Photoshop Elements 2024 for Dummies

Barbara Obermeier is the principal of Obermeier Design and is Chair of the Visual Arts Department at California Lutheran University. Ted Padova is adjunct professor of visual arts and digital photography at Sillman University in Dumaguete, Philippines. The two have combined to author or co-author over 90 books.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Photoshop Elements 2024 5

Chapter 1: Getting Started with Image Editing 7

Getting Familiar with the Home Screen 7

Launching the Photo Editor 9

Making Basic Edits in Quick Mode 11

Sharing a Photo 13

Retracing Your Steps 15

Using the History panel 16

Reverting to the last save 17

Getting a Helping Hand 17

Saving Files with Purpose 19

Using the Save/Save As dialog box 19

Saving files for the web 21

Chapter 2: Basic Image-Editing Concepts 23

Grappling with the Ubiquitous Pixels 24

Understanding resolution 25

Understanding image dimensions 27

The Art of Resampling 27

Choosing a Resolution for Print or Onscreen 30

Working with File Formats 31

JPEG (*.jpg, *.jpeg, *.jpe) 32

PNG (*.png) 33

TIFF (*.tif, *.tiff) 33

Getting Familiar with Color 34

Getting Color Right 36

Color the easy way 36

Calibrating your monitor 36

Choosing a color workspace 37

Understanding how profiles work 38

Chapter 3: Exploring the Photo Editor 39

Examining the Photo Editor 39

Examining the image window 43

Uncovering the contextual menus 48

Selecting the tools 48

Selecting from the Tool Options 51

Playing with panels 51

Using the Photo Bin 55

Creating different views of an image 55

Viewing filenames 56

Using Photo Bin Actions 56

Using Some Creative Features 56

Using Guided Edits 57

Working with Adobe Stock images 58

Searching Guided Edits 60

Controlling the Editing Environment 61

Launching and navigating Preferences 62

Checking out all the Preferences panes 63

Perusing preset libraries 65

Part 2: Managing Media 67

Chapter 4: Navigating the Organizer 69

Organizing Photos and Media on a Hard Drive 70

Adding Images to the Organizer 72

Adding files from folders and removable media 72

Downloading camera images with the Elements Downloader 74

Importing additional photos from folders 76

Navigating the Media Browser 77

Using a Scanner 78

Understanding image requirements 79

Using scanner plug-ins (Windows) 79

Scanning on the Mac 80

Scanning many photos at a time 81

Phoning in Your Images 81

Setting Organizer Preferences 82

Chapter 5: Organizing Your Pictures 85

Touring the Organizer 85

Organizing Groups of Images with Tags 89

Creating and viewing a tag 89

Adding icons to tags 92

Working with custom tags 93

Working with default tags 94

Working with sub-categories 95

Sorting photos according to tags 96

Auto Generating Tags 96

Working with Auto Creations 97

Adding new Events 97

Rating Images with Stars 98

Adding Images to an Album 99

Creating an album 100

Using albums for temporary work 102

Editing an album 102

Finding out more about sharing your albums 103

Adding People in the Media Browser 103

Placing Pictures on Maps 105

Working with Events 107

Chapter 6: Viewing and Finding Your Images 109

Cataloging Files 109

Using the Catalog Manager 110

Working with catalogs 111

Backing up your catalog 112

Backing up photos and files 114

Switching to a Different View 114

Viewing Photos in Memories (Slideshow) 115

Searching for Photos 117

Using Search 117

Searching for untagged items 119

Searching captions and notes 119

Searching by history 120

Searching metadata 120

Searching similarities 121

Grouping Files That Get in the Way 123

Marking files as hidden 123

Stackin’ ’em up 123

Creating versions 125

Part 3: Selecting and Correcting Photos 127

Chapter 7: Editing Camera Raw Images 129

Launching the Camera Raw Editor 129

Understanding Camera Raw 130

Learning Raw file format attributes 131

Opening images in the Camera Raw Editor 132

Getting Familiar with the Raw Editor 133

Getting Familiar with the Panels 137

Using the Basic panel 138

Sharpening and reducing noise 141

Using the Calibration panel 144

Working with Filmstrips 144

Working with Profiles 146

Looking at the Adobe Camera Raw profiles 146

Managing profiles 148

Creating a Favorites list 148

Opening Non-Raw Images in the Camera Raw Editor 149

Changing Image Defaults 150

Working with XML Files and Preferences 150

Changing program defaults 150

Using Save Options 152

Using sidecar files 153

Chapter 8: Making and Modifying Selections 155

Defining Selections 155

Creating Rectangular and Elliptical Selections 156

Perfecting squares and circles with Shift and Alt (Option on the Mac) 158

Applying Marquee options 159

Making Freeform Selections with the Lasso Tools 161

Selecting with the Lasso tool 161

Getting straight with the Polygonal Lasso tool 162

Snapping with the Magnetic Lasso tool 164

Working Wizardry with the Magic Wand 166

Talking about Tolerance 167

Wielding the Wand to select 167

Modifying Your Selections 170

Adding to, subtracting from, and intersecting a selection 170

Avoiding key collisions 171

Painting with the Selection Brush 171

Painting with the Quick Selection Tool 173

Selecting with the Auto Selection Tool 175

Selecting Your Subject, Background, or Sky with One-Click Selecting 177

Fine-Tuning with the Refine Selection Brush 179

Working with the Cookie Cutter Tool 181

Eliminating with the Eraser Tools 182

The Eraser tool 183

The Background Eraser tool 184

The Magic Eraser tool 185

Using the Select Menu 185

Selecting all or nothing 186

Reselecting a selection 186

Inversing a selection 186

Feathering a selection 186

Refining the edges of a selection 187

Using the Modify commands 189

Applying the Grow and Similar commands 189

Saving and loading selections 190

Chapter 9: Working with Layers 191

Getting to Know Layers 191

Converting a background to a layer 192

Anatomy of the Layers panel 193

Using the Layer and Select menus 197

Working with Different Layer Types 198

Image layers 198

Adjustment layers 199

Fill layers 201

Shape layers 202

Type layers 203

Tackling Layer Basics 203

Creating a new layer from scratch 204

Using Layer via Copy and Layer via Cut 205

Duplicating layers 206

Dragging and dropping layers 206

Using the Paste into Selection command 207

Moving a Layer’s Content 208

Transforming Layers 209

Adding Layer Masks 210

Flattening and Merging Layers 212

Flattening layers 213

Merging layers 213

Chapter 10: Simple Image Makeovers 215

Cropping and Straightening Images 215

Cutting away with the Crop tool 216

Fixing distortion with the Perspective Crop tool 218

Cropping with a selection border 219

Straightening images 219

Recomposing Images 221

Employing One-Step Auto Fixes 224

Auto Smart Fix 224

Auto Smart Tone 225

Auto Levels 226

Auto Contrast 227

Auto Haze Removal 227

Auto Color Correction 227

Auto Sharpen 228

Auto Red Eye Fix 229

Editing in Quick Mode 230

Fixing Small Imperfections with Tools 234

Cloning with the Clone Stamp tool 234

Retouching with the Healing Brush 237

Zeroing in with the Spot Healing Brush 239

Repositioning with the Content-Aware Move tool 241

Lightening and darkening with Dodge and Burn tools 243

Smudging away rough spots 244

Softening with the Blur tool 246

Focusing with the Sharpen tool 247

Sponging color on and off 248

Replacing one color with another 249

Chapter 11: Correcting Contrast, Color, and Clarity 253

Editing Your Photos Using a Logical Workflow 254

Adjusting Lighting 255

Fixing lighting with Shadows/Highlights 255

Using Brightness/Contrast 256

Pinpointing proper contrast with Levels 257

Adjusting Color 260

Removing color casts automatically 260

Adjusting with Hue/Saturation 261

Eliminating color with Remove Color 263

Switching colors with Replace Color 264

Correcting with Color Curves 265

Adjusting skin tones 267

Defringing layers 269

Eliminating haze 270

Adjusting color temperature with photo filters 272

Mapping your colors 273

Adjusting Clarity 274

Removing noise, artifacts, dust, and scratches 274

Blurring when you need to 275

Sharpening for better focus 278

Opening closed eyes 280

Colorizing a photo 282

Smoothing skin 284

Adjusting facial features 285

Moving Overlays 285

Moving Photos 288

Moving Elements 288

Working Intelligently with the Smart Brush Tools 290

Part 4: Exploring Your Inner Artist 295

Chapter 12: Playing with Filters, Effects, Styles, and More 297

Having Fun with Filters 297

Applying filters 298

Corrective or destructive filters 299

One-step or multistep filters 299

Fading a filter 300

Selectively applying a filter 300

Working in the Filter Gallery 301

Distorting with the Liquify filter 303

Correcting Camera Distortion 305

Exploring Elements’ Unique Filters 306

Creating a comic 307

Getting graphic 308

Using the Pen and Ink filter 309

Dressing Up with Photo and Text Effects 310

Adding Shadows, Glows, and More 313

Applying styles 314

Working with styles 315

Using the Graphics panel 316

Mixing It Up with Blend Modes 317

General blend modes 317

Darken blend modes 318

Lighten blend modes 319

Lighting blend modes 321

Inverter blend modes 321

HSL blend modes 323

Using Photomerge 324

Photomerge Panorama 324

Photomerge Group Shot 327

Photomerge Scene Cleaner 328

Photomerge Exposure 329

Photomerge Compose 332

Chapter 13: Drawing and Painting 335

Choosing Color 335

Working with the Color Picker 336

Dipping into the Color Swatches panel 337

Sampling with the Eyedropper tool 339

Getting Artsy with the Pencil and Brush Tools 340

Drawing with the Pencil tool 341

Painting with the Brush tool 343

Using the Impressionist Brush 345

Creating your own brush 346

Filling and Outlining Selections 348

Fill ’er up 348

Outlining with the Stroke command 350

Splashing on Color with the Paint Bucket Tool 351

Working with Multicolored Gradients 352

Applying a preset gradient 352

Customizing gradients 353

Working with Patterns 357

Applying a preset pattern 357

Creating a new pattern 358

Creating Shapes of All Sorts 359

Drawing a shape 360

Drawing multiple shapes 361

Specifying Geometry options 362

Editing shapes 364

Chapter 14: Working with Type 365

Understanding Type Basics 365

Tools 366

Modes 366

Formats 367

Creating Point Type 367

Creating Paragraph Type 369

Creating Path Type 370

Using the Text On Selection tool 370

Using the Text On Shape tool 371

Using the Text On Custom Path tool 373

Specifying Type Options 374

Editing Text 376

Simplifying Type 377

Masking with Type 378

Stylizing and Warping Type 381

Adjusting type opacity 381

Applying filters to your type 382

Painting your type with color and gradients 383

Warping your type 384

Using Text Overlay Templates 385

Part 5: Printing, Creating, and Sharing 387

Chapter 15: Getting It on Paper 389

Getting Pictures Ready for Printing 390

Working with Color Printer Profiles 391

Printing a photo with the printer managing color 393

Printing a photo with Elements managing color 396

Printing a picture package or contact sheet 396

Getting Familiar with the Print Dialog Box 397

Using the Prints options 397

Creating transfers, borders, and more with More Options 399

Outsourcing Printing 400

Chapter 16: Sharing Your Work 401

Getting Familiar with the Elements Sharing Options 401

Planning ahead 402

Understanding photo sharing in Elements 403

Using the Share Panel 404

Emailing photos 405

Working with Adobe Premiere Elements 408

Sharing your photos on social networks 408

Chapter 17: Making Creations 411

Checking Out the Create Panel 411

Grasping Creation-Assembly Basics 414

Creating a Quote Graphic 418

Creating a Memories Video 421

Creating a PDF Slideshow 422

Making Additional Creations 422

Chapter 18: Creating and Sharing on Elements Web 423

Launching Elements Web 423

Uploading files from the Organizer 424

Uploading files from the Share menu 425

Uploading files from the Photo Editor 426

Sharing Photos 427

Sharing to Facebook 428

Sharing on Elements Web 431

Getting familiar with the Elements Web interface 431

Managing images 433

Making Creations 435

Working with slideshows 436

Viewing .mp4 video files 437

Making photo collages 439

Part 6: the Part of Tens 441

Chapter 19: The Ten Best Guided Edits 443

Correct Skin Tone 443

Sharpen 445

Object Removal 446

Perfect Portrait 448

Replace Background 451

Remove a Color Cast 453

Levels 454

Resize Your Photo 456

Recompose 457

Move & Scale Object 459

Chapter 20: Ten (or So) More Project Ideas 463

Screen Savers 463

Flyers, Ads, and Online Auctions 464

Clothes, Hats, and More 466

Posters 467

Household and Business Inventories 467

Project Documentation 467

School Reports and Projects 468

Blogs 468

Wait — There’s More 468

Index 469