painting and editing tools and manage them using the Preset Manager.
153 Adding shapes and text About blending modes Blending modes control how pixels in an image are affected by a painting or editing tool. It’s helpful to think in terms of the following colors when visualizing a blending mode’s effect: • The base color is the original color in the image. • The blend color is the color applied by the painting or editing tool. • The result color is the color resulting from the blend.
154 Adding shapes and text Color Burn Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color. Blending with white produces no change. Linear Burn Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color by decreasing the brightness. Blending with white produces no change. Darker Color Compares the total of all channel values for the blend and base color and displays the lower value color.
155 Adding shapes and text Difference Looks at the color information in each channel and subtracts either the blend color from the base color or the base color from the blend color, depending on which has the greater brightness value. Blending with white inverts the base color values; blending with black produces no change. Exclusion Creates an effect similar to, but lower in contrast, than the Difference mode. Blending with white inverts the base color values. Blending with black produces no change.
156 Adding shapes and text Use the Brush tool The Brush tool creates soft or hard strokes of color. You can use it to simulate airbrush techniques. (If you don’t see it in the toolbox, select either the Impressionist Brush or the Color Replacement tool , and then click the Brush tool icon in the Tool Options bar.) 1 Select a color to paint by setting the foreground color. 2 From the Draw section in the toolbox, select the Brush tool.
157 Adding shapes and text Auto Erase If you begin drawing and drag over an area that doesn’t contain the foreground color, the tool paints with the foreground color. That is, if we start with color other than foreground color, it paints the foreground color only. Click and paint on the areas containing the foreground color, pencil paints with the Background color.
158 Adding shapes and text Original image (left), and after smudging parts of the photo (right) 1 From the Enhance section in the toolbox, select the Smudge tool (If you don’t see it in the toolbox, select either the Blur tool or the Sharpen tool and then click the Smudge tool icon from the Tool Options bar.) 2 Set options in the Tool Options bar, and then drag within the image to smudge color.
159 Adding shapes and text Size Sets the size of the brush in pixels. Drag the Size slider or enter a size in the text box. Opacity Defines the strength of the erasure. An opacity of 100% erases pixels to complete transparency on a layer and to the background color on the Background layer. A lower opacity erases pixels to partial transparency on a layer and paints partially with the background color on the Background layer.
160 Adding shapes and text Opacity Defines the strength of the erasure. An opacity of 100% erases pixels to complete transparency on a layer and to the background color on a locked layer. A lower opacity erases pixels to partial transparency on a layer and paints partially with the background color on a locked layer. Sample All Layers Samples the erased color using combined data from all visible layers. Deselect the option if you want to erase only the pixels on the active layer.
161 Adding shapes and text Brush Settings Sets the presets of the brush, such as size, diameter, hardness, and spacing. Drag the Size sliders or enter numbers in text boxes. Limits Choose Contiguous to erase areas that contain the hotspot color and are connected to one another. Discontiguous erases any pixels within the circle that are similar to the hotspot color. Set up brushes About brush options You can simulate actual brush strokes by setting the rates at which the brush tool strokes fade out.
162 Adding shapes and text option, see About foreground and background colors.) Paint stroke without and with color jitter Hardness Controls the size of the brush’s hard center. Type a number, or use the slider to enter a value that’s a percentage of the brush diameter. Brush strokes with different hardness values Scatter Brush scattering determines how brush marks are distributed in a stroke.
163 Adding shapes and text Angled brushes create a chiseled stroke Roundness Specifies the ratio between the brush’s short and long axes. Enter a percentage value, or drag a dot in the angle icon away from or toward the arrow. A value of 100% indicates a circular brush, a value of 0% indicates a linear brush, and intermediate values indicate elliptical brushes. Adjusting roundness affects the shape of a brush tip.
164 Adding shapes and text • Choose Preset Manager from the panel menu, select Brushes from the Preset Type list, select the brush from the list in the dialog box, and click Delete. Create a custom brush shape from an image You can create a custom brush by selecting an area in a photo. The brush uses a grayscale version of that selection to apply the foreground color to your image. For example, you could select a leaf and then paint using a fall color.
165 Adding shapes and text Set up pressure-sensitive tablet support Photoshop Elements is compatible with most pressure-sensitive digitizing tablets, such as Wacom® tablets. With the software control panel for your tablet installed, you can vary brush tool properties based on the chosen tablet options and the amount of pressure you apply with your stylus. ? Select the Brush tool in the toolbox and then set the tablet options in the Tool Options bar that you want to control with pen pressure.
166 Adding shapes and text To customize your images, or to make one-of-a-kind scrapbook pages, you can create your own patterns. You can save patterns that you create in a library, and then load libraries of patterns using the Preset Manager or the Pattern pop-up panel, which appears in the Tool Options bar of the Pattern Stamp tool and the Paint Bucket tool. Saving patterns allows you to easily use a pattern in multiple images.
167 Adding shapes and text 3 Enter a name for the pattern in the Pattern Name dialog box. 4 To deselect the original selection, choose Select > Deselect. Fills and strokes Use the Paint Bucket tool The Paint Bucket tool fills an area, that is similar in color value to the pixels you click. You can fill an area with the foreground color or a pattern. 1 Choose a foreground color. 2 Select the Paint Bucket tool in the toolbox.
168 Adding shapes and text Custom Pattern Specifies the pattern to use if you choose Pattern from the Use menu. You can use patterns from the pattern libraries or create your own patterns. Mode Specifies how the color pattern that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image. Opacity Sets the opacity of the color pattern to apply. Preserve Transparency Fills only opaque pixels.
169 Adding shapes and text Using the Gradient tool and Gradient Editor, you can create a custom mix of colors in your photos. You can choose any of the following gradient types in the Tool Options bar. Linear gradient Shades from the starting point to the ending point in a straight line. Radial gradient Shades from the starting point to the ending point in a circular pattern. Angle gradient Shades in a counterclockwise sweep around the starting point.
170 Adding shapes and text Opacity Sets the opacity of the gradient. A low opacity setting allows pixels under the gradient to show through. Drag the slider or enter an opacity value. Reverse Switches the order of the colors in the gradient fill. Transparency Uses the gradient’s transparency (instead of any transparent areas in the image) if the gradient has transparent areas. Dither Creates a smoother blend with less obvious bands of color.
171 Adding shapes and text 7 To adjust the location of the transition midpoint between colors, drag the diamond below the gradient bar to the left or right. 8 To delete the color stop you are editing, click Delete. 9 To set the color transition’s smoothness, enter a percentage in the Smoothness text box, or drag the slider. 10 If desired, set transparency values for the gradient by dragging the Opacity stops.
172 Adding shapes and text Noise gradients with different noise values. A 10% noise B 50% noise C 90% noise 1 Select the Gradient tool. 2 To display the Gradient Editor dialog box, click the Edit button in the Tool Options bar. 3 Choose Noise from the Gradient Type menu. 4 Set options for the gradient. Roughness Sets the amount of softness in the transition between colors in the pattern. Color Model Specifies the color model to use to set the color range to include in the gradient.
173 Adding shapes and text Reduce spacing between Asian characters Tsume reduces the space around a character (but not the character itself) by a specified percentage value. When tsume is added to a character, spacing around both sides of the character is reduced by an equal percentage. 1 If you’re working with an existing layer, select the text layer in the Layers panel and then select a type tool. 2 Select the characters you want to adjust. 3 Click the Show Asian Text Options button in the options bar.
174 Adding shapes and text Mojikumi off (top), and mojikumi on (bottom) 1 If you’re working with an existing layer, select the text layer in the Layers panel and then select a type tool. 2 Click the Asian Text Options button in the options bar. 3 Enable Mojikumi.
175 Chapter 5: Guided edits, effects, and filters Filters About filters You can use filters to clean up or retouch photos. You can also use filters to apply special art effects or create unique transformations using distortion effects. In addition to the filters provided by Adobe, some filters provided by thirdparty developers are available as plug-ins. Once installed, these plug-in filters appear at the bottom of the Filter lists. Filters can radically change the mood of a photo or image.
176 Guided edits, effects, and filters The following information can help you understand the process of applying filters to your images. • Preview the filter’s result. Applying filters to a large image can be time-consuming. It’s quicker to preview what the filter does in the Filter Gallery. Most filters also let you preview their result in the Filter Options dialog box and the document window. You can then choose to apply the filter or cancel the operation without losing time.
177 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Click the Show/Hide button expands the preview area. • Click the eye icon at the top of the dialog box to hide the filter thumbnails. Hiding the thumbnails next to a filter to hide the effect in the preview image. 5 If the dialog box contains sliders, hold down Alt (Option in Mac OS) while dragging a slider to see a real-time preview (real-time rendering). 6 Click in the image window to center a specific area of the image in the preview window.
178 Guided edits, effects, and filters Stylize filters Produce a painted or impressionistic effect by displacing pixels and heightening contrast. Texture filters Give the appearance of depth or substance, or add an organic look. Other filters Let you create your own filter effects, modify masks, offset a selection within an image, and make quick color adjustments. Digimarc filter Lets you read a Digimarc watermark.
179 Guided edits, effects, and filters Filter Gallery dialog box A Filter category B Thumbnail of selected filter C Show/Hide filter thumbnails D Filter menu E Options for selected filter F List of filter effects to apply or arrange G Hidden filter H Filters applied cumulatively but not selected I Filter selected but not applied However, not all filters are available from the Filter Gallery. Some are available only as individual commands from the Filter menu.
180 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Adjust filter settings to make memory-intensive filters less complex. Memory-intensive filters include Cutout, Stained Glass, Chrome, Ripple, Spatter, Sprayed Strokes, and Glass. (For example, to reduce the complexity of the Stained Glass filter, increase cell size. To reduce the complexity of the Cutout filter, increase Edge Simplicity, decrease Edge Fidelity, or both.
181 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements. Photomerge Group Shot window Use Photomerge Scene Cleaner Use Photomerge Scene Cleaner to create the perfect scenic photo from multiple photos. For example, you can eliminate unwanted elements like tourists that inadvertently wandered into the scenery.
182 Guided edits, effects, and filters 4 Click a photo in the Photo Bin (color-coded to help you keep track). It appears in the Source window. 5 Do any of the following to add or remove areas from the Final window: • To remove an area, use the Pencil tool to mark the area in the Final window. • To add an area to the Final window, use the Pencil tool to mark the area in the Source window. • To fine-tune the final image, use the Pencil tool to add additional content or the Eraser tool to remove content.
183 Guided edits, effects, and filters Photomerge Compose The Photomerge Compose feature enables you to replace portions of an image. For example, can select a person from one photo and add the selection to another photograph. You need two images - a source and a destination. You can select an area, crop it from the source image, and then paste it into the destination image, and then adjust it for proportionality and color for the most natural outcome.
184 Guided edits, effects, and filters Select the object or person you want to extract from this photo 3 The portion selected in the previous step is pasted on the image that you want to move the selection to. Use the mouse to move the selection around, and drag the coach marks to resize it to ensure that the pasted content is in proportion with the rest of the photo. Click Next. Note: You can also hide/reveal portions of the selection using the available brushes.
185 Guided edits, effects, and filters Resize the pasted content to ensure that it is in proportion with the rest of the image. 4 Now adjust the tonal and color values of the pasted content to ensure that it matches with the rest of the image. Try to get the most natural selection possible. To perform this in one step automatically, click Auto Match Color Tone.
186 Guided edits, effects, and filters Apply color correction to match the tonal and color characteristics of both images 5 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly-created image in any of the available formats. • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode.
187 Guided edits, effects, and filters 6 Set the following: Show Strokes Click this option to show the Pencil strokes you marked in the source image. Show Regions Click this option to reveal the selected regions in the final image. 7 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly-created image in any of the available formats.
188 Guided edits, effects, and filters Photomerge Exposure Use Photomerge Exposure to efficiently handle scenes in photos with exposure challenges. You can blend two photos together to get a perfectly exposed photo. For example, if you have a photo with a window in the background and you want a perfect photo with the following properties: • A good exposure of the scenery outside the window. • A good exposure of the darker objects inside the room.
189 Guided edits, effects, and filters Photomerge Exposure Automatic Photomerge Exposure You can select the required photos from Elements Organizer, and select and deselect the photos through the Photo Bin. 1 In the Guided room, click Photomerge > Photomerge Exposure, and then do one of the following: • In Elements Organizer, select a minimum of two and a maximum of ten photos, and in the Guided room, choose Photomerge > Photomerge Exposure. • Open the required files using File > Open.
190 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode. • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements. Manual Photomerge Exposure Note: For Photomerge Exposure, if you are using photos that have been taken with your flash on, then manual Photomerge Exposure is the default mode.
191 Guided edits, effects, and filters 9 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly-created image in any of the available formats. • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode. • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements.
192 Guided edits, effects, and filters 3 Choose the Settings checkboxes to fine tune the appearance of the panorama that will be created. Blend Images Together Finds the optimal borders between the images and creates seams based on those borders, and to color match the images. With Blend Images Together turned off, a simple rectangular blend is performed. This may be preferable if you intend to retouch the blending masks by hand.
193 Guided edits, effects, and filters 3 From the right panel, choose one of the following Selection tools: Brush - Use the Selection Brush tool to paint over the object you want to remove. You can adjust the size of the brush using the Brush Size slider. Lasso - Use the Lasso tool to draw a free-form selection around the object that you want to remove. Auto - Use the Auto Selection tool to automatically create a selection when you draw a shape around the object you want to remove.
194 Guided edits, effects, and filters Levels Guided Edit For more information on using Levels, see About Levels adjustments. Lighten and Darken Guided Edit Use the Lighten or Darken Guided Edit to lighten or darken an image. You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally. For more on lightening or darkening an image, see Adjust shadows and light.
195 Guided edits, effects, and filters In the previous step, if you chose LinkPrint output, you are presented with the following options: • Save / Save As: Preserve the newly-resized photo in any of the available formats. • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the photo - in Quick mode or Expert mode. • Print - Local Printer / Order Prints: Choose to print the photo outline to a printer that you have installed locally (on this computer).
196 Guided edits, effects, and filters Picture before applying the vignette effect (left), and after 1 Open a photo, and in the Guided Edits panel click Photo Effects > Vignette Effect. 2 Select Black or White, to specify the color of the vignette you want to apply. 3 Use the Intensity slider to specify how intense (dark or light) you want the vignette to be. 4 Click Refine Shape to fine-tune the edge (Feather slider) and size (Roundness) of the vignette.
197 Guided edits, effects, and filters Apply the Equalize filter The Equalize filter redistributes the brightness values of the pixels in an image so that they more evenly represent the entire range of brightness levels. When you apply this command, Photoshop Elements finds the brightest and darkest values in the composite image. It then remaps them so that the brightest value represents white and the darkest value represents black.
198 Guided edits, effects, and filters 4 Select neither, one, or both of the Gradient Options: • Dither adds random noise to smooth the appearance of the gradient fill and reduce banding effects. • Reverse switches the direction of the gradient fill, reversing the gradient map. 5 Click OK. Apply the Invert filter The Invert filter inverts the colors in an image. Use this command, for example, to make a positive black-and-white image negative or to make a positive from a scanned black-and-white negative.
199 Guided edits, effects, and filters 2 Do one of the following: • Choose Filter > Adjustments > Threshold. • From the Layers panel or Layer menu, create a new Threshold adjustment layer, or open an existing Threshold adjustment layer. • The Threshold dialog box displays a histogram of the luminance levels of the pixels in the current selection.
200 Guided edits, effects, and filters colors bluer to compensate for the lower color temperature of the ambient light. Conversely, if the photo was taken at a higher color temperature of light (bluish), the Warming Filter (85) makes the image colors warmer to compensate for the higher color temperature of the ambient light. Warming Filter (81) and Cooling Filter (82) Light balancing filters for minor adjustments in the color quality of an image.
201 Guided edits, effects, and filters Add stylized shapes or graphics to an image When you add a shape or graphic to an image, the shape or graphic is a new layer and does not affect the original image. 1 In the Graphics panel, choose from the category menu (for example, By Event or By Activity), and choose a subcategory (for example, Baby or Cooking). 2 In the toolbox, choose a color for the shape. 3 Do one of the following: • Double-click a thumbnail. • Drag the thumbnail to the image.
202 Guided edits, effects, and filters About photo effects Photo effects let you quickly create different looks for your images. In the Effects panel, choose one of the subcategories, such as Faded Photo, Panels, Monotone Color, Textures, or Vintage Photo. Frame Apply a variety of effects to the edges of a selected layer, or to a portion of a layer. A frame also creates a drop zone where you can add or change the contents easily. Image Effects Apply effects to a copy of a selected layer.
203 Guided edits, effects, and filters Dragging an image effect to a photo Add stylized text to an image When you add text to an image, a text layer is added, so you can modify the text without affecting the original image. 1 In the Graphics panel, select Text from the drop-down, and then do one of the following: • Select a thumbnail, and click Apply. • Double-click a thumbnail. • Drag a thumbnail to the image. 2 A text frame appears over the image and the Text tool becomes active. Type in the new text.
204 Guided edits, effects, and filters Guided mode Fun edits The Guided mode provides you with guided edits - a wizard-like interface to accomplish certain predefined effects. Each guided edit has an associated image. As you move the mouse horizontally over the image, the portion to the left of the slider displays the image before the effect is applied. The portion to the right of the slider displays the image after the effect is applied.
205 Guided edits, effects, and filters Double Exposure guided edit The Double Exposure guided edit lets you create a surreal double exposure effect by merging two images. You can import a photo from your computer or select from one of the included sample photos. 1 Do one of the following: • Open a photo in Photoshop Elements. • Select a photo from the Photo Bin. 2 Click Guided > Fun Edits > Double Exposure. 3 (Optional) Crop the photo using the crop tool to keep your subject in the center of the frame.
206 Guided edits, effects, and filters Photo with a layout applied. 5 Choose a collage style. Scroll through the thumbnails to pick and apply the right combination of effects. 6 (Optional) Use the Opacity slider to vary the intensity of the effects applied to the photo.
207 Guided edits, effects, and filters Photo with a layout, layout style, and effects collage applied. 7 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly created image in any of the available formats. • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode.
208 Guided edits, effects, and filters If you are editing the text at the top, clicking the green check mark auto-selects the bottom text for editing. 6 (Optional) Do one of the following to resize your photo: • Drag the Zoom slider to left to zoom out or drag it to right to zoom in. • Click the horizontal or vertical flip button to flip your photo. • Select Fit Photo to Canvas option to expand the photo to cover up the entire canvas.
209 Guided edits, effects, and filters 3 Click Type Tool, click anywhere on the photo, and then type your text. You can change the font, size, and style of the text from the Tool Options bar in the Guided workspace. When you are done typing, click the green check mark ( ) to commit your changes. 4 Choose if you want to resize the text on your photo using the Fit or Fill options. • Fit: Expands the text to fit across the width of the photo. The aspect ratio of the font is maintained.
210 Guided edits, effects, and filters 8 (Optional) Apply effects to your text using one of the three presets. Choose from Small, Medium, or Large. The buttons vary the Bevel, Drop Shadow, and Strokes of your text. A Multi-Photo Text with high intensity of bevel, shadow, and stroke effects. 9 (Optional) Do one of the following to change a photo or swap photos in text frames: • Double-click on a character frame to display the heads-up-display (HUD).
211 Guided edits, effects, and filters A Original image B After adding a frame C After selecting the part to extend D Final image 1 In the Guided Edits panel, select Out Of Bounds. 2 Click Add Frame to add a frame to the image. 3 Drag the corners of the frame to leave a part of the main subject outside the frame. 4 Add a perspective by pressing Control + Alt + Shift (Command + Option + Shift in Mac OS) and dragging the handles of the frame. Click Commit.
212 Guided edits, effects, and filters Save: Save / Save As Save your edited picture to a folder on your computer. If you have not saved the edits before, you are asked to pick a folder on your computer where you want to save your picture. Use the Save As option to save the edited picture to another folder or by another name. The JPEG Options dialog allows you to select some advanced image formatting options.
213 Guided edits, effects, and filters Paint over the areas that you want to reveal in your painting. 4 Select a canvas color for the rest of the photo. You can choose from the available colors - Black or White. However, you can also click Select Custom Color and click anywhere on the revealed part of the photo to pick a different color. A custom canvas color has been applied. 5 (Optional) Select a texture for the canvas (the background).
214 Guided edits, effects, and filters 6 To accentuate the texture, click Effect and apply an effect. Your painting with a texture and effect applied. 7 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly created image in any of the available formats. • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode.
215 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Subtract: Use this option to remove the effect from the desired area in the photo. • Size: Increases or decreases the brush size. • Opacity: Increases or decreases the opacity of the brush stroke. Note: Once you have made the selection, you can change the effect by clicking on the desired effect's thumbnail. 6 (Optional) Click Detail Brush to precisely apply the selected effect on your photo. You can adjust the brush size and the opacity.
216 Guided edits, effects, and filters 4 Choose if you want to resize the text on your photo using the Fit or Fill options. • Fit: Expands the text to fit across the width of the photo. The aspect ratio of the font is maintained. • Fill: Expands the text to cover the height and width of the photo. 5 Select a background style for the photo text. Choose from Black, White, or Clear. Photo Text, with a clear background. 6 Click Crop Image to remove any extra space around the text.
217 Guided edits, effects, and filters 8 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly created image in any of the available formats. • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode. • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements.
218 Guided edits, effects, and filters 6 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly created image in any of the available formats. • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode. • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements.
219 Guided edits, effects, and filters 5 (Optional) Click Eraser Tool to remove any unnecessary artifacts that may have been introduced as a result of applying this Guided Edit. 6 Click Next to move to the Share panel or Cancel to close Pop Art Guided Edit. The Share panel is displayed to the right of your picture. In this panel, you can save the picture at the same location or save it as another picture. You can take the picture to the Quick Edit or Expert Edit rooms.
220 Guided edits, effects, and filters 2 Click Add Reflection to create an inverted duplicate layer. 3 Click Eyedropper tool, to choose the background color for reflection. 4 Choose a color from the image and click Fill Background. 5 Click one of the following buttons to apply a reflection type: • Floor Reflection • Glass Reflection • Water Reflection 6 (Optional) Adjust the intensity of reflection. 7 (Optional) Click Add Distortion to distort the reflection in a realistic way.
221 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements. Shape Overlay Effect guided edit The Shape Overlay Effect guided edit lets you add different shapes to your photo and create amazing effects. You can add inside and outside effects after adding a shape to your photo. 1 Do one of the following: • Open a photo in Photoshop Elements. • Select a photo from the Photo Bin.
222 Guided edits, effects, and filters Mark your selection with the Quick Selection Tool 4 Click Add Motion Blur, to introduce the sense of movement in the photo. • Intensity. Use the Intensity slider to vary the amount of blur introduced in the image. • Angle. Use the Angle control to vary the direction of the perceived motion.
223 Guided edits, effects, and filters The Speed Pan effect applied at an approximate angle of 115 degrees. 5 (Optional) Use the Refine Effect Brush to fine-tune the amount of motion blur applied to the photo. 6 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly created image in any of the available formats.
224 Guided edits, effects, and filters Zoom Burst Effect guided edit The Zoom Burst effect creates the illusion of motion, with attention drawn to the central object in your photograph. This effect can, generally, be produced manually by zooming in on an object, while the shutter is open. 1 Use the Crop tool, to crop your image in a way that enables your primary object to be in focus . 2 Use the Zoom Burst button, to apply a selective radial blur effect to your image.
225 Guided edits, effects, and filters Replace Background guided edit The Replace Background guided edit lets you replace the background of your photos with other photos, colors, and included background presets. If you want to use your own photos as background images, you can import them and use them as a background. 1 Do one of the following: • Open a photo in Photoshop Elements. • Select a photo from the Photo Bin. 2 Select Guided > Special Edits > Replace Background.
226 Guided edits, effects, and filters Simple method In this method, a copy of the background layer is created and a uniform blur applied to it. Choose selected areas that you want to focus on. You can customize the degree of blur applied to the rest of the image. 1 In Guided mode, from the Special Edits section, click Depth of Field. 2 Click Simple. 3 Click Add Blur. A uniform blur appears across the image.
227 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Polygon Lasso. Click the corners of the areas where a photo can be inserted. 4 Click Create Frame to create the frame. The part of the photo selected in the previous step is subtracted from the original photo to create the frame. 5 Click Save Frame. Provide a meaningful name for your new frame. 6 Click Continue in Expert to make further modifications to the frame, or to start using it. All frames you created are available in Expert mode > Graphics panel.
228 Guided edits, effects, and filters 3 Select the PSD file that represents the frame you are importing, and then click Load. View an imported frame: 1 In Expert mode, click Graphics. 2 From the drop-downs available in the right panel, choose By Type > Frames > My Frames. Note: The custom frames created using Frame Creator Guided Edit can be restored and reused on another device or with a different version of Photoshop Elements.
229 Guided edits, effects, and filters 4 After you get the desired result, click Next to choose how you would like to proceed: • Save - Save / Save As: Preserve the newly-created image in any of the available formats. • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode. • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements.
230 Guided edits, effects, and filters Restore Old Photo guided edit Photographs, over time, may get damaged due to the effects of the weather, quality of paper, or neglect. After digitization of a damaged photograph, various tools can be used to restore the image to remove cracks, discoloration, smudges, or other imperfections. The Restore Old Photo guided edit takes you through a step-by-step process, and presents you with all the tools you need to restore an image in one workflow.
231 Guided edits, effects, and filters Different border styles. 4 Drag the Resize Border slider to increase or decrease the size of the border. 5 Click the Color Picker button, and then click the color you want to apply on the border. 6 Click Add Text Overlay. A text frame appears over the border and the Type Tool becomes active. 7 Type in the new text. You can change the font, size, color, and style of the text from the Tool Options bar in the Guided workspace.
232 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Continue editing - In Quick / In Expert: Choose where you would like to continue working on the image - in Quick mode or Expert mode. • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements. Tilt-Shift guided edit Apply the tilt-shift effect to focus attention on certain aspect or object in your photo, while selectively taking focus away from other things in your photo.
233 Guided edits, effects, and filters • Share - Flickr / Twitter: Choose to place your image online through one of the social or sharing services available in Photoshop Elements. Watercolor Effect guided edit Use the Watercolor Effect guided edit to add watercolor effect to your photos with texture and text effects. 1 Do one of the following: • Open a photo in Photoshop Elements. • Select a photo in the Photo Bin. 2 Choose Guided > Special Edits > Watercolor Effect.
234 Guided edits, effects, and filters Cutout The Cutout filter portrays an image as though it were made from roughly cut-out pieces of colored paper. High-contrast images appear as if in silhouette, while colored images are built up from several layers of colored paper. You can set the number of levels, edge simplicity, and edge fidelity. Dry Brush The Dry Brush filter paints an image using a dry brush technique (between oil and watercolor).
235 Guided edits, effects, and filters Rough Pastels The Rough Pastels filter makes an image appear as if it were made with rough strokes of pastel chalk on a textured background. In areas of bright color, the chalk appears thick with little texture; in darker areas, the chalk appears scraped off to reveal the texture. You can set the stroke length, stroke detail, and texture. Texture options make images appear as if they were painted onto textures, such as canvas, brick, burlap, or sandstone.
236 Guided edits, effects, and filters 2 Click Lomo Camera Effect. 3 Click Apply Vignette. 1 Open a photo, and in the Guided Edits panel click Lomo Camera Effect. The Lomo Effect panel on the right provides the options to apply the required effects. 2 Click Lomo Camera Effect. 3 Click Apply Vignette. Each time you click Lomo Camera Effect or Apply Vignette, Photoshop Elements intensifies the last applied effect.
237 Guided edits, effects, and filters Blur More Produces an effect several times stronger than that of the Blur filter. Note: Before applying a Blur filter, deselect the Lock transparent pixels option in the Layers panel. Blurring the background of a photo Gaussian Blur The Gaussian Blur filter quickly blurs a selection by an adjustable amount. Gaussian refers to the bell-shaped curve that Photoshop Elements generates when it applies a weighted average to the pixels.
238 Guided edits, effects, and filters Smart Blur The Smart Blur filter precisely blurs an image. You can specify a radius to determine how far the filter searches for dissimilar pixels to blur, a threshold to determine how different the pixels’ values must be before they are eliminated, and a blur quality. You can also set a mode for the entire selection (Normal) or for the edges of color transitions (Edge Only and Overlay Edge).
239 Guided edits, effects, and filters Spatter The Spatter filter replicates the effect of a spatter airbrush. You can set the spray radius and smoothness. Sprayed Strokes The Sprayed Strokes filter repaints a layer using its dominant colors with angled, sprayed strokes of color. You can set the stroke length, spray radius, and stroke direction. Sumi-e The Sumi-e filter redraws a layer in a Japanese style, as if with a wet brush full of black ink on rice paper.
240 Guided edits, effects, and filters 5 Select how to fill voids that are created by the filter in the image, and click OK. Wrap Around Fills voids with content from the opposite edge of the image. Repeat Edge Pixels Extends the colors of pixels along the image’s edge in the direction you specify. 6 Select and open the displacement map. Photoshop Elements applies the map to the image. Glass The Glass filter makes an image appear as if it were being viewed through different types of glass.
241 Guided edits, effects, and filters A low brush pressure makes more gradual changes. • If you’re using a stylus tablet, select Stylus Pressure. To create the effect of dragging in a straight line between the current point and the previous point that you clicked, Shiftclick with the Warp, Shift Pixels, or Reflection tool. 6 To apply the changes in the preview image to the actual image, click OK.
242 Guided edits, effects, and filters Apply the Shear filter 1 In the Edit workspace, select an image, layer, or a specific area. 2 Choose Distort > Shear from the Filter menu. 3 To define a distortion curve, do one of the following in the Shear dialog box: • Click anywhere on either side of the vertical line. • Click on the vertical line, and then drag the new curve point. You can drag any point along the curve to adjust the distortion, and you can add additional curve points.
243 Guided edits, effects, and filters 7 Drag the horizontal and vertical Scale sliders to set the height and width of the wave effect. 8 To apply random results based on the set of values in the dialog box, click Randomize. You can click Randomize multiple times to get more results. 9 Select one of the following and click OK: Wrap Around Fills the voids in the image with content from the opposite edge of the image.
244 Guided edits, effects, and filters For example, to multiply the brightness value of the pixel to the immediate right of the current pixel by 2, enter 2 in the text box to the immediate right of the center text box. Note: To avoid turning the image completely white or black, the sum of the values in the matrix should be equal to 1. 5 Repeat steps 3 and 4 for all pixels you want to include in the operation. You don’t have to enter values in all the text boxes.
245 Guided edits, effects, and filters Note: In Windows Application version of Photoshop Elements, plug-ins are not available automatically and need to be added manually. Note: If you have problems or questions about a third-party plug-in, contact the plug-in’s manufacturer for support. Digimarc filter Photoshop Elements automatically scans opened images for Digimarc® watermarks.
246 Guided edits, effects, and filters Reduce Noise The Reduce Noise filter reduces luminous noise and color noise, such as the noise introduced by photographing with insufficient light. Select the Remove JPEG Artifacts option to remove the blotchy artifacts and halos that are caused by saving an image at a low JPEG quality setting. In this photo, taken with a mobile phone, there’s noise in the boy’s face (left). The Reduce Noise filter smoothes away the stray pixels (right).
247 Guided edits, effects, and filters Add a gradient map adjustment layer to colorize the fibers. (See About adjustment and fill layers.) Lens Flare The Lens Flare filter simulates the light refraction caused by shining a bright light into a camera lens. You can set the flare brightness, flare location, and flare shape (the lens type). Click in the preview window in the dialog box to set the flare location.
248 Guided edits, effects, and filters Comic The Comic filter (Filter > Sketch > Comic) creates the impression that the image was hand-created by a comic artist. The final outcome can be adjusted to include the level of detailing that you need. The main controls are to change the range of colors (Soften), the number of colors reproduced (Shades), how the colors transition from one to another (steepness), and the vividness of the colors (Vibrance).
249 Guided edits, effects, and filters Pen and Ink The Pen and Ink filter (Filter > Sketch > Pen and Ink) simulates artistic sketching to its closest form. To ensure that you get the best effects, adjust ink-related settings to preserve details (Detail), the thickness of artistic strokes (Width), the saturation of darker aspects (Darkness), and the contrast levels (Contrast).
250 Guided edits, effects, and filters Diffuse The Diffuse filter shuffles pixels in a selection to make the selection look less focused according to the option you select: Normal moves pixels randomly, ignoring color values; Darken Only replaces light pixels with darker pixels; Lighten Only replaces dark pixels with lighter pixels; and Anisotropic softens all pixels.
251 Guided edits, effects, and filters Solarize The Solarize filter blends a negative and a positive image, for a result similar to exposing a photographic print briefly to light during development. Tiles The Tiles filter breaks up an image into a series of tiles, offsetting the selection from its original position. You can set the number of tiles and the offset percentage.
252 Guided edits, effects, and filters Patchwork The Patchwork filter breaks up an image into squares filled with the predominant color in different areas of the image. The filter randomly reduces or increases the tile depth to replicate the highlights and shadows. You can set the square size and relief. Stained Glass The Stained Glass filter repaints an image as single-colored adjacent cells outlined in the foreground color. You can set the cell size, border thickness, and light intensity.
253 Chapter 6: Working with colors Understanding color In Adobe Photoshop Elements, you use two color models to manipulate color. One model is based on the way the human eye sees color—hue, saturation, and brightness (HSB), while the other model is based on the way computer monitors display color (in amounts of red, green, and blue or RGB). The color wheel is another tool that helps you understand the relationships between colors.
254 Working with colors RGB model A large percentage of the visible spectrum can be represented by mixing red, green, and blue (RGB) light in various proportions and intensities. These three colors are called the additive primaries. Added together, red, green, and blue light make white light. Where two colors overlap, they create cyan, magenta, or yellow. The additive primary colors are used for lighting, video, and monitors.
255 Working with colors About color management Color management helps you to achieve consistent color among digital cameras, scanners, computer monitors, and printers. Each of these devices reproduces a different range of colors, called a color gamut. As you move an image from your digital camera to your monitor, and finally to a printer, the image colors shift. This shift occurs because every device has a different color gamut and thus reproduces the colors differently.
256 Working with colors Profiling devices For color management to work, you must profile your devices or use an ICC profile created by the device’s manufacturer. Capture devices Profiling is not critical for capture devices such as digital cameras or scanners. You may want to profile a scanner, however, if you want to accurately reproduce the colors in scanned transparencies, and reduce your color correction workload in Photoshop Elements. Monitors Calibrating and profiling your monitor is important.
257 Working with colors Convert color profile You don’t often change the color profile of a document. Photoshop Elements automatically assigns the color profile based on the setting you select in the Color Settings dialog box. However, one reason to manually change a color profile is when preparing a document for a different output destination. The other time to change a color profile is for correcting a policy behavior that you no longer want implemented in the document.
258 Working with colors Correct color in Quick mode The Quick mode conveniently groups many of the basic photo-fixing tools in Photoshop Elements. As you work in Quick mode, limit the number of color and lighting controls that you apply to a photo. Generally, you use only one of the auto controls on a photo. If that control doesn’t achieve what you want, click the Reset and try another one. You can also adjust your image using the slider controls, whether you’ve used an auto control or not.
259 Working with colors The Quick mode provides the following tools to refine your photos: Smart Fix Adjusts lighting and color. Smart Fix corrects overall color balance and improves shadow and highlight detail, if necessary. TheAutobutton automatically adjusts the image to apply optimum values for settings. Exposure Adjusts the overall picture brightness. Use this control to ensure that the image you are viewing is of the desired brightness.
260 Working with colors Fix photos with touch up buttons The touch up buttons are available in Quick mode, in the Modify panel. These buttons enable you to apply corrections and adjustments to selected parts of an image. The Eye tool, Spot healing tool, and Healing Brush tool modify the same layer. The Whiten Teeth tool creates and works on a new adjustment layer. Also, the text tools create a new layer for edits. As a result, some tools do not permanently edit information on the image layer.
261 Working with colors Before making any color corrections, view the image at a zoom percentage of 100%. At 100%, Photoshop Elements displays the image most accurately. You can also check for image defects, such as dust spots and scratches. If you plan to crop the file, do it now to reduce memory requirements and to ensure that the histogram uses only relevant information. Using the Zoom tool to zoom out may optimize the view before cropping an image, so that you crop a well-centered selection.
262 Working with colors Auto Levels Adjusts the overall contrast of an image and may affect its color. If your image needs more contrast, and it has a color cast, try this command. Auto Levels works by individually mapping the lightest and darkest pixels in each color channel to black and white. Auto Contrast Adjusts the overall contrast of an image without affecting its color. Use when your image needs more contrast, but the colors look right.
263 Working with colors The histogram may show that an image is not using the full tonal range available if some pixels aren’t available in the shadows and highlights. You can fix an image with limited tonal range by stretching the tonal range using either the Levels command or one of the Enhance > Auto commands.
264 Working with colors 4 To view the following statistical information about a range of values, drag in the histogram and hold down the mouse button to highlight the range. To view information about a specific area of the histogram, place the pointer over the area: Mean Represents the average intensity value. Standard Deviation (Std Dev) Represents how widely intensity values vary. Median Shows the middle value in the range of intensity values.
265 Working with colors 3 In the Tool Options bar, select where the color picker tool must sample from. Choose from All Layers or Current Layer. 4 Do one of the following to choose a color: • To select a new foreground color from an image, click the desired color in your image. To select a color that appears elsewhere on your computer screen, click inside your image and drag away from it. • To select a new background color from an image, Alt-click (Option-click in Mac OS) the color you want.
266 Working with colors Add a color to the Color Swatches panel If there is a color you’d like to use often, you can save the color as a swatch in the Color Swatches panel. Saved swatches are added to the library of colors in the panel. To permanently save your custom swatches, you must save the entire library. 1 Set the foreground color in the toolbox to the color you want to add. 2 Do one of the following in the Color Swatches panel: • Click the New Swatch button at the bottom of the panel.
267 Working with colors Delete a color from the Color Swatches panel 1 Do one of the following: • Drag the color swatch to the Trash button in the panel, and click OK to confirm the deletion. • Press Alt (Option key in Mac OS) to change the pointer to a scissors icon, and click a color in the Color Swatches panel. 2 If prompted to save the library, enter a name in the Save dialog box and click Save. Note: To permanently remove swatches you delete, you must resave the library that contained them.
268 Working with colors 5 The color rectangle to the right of the color slider displays the new color in the top section of the rectangle. The original color appears at the bottom of the rectangle. 6 Click OK to begin painting with the new color. Note: You can select colors using your system’s built-in color picker or a plug-in color picker. Choose Preferences > General and choose the color picker.
269 Working with colors Use the Lightness slider with the other adjustments to lighten or darken a portion of an image. Take care not to use it on an entire image—this adjustment reduces the overall tonal range. Change color saturation or hue 1 Do one of the following: • Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation. • Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation, or open an existing Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
270 Working with colors Adjustment slider A Adjusts color fall-off without affecting range B Adjusts range without affecting color fall-off C Adjusts the range of color component D Moves entire slider • If you modify the adjustment slider so that it falls into a different color range, the name changes to reflect this. For example, if you choose Yellow and alter its range so that it falls in the red part of the color bar, the name changes to Red 2.
271 Working with colors Photoshop Elements automatically adjusts the colors in the image. Changes might be subtle. Note: Make sure Preview is selected so that you can see the color changes as they occur. 4 (Optional) Drag any of the following sliders to fine-tune the correction: Tan Increases or decreases the level of brown in skin tones. Blush Increases or decreases the level of red in skin tones. Temperature Changes the overall color of skin tones. 5 When you’re finished, click OK.
272 Working with colors Image Displays the image in the preview box. This option is useful when you are working with a magnified image or have limited screen space. 3 Click the color picker button, and then click the color you want to change in the image or in the preview box. Use the color picker + tool to add colors, or use the color picker – tool to remove colors to keep them from changing. 4 Drag the Fuzziness slider to control the degree to which related colors are included in the selection.
273 Working with colors 5 To convert your image, click OK. Or, to cancel your changes and start over, click Reset. To close the Convert To Black And White dialog box, click Cancel. Automatically convert to black and white The Remove Color command converts to black and white by assigning equal red, green, and blue values to each pixel in an RGB image. The overall brightness of each pixel remains constant. This command has the same effect as setting Saturation to -100 in the Hue/Saturation dialog box.
274 Working with colors Fix color casts Remove a color cast automatically A color cast is an unpleasant color shift in a photo. For example, a photo taken indoors without a camera flash may have too much yellow. The Remove Color Cast command changes the overall mixture of colors to remove color casts from an image. Original (left), and after removing the green color cast (right) 1 Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Remove Color Cast.
275 Working with colors Adjust color curves The Adjust Color Curves command improves color tones in a photo by adjusting highlights, midtones, and shadows in each color channel. For example, this command can fix photos with silhouetted images resulting from strong backlighting, or slightly washed-out objects that were too close to the camera’s flash. In the Adjust Color Curves dialog box, you can compare and choose different tonal presets. Select from the list of styles in the Select A Style box.
276 Working with colors Image modes A Bitmap mode B Grayscale mode C Indexed-color mode D RGB mode Bitmap mode Uses one of two color values (black or white) to represent the pixels in an image. Images in bitmap mode are called 1-bit images because they have a bit depth of 1. Grayscale mode Uses up to 256 shades of gray. Grayscale images are 8-bit images. Every pixel in a grayscale image has a brightness value ranging from 0 (black) to 255 (white).
277 Working with colors the values of all three components are equal, the result is a shade of neutral gray. When the value of all components is 255, the result is pure white; when the value is 0, the result is pure black. Convert an image to bitmap mode To convert an image to bitmap mode, you must first convert it to grayscale mode, simplifying the color information in the image and reducing its file size.
278 Working with colors Convert a bitmap-mode image to grayscale Before converting, keep in mind that a bitmap-mode image edited in grayscale mode may not look the same when converted back to bitmap mode. For example, consider a pixel that is black in bitmap mode and then edited to a shade of gray in grayscale mode. If the gray value of the pixel is light enough, it will become white when converted back to bitmap mode. 1 Choose Image > Mode > Grayscale. 2 Enter a value from 1 to 16 for the size ratio.
279 Working with colors Local or Master SelectiveCreates a color table similar to the Perceptual color table, but favoring broad areas of color and the preservation of web colors. This option usually produces images with the greatest color integrity. Local Selective applies the panel to individual images; Master Selective applies the selected panel to multiple images (for example, for multimedia production).
280 Working with colors Edit colors in an indexed-color table You can edit colors in the color table to produce special effects, or assign transparency in the image to a single color in the table. 1 Open the indexed-color image in Photoshop Elements. 2 Choose Image > Mode > Color Table. 3 Click or drag within the table to choose the color or range of colors you want to change. 4 Choose a color from the Color Picker or sample a color from the image.
281 Working with colors Color and camera raw In the Camera Raw dialog, you can perform preliminary adjustments and modifications to a raw image before editing it in Photoshop Elements. With the Preview option enabled, you can see how the modified image appears. The options available include sliders to modify the attributes of the image. For example, you can change the exposure, brightness, clarity, and saturation and vibrance.
282 Working with colors ambient light. Conversely, move the slider to the right to correct a photo taken at a higher color temperature of light: the plug-in makes the image colors warmer (yellowish) to compensate for the higher color temperature (bluish) of the ambient light. A Moving the Temperature slider to the right corrects a photo taken at a higher color temperature of light. B Moving the Temperature slider to the left corrects a photo taken at a lower color temperature of light.
283 Working with colors widening the aperture one and one-half stops. Likewise, an adjustment of -1.50 is similar to reducing the aperture one and one-half stops. Tip: Hold down Alt (Option key in Mac) while moving the Exposure slider to preview where the highlights are clipped. (Clipping is the shifting of pixel values to either the highest highlight value or the lowest shadow value. Clipped areas are either completely white or completely black and have no image detail.
284 Working with colors Brightness Adjusts the brightness of the image, much as the Exposure slider does. Brightness compresses the highlights and expands the shadows when you move the slider to the right. Brightness does not clip image highlights (areas that are completely white, with no detail) or shadows (areas that are completely black, with no detail).
285 Chapter 7: Working with selections Make selections in Photoshop Elements A selection is an area of a photo that you define. When you create a selection, the area is editable (for example, you can lighten one part of a photo without affecting the rest). You can make a selection with either a selection tool or a selection command. A selection border, which you can hide, surrounds the selection.
286 Working with selections To access the Select Subject option: 1 In the Quick or Expert workspace, open a photo. 2 Choose Select > Subject. 3 Allow Photoshop Elements a few seconds to automatically select the most prominent subject(s) in your photo. The selection is visible with a moving, dotted line.
287 Working with selections Refine the automatic selection In Tool Options, select one of the Selection Brushes and click Add to selection or Subtract from selection edit the selection. You can also choose Select > Refine Edge to refine the selection. Use selection tools The selection tools are located in the Tools panel, which is located, by default, on the left side of your screen. In Photoshop Elements, you must be in Expert mode to see the selection tools.
288 Working with selections Use the Magnetic Lasso tool: Draws a selection border that automatically snaps to edges when you drag over in the photo. Use the Magic Wand tool: Selects pixels of similar color with one click Use the Quick Selection tool: Quickly and automatically makes selection based on color and texture when you click or click-drag an area. Use the Selection Brush tool: Automatically selects or deselects the area you paint, depending on whether you’re in Sselection or Mask mode.
289 Working with selections Use the Auto Selection tool: Automatically makes a selection when you draw a shape around an object. Apply the Smart Brush tools: Applies color and tonal adjustments and effects to a selection. The tool automatically creates an adjustment layer for non-destructive editing. Use the Rectangular and Elliptical Marquee tools The Rectangular Marquee tool draws square or rectangular selection borders, and the Elliptical Marquee tool draws round or elliptical selection borders.
290 Working with selections To reposition a marquee tool selection border, hold down the spacebar as you drag with the selection tool. Release the spacebar once the selection border is in the correct area. 4 Click Refine Edge to make further adjustments to your selection and make it more precise. See how you can Refine edges of a selection. Use the Lasso tool The Lasso tool draws freehand selection borders. This tool lets you make very precise selections.
291 Working with selections Polygonal Lasso tool options A Lasso tool B Polygonal Lasso tool C Magnetic Lasso tool D New selection E Add to selection F Subtract from selection G Intersect with selection 1 Select the Polygonal Lasso tool from the toolbox. 2 (Optional) Set Polygonal Lasso tool options in the Tool Options bar: • Specify whether to create a new selection, add to an existing selection, subtract from a selection, or select an area intersected by other selections.
292 Working with selections Magnetic Lasso tool options A Lasso tool B Polygonal Lasso tool C Magnetic Lasso tool D New selection E Add to selection F Subtract from selection G Intersect with selection 1 Select the Magnetic Lasso tool from the toolbox. To switch between the Magnetic Lasso and other lasso tools when the Magnetic Lasso tool is selected, do one of the following: • To activate the Lasso tool, press Alt (Option in Mac OS) and drag.
293 Working with selections 4 Close the selection border by doing one of the following: • To close the border manually, drag back over the starting point and click. A closed circle appears next to the pointer when you are over the starting point. • To close the border with a freehand magnetic segment, double-click or press Enter. • To close the border with a straight segment, double-click while pressing Alt (Option in Mac OS).
294 Working with selections Quick Selection Brush tool options A Quick Selection tool B New selection C Add to selection D Subtract from selection 1 Select the Quick Selection Brush tool. 2 In the Tool Options bar, choose one of the following: New Selection Lets you draw a new selection. This option is selected by default. Add To Selection Lets you add to an existing selection. Subtract From Selection Lets you subtract from an existing selection. This option is only available after you make a selection.
295 Working with selections Selection Brush tool options A Selection Brush B Add to selection C Subtract from selection D Selection pop-up E Brush pop-up F Brush size G Hardness H Refine Edge dialog button 1 Select the Selection Brush tool from the toolbox. You may need to click the Quick Selection tool in the toolbox and select the Selection Brush from the list of hidden tools that appears. 2 By default, the tool is set to Add To Selection .
296 Working with selections Use the Auto Selection tool The Auto Selection tool automatically makes a selection when you draw a shape around the object you want to select. The shape you draw doesn't have to be precise, it just needs to outline the object you want to select. The tool is available in the toolbar of the Quick and Expert modes.
297 Working with selections Use the Magic Extractor Note: The Magic Extractor feature is not available in Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 and above. Use the Magic Extractor to make accurate selections based on the appearance of foreground and background areas that you specify. You can specify these areas by placing colored marks in the areas you want to select. After you mark the areas and close the dialog box, only the foreground area appears in the photo.
298 Working with selections When selecting objects with varied colors and textures, drag across all the colors and textures to ensure a more accurate selection. 6 To help mark your selection, use the Zoom tool or the Hand tool to magnify and navigate around the photo. Press Alt (Option in Mac OS) as you use the Zoom tool to zoom out. 7 To specify a different brush size or color, do one of the following: • Choose a new size from the Brush Size menu.
299 Working with selections Refine edges of a selection In Photoshop Elements, you can fine-tune your selection using the Refine Edge (select a portion of an image, rightclick the selection, and choose Refine Edge from the context menu) dialog box. You can also open the Refine Edge dialog by choosing Select > Refine Edge. To open the Refine Edge dialog on a Mac, select a portion of an image, Control-click the selection, and choose Refine Edge. View Mode.
300 Working with selections Shift Edge. Moves soft-edged borders inward with negative values or outward with positive ones. Shifting these borders inward can help remove unwanted background colors from selection edges. Decontaminate Colors. Replaces color fringes with the color of fully selected pixels nearby. The strength of color replacement is proportionate to the softness of selection edges. Important:Because this option changes pixel color, it requires output to a new layer or document.
301 Working with selections Saving selection (top), loading selection (center), and using the selection to fill with a solid color (bottom) 1 In the Edit workspace, make a selection in your photo. 2 Choose Select > Save Selection. 3 In the Save Selection dialog box, choose New from the Selection pop-up menu. 4 Enter a name for the selection in the Name box, and then click OK. 5 To load the selection, choose Select > Load Selection, choose the saved selection from the Selection menu, and then click OK.
302 Working with selections Intersect With Selection Replaces the saved selection with the intersection between the current selection and the saved selection. You can also modify a saved selection by loading it and using selection tools to add to it (Shift-drag) or subtract from it (Alt-drag in Windows, Option-drag in Mac). (See Add to or subtract from a selection) Modify a new selection with a saved selection 1 In the Edit workspace, open a photo that contains a saved selection.
303 Working with selections Invert a selection Inverting a selection changes the unselected areas into selected areas, protecting the area you previously selected. ? In a photo with an existing selection border, choose Select > Inverse. You can use this command to easily select an object that appears against a solid-colored area. Select the solid color using the Magic Wand tool, and then choose Select > Inverse.
304 Working with selections Selecting the sky and top of mountains with the Rectangular Marquee tool (top). Selecting the Intersect With Selection option and using the Magic Wand tool to select the clouds (middle). Resulting image after increasing the brightness of the clouds (bottom). ? Select a selection tool, and do one of the following: • Select Intersect With Selection in the options bar, and select an area that intersects the existing selection.
305 Working with selections Using the Border command to create a 4-pixel border selection (top). Copying the selection to a new layer and filling to make an outline of the image (center). Filling the selection into the original image to create an outline around the image (bottom). 1 Use a selection tool to make a selection. 2 Choose Select > Modify > Border. 3 Enter a value between 1 and 200 pixels in the Width text box, and click OK.
306 Working with selections Defringe a selection When you move or paste a selection, some of the pixels surrounding the selection border are included with the selection. These extra pixels can result in a fringe or halo around the edges of the selection. The Defringe Layer command replaces the color of any fringe pixels with the colors of nearby pixels containing pure colors (those without background color).
307 Working with selections Move a selection The Move tool lets you cut and drag a pixel selection to a new location in the photo. You can also use the tool to move or copy selections between photos in Photoshop Elements, and to photos in other applications that support selections. Moving a selection from one photo into another using the Move tool To activate the Move tool when another tool is selected, hold down Ctrl (Command in Mac OS). (This technique does not work when the Hand tool is selected.
308 Working with selections Distribute menu Spaces selected layers equally apart. Options include Top Edges, Vertical Centers, Bottom Edges, Left Edges, Horizontal Centers, and Right Edges. Multiple layers can be spaced simultaneously. For this option to be enabled, you must have a minimum of three selected layers. To space layers apart, select a layer, hold down Shift, select other layers, and then choose an item from the Distribute menu.
309 Working with selections Copying a selection from one image to another A Part of the original photo selected B Photo to copy and paste into original C Resulting image 1 In the Edit workspace, use the Copy command to copy the part of the photo you want to paste. (You can even copy from photos in other applications.) 2 Make a selection in the photo into which you want to paste the copied photo. 3 Choose Edit > Paste Into Selection. Note: The copied photo appears only within the selection border.
310 Working with selections The Selection Edit toolbox provides the tools to refine your selection: Add to selection (A) Manually add to the current selection Subtract from selection (B) Manually subtract the current selection Push Selection (C) • Placing the cursor inside a selection expands the selection within the outer circle to snap to the first image edge found • Placing the Cursor outside the selection contracts the selection within the outer circle to snap to the first image edge found Smooth sel
311 Working with selections Select an image that has minute and detailed edges 2 Select Refine Selection Brush tool (A). 3 From the four modes available (Add, Subtract, Push, Smooth), select the Add mode. Selection cursor in Add mode 4 Press and hold cursor on the image you want to make precise and refined selections on. The selection within the concentric circles of the cursor begins to grow. Note a lighter-colored region on the outer periphery of the growing selection.
312 Working with selections A growing selection within the Refine Selection Brush cursor (Add mode) • A - Inner circle of the cursor, where the selection area begins to grow. Region within is automatically selected. • B - Outer edge of the Selection Edge. • C - Inner edge of the Selection Edge • D - Outer circle of the cursor, where the selection area stops growing if you keep the mouse pressed indefinitely. You can also use the cursor to 'paint' the region you want to select.
313 Working with selections Select the minute details captured in your photograph, using the Selection Edge cursor. 7 Continue to experiment and perform Step 6, changing your selections and using the Subtract, Push, and Smooth modes of the Refine Selection Brush tool. Smooth selection edges with anti-aliasing and feathering Smooth the edges of a selection by anti-aliasing You can smooth the hard edges of a selection by anti-aliasing or feathering.
314 Working with selections You can select anti-aliasing with the Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Elliptical Marquee, and Magic Wand tools. To anti-alias, you must select the Anti-Alias option before making the selection; you cannot add anti-aliasing to an existing selection. 1 In the Edit workspace, select the Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Elliptical Marquee, or Magic Wand tool. 2 Select Anti-aliased in the options bar. 3 Make a selection in the image window.
315 Chapter 8: Working with layers Create layers Understanding layers Layers are useful because they let you add components to an image and work on them one at a time, without permanently changing your original image. For each layer, you can adjust color and brightness, apply special effects, reposition layer content, specify opacity and blending values, and so on. You can also rearrange the stacking order, link layers to work on them simultaneously, and create web animations with layers.
316 Working with layers Type layers and shape layers Let you create vector-based text and shapes. You can’t paint on an adjustment layer, although you can paint on its mask. To paint on fill or type layers, you must first convert them into regular image layers. About the Layers panel The Layers panel (Window > Layers) lists all layers in an image, from the top layer to the Background layer at the bottom.
317 Working with layers Delete a layer. Lock transparent pixels. Also at the top are the panel Blending Mode menu (Normal, Dissolve, Darken, and so on), an Opacity text box, and a More button displaying a menu of layer commands and panel options. Adding layers Newly added layers appear above the selected layer in the Layers panel. You can add layers to an image by using any of the following methods: • Create new, blank layers or turn selections into layers.
318 Working with layers Creating a new layer by copying part of another layer and pasting it into a new layer Convert the Background layer into a regular layer The Background layer is the bottom layer in an image. Other layers stack on top of the Background layer, which usually (but not always) contains the actual image data of a photo. To protect the image, the Background layer is always locked.
319 Working with layers Manage layers Create a new group You can create a new group to prevent cluttering and organize the layers. Do one of the following: • To create a new group with default settings, create Click A New Group icon in the Layers panel in the Expert mode. • To create a new group with customized settings, follow these steps: • Select Layer > New > Group. • In the dialog box, specify a name and other options, and click OK.
320 Working with layers Lock or unlock a layer You can fully or partially lock layers to protect their contents. When a layer is locked, a lock icon appears to the right of the layer name, and the layer cannot be edited or deleted. Except for the Background layer, you can move locked layers to different locations in the stacking order of the Layers panel.
321 Working with layers • Choose Delete Layer from either the Layer menu or the Layers panel More menu, and click Yes. Sample color from all visible layers By default, when you work with certain tools, the color you apply is sampled only from the active layer. With this default behavior, you can smudge or sample in a single layer even when other layers are visible, and you can sample from one layer and paint in another one.
322 Working with layers Copy a layer from one image to another You can copy any layer, including the Background layer, from one image to another. Keep in mind that the resolution of the destination image determines how large the printed copy of the layer can be. Also, if the pixel dimensions of the two images are not the same, the copied layer may appear smaller or larger than you’d expect. 1 Open the two images you want to use.
323 Working with layers • Press the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the layer or layers in 1-pixel increments, or press Shift and an arrow key to move the layer in 10-pixel increments. • Hold down Shift as you drag to move the layer or layers directly up or down, directly to either side, or on a 45° diagonal. Change the stacking order of layers The stacking order determines whether a layer appears in front of or behind other layers.
324 Working with layers 2 To unlink layers, do one of the following: • To unlink one layer, click the link icon of a layer. • To unlink multiple layers, select more than one layer, right-click and select the Unlink Layers option. Merge layers Layers can greatly increase the file size of an image. Merging layers in an image reduces file size. You should merge layers only after you have finished manipulating them to create the image you want.
325 Working with layers If the bottom layer in the pair is a shape, type, or fill layer, you must simplify the layer. If the bottom layer in the pair is an adjustment layer, you can’t choose Merge Down. • To merge all visible layers, hide any layers you don’t want to merge and choose Merge Visible from the Layer menu or Layers panel flyout menu. • To merge all visible linked layers, select one of the linked layers and choose Merge Linked from the Layer menu or Layers panel flyout menu.
326 Working with layers Fill layers let you fill a layer with a solid color, gradient, or pattern. Unlike adjustment layers, fill layers do not affect the layers below them. To paint on a fill layer, you must first convert it (simplify it) into a regular layer. Adjustment and fill layers have the same opacity and blending mode options as image layers, and you can move and reposition them just as you do image layers.
327 Working with layers Original image, and image with Hue/Saturation adjustment applied. Only the layers under the adjustment layer are affected. • To affect only one layer or several successive layers below the adjustment layer, choose Layer> New Adjustment Layer> [adjustment type]. In the New Layer dialog box, select Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask, and then click OK. Levels Corrects tonal values in the image. Brightness/Contrast Lightens or darkens the image.
328 Working with layers 2 To confine the effects of the fill layer to a selected area, make a selection. 3 Do one of the following: • Click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button in the Layers panel, and choose the fill type you want to create. (The first three options listed in the panel are fill layers, the others are adjustment layers.) • Choose Layer > New Fill Layer > [fill type]. In the New Layer dialog box, click OK.
329 Working with layers Painting a mask with black increases the area protected. 1 Select the adjustment or fill layer in the Layers panel. 2 Select the Brush tool, or any painting or editing tool. 3 Use the following methods to view the layer mask: • To view only the mask, Alt-click (Option-click in Mac OS) the layer mask’s thumbnail (the rightmost thumbnail). Alt-click (Option-click in Mac OS) the thumbnail again to redisplay the other layers.
330 Working with layers About layer clipping masks A clipping mask is a group of layers to which a mask is applied. The bottommost layer, or base layer, defines the visible boundaries of the entire group. For example, suppose you have a shape in the base layer, a photograph in the layer above it, and text in the topmost layer. If the photograph and text appear only through the shape outline in the base layer, they also take on the opacity of the base layer. You can group only successive layers.
331 Working with layers • In the Layers panel, select a layer in the clipping mask, and choose Layer > Release Clipping Mask. This command removes the selected layer and any layers above it from the clipping mask. • In the Layers panel, select any layer in the group except the base layer. Either drag the layer below the base layer, or drag it between two ungrouped layers in the image. Release clipping mask 1 In the Layers panel, select any layer other than the base layer in the clipping mask.
332 Working with layers Three different layer styles applied to text The boundaries of the effect are automatically updated when you edit that layer. For example, if you apply a drop shadow style to a text layer, the shadow changes automatically when you edit the text. Layer styles are cumulative, which means that you can create a complex effect by applying multiple styles to a layer. You can apply one style from each style library per layer.
333 Working with layers 3 Do any of the following: • Select a style, and click Apply. • Double-click a style. • Drag a style onto a layer. A style icon indicates a layer style is applied to the layer. If you don’t like the result, press Ctrl+Z (Command + Z in Mac OS) to remove the style, or choose Edit > Undo. You can also drag the style to the image, where it is applied to the selected layer.
334 Working with layers Remove a layer style 1 In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the style you want to remove. 2 Choose Layer > Layer Style > Clear Layer Style. Opacity and blending modes About opacity and blending options in layers A layer’s opacity determines the degree to which it obscures or reveals the layer beneath it. A layer with 1% opacity is nearly transparent, while a layer with 100% opacity is opaque. Transparent areas remain transparent regardless of the opacity setting.
335 Working with layers Specify a blending mode for a layer 1 Select a layer that you have added, in the Layers panel. 2 Choose an option from the Blending Mode menu. (Windows) Immediately after you choose a blending mode, you can press the up or down arrows on your keyboard to try other blending mode options in the menu. Select all opaque areas in a layer You can quickly select all the opaque areas in a layer. This procedure is useful when you want to exclude transparent areas from a selection.
336 Chapter 9: Creating photo projects Project basics Elements Organizer and Photoshop Elements provide quick and easy ways to be creative with your photos. You can use your photos to create photo books, greeting cards, calendars, collages, and CD/DVD jackets among other projects. You can complete some projects in Elements Organizer. For other projects, you select the photos you want to use in Elements Organizer, and then complete the project in Photoshop Elements.
337 Creating photo projects Create button and list of available options Note: If you are creating large photo projects with many pages, you will need at least 1 GB of RAM for optimum performance. Create photo collages Create great photo collages easily to make memories last. Sample photo collages Create photo collages in PSE 2019 release Perform the following steps in Elements 2019 release to create a photo collage: 1 Open two or more photos in Photoshop Elements.
338 Creating photo projects Based on the number of open photos, an attractive collage is automatically created. Using intelligent auto-crop, the most prominent part of the photo (face) is focused and placed in the collage frames. 3 (Optional) Select a layout for your photo collage. The layout suggestions are displayed based on the number of photos in your collage. You can choose a layout across four categories: Landscape, Portrait, Facebook Cover, and Instagram.
339 Creating photo projects Easily swap photos in your collage When you add or remove a photo from your collage, a new layout is automatically applied on the collage. 5 (Optional) Double-click on a photo to display the heads-up-display (HUD). Use the HUD to rotate your photo left or right, zoom in or out, replace the photo, or you can also delete the photo. Once you have made the desired changes, click the green check mark to commit your changes.
340 Creating photo projects Apply a background or frame of your choice 7 (Optional) Click Advanced Mode or Basic Mode to set the mode in which you want to view and modify the photos you want to work with. In the Basic mode, you can add text and move text or graphics. In the Advanced mode, you get the complete toolbox and layer option. You can use the options to retouch the images and edit layers. 8 Do one of the following to save the photo collage: • In the Taskbar, click Save.
341 Creating photo projects 2 Do the following in the Photo Collage dialog box and click OK: • Select a size for the photo collage. • Select a theme. • Select Autofill with selected images if you want to use images selected in the Photo Bin.
342 Creating photo projects • Press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Command+P (Mac OS). Note: If a photo used in the photo collage is moved from its original location in your computer, you cannot print the photo collage. However, you can still save the project. Create photo books Photo books are great keepsakes for your memories. With various size and theme options, Photoshop Elements makes it easy to create photo books. 1 Select Create > Photo Book.
343 Creating photo projects In the Basic mode, you can add text and move text or graphics. In the Advanced mode, you get the complete toolbox and layer option. You can use the options to retouch the images and edit layers. 4 Do one of the following to save the photo book: • In the Taskbar, click Save. • Choose File > Save. By default, projects are saved in your My Pictures folder, although you can save projects to another location. • Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac OS). 5 .
344 Creating photo projects Do the following in the Greeting Card dialog box and click OK: • Select a size for the greeting card. • Select a theme. • Select Autofill with selected images if you want to use images selected in the Photo Bin.
345 Creating photo projects • Press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Command+P (Mac OS) and click OK. Note: If a photo used in the greeting card is moved from its original location in your computer, you cannot print the greeting card. However, you can still save the project. Create photo calendars Showcase your photos by creating photo calendars with Photoshop Elements. 1 Select Create > Photo Calendar. 2 Do the following in the Photo Calendar dialog box and click OK: • Select starting month and year.
346 Creating photo projects In the Advanced mode, you get the complete toolbox and layer option. You can use the options to retouch the images and edit layers. 5 Do one of the following to save the calendar: • In the Taskbar, click Save. • Choose File > Save. By default, projects are saved in your My Pictures folder, although you can save projects to another location. • Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac OS). 6 Do one of the following to print the calendar: • Select File > Print.
347 Creating photo projects • Graphics: Lets you change the background, frames, and graphics in the photo book Do the following: • Add photos to your CD/DVD jacket • Add the background. • Add frames if you want to add more photos on one page. • Add graphics if necessary. 4 (Optional) Click Advanced Mode or Basic Mode to set the mode in which you want to view and modify the photos you want to work with. In the Basic mode, you can add text and move text or graphics.
348 Creating photo projects 2 Do the following in the CD/DVD Label dialog box and click OK: • Select a size for the CD/DVD label. • Select a theme. • Select Autofill with selected images if you want to use images selected in the Photo Bin.
349 Creating photo projects Editing photo projects About photo project edits In Photoshop Elements, you can modify photo collages, greeting cards, and CD/DVD disc jackets and labels. The Create panel lets you add various frames, textures, backgrounds, and graphics to your projects, as well as apply text effects. You can also resize, rotate, and move images. Add images to a photo project You can add images to a photo project, and then rearrange, modify, or replace them.
350 Creating photo projects 2 Do any of the following: • To reposition the photo, click anywhere within the bounding box and drag the photo. • To resize the photo, drag the slider that appears above the selected image. Or, position the Move tool over a appears, drag it. corner, top, bottom, or side; when the diagonal double-headed arrow 3 After repositioning or resizing the photo within the frame, click the Commit button or the Cancel button when you’re finished.
351 Creating photo projects Edit photo project pages in Photoshop If you have Adobe® Photoshop® and Photoshop Elements installed on the same computer, you can send JPEG, GIF, and other single-page photo files to Photoshop. In Elements Organizer, choose Edit > Edit with Photoshop. Photoshop does not support the multipage PSE file format, so it cannot edit entire photo projects. However, Photoshop can edit individual pages of a photo project, which are in the single-page PSD format.
352 Chapter 10: Saving, printing, and sharing photos Save images Save changes Do one of the following: • Click File>Save. • Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac OS). Save changes with a different file format, name, or location You can use the Save as option in the File menu to set options for saving image files, such as the format, and whether to include the saved file in the Elements Organizer catalog or to preserve layers in an image.
353 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Thumbnail Saves thumbnail data for the file. This option is available when the Ask When Saving option for Image Previews is set in the Preferences dialog box. Use Lower Case Extension Makes the file extension uppercase or lowercase. Note: UNIX file servers are often used to help send information over networks and the Internet. Some of these servers do not recognize uppercase extensions.
354 Saving, printing, and sharing photos 6 Select a format option: Baseline (“Standard”) Uses a format that is recognizable to most web browsers. Baseline Optimized Optimizes the color quality of the image and produces a slightly smaller file size. All web browsers do not support this option. Progressive Creates an image that is gradually displayed as it is downloaded to a web browser.
355 Saving, printing, and sharing photos • Press Ctrl+Shift+S (Windows) or Command+Shift+S (Mac OS). 2 Choose PNG from the format list. 3 Specify a file name and location, select file-saving options, and click Save. 4 In the PNG Options dialog box, select an Interlace option and click OK. None Displays the image in a web browser only after it is completely downloaded. Interlaced Displays low-resolution versions of the image while the full image file is downloading to the browser.
356 Saving, printing, and sharing photos • Always Ask opens the Save As dialog box the first time you edit and save the original file. All subsequent saves overwrite the previous version. If you open the edited copy in the Edit workspace (from Elements Organizer), the first save opens the Save As dialog box. • Save Over Current File does not open the Save As dialog box. The first save overwrites the original. Image Previews Saves a preview image with the file.
357 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Photo Creations Format (PSE) The standard Photoshop Elements format for multiple page creations. You should use this format for photo creations to save your work and preserve all your image data and layers in a multiple page file. Photoshop PDF (Portable Document Format) A cross-platform and cross-application file format. PDF files accurately display and preserve fonts, page layouts, and both vector and bitmap graphics.
358 Saving, printing, and sharing photos A Individual prints B Contact sheet C Picture package Print photos 1 Do one of the following in Photoshop Elements: • To print an already open photo, choose File > Print. • Open a photo in Photoshop Elements and choose File > Print. • Select photos in the Photo Bin ( ). Use Ctrl-click (Command-click in Mac OS) to select multiple photos from the Photo Bin and choose File > Print. 2 In the Print dialog box, specify the desired options.
359 Saving, printing, and sharing photos 2 In the Contact Sheet dialog box, specify the desired options and click OK. The contact sheet is created and it opens in Photo editor workspace. 3 Choose File > Print. 4 In the Print dialog box, specify the desired options. For details, see Print dialog box options. 5 Click Print. Print a picture package A picture package enables you to place multiple copies of one or more photos on a single page.
360 Saving, printing, and sharing photos A Photos selected for printing B Page preview C Photoholder D Add photos for printing E Print options Note: In Windows, you can modify the following print settings: • Click Change Settings under Printer Settings to specify the printer, paper type, paper tray, paper size, print quality. Click Advanced Settings to open the printer driver options.
361 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Keyword Tag Displays photos with a specific tag. Use the menu to select a tag. Only Show Photos with Ratings Displays only photos marked with the Favorites tag. Also Show Hidden Photos Displays photos marked as hidden. 3 Click one or more thumbnails, or click Select All, and then click Add Selected Photos. 4 Click Done.
362 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Custom Print Size Enables you to specify the following settings: Print Size You can specify the width and height in inches, centimeters, and millimeters. Select Scale To Fit Media to scale the image to fit on the page. Specify the dimensions of the photo for printing Color Management Displays the color profile of the image. Image Space shows the color space embedded in your photo file.
363 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Color management options available for printing photos Page setup options for printing When you click Page Setup in the Print dialog box, the following options are displayed: • Printer Add a printer or specify the preferences for your printer. • Copies Specify the number of copies you want to print. • Pages Choose one of the following options: Single, Range, and All. Specify the page number or the page range.
364 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Paper Handling • Collate Pages Select this option to print pages together. • Pages To Print Choose the desired option to print all pages, even pages, or odd pages. • Page Order Choose the page order for printing: Automatic, Normal, or Reverse. • Scale To Fit Paper Size Select the option to fit the page to the paper size being used for printing photos. • Destination Paper Size Select the paper size for printing photos.
365 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Position a photo on the paper 1 Choose File > Print. 2 Under the Position settings in the Print dialog, do one of the following: • To center the image in the printable area, select Center Image. • To position the image numerically, deselect Center Image, and then enter values for Top and Left. • Deselect Center Image, and drag the placeholder or the image in the preview area. Position settings Rotate an image 1 Choose File > Print.
366 Saving, printing, and sharing photos 3 When only the layers you want to print are visible, choose File > Print. The Print dialog box opens with only the visible layers showing in the thumbnail preview. 4 Set your printing options and click Print. Share photos online Share photos online You can share images using websites like Flickr and Twitter, directly from Photoshop Elements Editor. You can view the photo sharing services available to you using the Sharing dropdown in Photoshop Elements.
367 Saving, printing, and sharing photos • Tags. Provide a set of keywords to tag the album with. 4 When the photos have been uploaded, the Flickr dialog displays two buttons: • Visit Flickr. Click this button to open the view the uploaded photos in your web browser. You can copy the URL to your Flickr photos from the web browser. • Done. Click Done to close the dialog. Twitter Only one image must be selected when you choose to share a photo with Twitter.
368 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Using the Save For Web dialog box Use the Save For Web dialog box to preview the effects of different optimization options on a photo you want to share on the web. The process is simple. Open a photo, and choose File > Save For Web. Then choose a format from the file format menu (GIF, JPEG, PNG-8, or PNG-24) and set options as desired. (The file format menu is directly beneath the Preset menu.) This saves a copy of your file, without overwriting the original image.
369 Saving, printing, and sharing photos GIF GIF is the format to use for line art, illustrations with large areas of solid color and crisp detail, and text. Also, if you want to export an animated image, you must use GIF. PNG-8 PNG-8 is a lesser-known alternative to GIF. Use it for the same purposes (except animation). Images in GIF and PNG-8 formats, sometimes called indexed-color images, can display up to 256 colors.
370 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Original image (left), and optimized JPEG with Low quality setting (right) The JPEG format does not support transparency. When you save an image as a JPEG file, transparent pixels are filled with the matte color specified in the Save For Web dialog box. To simulate the effect of background transparency, you can match the matte color to the web page background color.
371 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Dithering in web images About dithering Most web images are created by designers using 24-bit color displays (which display over 16 million colors), although some users view web pages on computers with 8-bit color displays (which display only 256 colors). As a result, web images often contain colors not available on some computers. Computers use a technique called dithering to simulate colors they can’t display.
372 Saving, printing, and sharing photos 4 The Dither percentage controls the amount of dithering that is applied to the image. A higher dithering percentage creates the appearance of more colors and more detail in an image but can also increase the file size. For optimal compression and display quality, use the lowest percentage of application dither that provides the color detail you require.
373 Saving, printing, and sharing photos • The JPEG Options dialog allows you to select some advanced image formatting options. If you do not want to make any special changes, click OK to accept the default settings. Continue Editing (In Quick / In Expert) • Take your image to the Quick Edit or Expert Edit rooms. This means that you have make edits in the Guided Edit room and then make some more adjustments in the Quick and Expert rooms.
374 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Preview variations in color display When optimizing an image for the web, consider how the image will appear on different monitors. In general, an image appears darker in Windows systems than on Mac OS systems. You can simulate cross-platform display differences in the Save For Web dialog box. 1 Open an image and choose File > Save For Web. 2 Choose your optimization settings. 3 Click the triangle to the right of the optimized image to view the document panel menu.
375 Saving, printing, and sharing photos About transparent and matted web images Transparency makes it possible to create nonrectangular images for the web. Background transparency, supported by the GIF and PNG formats, preserves transparent pixels in the image and allows the background of the web page to show through the transparent areas of your image. (Although the JPEG format does not support transparency, you can specify a matte color to simulate the appearance of transparency in the original image.
376 Saving, printing, and sharing photos 4 For the GIF and PNG-8 formats, specify how to treat partially transparent pixels in the original image. You can blend these pixels with a matte color, or you can create hard-edged transparency. Create a matted GIF or PNG image When you know the background color of the web page on which an image will be displayed, you can use the matting feature to fill or blend transparent pixels with a matte color that matches the web page background.
377 Saving, printing, and sharing photos Optimizing images for the GIF or PNG-8 format About the GIF format The GIF format uses 8-bit color and efficiently compresses solid areas of color while preserving sharp details like those in line art, logos, or type. You also use the GIF format to create an animated image and preserve transparency in an image. GIF is supported by most browsers. The GIF format uses LZW compression, which is a lossless compression method.
378 Saving, printing, and sharing photos PNG-8 with 256 colors and no dither (left), and PNG-8 with 16 colors and dithering (right) Optimize as GIF or PNG-8 format GIF is the standard format for compressing images with large areas of solid colors and crisp details like those in line art, logos, or type. Like the GIF format, PNG-8 supports transparency and efficiently compresses areas of solid color while preserving sharp detail; however, not all web browsers can display PNG-8 files.
379 Saving, printing, and sharing photos 10 To save your optimized image, click OK. In the Save Optimized As dialog box, type a filename, and click Save. Create an animated GIF 1 Place the images you want to appear in each frame of the animation on separate layers of the Layers panel. For example, to create an animation of an eye blinking, you would place an image of the open eye on one layer, and an image of the closed eye on another layer. 2 Choose File > Save for Web.
380 Saving, printing, and sharing photos 2 Choose PNG-24 for the optimization format. 3 Select Interlaced to create an image that is displayed at low-resolution in a browser while the full-resolution image is downloading. Interlacing can make downloading time seem shorter and gives viewers feedback that downloading is in progress.
381 Chapter 11: Keyboard shortcuts Keys for selecting tools This list includes the keyboard shortcuts that you can use to work with the Photoshop Elements tools. For more information about the Photoshop Elements tools, see Tools. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
382 Keyboard shortcuts Result Windows Mac OS Crop tool C C Recompose tool W W Straighten tool P P Eye tool Y Y Spot Healing Brush tool J J S S E E Pencil tool N N Brush tool B B F F Paint Bucket tool K K Gradient tool G G Custom Shape tool U U R R O O Perspective Crop Cookie Cutter tool Healing Brush tool Clone Stamp tool Pattern Stamp tool Eraser tool Background Eraser tool Magic Eraser tool Impressionist Brush Color Replacement tool Smart Brush tool Detail Sma
383 Keyboard shortcuts Result Windows Mac OS Show/Hide all panels Tab Tab Default foreground and background colors D D Switch foreground and background colors X X Keys for selecting and moving objects This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
384 Keyboard shortcuts Keys for the Layers panel This list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
385 Keyboard shortcuts Result Windows Mac OS Open Help F1 F1 Show/Hide Tool Options F4 F4 Show/Hide Photo Bin F5 F5 Show/Hide Effects panel F6 F6 Show/Hide Graphics panel F7 F7 Show/Hide Info panel F8 F8 Show/Hide Histogram panel F9 Option + F9 Show/Hide History panel F10 Option + F10 Show/Hide Layers panel F11 Option + F11 Show/Hide Navigator panel F12 Option + F12 Keys for painting and brushes This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts.
386 Keyboard shortcuts Keys for using text This list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
387 Keyboard shortcuts Keys for transforming selections This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips. Result Windows Mac OS Transform from center or reflect Alt Option Constrain Shift Shift Distort Control Command Skew Control + Shift Command + Shift Change perspective Control + Shift + Alt Command + Shift + Option Apply Enter Enter Cancel Esc or Control + . (period) Esc or Command + .
388 Keyboard shortcuts Result Windows Mac OS Apply a new filter on top of selected Alt-click on a filter Option-click on a filter Open/close all disclosure triangles Alt-click on a disclosure triangle Option-click on a disclosure triangle Change Cancel button to Default Control Command Change Cancel button to Reset Alt Option Undo/redo Control + Z Command + Z Step forward Control + Shift + Z Command + Shift + Z Step backward Control + Alt + Z Command + Option + Z Keys for using blen
389 Keyboard shortcuts Result Windows Mac OS Hue Shift + Alt + U Shift + Option + U Saturation Shift + Alt + T Shift + Option + T Color Shift + Alt + C Shift + Option + C Luminosity Shift + Alt + Y Shift + Option + Y Keys for viewing images (expertmode) This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
