Photoshop Elements for the Digital Photographer

Lesson 1

Introducing Elements

Photoshop Elements is an excellent package for photographers to enhance and edit digital images. This lesson will introduce online training, show you how to download the images you'll use in class, and start you off with the very basics of Photoshop Elements. The course will take things one step at a time so that even new users can get comfortable editing and enhancing their digital photos.

Quick Fixes and Formats

This lesson will discuss the many file formats that digital images can take and how you can use them to your best advantage with Photoshop Elements. You'll learn how to save updated originals and copies of your images, as well as how to use Smart Fix to produce fast results. You'll see how to crop with the Rule of Thirds Grid Overlay and rotate images to get just the look you're after, and then practice using the Straighten tool for one-step corrections.

Sizing Images

Digital images come in all sizes! This lesson will discuss image resolution, pixels, and recommendations for resizing pictures with excellent results. When you want high-quality prints, you'll see just how to resize them and maintain their quality with Photoshop Elements's sizing options. The lesson will also discuss the different shapes images can take and how you can be sure your prints will fit the frames you choose.

Printing Images

Photoshop Elements gives you lots of options for printing your documents, and you'll learn about all of them in this lesson. You'll find out how to add temporary colorful borders and print images to just the size you want. You'll also practice saving photos for use on websites using Photoshop Elements's Save for Web feature. In addition, you'll take a look at the Organizer and see how to print multiple photos on a page.

Creating Files and Layers

Most of the time, photographers have plenty of images to work with, but in some instances you'll want to create a new file as a foundation for your images. You'll learn how to do that in this lesson. You'll also see how to use Elements's tabbed windowing for quick access to your open images. From there, you'll add color and then move a photo onto your background. You'll discover how to use the Layers feature in the process.

Adjusting Color

Ever wondered how professional photographers can make the colors in some images look out of this world? In this lesson, you'll find out how they do it! You'll work with color adjustments in your images, including hue and saturation. You'll then create black-and-white images from color images using Elements's Black and White Conversion feature and pick individual colors to replace with others. You'll also learn how to make quick changes with these tools and discover a tool that can help adjust skin tones quickly.

Adjusting Light and Color

Light is the essence of photography, but it's not always cooperative. This lesson will discuss ways to enhance and even create better lighting after you've taken an image. You'll see how to use Brightness and Contrast to improve your images, and learn some techniques for adjusting shadows and highlights. You'll also have a chance to work with the histogram, Levels, and Color Curves—all excellent tools for correcting lighting and color tones. Through all this, you'll see how Elements keeps track of your changes and lets you go back through them if you want to undo something.

Using Organizer

In this lesson, you'll take a look at how Organizer works to keep track of your images. You'll see how to sort your pictures, add tags, and collect them in albums for use in projects like scrapbook pages and greeting cards.

Creating Text and Selections

In your creative projects, you'll often want to pair photos with text. Photoshop Elements gives you plenty of text tools, and in this lesson, you'll explore those and add text to your images. You'll see how Photoshop Elements uses layers with text, and you'll get tips on how to master the Layers panel. You'll also begin your study of the powerful selection tools, including the color-based Magic Wand tool and the flexible Lasso tool. With these, you'll discover the power of Feathering selections and copying selections within an image.

Making Intermediate Selections

As you continue your study of selection tools, you'll learn how to create a silhouette image using the Quick Selection tool. You'll also practice using any of the selection tools in a reverse mode for tricky selections. You'll see how the Marquee tools let you select perfect squares and circles for use in framing and highlighting your images and how the new Text on Selection tool works with any shape! You'll also work more with Feathering and see the difference it makes, especially when you want to create a soft, blended background in your image. Finally, the lesson will go over how to add colors with the Gradient tool.

Advanced Selections

In the last lesson on the selection tools, you'll work with the Selection Brush tool for detailed and exacting work when you need it most. You'll also learn some advanced techniques for using the selection tools together. You'll work extensively with the Add to selection option and preview your work with Mask Mode. You'll have a chance to experiment with some of Photoshop Elements's filters and color options, as well as the settings in the Magnetic Lasso tool. As a final addition to your knowledge in this area, you'll have a chance to explore and work with the Select menu.

Correcting Images

As the class draws to a close, you'll find many new tools to put to work and still more to learn. The lesson will discuss the Retouching and Correcting tools, and you'll perfect your skills with the Red Eye Removal tool (including the new Pet Eye option), the Clone Stamp tool, and both the powerful Healing Brushes and the Content-Aware Healing option. You'll learn when to use each tool for the best results. The power of Photoshop Elements will come to life as you use these tools in your final assignments.