What this book covers
Chapter 1, Photoshop Elements Features Overview, firstly introduces you to the new features in this latest version. Not surprisingly, this includes several automatic (AI) tools that I'm confident everyone is going to be impressed with.
To fully explain Elements, this chapter sets out how the program has been designed to operate, and includes a full workflow scenario as well as a clear explanation of the roles of all five sections of Photoshop Elements: the Home Screen, the Organizer, and, in the Photo Editor section, Quick Edit mode, Guided Edit mode, and Expert Edit mode.
It also explains the importance of the application's Catalog, its Panels, Panel functions, and the Panel Bin, along with the Create, Share, and Enhance menus. Finally, the chapter wraps up with a look at the relationship between Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, its video editing sibling.
Chapter 2, Setting Up Photoshop Elements from Scratch, helps you overcome the first hurdle of buying and installing the software. The next step is to learn how to set up the application to produce the quickest and most efficient results. This chapter deals with how to prepare your camera (setting the correct color space in its menu), the best practices for imaging computers (Windows and Mac), how to review media, and media backup strategies.
Following that is a description of the best ways to import picture files into the Organizer, plus all the techniques Elements provides for organizing media, using organizational tools such as Places, People, Events, keywords, albums, tags, and metadata.
You'll also find a section on the different characteristics of the most popular file formats, how to manage catalogs, how to set up the correct color space in your camera, and how to manage the basics of color calibration.
Chapter 3, The Basics of Image Editing, discusses the editing workflow and suggests a number of best practices. It illustrates how to get started with photo editing by covering a range of topics, including an in-depth look at RAW file editing, then ten ways to get an image file open in Elements, plus a look at picture resolution (and its impact on image quality). This last topic includes a section on how to resample files to make them larger or smaller.
Other techniques discussed here include cropping image files, leveling photos with the Straighten tool, applying "instant" photo fixes in the Organizer, and file-saving basics.
Besides getting up to speed with these basics, the chapter also covers how to work with Version Sets and auto tone correction tools, as well as showing you how to master contrast, color, sharpness, and clarity using Levels, Hue/Saturation, and the Shadow/Highlights features.
At the end of the chapter, you'll discover how to create perfect skin tones using the Smooth Skin feature, plus basic but effective retouching techniques using the amazingly effective Spot Healing Brush.
Chapter 4, Easy Creative Projects, looks at some truly impressive and highly useful Photoshop Elements features.
In this chapter, features covered include simple but effective "looks" using the massive range of creative Filters found in Elements, making your own hand-coloring effects using the new Colorize Photo tool, creating wide-screen and multi-deck panoramas with Photomerge Panorama, and delving into Elements' amazing Photomerge Scene Cleaner and its fun-to-use Photomerge Faces Guided Edit feature.
The chapter finishes with an overview of the easy-to-make slideshow, calendar, and greeting cards projects, wrapping up with a couple of very cool retro effects found in Guided Edit mode: the Lomo Camera effect and the elegant split screen Effects Collage feature.
Chapter 5, Advanced Techniques: Layers and Masking,
Once you get the hang of the basics described in Chapter 3, The Basics of Image Editing, and the techniques highlighted in Chapter 4, Easy Creative Projects. You're now ready to turbo-charge your creativity using the power of layers and masking.
The chapter introduces you to the nuts and bolts of image Layers, Layer Panel features, Adjustment Layers, Adjustment Layer Masking, and Layer Masking.
If that isn't enough, we also demonstrate how to combine and resize pictures to make a poster, take a look at Smart Objects and how to correct perspective distortion using the power of Layer Transformations, and finally we look at Layer Blend Modes.
Chapter 6, Advanced Techniques: Retouching, Selections, and Text,
This chapter moves on from the power of layers to fine-tune the use of retouching tools in examples of simple beauty retouching, using the powerful Clone Stamp tool, the magical Healing Brush and Spot Healing Brush tools, and the highly underrated Burn, Dodge, and Sponge brushes.
We also tackle the complex world of Selections, which, like layers and masking, once mastered, will change the way you view image editing forever. This chapter includes the Magic Wand tool, Selection Brush Tool, Quick Selection Tool, Auto Selection Tool, Refine Selection Brush, and the Refine Edge function.
What many never appreciate is that Elements also features some great graphics tools, including the handy Horizontal Type Tool – used, of course, to add text to images – plus all the different type and font options. We'll also cover how to find, download, and use cool custom fonts for special projects.
Chapter 7, Additional Tools and Features, moves on from the power of RAW file editing and the basics of the Levels and Hue/Saturation tools and shows you that there are dozens more excellent features to be found in Photoshop Elements. Some are AI-driven (artificial intelligence) , while many others stem from the mightily handy Guided Edit Mode.
In this chapter, you'll find a selection of more than 20 fabulous features that many might have passed by when performing routine edits. Some are hugely visual in their nature, some are designed for fixing photo problems, while others are there just for fun.
These include Adjust Color Curves, the Blur, Sharpen, and Smudge brushes, the Eraser Tools, Smart Brush, Paint Bucket, the Gradient Tool, the Haze Removal Tool, the Content Aware Tool, the Recompose Tool, the Move and Scale Object Tool, Moving Photos, Quote Graphics, Convert to Black and White, Duotone Effect, B&W Color Pop, Old Fashioned Photo, Perfect Landscape, Perfect Portrait, Adjust Facial Features (including its new Face Tilt feature), and Open Closed Eyes, plus an introduction to Plugins.
Chapter 8, Advanced Drawing and Painting Techniques,
Interestingly, Elements ships with a wide range of credible graphics and illustration tools, making it more of an all-round creative powerhouse than many might give it credit for.
To kick off this chapter, we highlight the best ways to master the handy design and layout helpers that you'll find located under the View Menu, the benefits of using brushes (and their various behaviors), as well as the Impressionist and Color Replacement Brush features.
The chapter then shifts gear to highlight how to find and use custom brushes, plus how to employ Adobe vectors, and then how to customize vectors for specific applications. There's also a short section on graphics tablets.
Chapter 9, Exporting the Finished Work, encourages you to consider export options once your masterpiece has been fully edited.
In this chapter, we look at the various resolution requirements for different social media platforms, as well as how to prepare files for print. Because so many photographers are now so reliant on the internet, it's important to get a handle on how to prepare pictures for best display (using the Save for the Web feature), as well as how best to sharpen files for different print and online applications using the industry-standard Unsharp Mask tool, the generic Sharpen Filters, High Pass Sharpening, and more, including how to use the amazing Haze Reduction Tool.
Finally, this chapter takes a good look at how to export multiple instances of your work (with the Export as New Files feature), as well as how to bulk-process files using the effective Process Multiple Files utility.
Chapter 10, Troubleshooting, deals with how to fix all those things that can go wrong when trying to manage a database of thousands, or tens of thousands, of images, and how to deal with image files that are not quite perfect. The chapter starts by explaining file saving protocols: what options to go for, including the new cloud-based File Save option. We also investigate what to do if files get lost or disconnected from the catalog, how to fully utilize the features of the powerful Find menu, adjust dates for different time zones, as well as how to re-instate a lost or damaged Catalog.
You will also find a section on how to fix skin tone color (Adjust Color for Skin Tones), fix a color cast (Remove Color Cast), use the amazingly quirky Liquify Filter, and finally, how to access more information via the Help menu.
Chapter 11, Feature Appendix, highlights all the tool features, panels, processes, and menus in Photoshop Elements. Use it to get more information on all the features in Elements, and check out the personal feedback on how effective or important many of these features might be to beginners.
