Short courses-Photoshop Elements 3.0

A ShortCourse Book
Photoshop Elements 3.0-The Editor

Photoshop Elements 3.0-The Editor

Easy to follow guides to the new Elements 3.0 Editor and the amazing new Organizer that should be of interest to Photoshop users as well. The Organizer has been published separately because it works with Photoshop as well as with Elements so should be of great interest to Photoshop users. (Click the Next Page button to see this book.) This guide is available as a traditional 160 page large-format (8.5 by 11) spiral bound book printed in black and white, and as a full-color, fully searchable PDF eBook you can order on a CD.

Introduction

Photoshop Elements is a wonderful program, at an amazingly low price. Based on Photoshop the acknowledged leader among existing photo-editing programs-Elements, like an acorn, hasn't fallen far from the tree. It has inherited both power and complexity. Our goal in this book is to present an introduction to Photoshop Elements that helps you master those aspects of the program most useful to digital photographers. From this single perspective, the program becomes a great deal easier to master because you follow a direct route through the program. Detours along the many back roads of the program are for another book.

Because Photoshop Elements 3.0 is really two programs bonded together this book is published in two parts. Although most users will be interested in both parts, photographers using other photo-editing programs, including Photoshop, can make great use of the Organizer, a powerful database-backed asset management and sharing program described on the next page.

This book introduces you to the Editor, the part of Elements used to edit and improve your images. It shows you how to evaluate tones, colors, sharpness, and other characteristics of an image and to select the tools you use to fix or improve it. You'll see how to work with selections, layers, and painting and drawing tools needed to touch up images. We recognize that digital images can be edited in a wide variety of ways. In some cases you're a photographer trying to improve an image by eliminating or reducing flaws. In other cases you're a graphic artist taking an image to a new place, making it something it never was, or incorporating it as one element in a larger project. In this book we focus on the photographic aspects, but teach you the tools you need for graphic arts.

Click here for PDF Samples from "The Editor"

Contents

Chapter 1
Getting Started ...6

Developing A Process-Your Workflow ...7
Starting and Quitting the Program ...8
Learning Photoshop Elements ...10
Introduction to the Editor ...11
Managing the Editor Display ...12
Using the Toolbox ...13
Using Palettes ...15
Basic Commands ...18
Undoing Changes ...21

Chapter 2
Working with Image Files ...22

Opening and Closing Image Files ...23
Saving Image Files...25
Importing Images from Videos and PDFs ...29
The File Browser—Introduction ...30
The File Browser—Viewing, Opening & Managing Files ...31
The File Browser—Organizing and Finding Files ...33
The File Browser—The Metadata Palette ...35
Zooming Images and Image Windows ...36
Working with Multiple Images ...38
Printing Images ...39
Optimizing Images for the Web ...43
Merging Images into a Panorama ...46
Processing Multiple Files ...49

Chapter 3
Fixing Your Images ...51

Evaluating Your Images ...52
Quick Fixing Images ...56
Specifying Image Sizes ...58
Specifying Canvas Sizes ...60
Cropping Images ...61
Rotating Images ...63
Tones, Colors, and Channels ...64
Using the Histogram Palette ...65
Adjusting Brightness and Contrast ...66
Adjusting Shadows and Highlights ...67
Adjusting Levels ...68
Using Eyedroppers ...71
Adjusting Color ...73
Using Filters ...77
Sharpening Images ...81
Using the Camera Raw Plug-in ...83
Processing Multiple Images ...86

Chapter 4
Working with Selections ...88

Introduction to Selecting ...89
Using Marquee Tools ...91
Using Lasso Tools ...93
Using the Selection Brush Tool ...95
Using the Magic Wand Tool ...96
Adjusting an Existing Selection ...97
Moving and Copying Selections ...99
Transforming Selections ...101
Using the Cookie Cutter Tool ...104
Saving and Reusing Selections ...105

Chapter 5
Working with Layers ...106

Using Layers ...107
The Layers Palette ...108
Creating and Preserving Layers ...110
Managing Layers ...112
Grouping Layers ...117
Using Adjustment Layers ...118
Using Fill Layers ...120
Editing a Layer Mask ...122
Entering Type ...124
Applying Layer Styles ...128
Creating Animated GIFs ...130

Chapter 6
Painting & Drawing ...133

Selecting Foreground and Background Colors ...134
Using Brushes and Pencils ...137
Specifying Tool Options ...139
Erasing ...143
Retouching Images ...145
Filling and Stroking Selections and Layers ...149
Using the Gradient Tool ...151
Drawing Shapes ...152
Using Effects ...154
Replacing Color ...155

Chapter 7
Color Management ...156

Calibrating Your Monitor ...157
Color Managing Your Images ...159

Click to order a copy of the printed book for $24.95US.

Click to order a printed copy of the book and a PDF copy on a CD at a special package price of $36.95US.

Click to order a PDF copy of the book on a CD for $19.95US.

You can read our eBooks on the screen, or print some or all of the pages using your browser or the Acrobat Reader free from Adobe. Click the button for the latest version