Photoshop Elements Solutions

When I first heard about Photoshop Elements, long before it was actually on the market, I was confident that Adobe had a winner on their hands. Photoshop Elements is a refined version of the world’s most powerful image processing program, Photoshop, available for a fraction of the cost. Because it is less expensive, you’d expect Photoshop Elements to have a lot less features. Right? Wrong. Not only does Photoshop Elements include many powerful Photoshop tools and features it actually contains some very useful features that are not even included in the latest version of Photoshop.

I wrote Photoshop Elements Solutions and the new edition with a very specific goal in mind: to create a practical book full of solutions to real-world problems associated with using digital images. As I organized and collected dozens and dozens of examples I imagined a wide range of professionals and serious amateurs who used digital images to sell a product, illustrate a presentation, make a great looking portrait, or share digital images via email or through the web. I even imagined professional photographers finding much of the information useful. Many professionals photographers are intimidated by the complexity of the full version of Photoshop and will welcome the user- friendly aspects of Photoshop Elements and see it as a way to "ramp up" to the full version when and if they find the need.

What's New In 2?

Photoshop Elements 2 improves on the best-selling version 1. Its new features and significantly improved old ones make version 2 a must-have upgrade. Version 2’s new features include:

• Easy-to-use image-correction tools (Quick Fix and Auto Color Correction) that help you fix common problems associated with digital images.

• A PDF slide maker that creates slide shows viewable on any computer platform. You can even create shows for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

• A selection brush that selects an area by brushing it. You can even paint a colored "mask" to select an area you want to protect from changes.

• An Attach to E-mail command that automatically resizes large images over 1.3 MB, converts them to the JPEG file format, and attaches them to an e-mail document.

• Easier-than-ever capture of images from your digital camera, and the capability to import a still frame from video.

• New categories of Layer Styles, including eye-popping Wow Chrome, Wow Neon, and Wow Plastic.

• The ability to save selections and apply them later.

• For Mac users, Photoshop Elements is now optimized for OS X, giving it unmatched performance and stability.

I’m especially excited about the improvements version 2 makes to many of the original Photoshop Elements features:

• The File Browser now draws thumbnail versions much faster and allows you to move, organize, and even delete files from within the File Browser. It now displays useful metadata generated by many digital cameras, such as date, exposure time, and f-stop.

• Photomerge is now much more memory-efficient, which means you can create huge, beautiful panoramics from large image files.

• Brushes are now more flexible and easier to customize. For instance, you can control a stroke’s spacing, fade, color jitter, tip hardness, scatter, angle, and roundness. Brush presets are available that emulate calligraphic, dry, wet, natural, and textured tips.

• Picture Package now includes options for larger paper sizes, longer captions, copyright, and labeling support, as well as the capability to print different image files on the same page.

• Batch Processing now automatically resizes entire folders of mixed-orientation digital images.

• The Liquify filter now has a Turbulence tool as well as zoom and navigation capabilities.

• The Save for Web plug-in allows for resizing from within the dialog window, making it easier than ever to get the optimal file size for your image.

• The Web Photo Gallery now includes several new page layout templates, making it easier than ever to create a personal web site.

• Easier to use help and a greatly expanded How To palette (formally called Recipes) that walk you through many complex tasks.

The list of improvements goes on and on. Many are subtle, such as the addition of a saturation control to the Fill Flash command and a more elaborate shortcuts menu. The end result shows Adobe’s clear and unambiguous commitment to Photoshop Elements and its ever-growing user base. For that I am very thankful.

Although this new edition is about Photoshop Elements 2, it is also packed with helpful information for Photoshop Elements 1 users. Differences between the two versions are clearly indicated in the text and the procedures. This is a very useful guide for users of both versions.

The Future is Now

Nearly ten years ago I wrote a book titled Digital Photography (Random House, 1992). The book was dedicated in part to the great photographer, Ansel Adams, who introduced me to digital photography in 1980. In the book I wrote that the future of digital photography is now. I wrote "the new technology would enable people to make photographic expressions for their own amusement, for the enjoyment of others, or for professional gain." Well, I was a little ahead of myself. Adobe had just introduced Photoshop 1.0 and the first consumer digital cameras and scanners were on the market. I thought it would be just a matter of months or at the most, a few years, and the digital photography revolution would be in full swing. We all had to grow a little. Photoshop had to evolve and so did digital cameras and scanners. Now, with the introduction of Photoshop Elements and affordable digital cameras and scanners, that time I anticipated ten years ago is here. I’ve really enjoyed writing both versions of this book, especially since I can truly say: "The future is now."

Buy it now!

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