Datasheet

15
Chapter 1: Getting to Know the Work Area
✓ Scratch Sizes: Displays the amount of memory on your hard drive that’s
consumed by all documents open in Elements. For example, 20M/200M
indicates that the open documents consume 20 megabytes and that a
total of 200 megabytes are available for Elements to edit your images.
When you add more content to a file, such as new layers, the first figure
grows while the second figure remains static.
✓ Efficiency: Indicates how many operations you’re performing in RAM,
as opposed to using your scratch disk (space on your hard drive). When
the number is 100%, you’re working in RAM. When the number drops
below 100%, you’re using the scratch disk. If you continually work below
100%, it’s a good indication that you need to buy more RAM to increase
your efficiency.
✓ Timing: Indicates the time it took to complete the last operation.
✓ Current Tool: Shows the name of the tool selected from the Tools panel.
Why is this information important? Suppose you have a great photo you want
to add to your Facebook account and you examine the photo to find the physi-
cal size of 8 x 10 inches at 72 pixels per inch (ppi). You also find the saved
file size over 5 MB. At a quick glance, you know you want to resize the photo
to perhaps a 4 x 6 inch size and 72 ppi. Changing the resolution dramatically
reduces the file size. We cover file sizes and changing the physical dimensions
of your photos in Chapter 3. For now, realize that the pop-up menu shows you
information that can be helpful when preparing files for print and display.
Don’t worry about trying to understand all these terms. The important thing
to know is that you can visit the pop-up menu and change the items at will
during your editing sessions.
Moving through the menu bar
Like just about every program you launch, Elements supports drop-down
menus. The menus are logically constructed and identified to provide com-
mands for working with your pictures (including many commands that you
don’t find supported in tools and on panels). A quick glimpse at the menu
names gives you a hint of what might be contained in a given menu list.
Here are the 10 different menus (11 on a Mac):
✓ Photoshop Elements (Mac only): On the Macintosh, you find the
Photoshop Elements menu preceding the File menu. This menu provides
you the Quit command used to exit Elements, and it provides access to
Edit Full Preferences, as we explain in Chapter 2.
✓ File: Just as you might suspect, the File menu contains commands for work-
ing with your picture as a file. You find commands on the menu for saving,
opening, processing, importing, exporting, and printing. We cover saving
files in Chapter 3 and printing or exporting for other output in Part V.
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