The Focus On Series
Photography is all about the end result your photo. The Focus On series offers books with essential information so you can get the best photos without spending thousands of hours learning techniques or software skills. Each book focuses on a specific area of knowledge within photography, cutting through the often confusing waffle of photographic jargon to show you simply what you need to do to capture beautiful and dynamic shots every time you pick up your camera.
Titles in the Focus On series:
Focus On
Photoshop Elements
David Asch
Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier
30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB, UK
2011 David Asch. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publishers permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notice:
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Application submitted
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
For information on all Focal Press publications visit our website at www.elsevierdirect.com
Printed in China
11 12 13 14 15 5 4 3 2 1
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all those photographers out there who want to make their good pictures into great pictures, but who also want to spend as little time and effort as possible in front of the computer in order to get out there shooting their next batch!
About the Author
Im a keen photographer and a digital artist specializing in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. I live on the south coast of England, in (sometimes) sunny Brighton, where many of the images I have used in this book were taken.
I believe that although great photos can be made straight from the camera, sometimes they require a little extra help. There should be no taboos about this; its the final image that counts, after all, and it really shouldnt matter how you get there.
Acknowledgments
A big thank you to my family and friends for their help, their support, and most importantly their patience and understanding whilst I wrote this book.
Introduction
Digital cameras have given people the ability to be carefree with their photography. Theres now no need to worry about spending a fortune on film and processing fees you can shoot to your hearts content and be concerned only about running out of space on your memory cards. This means, of course, that you might come back with several hundred images stored away. Not all of these are going to be perfect; some may be destined for the recycle bin without a second thought, and others could be winners with a just a little bit of tweaking here and there.
The problem is that with this huge amount of photos, its easy to lose yourself in front of the computer and see the hours fly past as you work to perfect the images. All this lost time should be spent capturing your favorite subjects and exploring new ones, not banging your head against the keyboard in frustration as you try to figure out how to get the colors just so, or how to remove that annoying telegraph pole and its cables from the otherwise picturesque landscape you shot on your last vacation.
The aim of this book is to provide you with quick and easy methods to get the most from your images and improve your workflow, without having to learn every feature and function of Adobe Photoshop Elements unnecessarily. The techniques are written in jargon-free, bite-size steps, which allow you to fly through the editing process with as little effort as possible to get your photos in tip-top shape.
This book covers everything youll need to make the most of Photoshop Elements, including importing the images from your camera and into the Organizer catalog; sorting, rating, and keywording the images for quick reference; fixing and enhancing your images; and finally, printing and sharing them with your family and friends.
Contents
Chapter 1: Introducing the Organizer
P HOTOSHOP ELEMENTS IS really two applications: there is the Organizer, where you create and manage your image catalog, and the Editor, where youll be performing most of your fixes and enhancements. Although they dont have to be used in conjunction with one another, there are many features they share to make your workflow as quick and simple as possible. In this chapter, well be looking at the basics of the Organizer and how to import your photos into its catalog.
Key points in this chapter
Exploring the Organizer workspace
Importing photos into the catalog from the camera and other sources
Basic photo management
The Organizer workspace
When launching the Organizer for the first time, you are presented with its workspace. This will be empty at this point, of course, as we have not yet added any photos to the catalog.