User guide

Besides describing how to use the program itself,
the Photoshop Elements User Guide is a very
readable general explanation of all of the terms,
methods, features and considerations of image
editing, with each chapter describing how and
why images can be manipulated and to what
effect. Since the software is presented on screen as
a program and as a course in photo-editing its
important to look at both of these aspects.
Chapter 1
, Looking at the Work Area, describes
how to become familiar with the work area and
configure the program. Viewing images, doing
and undoing changes, saving changes and clos-
ing files are covered.
Chapter 2
, Getting Images into Photoshop
Elements, explains how to create and import
images into the program and the meaning and
importance of the resolution, size, type and pres-
entation of your images.
Chapters 3 and 4
, Working with Colour, and,
Making Colour and Tonal Corrections, provides
a clear explanation of colour theory and termi-
nology as it pertains to computer graphics, with
information about colour management systems
and using the Adobe Color Picker. Correcting
images by adjusting the colour tone and tonal
range are described.
Chapters 5 and 6
, Selecting, and, Transforming
and Retouching, describes the processes of tak-
ing exactly what aspect or attribute of an image
you wish to alter and separating it for working
on. These chapters deal with what types of things
are possible to correct and how to target them.
Problem pictures and their fixes are described.
Chapter 7
, Painting and Drawing, explains the
distinction between these two terms and activi-
ties as they pertain to Photoshop Elements and
computer graphics in general. The use of Tools,
Shapes and Patterns are presented, with exam-
ples.
Chapter 8
, Using Layers, one of the most impor-
tant chapters in the User Guide, describes the
Layers Pallet, how to create a layered image and
the acts of editing, managing and grouping lay-
ers.
Chapter 9
, Applying Filters and Effects, gets into
the many, many special powerful tools that make
this program deserve the name, "Photoshop". For
those of us already familiar with Photoshop fil-
ters there isn't much new here but for the begin-
ner photographer this is a wonderful selection of
filters and effects. In keeping with the simplified
presentation and the "on-screen" theme, filters
and effects can be accessed from the Menu bar or
displayed on the screen as alphabetically
arranged thumbnail images in the Filters and
Effects pallets. Their use is also described in the
User Guide, with instructions and advice where
applicable. Here's a list of the Photoshop Filters
and a brief explanation of the Effects included
with Photoshop Elements:
Artistic Filters
•Coloured Pencil
•Cutout
•Dry Brush
•Film Grain
•Fresco
•Neon Glow
•Paint Daubs
•Palette Knife
•Plastic Wrap
•Poster Edges
•Rough Pastels
•Smudge Stick
•Sponge
•Underpainting
•Watercolour
Blur Filters
•Blur and Blur More
•Gaussian Blur
•Motion Blur
•Radial Blur
•Smart Blur
Brush Stroke Filters
•Accented Edges
•Angled Strokes
•Crosshatch