Synopses & Reviews
The recent boom in digital camera sales has created a tremendous demand for simple yet powerful photo-editing software. This is because experienced users, as well as amateurs, are quickly outgrowing the program that was originally bundled with their cameras.Fortunately, Photoshop Elements 3, the latest photo-editing software from Adobe, is filling this void. It allows users to achieve high-quality results without the overwhelming complexity of professional-level software. And it's also affordable. As a result, it is the best-selling photo-editing software on the market today. Yet, while Photoshop Elements 3.0 seems to have everything going in its favor, it is missing one very important element: a manual that explains all of its incredible capabilities.To help consumers truly understand this software, there's now Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual. This comprehensive guide from Barbarba Brundage offers page after page of valuable insight into this popular program, making it the only book readers will need on the topic.Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual does a whole lot more than just point out how to straighten photos, crop, and adjust the color and focus. It's a collection of wonderful tips and tricks, from how to make basic selections to advanced color correction strategies, and from classic darkroom techniques to stylized digital effects. Each feature is carefully explained in easy-to-understand language, so that everyone from professional shooters to hobbyists can benefit. Among other lessons, readers will learn how to:
- Instantly fix flaws using Elements' Quick Fix mode
- Gain control with sliders, zoom tools, and before and after views
- Easily organize photos by calendar or keyword label
- Make dynamic slide shows with transitions, captions, music, and narration
- Create themed photo email
Whether you're a hobbyist or a professional photographer,
Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual will help you become a more efficient, sophisticated digital camera user.
Synopsis
The recent boom in the use of digital cameras has created demand for simple yet sophisticated photo-editing software, and Adobe has just updated its highly popular Photoshop Elements, an inexpensive and powerful program for both amateurs and experienced users. This objective and witty guide provides a list of photo-editing techniques more thorough than any other book on Elements, enabling a broad range of consumers to achieve inspiring results.
About the Author
Barbara Brundage has been the author of Photoshop Elements: The Missing Manual since Elements 3, is an Adobe Community Expert, and has been a member of Adobe's prerelease groups since Elements 3. She's been teaching people how to use Photoshop Elements since it first came out in 2001. Barbara, who lives in Jensen Beach, Florida, started using Elements to create graphics for use in her day job as a harpist, music publisher, and arranger. Along the way, she joined the large group of people finding a renewed interest in photography thanks to digital cameras. If she can learn to use Elements, you can, too!
Table of Contents
Copyright; The Missing Credits; About the Author; About the Creative Team; Acknowledgements; The Missing Manual Series; Introduction; Why Photoshop Elements?; What You Can Do with Elements 3; What's New in Elements 3; Elements Versus Photoshop; The Key to Learning Elements; About This Book; Safari® Enabled; Part I: Introductory Elements; Chapter 1: Finding Your Way Around Elements; 1.1 The Welcome Screen; 1.2 Organizing Your Photos; 1.3 Editing Your Photos; 1.4 Getting Started in a Hurry; Chapter 2: Importing and Managing Your Photos; 2.1 Importing from Cameras; 2.2 Opening Stored Images; 2.3 Scanning Photos; 2.4 Capturing Video Frames; 2.5 Creating a New File; 2.6 The Organizer; 2.7 The File Browser (Mac and Windows); Chapter 3: Rotating, Resizing, and Saving; 3.1 Straightening Scanned Photos; 3.2 Rotating Your Images; 3.3 Cropping Pictures; 3.4 Changing Your View of Your Image; 3.5 Changing the Size of Your Image; 3.6 Saving Your Work; 3.7 Backing Up Your Files; Chapter 4: The Quick Fix; 4.1 The Quick Fix Window; 4.2 Editing Your Photos; Part II: Elemental Elements; Chapter 5: Making Selections; 5.1 Making Quick Selections; 5.2 Selecting Rectangular and Elliptical Areas; 5.3 Selecting Irregularly Sized Areas; 5.4 Changing and Moving Selections; Chapter 6: Layers: The Heart of Elements; 6.1 Understanding Layers; 6.2 Creating Layers; 6.3 Managing Layers; 6.4 Adding Fill and Adjustment Layers; 6.5 Moving Layers Between Images; Part III: Retouching; Chapter 7: Basic Image Retouching; 7.1 Fixing Exposure Problems; 7.2 Controlling the Colors You See; 7.3 Using Levels; 7.4 Removing Unwanted Color; 7.5 Choosing the Color You Want; 7.6 Sharpening Your Images; Chapter 8: Elements for Digital Photographers; 8.1 The RAW Converter; 8.2 Photo Filter; 8.3 Processing Multiple Files; Chapter 9: Retouching 102: Fine-Tuning Your Images; 9.1 Fixing Blemishes; 9.2 Applying Patterns; 9.3 Making Your Colors More Vibrant; 9.4 Changing the Color of an Object; 9.5 Making Color Photos Black and White; 9.6 Creating Spot Color; 9.7 Colorizing a Black and White Photo; 9.8 Special Effects; Chapter 10: Creating Panoramas and Transforming Images; 10.1 Creating Panoramas; 10.2 Transforming Images; Part IV: Artistic Elements; Chapter 11: Drawing with Brushes, Shapes, and Other Tools; 11.1 Picking and Using a Basic Brush; 11.2 The Specialty Brushes; 11.3 The Impressionist Brush; 11.4 The Pencil Tool; 11.5 The Paint Bucket; 11.6 Dodging and Burning; 11.7 Blending and Smudging; 11.8 The Eraser Tool; 11.9 Drawing with Shapes; 11.10 The Cookie Cutter; Chapter 12: Filters, Effects, Layer Styles, and Gradients; 12.1 Using Filters; 12.2 Adding Effects; 12.3 Applying Gradients; 12.4 Gradient Maps; Chapter 13: Type in Elements; 13.1 Adding Type to an Image; 13.2 Warping Type; 13.3 Adding Special Effects; 13.4 Type Masks: Setting an Image in Type; Part V: Sharing Your Images; Chapter 14: Printing Your Photos; 14.1 Getting Ready to Print; 14.2 Using a Photo Processing Service; 14.3 Printing from the Editor; 14.4 Printing from the Organizer (Windows); 14.5 Printing Multiple Images (Windows); 14.6 Printing Multiple Images (Mac Only); 14.7 Creating Projects (Windows Only); Chapter 15: Elements and the Web; 15.1 Image Formats and the Web; 15.2 Saving Images for the Web or Email; 15.3 Creating Animated GIFs; 15.4 Emailing Your Photos; 15.5 Sending Photos to Other Gear (Windows); Chapter 16: Web Photo Galleries and Slideshows; 16.1 Web Photo Galleries; 16.2 Slideshows; 16.3 PDF Slideshows for the Mac; Part VI: Additional Elements; Chapter 17: Beyond the Basics; 17.1 Graphics Tablets; 17.2 Free Stuff from the Internet; 17.3 Making Elements More Like Photoshop; 17.4 Beyond This Book; Part 7: Appendixes; Appendix A: The Organizer, Menu by Menu; A.1 File Menu; A.2 Edit; A.3 Find; A.4 View; A.5 Window; A.6 Help; A.7 Online Support; Appendix B: The Editor, Menu by Menu; B.1 Photoshop Elements (Mac Only); B.2 File Menu (Windows and Mac); B.3 Edit Menu; B.4 Image; B.5 Enhance; B.6 Layer; B.7 Select; B.8 View; B.9 Window; B.10 Help; Appendix C: Installation and Troubleshooting; C.1 Installing Elements; C.2 Troubleshooting; Colophon;