Datasheet

Chapter 1: Getting to Know the Work Area

about what size brush tip you want to use. This choice is specific to the

selected tool and therefore appears as an Options bar choice.

3. Open a panel for more options.

If you want to use the Brush tool to apply some color to an image, for

example, after you select the Brush tip on the Options bar, open the

Color Swatches panel and select a color.

4. Open a drop-down menu.

Not all tools support a drop-down menu on the Options bar. When you

see a down-pointing arrow, click the arrow to open a menu on which you

can find more options for some tools.

5. Get some help.

When you hover your cursor over a tool, you see that tool described

in blue text. Click the blue text, and your default Web browser opens,

displaying a page on Adobe’s Web site where help information and tips

explain how to use the respective tool. You’ll also find blue text on the

More menu. The blue text alerts you to help information that can be

shown in your Web browser.

Changing Workspaces

When you’re in Edit Full mode, which we discuss in preceding sections, you

can apply any kind of edits to a picture, improve the picture’s appearance,

and apply all that Elements offers you. This mode is the richest editor in

Elements, in terms of accessing all features. Because Elements has so many

different kinds of editing opportunities, the program offers you other work-

space views, tailored to the kinds of tasks people typically want to perform.

Using Edit Quick mode

Edit Quick mode is designed to provide you with just those tools that you

need to prepare a picture for its intended destination, whether it’s printing,

onscreen viewing, or one of the other organizing items. Use this mode to

make your pictures look good. You don’t find tools for adding text, painting

with brushes, or applying gradients in Edit Quick mode. Rather, what you find

is a completely different set of panels for balancing contrast and brightness,

lighting, and sharpening, for example. This mode is like having a digital dark-

room on your desktop, where you take care of perfecting an image like you

would in analog photography darkrooms.

To enter Edit Quick mode while you’re in Edit Full mode, click the Edit

Full button to open the drop-down menu and choose Edit Quick; the view

changes, as shown in Figure 1-14.

05_529676-ch01.indd 2105_529676-ch01.indd 21 9/8/09 7:51:57 PM9/8/09 7:51:57 PM