Photoshop Elements 9 All-in-One For Dummies E-Book

Barbara Obermeier

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 789

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Create your photo vision with the latest version of Photoshop Elements Photoshop Elements is the top selling consumer photo editing software and Adobe continues to add innovative features that allow digital photo enthusiasts to do it all. This value-packed reference combines nine content-rich minibooks in one complete package. User-friendly and detailed, it covers the key features and tools that beginner and experienced users need to create high-quality images for print, e-mail, and the Web using the latest release of Photoshop Elements. Presented in full color, this resource goes beyond the basics of the application and is undoubtedly the most comprehensive Elements book on the market. * Explores filters, effects, styles, and distortions * Shows you how to enhance your images by painting, drawing, and typing * Walks you through working with layers and masks * Details ways to retouch and enhance your photos * Checks out the toolbox, options, and other essential menus With this minbook package, you?ll soon be an imaging pro!

Leseprobe

Photoshop® Elements 9 All-in-One For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Book I: Introducing Elements

Book II: Elements Fundamentals

Book III: Image Essentials

Book IV: Selections

Book V: Painting, Drawing, and Typing

Book VI: Working with Layers and Masks

Book VII: Filters, Effects, Styles, and Distortions

Book VIII: Retouching and Enhancing

Book IX: Creating and Sharing with Elements

About the eCheat Sheet

Conventions Used in This Book

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Book I: Introducing Elements

Book I: Chapter 1: Examining the Elements Environment

Launching Elements

Opening the Organizer

Changing Workspaces

Visiting the Organizer

Visiting Edit Full mode

Visiting Edit Quick mode

Comparing modes

Getting help with Guided mode

Moving through the Menu Bar

Using Context Menus

Selecting Settings in the Options Bar

Playing with Panels

Getting choosy in the Favorites panel

Maximizing your editing environment

Resetting panels

Using the Project Bin

Getting Productive with Shortcuts

Finding Help When You Need It

Using the Help menu

Reading PDFs from the Installer DVD-ROM

Reading tooltips

Checking dialog boxes

Book I: Chapter 2: Getting to Know the Tools

Examining the Tools Panel

Getting to Know the Tools

Using selection tools

Using drawing and painting tools

Using tools for cloning and healing

Creating text with typographical tools

Using focus and toning tools

Creating shapes

Viewing, navigating, and sampling tools

Other editing tools

Introducing the Automation Tools

Book I: Chapter 3: Viewing and Navigating Images

Looking at the Image Window

Zooming In and Out of Image Windows

Zooming with keyboard shortcuts

Using the Zoom tool

Moving with the Hand tool

Cruising with the Navigator Panel

Using the Grids and Guides

Using the Info Panel

Working with Your Content

Book I: Chapter 4: Setting Your Preferences

Understanding Preferences

Setting Edit Full Mode Preferences

Setting General preferences

Setting Saving Files preferences

Setting Performance preferences

Setting Display & Cursors preferences

Setting Transparency preferences

Setting Units & Rulers preferences

Setting Guides & Grid preferences

Setting Plug-ins preferences

Setting Type preferences

Setting Up the Organizer Environment

Setting General preferences

Setting Files preferences

Setting Editing preferences

Setting Camera or Card Reader preferences

Setting Scanner preferences (Windows only)

Setting Date View preferences

Setting Keyword Tags and Albums preferences

Setting Sharing preferences (Windows only)

Setting Adobe Partner Services preferences

Setting Media-Analysis preferences

Setting Backup and Synchronization Preferences

Book II: Elements Fundamentals

Book II: Chapter 1: Acquiring, Saving, and Exporting Images

Getting Images from Your Camera

Getting Images from Your Card Reader

Scanning Images

Preparing before you scan

Understanding image requirements

Using scanner plug-ins

Scanning many photos at a time

Phoning In Your Images

Getting Files from Folders

Opening an Image in Edit Full Mode

Using Open As

Opening recently edited files

Placing files

Creating a New Image

Converting Clipboard Data to Images

Saving Files

Using the Save/Save As dialog box

Saving files for the Web

Batch Processing Files

Exporting files

Processing multiple files

Adding Pages

Closing and Quitting

Book II: Chapter 2: Working in the Organizer

Cataloging Files

Adding files to the default Organizer view

Creating a new catalog

Importing legacy catalogs

Switching catalogs

Viewing Images in the Organizer

Thumbnail view

Import Batch view

Folder Location view

Date view

Show Map (Windows)

Viewing images in a slide show

Sorting Images

Using sort commands

Sorting media types

Using Search Options

Searching by date

Searching for untagged items

Searching albums

Searching captions and notes

Searching by history

Searching metadata

Finding people

Organizing and Managing in the Organizer

Creating a new keyword tag

Working with keyword tags

Getting your head in the clouds

Using the Timeline

Using the Properties panel

Rating images

Creating Albums

Creating an album

Creating a Smart Album

Creating an Album Group

Hiding Files That Get in the Way

Stacking ’em up

Creating versions

Protecting Your Assets

Backing up your catalog

Backing up photos and files (Windows)

Book II: Chapter 3: Working with iHardware

Grabbing Media from Handheld Devices

Uploading Photos to Handheld Devices

Using PDF Readers with iPhone and iPad

Uploading files to a PDF viewer

Creating directories in Good Reader

Exploring Good Reader features

Making Creations for iPhone and iPad

Creating slide shows

Working with Flipbooks (Windows)

Converting video formats

Book III: Image Essentials

Book III: Chapter 1: Specifying Resolution and Changing Image Sizing

Examining Images Closely

Understanding resolution

Understanding image dimensions

Understanding camera megapixels

Looking at raster versus vector images

Using the Image Size Command

Downsampling images

Upsampling images

Using the Scale Command

Choosing a Resolution for Print or Screen

Changing the Canvas Size

Book III: Chapter 2: Choosing Color Modes and File Formats

Selecting a Color Mode

Converting Color Modes and Profiles

Converting to Bitmap mode

Converting to Grayscale mode

Converting to Indexed Color mode

Converting color profiles

Using the Proper File Format

Using the Save/Save As dialog box

Understanding file formats

File formats at a glance

Saving files for the Web

Book III: Chapter 3: Working with Camera Raw

Understanding Camera Raw

Processing Camera Raw files

Acquiring Camera Raw images

Opening Camera Raw Files

Opening any photo in Camera Raw

Saving Your Edits

Book III: Chapter 4: Using and Managing Color

Dealing with Foreground and Background Colors

Defining Color

Poking around the Color Picker

Grabbing color from the Swatches panel

Lifting and sampling color

Understanding Color Management Essentials

Introducing color channels

Understanding bit depth

Calibrating your monitor

Establishing Your Color Settings

Understanding How Profiles Work

Book III: Chapter 5: Time Travel — Undoing in Elements

Undoing What’s Done with the Undo Command

Adjusting the number of available undos

Redoing edits

Reverting to What’s Saved

Working with the Almighty Undo History Panel

Viewing an image’s various states

Navigating through the history states

Deleting and clearing states

Book IV: Selections

Book IV: Chapter 1: Making Selections

Defining Selections

Selecting a Rectangular or an Elliptical Area

Fine-tuning squares and circles

Using the Marquee options

Freeform Selecting with the Lasso Tools

Using the Lasso tool

Selecting straight sides with the Polygonal Lasso tool

Hugging edges with the Magnetic Lasso tool

Performing Wand Wizardry

Talking about tolerance

Selecting with the Magic Wand tool

Painting with the Selection Brush

Saving Time with the Quick Selection Tool

Resizing Smartly with the Recompose Tool

Book IV: Chapter 2: Modifying and Transforming Selections

Modifying Selections

Adding to a selection

Subtracting from a selection

Intersecting two selections

Avoiding Keyboard Collisions

Adding a perfectly square or circular selection

Deleting from an existing selection while drawing from the center out

Using the Select Menu

Selecting all or nothing

Reselecting a selection

Inversing a selection

Feathering a selection

Using the Modify commands

Applying the Grow and Similar commands

Saving and loading selections

Moving and Cloning Selections

Cloning

Moving the selection outline, but not the pixels

Transforming Pixels

Book V: Painting, Drawing, and Typing

Book V: Chapter 1: Painting and Drawing with Elements

Introducing the Pencil and Brush Tools

Drawing with the Pencil tool

Painting with the Brush tool

Getting artsy with the Impressionist Brush

Creating a custom brush

Creating Shapes

Drawing a shape

Drawing multiple shapes in a shape layer

Specifying Geometry options

Editing shapes

Book V: Chapter 2: Filling and Stroking

Filling a Selection with a Solid Color

Filling Options and Tips

Pouring with the Paint Bucket Tool

Stroking a Selection

Working with Multicolored Gradients

Applying a preset gradient to a selection

Customizing and editing gradients

Adding transparency to a gradient

Managing and Saving Gradients

Working with Patterns

Applying a preset pattern

Creating a new pattern

Book V: Chapter 3: Working with Type

Understanding Type Modes

Understanding Different Kinds of Type

Exploring the Type Tools

Entering Point Type

Entering Paragraph Type

Using the Options Bar

Editing Text

Rasterizing the Type Layer

Masking with Type

Stylizing and Warping Type

Playing with type opacity

Applying filters to type

Painting over type with color

Warping your type

Book VI: Working with Layers and Masks

Book VI: Chapter 1: Creating Layers

Getting Familiar with Layers

Introducing Different Types of Layers

Working with image layers

Using adjustment layers

Taking advantage of fill layers

Making use of shape layers

Using type layers

Getting to Know the Layers Panel

Using the Layer and Select Menus

The Layer menu

The Select menu

Making Layers

Creating a new layer

Using Layer via Copy and Layer via Cut

Duplicating layers

Compositing with Multiple Images

Copying and pasting images

Dragging and dropping layers

Using the Paste into Selection command

Book VI: Chapter 2: Managing Layers

Viewing Layers

Rearranging Layers

Moving Layer Elements

Transforming Layers

Simplifying Layers

Aligning and Distributing Layers

Linking Layers

Locking Layers

Flattening and Merging Layers

Merging layers

Flattening layers

Book VI: Chapter 3: Playing with Opacity and Blend Modes

Adjusting Layer Opacity

Creatively Mixing with Blend Modes

General Blend modes

Blend modes that darken

Blend modes that lighten

Lighting blend modes

Blend modes that invert

HSL color model Blend modes

Book VI: Chapter 4: Cutting, Extracting, and Masking

Working with the Cookie Cutter Tool

Using the Magic Extractor

Selective Erasing with the Eraser Tools

Using the Eraser tool

Selecting and erasing by color

Removing the background from an image

Working with Layer Masks

Creating Clipping Masks

Book VII: Filters, Effects, Styles, and Distortions

Book VII: Chapter 1: Making Corrections and Having Fun with Filters

Understanding Filter Basics

Applying filters

Corrective and destructive filters

Single and multistep filters

Reapplying a filter

Fading a filter

Selectively applying a filter

Working in the Filter Gallery

Having Fun with Filters

Correcting camera distortion

The Facet filter

Getting artsy

Stroking your image

Distorting for fun

Getting noisy

Breaking your image into pieces

Rendering

Getting organic with the Sketch filters

Adding texture

Book VII: Chapter 2: Distorting with the Liquify Command

Exploring the Liquify Window

The distortion painting tools

The other tools

The Options Area

Distorting an Image with Liquify

Book VII: Chapter 3: Adding Pizzazz with Styles and Effects

Seeing What the Effects Panel Can Do

Enhancing with Photo Effects

Working with Layer Styles

Editing Layer Styles

Book VIII: Retouching and Enhancing

Book VIII: Chapter 1: Quick Image Makeovers

Cropping an Image

Cutting away with the Crop tool

Cropping with a selection border

Straightening Images

Using the Straighten tool

Using the Straighten menu commands

Using the Divide Scanned Photos Command

Applying One-Step Auto Fixes

Auto Smart Fix

Auto Levels

Auto Contrast

Auto Color Correction

Auto Sharpen

Auto Red Eye Fix

Using the Red Eye Removal tool

Editing with Edit Quick Mode

Cloning with the Clone Stamp Tool

Performing Cosmetic Surgery with the Healing Brush Tool

Zeroing In with the Spot Healing Brush

Colorizing with the Color Replacement Tool

Lightening and Darkening with Dodge and Burn Tools

Turning Color Up or Down with the Sponge Tool

Smoothing with the Smudge Tool

Softening with the Blur Tool

Focusing with the Sharpen Tool

Book VIII: Chapter 2: Correcting Lighting, Color, and Clarity

Understanding the Histogram Panel

Adjusting Lighting

Fixing lighting with Shadows/Highlights

Using Brightness/Contrast

Nailing proper contrast with Levels

Adjusting Color

Removing colorcasts automatically

Adjusting with Hue/Saturation

Eliminating color with Remove Color

Switching colors with Replace Color

Correcting with Color Curves

Adjusting skin tones

Defringing layers

Correcting with Color Variations

Adjusting color temperature with photo filters

Mapping your colors

Adjusting Clarity

Removing noise, artifacts, dust, and scratches

Blurring when you need to

Sharpening for better focus

Working Intelligently with the Smart Brush Tools

Using the Smart Brush

Getting accurate with the Detail Smart Brush

Book VIII: Chapter 3: Compositing with Photomerge

Stitching a Scene with Photomerge Panorama

Getting the Best Shot with Photomerge Group Shot

Manipulating Image DNA with Photomerge Faces

Eliminating with Photomerge Scene Cleaner

Fixing Lighting with Photomerge Exposure

Blending Styles with Photomerge Style Match

Book VIII: Chapter 4: Getting Help in Guided Mode

Understanding Guided Mode

Walking through Basic Photo Edits

Finding Help with Lighting and Exposure

Consulting the Color Correction Guides

Guided Activities

Clicking to Play Automated Actions

Enhancing with Photographic Effects

Book IX: Creating and Sharing with Elements

Book IX: Chapter 1: Creating Elements Projects

Getting a Handle on Creations

Creating a Photo Book

Making a Photo Calendar

Assembling a Photo Collage

Creating a Slide Show (Windows Only)

Ordering Prints Online

Getting in Touch with Greeting Cards

Making PhotoStamps

Getting Organized with CD/DVD Labels

Creating a VCD with Menu (Windows)

Making a Flipbook (Windows)

Sharing Creations

Book IX: Chapter 2: Getting It Printed

Getting Images Ready for Printing

Setting Print Options

Printing from the Organizer

Printing from Edit Full mode

Printing Multiple Images

Printing contact sheets

Printing picture packages

Printing with Color Profiles

Working with color printer profiles

Understanding how Elements uses color profiles

Printing to Inkjet Printers

Automatic profile selection for Epson printers

Selecting a printer profile

Using Online Printing Services

Exploring Other Print Options

Book IX: Chapter 3: Getting It on the Web

Understanding Basic Web Optimization

Choosing a resolution

Rasterizing vector files

Selecting a color mode

Understanding file formats

Using a Web-Safe Palette and Hexadecimal Colors

Specifying a foreground Web Safe color

Using a Web Safe palette

Making Type Look Good Onscreen

Optimizing Images with Save for Web

Book IX: Chapter 4: Sharing Projects with Others

Getting Familiar with the Elements Sharing Options

Getting a Grip on the Share Panel

Creating an Online Album

Creating an E-Mail Attachment

Sending Photo Mail (Windows) or Web Photo Gallery (Macintosh)

Sharing Photos Online

Using Podbean

Using Kodak EasyShare

Sharing video with Adobe Photoshop Showcase

Sending photos to SmugMug Gallery

Sending photos to CIVEA Digital Photo Frame

Sharing Flickr

Photoshop® Elements 9 All-in-One For Dummies®

by Barbara Obermeier and Ted Padova

Photoshop® Elements 9 All-in-One For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Photoshop is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010937827

ISBN: 978-0-470-88003-6

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Authors

Barbara Obermeier is the principal of Obermeier Design, a graphic design studio in Ventura, California. She is the author of Photoshop CS5 All-in-One For Dummies and has contributed as author or coauthor to more than two dozen books on Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft PowerPoint, and digital photography. She is a senior faculty member in the School of Design at Brooks Institute and has also taught at California Lutheran University; University of California, Santa Barbara; and Ventura College.

Ted Padova is the former chief executive officer and managing partner of The Image Source Digital Imaging and Photo Finishing Centers of Ventura and Thousand Oaks, California. He has been involved in digital imaging since founding a service bureau in 1990. He retired from his company in 2005 and now spends his time writing and speaking about digital imaging, Acrobat, PDF forms, and LiveCycle Designer forms.

For more than 17 years, Ted taught university and higher education classes in graphic design applications and digital prepress at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has been, and continues to be, a conference speaker nationally and internationally at PDF conferences.

Ted has written more than 35 computer books and is the world’s leading author on Adobe Acrobat. He has written books on Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Reader, and Microsoft PowerPoint. His books published by Wiley include Adobe Acrobat PDF Bible (versions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9), PDF Forms Using Acrobat and LiveCycle Designer Bible, Adobe Creative Suite Bible (versions CS, CS2, CS3, CS4, and CS5), Color Correction for Digital Photographers Only, Color Management for Digital Photographers For Dummies, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 Just the Steps For Dummies, Creating Adobe Acrobat Forms, Teach Yourself Visually Acrobat PDF 5, and Adobe Acrobat 6 Complete Course. He also coauthored Adobe Master Class: Illustrator Illuminated and wrote Adobe Reader 7 Revealed: Working Effectively with Acrobat PDF Files for Peachpit/Adobe Press.

Dedication

Barbara Obermeier: For Gary, Kylie, and Lucky, who constantly remind me of what’s really important in life.

Ted Padova: For Arnie.

Author’s Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank our awesome project editor, Rebecca Huehls, who kept us and this book on track; Bob Woerner, our most excellent executive editor; Andy Cummings, Dummies Royalty; Dennis Cohen, our technical editing czar; Becky Whitney, our copy editor who made everything we wrote sound better; and all the dedicated production staff at Wiley. Finally, a big thank you to Gary Sadamori and the team at Tyco Electronics (www.tycoelectronics.com), and Elo Touch Systems (www.elotouch.com) for the use of their fabulous touch screen monitor. Finally, many thanks to Elizabeth Shatner (www.ElizabethShatner.com) for sharing one of her nature photos for reproduction in this edition.

Barbara Obermeier: A special thanks to Ted Padova, my coauthor and friend, who both celebrates and commiserates with me on the ups and downs of being an author.

Ted Padova: Many thanks to my dear friend and colleague, Barbara Obermeier, for asking me to join her on this project — and for a little handholding along the way, to help me get through it.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Rebecca Huehls

Executive Editor: Bob Woerner

Copy Editor: Becky Whitney

Technical Editor: Dennis Cohen

Senior Editorial Manager: Leah Cameron

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Graham

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Layout and Graphics: Samantha K. Cherolis, Timothy C Detrick, Joyce Haughey

Proofreader: Rebecca Denoncour, Shannon Ramsey

Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

Photoshop Elements has evolved over several generations to become a sophisticated photo editor. What was once a low-end, consumer-grade product is now a tool for novice photo editors, amateur photographers, and professionals alike.

Elements shines on its own turf and is distinguished from Adobe Photoshop in many ways. Not only a program for improving image quality, Elements is a complex software application that offers you many different editing tools for designing a variety of photo creations and sharing your photos in a number of ways. Of course, it also gives you all the standard editing features you need for, say, controlling image brightness or working with color correction.

Why should you buy Elements (and, ultimately, this book)? The range of people who can benefit from using Elements is wide and includes a vast audience. Elements has something for everyone — from beginning image editors to intermediate users to amateurs and professionals with more advanced skills.

Photoshop Elements grows with the times and supports new technologies with each release. Version 9 is no exception. We find support for the iPhone and iPad and other handheld devices improved in the current version. We also find support for the growing interest in touch screen monitors. And, if you’re a Macintosh user, Photoshop Elements has matured to offer you the Organizer application with all its tools and features that were previously restricted to only Windows users.

With many display options for your pictures — such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Web pages, handheld devices, and traditional print output — Elements has something to offer everyone regardless of where their photos are placed for others to admire. Think of this program as your creative companion for all your photo image editing work and for sharing your creations.

About This Book

This book is our best effort to provide a comprehensive view of a wildly feature-rich program for both Windows and Macintosh users. There’s a lot to Elements, and we try to offer you as much information as possible within our limited amount of space. We begged for more pages, but alas, our publisher wants to get this book in your hands in full color and with an attractive price tag. Therefore, even though we may skip over a few topics, all you need to know about using Photoshop Elements for designing images for print, sharing, Web hosting, versatile packaging, e-mailing, and more is covered in the pages ahead.

As we said, Photoshop Elements has something for just about everyone. We know that our audience is large and that not everyone will use every tool, command, or method described in this book. Therefore, we added a lot of cross-references in the text, in case you want to jump around. You can go to just about any chapter and start reading; if a concept needs more explanation, we point you in the right direction for finding some background when it’s necessary.

If you’re new to a ForDummies All-in-One, you should be aware that a book in this series is several books in one. This work contains nine separate books covering distinct areas of Photoshop Elements. You can jump around in the book and investigate the areas that interest you most. Generally, there’s no need to read through chapters in order before going to the chapter dealing with the tasks you’re most interested in exploring.

Each of the nine books contains several chapters covering a particular category of editing images, sharing files, or making creations.

Book I: Introducing Elements

We begin Book I by introducing you to Elements as it appears onscreen the first time you launch the program. The Elements Welcome screen permits you to enter several different workspaces.

We talk in Chapter 1 about changing workspaces, setting up your work environment, looking at tools and menus, discovering panels, using shortcuts, and getting help. In Chapter 2, we explore in depth the tools used in Edit Full mode. We provide the basics for using the tools so that you have a clear understanding of what they do before delving into chapters where we use the tools to create a variety of results.

In Chapter 3, we look at navigation and viewing. We explore using the Navigator panel, changing views between workspaces, and zooming in and out of photos, and we cover all you need to know about the Image window when working in Edit Full mode. In Chapter 4, we cover preference settings you use in the Organizer and Edit Full mode for customizing your workspace. Every preference setting you can make in Photoshop Elements is covered in this chapter.

Book II: Elements Fundamentals

As the title of Book II implies, we talk about essential fundamentals in this minibook. Look for opening, closing, and saving files; using the Organizer workspace, now available for both Windows and Macintosh users; acquiring images from digital cameras and scanners; and (in a whole lot of coverage) sorting and finding pictures. We also cover creating albums and keyword tags, creating new catalogs, and backing up photos. We added a new chapter for this version that deals exclusively with cellphones and other handheld devices, particularly the Apple iPhone and iPad.

Book III: Image Essentials

In this minibook, we handle all you’d ever want to know about the characteristics of images. This book is image-centric — we cover many essential topics such as resolution, color modes, file formats, Camera Raw format, and color management.

Book IV: Selections

This important minibook gives you all the juicy details on, and techniques for, creating and modifying selections. You find out about each of the selection tools and how to modify, feather, save, and load selections, as well as refine edges.

Book V: Painting, Drawing, and Typing

If you want to know about the drawing and painting tools, this minibook’s for you. We cover the Brush and Pencil tools along with the multifaceted Brushes panel. We also show you how to create vector shapes by using the shape tools and how to fill and stroke selections.

Head to Book V to find out how to create both gradients and patterns and, last but not least, become familiar with the type tools and how to use them to create and edit standard type, type on and in a path, and type with special effects.

Book VI: Working with Layers and Masks

Book VI gives you everything you need to work with layers and cutting, extracting, and masking to select elements on those layers. From the Cutter tool to the Magic Extractor and on to layer masking, we show you how to select difficult elements and creatively combine layers. We also talk about managing layers, playing with opacity, blend modes, and transforming and simplifying layers.

Book VII: Filters, Effects, Styles, and Distortions

We filled Book VII with tons of handy tips and techniques for using filters to correct images to make them sharper, blurrier, cleaner, or smoother — whatever fits your fancy. You also find out how to use filters to give your image a certain special effect, such as a deckle edge or water droplets. Finally, we introduce the Liquify command so that you can see the wonder of its distortion tools — and how they can turn your image into digital taffy.

Book VIII: Retouching and Enhancing

You find everything you need to know about color correction and color enhancement in Book VIII — getting rid of colorcasts, improving contrast and saturation, remapping, and replacing colors.

In addition, we include using the focus and toning tools to manually lighten, darken, smooth, soften, or sharpen areas of your image. You get to see how you can use the Clone Stamp tool, the Healing tools, and the Red Eye Removal tool to fix flaws and imperfections in your images, making them as good as new. We also show you the Color Replacement tool and how to replace your image’s original color with the foreground color. Finally, you get some tidbits on how to composite images by following some easy steps.

Book IX: Creating and Sharing with Elements

The wonderful world of creations and sharing is the topic for this minibook. Elements provides you with some extraordinary creation opportunities, such as creating slide shows, photo books, calendars, greeting cards, flipbooks, and more. We go into detail for each of these creation options. Not all files are destined for online viewing, so we cover the complex world of printing color images and getting color right with color profiles in this minibook, and then we move on to sharing projects using online services. In the last chapter, we talk about support for touch screens — a new feature in Elements 9.

About the eCheat Sheet

We have a handy little guide for you that’s hosted online. Download the Cheat Sheet file from www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/photoshopelements9aio.

Conventions Used in This Book

Throughout this book, we point you to menus where commands are accessed frequently. A couple of things to remember are the references for where to go when we detail steps in a procedure. For accessing a menu command, you may see a sentence like this one:

Choose File⇒Get Photos and Videos⇒From Files and Folders.

When you see a command like this one mentioned, we’re asking you to click the File menu to open the drop-down menu, click the menu command labeled Get Photos and Videos, and then choose the command From Files and Folders from the submenu that appears.

Another convention we use refers to context menus. A context menu jumps up at the cursor position and shows you a menu similar to the menu you select at the top of the Elements workspace. To open a context menu, click the right mouse button. For Mac users with a one-button mouse, press the Control key and click to open a context menu.

A third item relates to using keystrokes on your keyboard. When we mention that some keys need to be pressed on your keyboard, the text is described like this:

Press Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S (Option+Shift+Command+S on the Mac)

In this case, you hold down the Alt key, the Shift key, and the Control key and then press the S key (or hold down the Option key, the Shift key, and the Command key and then press the S key on the Mac). Then release all the keys at the same time.

Icons Used in This Book

In the margins throughout this book, you’ll see icons indicating that something important is stated in the respective text.

A Tip tells you about an alternative method for a procedure by giving you a shortcut or a workaround or another type of helpful information related to working on tasks in the section being discussed.

Pay particular attention when you see the Warning icon. This information informs you when you may experience a problem performing your work in Elements.

This icon is a heads-up for information you may want to commit to memory. Usually, the icon tells you about a shortcut for a repetitive task, where remembering a procedure can save you time.

Elements is a computer program, after all. No matter how hard we try to simplify our explanation of features, we can’t entirely avoid technical information. If we think that a topic is complex, we use this icon to alert you that we’re moving into a complex subject. You won’t see many of these icons in this book because we try our best to bring the details to nontechnical terms.

This icon informs you that the item discussed is a new feature in Photoshop Elements 9.

Where to Go from Here

Feel free to jump around and pay special attention to cross-referenced chapters, in case you get stuck on a concept. If you’re new to image editing, you’ll want to pick up some basics. Look over Books I and II to get a grip on images and the environment you work in with Elements.

When you need a little extra help, refer to Book I, Chapter 1, where we talk about using the online Help documents available in Elements.

We wish you much success and enjoyment in using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9, and it’s our sincere wish that the pages ahead provide you with an informative and helpful view of the program.

Please note that some special symbols used in this eBook may not display properly on all eReader devices. If you have trouble determining any symbol, please call Wiley Product Technical Support at 800-762-2974. Outside of the United States, please call 317-572-3993. You can also contact Wiley Product Technical Support at www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Book I

Introducing Elements

Because we try to present every minibook as a standalone element so that you can move around and jump in at any chapter, a little foundation always helps make understanding the big concepts a bit easier.

We start Book I with some essentials related to the Elements workspace, tell you how to launch the program, and offer you a description of many resources available to you.

If you’re new to Elements, this minibook is your best starting place. Be sure to review Chapter 2, where we cover all the tools used in Edit Full mode, and Chapter 4, where we talk about adjusting Preferences to customize your work environment.

Chapter 1: Examining the Elements Environment

In This Chapter

Starting up

Opening the Organizer

Setting up your workspaces

Moving through the Menu bar and context menus

Picking settings in the Options bar

Playing around with panels and bins

Shortening your steps

Getting a helping hand

Wow, there’s a lot to Photoshop Elements 9! Just look at the many pages in this chapter with essential information to help you move quickly and efficiently around the program and access all the wonderful tools that Elements offers for editing your pictures.

And, Macintosh owners who are Elements users have a special treat in store: The Elements Organizer, which has been a companion to the Elements Editors on Windows since the product was developed, is now available on the Mac. No longer do you need Adobe Bridge. Although the Organizer doesn’t sport all the features found on Windows, it does bring the two platform differences closer together.

This chapter may not be the most fun part of this book, but it’s a critical first step for anyone new to Elements. Stay with us while we break down all the areas in the Photoshop Elements workspace where you can turn that photo of Aunt Gina into something that Whistler’s mom would envy.

Launching Elements

After running the installer from the Photoshop Elements DVD-ROM, double-click the program icon to launch Elements. When the program launches, you see the Adobe Photoshop Welcome screen, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1: The Photoshop Elements Welcome screen for Windows.

At the left of the photo image in the Welcome screen are two buttons that take you to different windows where you can edit and manage your pictures. You also find some icons located in the upper-right corner. The various options in the Organizer Welcome Screen include

Organize: Click the Organize button, and Elements opens the Organizer, the window where you take care of a plethora of file-management and -organization tasks. Among your other options, you can choose to load pictures in the Organizer window so that they’re ready to use for all your projects. The Organizer is available to Macintosh users in Photoshop Elements 9 as well as to Windows users.

Edit: Click the Edit button to open the Photoshop Elements Edit Full mode, where you perform all the editing for your photos.

Create Adobe ID: If you don’t have an Adobe ID, click the button and sign up for an account. You have access to storage space on Adobe’s Web site for sharing photos.

Sign In With Your Adobe ID: In the lower left corner, you find log on and password text boxes. After you have an Adobe ID, sign in and you can access Photoshop.com for storing and sharing photos.

Preferences: Click the first icon in the upper-right corner represented by horizontal lines, and a preferences options window appears. You can choose among three options for displaying the Welcome Screen as shown in Figure 1-2. The options available are self-explanatory.

Close: Click the X in the Welcome Screen to close it. Closing the Welcome Screen has no effect on the Editors or the Organizer. If either or all are open, they remain open when you close the Welcome Screen.

Figure 1-2: Preference options for displaying the Welcome Screen.

After you sign in with an Adobe ID, the Welcome Screen changes and provides you with some tutorial information on using common Elements tasks. Toggle screen views by clicking the left and right arrows in the second window that opens. Poke around in the Welcome Screen, and you can learn more about many Elements 9 new features.

Every time you launch Photoshop Elements, the Welcome screen is the first item you see on your monitor. From the Welcome screen, you choose the kind of tasks you want to accomplish in a session. If you want to change from one window to another, for example, or change from the Organizer to Edit Full mode, you can easily navigate workspaces after you open one editing environment, as we explain later in this chapter.

The window you see in Figure 1-1, along with any of the help information displayed there, may be slightly different from what you see on your monitor when you launch Elements. The Welcome screen appears in an Adobe Flash interface, and the window changes links and images at random. You can manually scroll through the images and the Help information by clicking the arrows in the top right corner of the Welcome screen.

Opening the Organizer

The Organizer is one of several different workspaces available to you with Photoshop Elements. Unless you have an immediate task at hand for editing a photo in the Edit Full workspace, the Organizer is often going to be your first workspace to visit. In the Organizer, you can manage photos and navigate to every other editing workspace Elements provides you.

If you use Photoshop Elements 9 on a Macintosh, you have the Photoshop Elements Organizer available to you with many features that have previously been available only on Windows. Many screen shots showing the Organizer in this book equally apply to both Windows and Macintosh users.

To open the Organizer, click the Organize button on the Welcome screen. When you install Elements and first open the Organizer, you see an empty screen, as shown in Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-3: Upon your first launch of the Organizer, you see an empty workspace.

Photos are added to the Organizer window by using a variety of options we cover in Book II, Chapter 1. For now, we focus on looking at the Organizer tools and understanding how they work. Some of the more important tools in the Organizer include

A. Elements Organizer: Clicking this button opens a menu where you can choose to close, minimize, and maximize the Organizer workspace (Windows). Clicking the button on the Mac does nothing. The icon represents the Organizer, and in other workspaces, such as the Editor, clicking the icon returns you to the Organizer window.

B. Menu bar: The menus contain all the commands you use in the Organizer workspace. On the Macintosh the menu bar is positioned above the Organizer icon instead of adjacent to it. Throughout this book, we talk about using menu commands. You find much more detail about the Menu bar in Book II.

C.Rotate Left/Right: You use these tools to rotate the images displayed in the Organizer window.

D. Adjust Size of Thumbnail: Move the slider to change the size of thumbnail images.

E. Log-In Name: When you log in to Elements with your Adobe ID, your login name appears at the top of the window. Click on your name, and you’re prompted to supply your password. After you add it, you can view your account on Photoshop.com. If you aren’t logged in, a button appears offering an option to log in.

F.Undo/Redo: You use these tools to undo and redo edits.

G.Display: Open the drop-down menu and you find an assortment of commands for importing files, changing views, and comparing files.

H.Welcome Screen: Click this button to return to the Welcome screen.

I.Features buttons: The three buttons represented by tiny icons include, from left to right: Minimize, Restore, and Close (Windows on the top right and on the top left on a Mac). These buttons function the same as you find in almost all Windows or Mac applications.

J.Search: Type text in the text box to search for photos in the Organizer window.

K.Panel Bin: The four tabs at the top of the Panel Bin open panels. The names of these panels are shown at the top of the bin. The panels offer a number of different options for organizing files, editing photos, creating projects, and sharing photos.

L.Catalog Info: In the lower-left corner of the Organizer window, you find some information related to a catalog. When you add photos to the Organizer, your photos are maintained in a catalog file. The information at the bottom of the Organizer window reports feedback on the catalog name, the number of items contained in the catalog, and the date range for when the photos were taken.

M. Backup/Synchronization: Click the icon to display a menu for commands related to backing up files and synchronizing them with your Photoshop.com online account.

N.Auto Analyzer: Click the icon to enable or disable the Auto Analyzer. The Auto Analyzer Preferences dialog box opens, and you can set options for autoanalyzing photos in the Organizer. (See Chapter 4 of this minibook for more information on setting Auto Analyzer preferences.)

O. Catalog images: When you add photos to a catalog, image thumbnails appear in this window.

Changing Workspaces

Think of the Organizer as your central workspace. From there, you travel to other workspaces where edits and creations are handled. The Organizer resembles a huge file cabinet with a vast number of tools and commands that help you keep track of your images. It also offers you a gateway to other workspaces.

Visiting the Organizer

To manage photos and apply edits, you need to load some photos into the default catalog that appears (empty, obviously) when you first launch Elements.

To add some photos to the default catalog, do the following:

1. Copy some photos to your hard drive.

On the Macintosh you are prompted immediately when you launch the Organizer the first time to add photos from your iPhoto library. If you have photos stored in iPhoto, click Import to add photos to a new catalog.

Make a new folder on your hard drive and name it My Photos or another descriptive name.

2. Launch Elements.

Double-click the program icon or use the Start menu to open Elements. On the Mac, click the icon on the Dock.

3. Click Organize in the Welcome screen.

4. Choose File⇒Get Photos and Videos⇒From Files and Folders.

The Get Photos and Videos from Files and Folders dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 1-4. Navigate your hard drive to locate the folder where you copied your photos.

Figure 1-4: You select photos to import in a catalog from the Get Photos and Videos from Files and Folders dialog box.

5. Select the photos to import.

If you want to import all photos from a given folder, press Ctrl+A (Command+A on the Mac). If you want to select individual photos, click a photo and press the Ctrl (Command) key while clicking additional photos.

6. Click the Get Media button to import the photos into your catalog.

You have other options available in the Get Photos and Videos from Files and Folders dialog box. For now, just click Get Media and leave all other items at their defaults.

7. Click OK in the alert dialog box.

An alert dialog box opens, informing you that you need to click the Show All button if you want to see all photos in your catalog. This button appears at the top of the Organizer window, as shown in Figure 1-5.

Figure 1-5: Click Show All above the image thumbnails to show all photos in your catalog.

8. View the photos in the Organizer.

As shown in Figure 1-6, photos appear in the Organizer window. Drag the scroll bar at the right side of the Organizer and the left of the Panel Bin to scroll through the images.

Figure 1-6: Photos are added to the default catalog.

When you open the Get Photos and Videos from Files and Folders dialog box, you see thumbnail previews for images saved as JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, or TIFF files. If you import Camera Raw images, you don’t see image previews. For more information on working with Camera Raw images, see Book III, Chapter 3.

A number of file-management options are available in the Organizer for sorting images, tagging files with keywords, and creating albums of photos. We cover all you can do with file management in the section about the Organizer in Book II, Chapter 2.

Visiting Edit Full mode

Elements provides you with two editing modes: Edit Full and Edit Quick. In Edit Full mode, you have access to all tools and commands, which provides you with limitless opportunities for editing your pictures. Edit Quick mode can be used when you need to polish an image in terms of brightness, contrast, or color adjustment or other, similar editing tasks.

After you have files loaded in the Organizer, you can easily open an image in an editing mode. Assuming that you want to edit a picture, follow these steps to launch the Edit Full mode workspace:

1. Click an image thumbnail in the Organizer.

Following this step presumes you have added photos to the Organizer, as we describe earlier in this chapter.

2. Open the Fix drop-down list and choose Edit Photos.

At the top of the Organizer window, you see the Fix drop-down list, shown in Figure 1-7. After you make the menu choice, the selected image appears in the Edit Full workspace, as shown in Figure 1-8.

Figure 1-7: Choose Edit Photos from the Fix drop-down list.

3. Click the Organizer button in the Edit Full mode workspace.

To return to the Organizer, click the Organizer button, shown in Figure 1-8.

Figure 1-8: After choosing Edit Full from the Fix drop-down list, the file opens in the Edit Full workspace. To return to the Organizer, click the Organizer button.

When you open a file from the Organizer or change to another workspace while the Organizer is open, you have two workspaces open in Elements. The second workspace (such as Edit Full mode) opens while the Organizer remains open. When you toggle between modes, both modes remain open until you exit one mode or the other.

Visiting Edit Quick mode

If you’ve worked in earlier versions of Elements, you know that the Organizer provided a direct link to either Edit Full mode or Edit Quick mode. Elements 9 has a slight change — you can go directly to Edit Full mode only from the Organizer.

Edit Quick mode is easily opened after you enter Edit Full mode. While in Edit Full mode, click Quick at the top of the Panel Bin. From Edit Quick mode, you can return to Edit Full mode by clicking Full, as shown in Figure 1-9.

Comparing modes

When you examine Figures 1-6, 1-8, and 1-9, you see different tools and panel options. Every mode is designed to help you with different tasks. In Figure 1-6, you see the Organizer, where you can manage files and easily work with projects and file sharing. In Edit Full mode, shown in Figure 1-8, you have access to all Elements editing tools and menu commands to enhance your photos in limitless ways. In Edit Quick mode, shown in Figure 1-9, you see the different options for giving images a quick makeover.

Figure 1-9: While Elements is in Edit Quick mode, you can easily open Edit Full mode by clicking Full at the top of the Panel Bin.

In the following chapters of this book, we cover all the modes, the tools accessible in each mode, and all the menu commands accessible to you in each mode. Be sure that you understand how to toggle the modes to gain access to the tools you want to use.

In addition to the buttons at the top of the Organizer and those in the Panel Bin, in either editing mode you can easily navigate modes by using the taskbar (Windows) or the Dock (Mac). The taskbar (Dock) serves to open applications. Click an application to open the workspace you want.

Getting help with Guided mode

Although the Guided panel isn’t entirely a separate mode, it changes the appearance of the Panel Bin to offer you help with many different editing tasks. In either Edit Full or Edit Quick mode, click Guided at the top of the Panel Bin. The Edit Guided panel opens, as shown in Figure 1-10.

Figure 1-10: Click Guided at the top of the Panel Bin.

The panel lists topics for you to review when performing edits relative to a particular category. Click a category item and the panel changes, displaying information tailored to that specific editing task as well as some options for performing a given edit. We clicked Crop Photo to open the Crop panel, as shown in Figure 1-11. From the Crop Box Size drop-down list, we chose 2.5 x 2 inches.

Figure 1-11: The Crop panel offers options for cropping images to standard photo sizes by making choices from a drop-down list.

Click other items in the Guided panel and find helpful hints to guide you through a number of common image-editing tasks.

Moving through the Menu Bar

As with most programs on your computer, Elements offers you a number of drop-down menus with many different commands that invoke actions. Don’t bother to memorize all the menu commands. Instead, try to develop an understanding of the types of actions included in a given menu. A general understanding of different menu uses helps you find commands much faster.

The menus in the Organizer are different from those in the two editing modes. Edit Full and Edit Quick contain the same menu names, but some menu commands are grayed out in Edit Quick mode.

First, take a look at the menus in the Organizer. Among the Organizer menus, you find

File: In the File menu, as you might expect, you find commands to open and browse files on your hard drive. You also find a number of options for saving files, such as writing images to CD-ROMs and DVDs (Windows). Commands for managing catalogs, moving files, and printing images are also located in this menu.

Edit: Many commands you’re familiar with — copy, undo, delete, and so on — are located in the Edit menu. In the Organizer, you also find many options for sorting files as well as options for managing color. In addition, you find a number of quick-access commands for editing photos similar to options you find in Edit Quick mode.

Find: The Find menu is all about finding images on your computer. You have many choices for searching photos based on a wide range of criteria.

View: The View menu handles commands related to viewing images in the Organizer window. You can choose the types of media to display in the Organizer, show and hide files, and show and hide certain data associated with files such as the filenames. Choices you make in this menu relate to the display of images in the Organizer.

Window: The Window menu contains commands that display some items in the Organizer, such as the Timeline, where you can view photos according to date ranges. The Window menu also has commands for controlling the display of some panels in the Panel Bin, such as the Quick Share and Properties panels.

Help: As you might expect, the Help menu contains menu commands that provide help when working in Elements. Certain Help commands open your default Web browser and open Help Web pages on the Adobe Web site.

Keep in mind that the Organizer is quite distinct from the two editing modes. It turns out, though, that the Edit Quick and Edit Full modes have identical menu names and contain many similar commands. The commands you find in the editing modes are, for the most part, quite different from the menu items found in the Organizer. Both Edit Quick and Edit Full mode contain the following menus:

File: You find file-opening and -saving options as well as printing commands on the File menu. The File menu also contains some options for combining images and batch-processing files.

Edit: The Edit menu offers you a number of editing tasks, such as copy and paste, copy merge, paste into selections, set up files, and use patterns and brushes. You also find color-management options identical to the commands in the Organizer Edit menu.

Image: The Image menu contains commands used for changing images, such as cropping and resizing photos, changing color modes, converting color profiles, and transforming images or selections. Notice that there are no image corrections for brightness and color adjustments. These commands are in the Enhance menu.

Enhance: The Enhance menu is all about working with images in terms of color and brightness corrections and altering their visual appearance.

Layer: The Layer menu lets you work with layers and gives you access to the many different things you can do with them.

Select: You use the Select menu to create, modify, and use selections. One of the most frequent phases of an edit is creating a selection, and the Selection menu provides a number of commands and tools to help you perfect your selection of image content.

Filter: For artistic edits, take a look at the Filter menu and explore the many filter effects you can add to your pictures. You don’t need to be a Photoshop Elements expert. The program makes it easy for you by keeping all filters in one place so that with a click of the mouse button, you can create some dazzling effects.

View: Viewing options in the Editors relate to zooming in and out of photos, showing rulers and guides, and creating new windows.

Window: The Window menu displays a list of panels that can be opened and closed. You also find a list of all open files in this menu, to a maximum number of windows you determine in the Elements preferences.

Help: The Help menu contains an online Help document describing most of what you can do in Elements, Tutorials, logging on to a Photoshop Elements Forum, monitoring program updates, and the Inspiration Browser that is a Flash-based tutorial guide offering tips and techniques.

Why review a brief explanation of the menu items and the commands you find within the drop-down menus? For starters, the more you know about the tasks a menu is used for, the easier it is for you to locate commands without a struggle. If your task is to color-correct a photo, you know from the list we describe here that you open an Editing mode and visit the Enhance menu. If you want to stack photos and organize them, you know that you need to open the Organizer and open the Edit menu. After you get a feel for which commands are contained within the drop-down menus, you move much faster in all your Elements editing sessions.

Using Context Menus

Context menus are found in just about every Adobe program. One of the helpful things about context menus is that if you want to perform an action using a menu command or tool, chances are that you may find just what you’re looking for in a context menu.

A context menu is opened by right-clicking the mouse button (Windows or Mac) or Control-clicking (Mac). Depending on the tool you’re using and the mode you’re working in, the menu commands change. For example, in Figure 1-12 we opened a context menu on a thumbnail image in the Organizer. As you can see in the figure, a number of menu commands are available that are similar to the menu commands you find in the top-level menu commands.

Figure 1-12: Context menus provide quick access to menu commands.

If you’re a Mac user with a two-button mouse, you can right-click to open a context menu.

In Figure 1-13, we opened an image in Edit Full mode and created a selection. If you right-click the mouse button, the context menu changes to reflect edits you can make relative to a selection.

When you change tools and editing modes, the context menus you open change the menu choices to reflect what you can do with the selected tool and the editing mode you’re working in.

Figure 1-13: We created a selection in Edit Full mode and opened a context menu.

Selecting Settings in the Options Bar

A number of different tools and options exist in several places in each mode. One area you frequently visit when you edit pictures is the Options bar. The Options bar provides several choices for every tool you select in Edit Full mode. In Figure 1-14, we opened Edit Full mode and clicked the Rectangular Marquee tool. The Options bar changes to reflect a number of choices you can use when working with this tool.

As you click different tools in the Tools panel, the Options bar changes to offer a number of different choices for working with the selected tool.

Figure 1-14: Click the Rectangular Marquee tool, and the Options bar changes to display settings options you can use with the Rectangular Marquee tool.

Playing with Panels

The Panel Bin contains more choices for editing files, assembling projects, and working with different tools. Each mode you visit (Organizer, Edit Full, and Edit Quick) supports panels and a variety of options from panel menus and tools. In Edit Full mode, you see the default panels open, as shown in Figure 1-15.

At the top of the Panel Bin are tabs. In Edit Full mode, they include Edit, Create, and Share. Click a tab, and the panel options change. Below the tabs are also other buttons, tabs, and menus within individual panels that offer a vast array of editing possibilities. For example, in Figure 1-15, the Edit Full panel is open showing the Effects and Layers panels. Adjacent to Effects, you find Content. Click Content and another panel is displayed. In the Layers panel you find several menus. Clicking the other panel buttons, such as Create and Share, changes the panels and options.

Figure 1-15: The default panel view in Edit Full mode.

If you open the Organizer, you find different options in the Panel Bin, as shown in Figure 1-16. From this panel, you can easily open other editing modes, perform creation edits, or organize files using tags and keywords.

Figure 1-16: Panel options change in the Organizer.

Getting choosy in the Favorites panel

The Favorites panel is used for adding your own favorite settings in Edit Full mode, such as different filters you like to apply to images. By default, you don’t see the Favorites panel open. Open the panel by choosing Window⇒Favorites. When you make the menu choice, the panel opens as a floating panel in the middle of the Image window. A floating panel opens on top of the Elements window and can be dragged around to move the panel out of the way when editing photos.