Wiley Photoshop Elements 8 For Dummies
Contents
1. Getting to Know the Work Area In This Chapter Opening Photoshop Elements Understanding the Elements workspace Changing workspace views Working with the Project Bin Using the Undo History panel Accessing Help documents Using keyboard shortcuts M you first launch Photoshop Elements you arrive at a Welcome screen The Welcome screen offers to open different editing modes help you start special Elements tasks and sign you up for an Adobe Web hosted service When it comes to editing a photograph you find quite a collection of tools panels buttons and options in the Photoshop Elements Edit mode Just a quick glance at the Elements workspace when you enter Edit Full mode shows you some of the power that Elements offers with just a click of your mouse With all the possibilities navigating the Elements workspaces and engaging in an editing session can be intimidat ing To ease your introduction to the many options for editing your pictures we break them down for you in this chapter amp N t Elements has several work areas and we start off by introducing you to the Welcome screen Then we move on to the mode you ll likely use frequently Edit Full mode In this mode you can be creative with all the tools and features Photoshop Elements is known for such as filters drawing tools layers and more We then introduce other work areas and tools you may not be as familiar with Edit Quick mode for making c2. in great detail in Chapter 8 a whole chapter just about layers most kinds of editing you do in Elements are best handled by using layers Elements neatly tucks away most of the relevant com mands associated with working in layers right in this menu Select Of just about equal importance to layers are selections Whereas the Image menu contains commands that are applied to the entire image you can edit isolated areas of an image by using the commands on the Select menu To isolate an area you need to create a selection as we explain in Chapter 7 This menu contains commands to help you with many essential tasks related to working with selections Filter The Filter menu is where you find some professional photo graphic darkroom techniques or you can completely leave the world of photography and explore the world of a fine artist With tons of different filter commands you can create some extraordinary effects Find out all about filters in Chapter 11 View Zooming in and out of images turning on a grid exposing horizon tal and vertical rulers adding annotations and checking out the print sizes of your pictures are handled on the View menu Chapter 5 unearths secrets of the Zoom tool rulers and more Window Elements supports a number of different panels as we explain in the section Playing with panels later in this chapter Elements has so many panels that keeping them all open at one time is impracti cal Thanks t
3. inside a text block Be certain to click the Tools panel to select a tool when you finish editing some text Figure 1 9 You access The tools are varied and you may find that you tools by clicking the tool on don t use all the tools in the Tools panel in your the Tools panel or typing a workflow Rather than describe the tool functions keyboard shortcut here we address the tools in the rest of this book as they pertain to the respective Elements tasks ar Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area 9 Selecting tool options from dir Options bar When you click a tool on the Tools panel the Options bar offers you choices specific to the selected tool lt fe Magnetic Lasso Too Figure 1 11 shows the options avail able when the Brush tool is selected Polygonal Lasso Too Playing with panels Figure 1 10 Click and hold the mouse button on a tool that has a tiny arrowhead to open a Elements provides you with a bunch pop up toolbar of panels that contain settings and options used to refine the tools you select on the Tools panel and tasks you perform to edit images Assume for a moment that you want to let your cre ative juices loose and create a Picasso esque painting something that you can do easily in Photoshop Elements Figure 1 11 The Options bar provides attribute choices for a tool selected on the Tools panel First click the Brush tool and then click a color on the Color Swatches panel On a ne
4. panel Elements takes you to that last edit while scrub bing all edits that follow the selected item If you want to bring back the edits just click again on any step appearing grayed out on the panel to redo up to that level All your steps are listed on the Undo History panel as long as you remain in Elements and don t close the file When the file is closed all history informa tion is lost Reverting to the last save While you work away in Elements always plan on saving your work regularly Each time you save in an editing session the Undo History panel preserves the list of edits you made before the save and up to the maximum number of history states defined in the General preferences If you save then perform more edits and then want to return to the last saved version of your document Elements provides you with a quick effi cient way to do so If you choose Edit Revert Elements eliminates your new edits and takes you back to the last time you saved your file When you choose Revert Revert appears in the Undo History panel You can eliminate the Revert command from the Undo History panel by right clicking Revert on the Undo History panel and choosing Delete from the context menu that appears This command returns you to the edits made after the last save Getting a Helping Hand You can reach for this book whenever you want some details about accom plishing a task while working in Elements However for those little a
5. tions The Welcome screen is easy to navigate and intuitive as you can see in Figure 1 1 Windows and Figure 1 2 ff eoit ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 Macintosh sa tom ah eee e Here s what you find on import from import from Pin the Welcome screen 1 7 Organize Windows KF Browse with Adobe aes a Bridge Macintosh Click the Organize button to open the Figure 1 2 The Photoshop Elements Welcome screen Organizer in Windows Macintosh or the Browse with Adobe Bridge button on the Macintosh where you can manage your collections of pictures stored on your hard drive We cover using the Organizer Adobe Bridge and many of its great features in Part II gMBER D Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area 1 Edit Windows If you need to edit a photo click the Edit button to access options for using either the Quick Fix mode to do some quick editing tasks or Edit Full mode in which you can do the extraordinary editing jobs Start from Scratch Macintosh Click this button to open Elements in Edit Full mode on the Macintosh Import from Camera Macintosh Click this button to import photos from a camera or card reader on the Macintosh In Windows you use a command in the Organizer to import photos as we explain in Chapter 4 1 Import from Scanner Macintosh Use this command to scan images and open them in Edit Full mode on the Macintosh In Windows you use a command in th
6. where you can find information about Elements problems reported by users and some work around meth ods for getting a job done Additional Web assisted help information is available by clicking Photoshop Elements Online and Online Learning Resources The vast collection of Web pages on Adobe s Web site offers you assistance tips and techniques and solutions to many problems that come with editing images Be sure to spend some time browsing these Web pages 1 Video Tutorials Choose Help Video Tutorials to open a Web page where videos for common tasks are hosted on Adobe s Web site Forum Choose Help Forum to explore user comments and questions with answers to many common problems Using ToolTips While you move your cursor around tools and panels pause a moment before clicking the mouse A slight delay in your actions produces a ToolTip Elements provides this sort of dynamic help when you pause the cursor before moving to another location Part I Getting Started
7. a file such as new layers the first figure grows while the second figure remains static Efficiency Indicates how many operations you re performing in RAM as opposed to using your scratch disk When the number is 100 you re working in RAM When the number drops below 100 you re using the scratch disk If you continually work below 100 it s a good indication that you need to buy more RAM to increase your efficiency Timing Indicates the time it took to complete the last operation Current Tool Shows the name of the tool selected from the Tools panel Don t worry about trying to understand all these terms The important thing to know is that you can visit the pop up menu and change the items at will during your editing sessions Moving through the menu bar Like just about every program you launch Elements supports drop down menus The menus are logically constructed and identified to provide com mands for working with your pictures including many commands that you don t find supported in tools and on panels A quick glimpse at the menu names gives you a hint of what might be contained in a given menu list Here are the ten different menus eleven on a Mac 1 Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 Mac only On the Macintosh you find the Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 menu preceding the File menu This menu provides you the Quit command used to exit Elements and it pro vides access to Edit Full Preferences as we explain
8. almost all your changes in an editing session are recorded and available for undoing at any step in an editing sequence Each edit you make is recorded on the Undo History panel To open the panel choose Window Undo History Make changes to your document and each step is recorded on the panel as you see in Figure 1 17 If Elements slows down and you re moving along at a snail s pace choose Edit Clear Undo History or choose Clear Undo History from the panel s options menu Elements flushes all the recorded history and frees up some pre cious memory that often enables you to work faster You can also use Edit Clear Clipboard or Edit Clear All to eliminate clipboard data from memory Figure 1 17 The Undo History panel 26 Part l Getting Started We said almost all steps are recorded because the number of steps the History panel can record is controlled by a preference setting that tops out at 1 000 steps If you choose Edit Preferences Windows or Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 Preferences Mac and look at the Performance preferences as we explain in more depth in Chapter 2 the number of history states times you can go back in history and undo defaults to 50 You can change the number to the maximum 1 000 if you like But realize that the more history states you record the more memory Elements requires When you want to undo multiple edits open the Undo History panel and click any item listed on the
9. an apply any kind of edits to a picture improve the picture s appearance and apply all that Elements offers you This mode is the richest editor in Elements in terms of accessing all features Because Elements has so many different kinds of editing opportunities the program offers you other work space views tailored to the kinds of tasks people typically want to perform Using Edit Quick mode Edit Quick mode is designed to provide you with just those tools that you need to prepare a picture for its intended destination whether it s printing onscreen viewing or one of the other organizing items Use this mode to make your pictures look good You don t find tools for adding text painting with brushes or applying gradients in Edit Quick mode Rather what you find is a completely different set of panels for balancing contrast and brightness lighting and sharpening for example This mode is like having a digital dark room on your desktop where you take care of perfecting an image like you would in analog photography darkrooms To enter Edit Quick mode while you re in Edit Full mode click the Edit Full button to open the drop down menu and choose Edit Quick the view changes as shown in Figure 1 14 21 22 Part I Getting Started EDIT Quick 7 if an fhe fos bad e st Chick and Drag here for n T finer adjustments Hatia Figure 1 14 Click Edit Quick from the drop down menu Here are several differences betwe
10. ands respective to the tool you re using or the object or location you re clicking the menu commands Deselect Select Inverse change according to what tool or feature you re Be using and where you click at the moment you Refine Edge open a context menu For example in Figure 1 8 you can see the context menu that appears after Layer via Copy we create a selection marquee and right click that Layer via Cut marquee in the image window Notice that the New Layer commands are all related to selections Free Transform Notice in Figure 1 8 the Transform Selection nn command Elements 8 enables you to modify selections using this command as we explain in Chapter 7 Fill Selection Stroke Outline Selection Using the Tools panel Elements provides a good number of panels for Figure 1 8 A context menu for different purposes The one that you ll find you selections use most is the Tools panel In panel hierarchy terms you typically first click a tool on the Tools panel and then use another panel for additional tool options or use the Options bar which we describe in the section Selecting tool options in the Options bar later in the chapter for fine tuning your tool instruments More often than not clicking a tool on the Tools panel is your first step in most editing operations 17 18 Part I Getting Started ar ar gMBER amp By default the Tools panel opens as a single row of tools down th
11. bar to hide the Project Bin Click the Hide Project Bin text at the bottom of the Project Bin Open a context menu by right clicking and select Close at the top of the menu Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area 25 Using Bin Actions A nice feature in Elements is the Bin Actions menu at the top of the Project Bin Click Bin Actions to start anew creation share photos print all the files open in the Bin and save the Bin files as an album To the left of the Bin Actions menu you ll find another feature for viewing files in Elements The Show Open Files shown by default on Windows only is another drop down menu that offers two options the default option to show open files and another choice to show files from the Organizer Choose Show Files from Organizer to add the files in your Organizer to the Project Bin Retracing Vour Steps ar Ever since Apple s Macintosh brought a window like interface to the masses the Undo command has been one of the most frequently used menu com mands in every program developed You make a change to your document and if you don t like it you simply choose Edit Undo or press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl Z 88 Z on the Macintosh In Elements your options to undo your work provide you much more than reverting to the last view as we explain in the following sections Using the Undo History panel Elements takes the Undo command to new levels by offering you a panel on which all well
12. e Organizer to scan images as we explain in Chapter 4 1 Learn More Windows Click the Learn More button to get help infor mation from Adobe s Web site 1 See What You Can Do Windows Click the icon below the text to see a demonstration of an editing task You can change task topics by clicking the left and right arrows in the lower right corner of the screen If you know what you want to do in Elements go ahead and click the appro priate button But if you enter one mode and then decide you want to do something in another mode Elements provides you the freedom to easily change modes from within the different workspaces You can always return to the j Welcome screen after you enter any EE A me ede md v editing mode on Windows At the top of the Elements window in all Figure 1 3 Click the house icon on the menu modes a house icon appears as bar in any editing mode Windows to reopen shown in Figure 1 3 Click this icon the Welcome screen to open the Welcome screen again On the Macintosh an icon appears for Launch Bridge instead of an icon for the Organizer Getting Around in Edit Full Mode Edit Full mode offers bundles of tools that you can use to edit your images from correction tools for fixing color and clarity to filters layers and more for changing existing photos or creating entirely original images from scratch But all these tools also make Edit Full mode complex Figure 1 4 shows Elements in Edit Fu
13. e Project Bin Creating different views of an image What Different views of the same picture you say Yes indeed You might create anew view when you want to Zoom in on an area for some precise editing and then want to switch back to a wider view Here s how you do it 1 Double click a thumbnail image in the Project Bin That photo appears in the image window as the active document 2 Choose View New Window for lt filename gt Note that lt filename gt is the name of the file in the image window 3 Zoom to the new view A new view appears for the active document and you see another thumbnail image added to the Project Bin To zoom quickly click the Zoom tool and click a few times on the picture in the image window to zoom in to the photo 4 Toggle views of the same image Double click the original thumbnail to see the opening view double click the other thumbnail to see the zoomed view Hiding the Project Bin The Project Bin takes up a lot of room at the bottom of the image window and you re not likely to want it open all the time while editing pictures To temporarily hide the Project Bin do one of the following Place the cursor over the separator bar between the image window and the Project Bin When the cursor changes to two horizontal lines with vertical opposing arrowheads drag down to collapse the Project Bin When the Bin is collapsed drag up the separator bar to open it Double click the separator
14. e left side of the Elements window You can change the view to a double row of tools by shows all tools when you re working on smaller computer monitors You can easily access tools in Elements by pressing shortcut keys on your keyboard For a quick glance at the Tools panel and the keystrokes needed to access the tools look over Figure 1 9 Notice on the Tools panel that several tools appear with a tiny arrowhead pointing right and downward in the lower right corner of the tool Whenever you see this arrowhead remember that more tools are nested within that tool group Click a tool with an arrowhead and hold down the mouse button or for a faster response from Elements just right click a tool A pop up toolbar opens as shown in Figure 1 10 that offers you more tool selections within that group To select tools within a tool group by using key strokes hold down the Shift key and strike the respective key as shown in Figure 1 9 to access the tool Keep the Shift key down and repeatedly press the shortcut key to step through all tools in a given group Whether you have to press the Shift key to select tools is controlled by a preference setting To change the default setting so that you don t have to press Shift choose Edit Preferences General Adobe Photoshop Elements 8Preferences General or press Ctrl K 8 K on the Mac The shortcuts work for you at all times except when you re typing text with the cursor active
15. en Edit Full mode and Edit Quick mode Completely different sets of panels are docked in the Panels Bin All the panels in Edit Quick mode are related to adjusting brightness con trols and they re designed to improve the overall appearance of your pictures In addition all the Windows menu commands for accessing panels are grayed out While you work in Edit Quick mode Elements insists on limiting your use of panels to just the ones docked in the Panels Bin Moreover you can t undock panels from the Panels Bin by dragging them out as you can in other modes 1 The Tools panel shrinks Edit Quick mode offers only these tools on the Tools panel e Zoom e Hand e Magic Selection Brush e Crop e Red Eye Removal e Whiten Teeth Using Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area 23 e Make Dull Skies Blue e Black and White High Contrast None of the other Elements tools is accessible while you work in this mode Multiple viewing options are available Notice in Figure 1 14 that you see two views of the same image The Before view on the left displays the unedited image The After view shows you the results of changes you make with panel options and menu commands You select different viewing modes from menu choices on the View drop down menu below the image window If you want to return to Edit Full mode open the drop down menu where you see Edit Quick and choose Edit Full Using creation tools To organize your pictu
16. formation box Size box Close button Click the X to the right of the filename to close the file Figure 1 5 The image window displays an open file within the Elements workspace Magnification Scroll bars 14 Part I Getting Started Scroll bars Become active when you zoom in on an image You can click the scroll arrows move the scroll bar or grab the Hand tool in the Tools panel and drag within the window to move the image Magnification box Shows you at a glance how much you have zoomed in or out 4 Information box Shows you a readout for a particular tidbit of informa tion You can choose what information you want to see in this area by selecting one of the options from the pop up menu which we discuss in more detail later in this section When you re working on an image in Elements you always want to know the physical image size the image resolution and the color mode These terms are explained in more detail in Chapters 3 and 4 Regardless of which menu option you select from the status bar you can get a quick glimpse at these essential stats by clicking the Information box which displays a pop up menu like the one shown in Figure 1 6 Figure 1 6 Click the readout on the status bar and a pop up menu shows you important information about your file 1 Size box Enables you to resize the window Move the cursor to the box and a diagonal line with two opposing arrows appears When the curs
17. in Chapter 2 File Just as you might suspect the File menu contains commands for work ing with your picture as a file You find commands on the menu for saving opening processing importing exporting and printing We cover saving files in Chapter 3 and printing or exporting for other output in Part V Edit The old fashioned Copy Cut and Paste commands are located on this menu Additionally you have some important application settings commands on the menu including preferences Windows which we cover in more detail in Chapter 2 Image You use the Image menu most often when you want to effect changes to the entire image such as changing a color mode or crop ping rotating and resizing the image For details about sizing and color modes check out Chapter 3 For more about cropping and rotating images flip to Chapter 9 16 Part I Getting Started Enhance Just the name of this menu should tell you what commands to expect here This is where you go to change the appearance of an image such as changing its brightness and contrast adjusting its color and lighting and doing some other smart fix up work to improve its appearance On the Enhance Adjust Color submenu you find a number of commands that offer you a variety of color adjustments Look to Chapter 10 for some detail on correcting color In Chapters 9 and 10 you can find out how to use correction tools so that your images look their best 1 Layer As we describe
18. k you want to perform so select ing the proper tool to complete the task is important to know upfront 2 Take a quick look at the Options bar Before moving to other option choices be certain that you look over the choices on the Options bar If you want to use a tool such as the Brush tool or the Clone Stamp tool perhaps you want to make a decision Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area about what size brush tip you want to use This choice is specific to the selected tool and therefore appears as an Options bar choice 3 Open a panel for more options If you want to use the Brush tool to apply some color to an image for example after you select the Brush tip on the Options bar open the Color Swatches panel and select a color 4 Open a drop down menu Not all tools support a drop down menu on the Options bar When you see a down pointing arrow click the arrow to open a menu on which you can find more options for some tools 5 Get some help When you hover your cursor over a tool you see that tool described in blue text Click the blue text and your default Web browser opens displaying a page on Adobe s Web site where help information and tips explain how to use the respective tool You ll also find blue text on the More menu The blue text alerts you to help information that can be shown in your Web browser Changing Workspaces When you re in Edit Full mode which we discuss in preceding sections you c
19. ll mode highlighting all the tools and fea tures we discuss in the following sections 11 2 Part I Getting Started ar Close Create panel Welcome System Menu bar Option bar Organize Minimize Filenames Close file Edit panel BR Collapsed Panels Collapse Expand Panel bin Panels bin Tools panel Project bin Image window Figure 1 4 The Photoshop Elements workspace appears when you open a file in Edit Full mode Jumping to Edit Full mode You can move into Edit Full mode in a couple of ways From the initial Welcome screen Click Edit and open a photo Your Elements window appears in Edit Full mode as shown in Figure 1 4 On the Macintosh click the Start from Scratch icon From the Organizer Bridge Click a photo and choose Edit Photos from the Fix drop down menu The selected file opens in Edit Full mode On the Macintosh click a photo on Adobe Bridge then press the Control key and click to open a context menu From the menu choices choose Open With Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 You can also open a context menu on a photo in the Organizer right click your mouse button to make this menu appear and choose Edit with Photoshop Elements from the menu Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area 13 Examining the image window Not surprisingly the image window s tools and features are most useful when an image is open in the window To get an image into the image
20. nnoy ing moments and just in case some coffee stains blot out a few pages in this book you may want to look for an alternative feature description from another source Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area 2 r4 Rather than accumulate a library of Elements books all you need to do is look within Elements to find valuable help information quickly and easily If you re stuck on understanding a feature ample help documents are only a mouse click away and can help you overcome some frustrating moments Using Help Your first stop in exploring the helpful information Elements provides is on the Help menu On this menu you can find several menu commands that offer information 1 Photoshop Elements Help Choose Help Photoshop Elements Help or press the F1 key Windows to open the Elements Help file You can type a search topic and press Enter to open a list of items that provide help ful information about the searched words For quick access to the Help document type the text you want to search into the text box on the right side of the menu bar in Edit Full or Edit Quick mode 1 Key Concepts While you read this book if we use a term that you don t completely understand open the Photoshop Elements Key Concepts A Web page opens in your default Web browser and provides many Web pages with definitions of terms and concepts Support This menu command launches your default Web browser and takes you to the Adobe Web site
21. o the Window menu you can easily view and hide panels reopen the Welcome window tile and cascade open windows and bring inactive windows to the foreground Help We hope that you get all the help you need right here in this book but just in case we miss something or your neighbor has borrowed it fine book that it is you have some interactive help right at your mouse tip on the Help menu The menu also offers links to the Adobe Web site for more information and a little assistance courtesy of the tutorials accessible from this menu Find a little more detail about accessing help in the section Getting a Helping Hand later in this chapter ar Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area Uncovering the context menus Context menus are common to many programs and Photoshop Elements is no exception They re those little menus that appear when you right click Windows or Control click Mac offering commands and tools related to whatever area or tool you right clicked On Macintosh computers with two mouse buttons you can right click to open a context menu The context menus are your solution when you may be in doubt about where to find a command on a menu You just right click an item and a shortcut menu opens Before you become familiar with Photoshop Elements and strug gle to find a menu command always try to first open a context menu and look for the command you want on that menu Because context menus provide comm
22. ommon corrections to photos Creation mode for collecting your photos into creations such as calendars and the Project Bin for navigating among all your open images 10 Part I Getting Started Before you start working in Elements you may find it helpful to know how to undo edits so that you can start over easily and find additional sources of help within Elements We also explain one of the handiest ways to select tools and enter common commands keyboard shortcuts Elements also has the Organizer Windows or Adobe Bridge Macintosh a powerful tool for acquiring your images and keeping them organized The Organizer Adobe Bridge includes features that help you view and search for images too We introduce the Organizer Windows and Adobe Bridge Macintosh in Part II Launching Photoshop Elements amp A great place to start in Elements isa central ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 0 navigation area where you Select and apply with a single brush stroke can choose what mode 388 ORGANIZE a se ern Effortlessly select an area and simultaneously apply and activity you want to incredible effects with a single brush stroke engage in Well that s co exactly what Adobe pro vides you when you open Photoshop Elements It s like the command center on the Starship Enterprise except you Figure 1 1 The Photoshop Elements Welcome screen won t find Spock asking Windows appears when you launch Elements the computer any ques
23. or changes drag in or out to size the window smaller or larger respectively You can also resize the window by dragging any corner in or out After you re familiar with the overall image window we want to introduce you to the Information box s pop up menu which enables you to choose the type of information you want Document Sizes Document Profile to view in the Information box Click the right Document Dimensions pointing arrow to open the menu as shown in Scratch Sizes Figure 1 7 Efficiency 7 Timing Here s the lowdown of the options you find on the Current Tool pop up menu Document Sizes Shows you the saved Figure 1 7 From the pop up file size menu on the status bar select commands that provide infor Document Profile Shows you the color pro mation about your file file used with the file Understanding color profiles is important when printing files Look to Chapters 2 and 14 for more information on using color profiles Document Dimensions Which is selected in Figure 1 7 shows you the physical size in your default unit of measure such as inches Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Work Area 15 1 Scratch Sizes Displays the amount of memory on your hard drive that s consumed by all documents open in Elements For example 20M 200M indicates that the open documents consume 20 megabytes and that a total of 200 megabytes are available for Elements to edit your images When you add more content to
24. ptions to create photo books photo collages and slide shows and order prints and greeting cards Click More Options on the Create panel to access additional creation options Share Click this button to access options that offer many different ways to share your photos with others On the Share panel you find options for creating an online album sending photos via e mail attach ments using photo and writing CDs and DVDs of photo collections and slide shows Clicking More Options on the Share panel offers additional options for sharing photos Click the right pointing double chev ron below the Share button and the EDITEUN EEE CREATE panels collapse to a view as shown in Figure 1 13 You open a panel by clicking a button However when you need more working area for your photos you can collapse the panels When the panels are collapsed click the left pointing chevrons to open Figure 1 13 Click the right pointing chevrons the panels and the panels collapse providing you more space to work in the image window Juggling all your interface options With all the settings you can use for any given tool trying to figure out exactly where to select an option for the edit you want to make can become downright frustrating To help simplify the process of using tools and select ing options for the tools here s what you might do in your normal workflow 1 Select a tool on the Tools panel Obviously you need to know what tas
25. res for display in a variety of different ways begin by clicking the Create button The panels in the Panels Bin change to support different creation options Click one of the listed options for making a new creation or click the More Options button to select from additional options In Figure 1 15 we clicked the Create button and then clicked the Photo Collage Page Size button to start a new creation for a photo col A4 210 men x 297 m lage As you can see in Figure 1 15 the Panels Bin changed to reflect options available to us for creating our photo collage CREATE Choose a Theme optional We cover each option available in the various creation panels in greater detail in Chapter 16 the Project Bin The Project Bin displays thumbnail views of all your open images Regardless of whether you work in Edit Full or Edit Quick mode you can immediately see a small image of all the pictures you have open at one time as shown in Figure 1 16 You can also see thumbnail views of all the different views you create for a single picture Find out all the details in the following sections Figure 1 15 Click Create and then choose an option for the type of creation you want If you want to rearrange the thumbnails in the o od o edit Project Bin click and drag horizontally to reorga nize the order of the thumbnails 25 Part I Getting Started Figure 1 16 All open pictures and new views are displayed as thumbnails in th
26. w canvas you begin to paint When you want to change color click again on the Color Swatches panel on a different color This kind of interactiv ity between the Tools panel and another panel is something you frequently use in Elements Panels are accessed from either the Panels Bin or the Window menu Many options on panels are intuitive To become familiar with various panel options just poke around a little and most of the options will become familiar to you You can drag panels away from the Panel Bin and scatter them all over lh Y the Elements workspace If you remove panels and want to return to all panels docked in the Panel Bin click Reset Panels at the top of the Editor window CONTENT By default you find the panel buttons for Edit Full while in Edit Full mode Create and Share with the panels expanded as shown in Figure 1 12 Figure 1 12 The default view shows panels expanded 20 Part I Getting Started lt eATURe You can use these panels as we explain in the text that follows Edit Full Gain quick access to editing tasks From a drop down menu you can toggle editing modes While you re in Edit Full mode you see the button appearing as Edit Full Open the drop down menu and you find Edit Quick and Edit Guided You can change editing modes by choosing one of the menu commands If you change to Edit Quick the tab name likewise changes to Edit Quick Create Click this button to access o
27. window as shown in Figure 1 4 follow these steps 1 Choose File Open The standard Open dialog box appears It works like any ordinary Open dialog box you find in other applications 2 Move around your hard drive by using methods you know to open folders and then select a picture If you haven t yet downloaded digital camera images or acquired scanned photos and want an image to experiment with you can use an image found in your Pictures folder that was installed with your operat ing system Elements installs some nice sample images with the application instal lation Look in the Photoshop Elements 8 Tutorials folder to find some photos to play with 3 After selecting a picture click Open The photo opens in a new image window in Elements EMBER S You can open as many image windows in Elements as your computer memory can handle When each new file is opened a thumbnail image is added to the Project Bin at the bottom of the screen See Figure 1 4 RE ATURE a In Elements 8 you find a new design Filename amp to the user interface Notice in Figure 1 4 that filenames appear as tabs above the image window To bring a photo forward click the filename To close a photo click the X adjacent to the filename Close box Here s a quick look at important items in the image window as shown in Figure 1 5 Filename Appears above the image window for each file open in the Editor In
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