Photoshop Elements 2019 for Dummies

Turn blah photos into dazzling images

Photoshop Elements offers enough of the power you’ll find in full Photoshop to make both basic and artistic edits to your photos. Photoshop Elements 2019 For Dummies helps you learn how to use Photoshop Elements to take your shots to stunning new heights!

Photoshop Elements 2019 For Dummies offers photographers of all skill levels the power to turn run-of-the-mill digital pictures into beautiful photographs. This friendly and helpful guidebook directs you on how to harness all the tools this powerful software has to offer.

• Simple explanations for handling image editing
• Steps for giving your photos a digital makeover
• Ways to turn your photos into works of art 
• Guidance on fixing your pics with one click

No matter if you're a photo editing newcomer looking for advice on making the most common fixes or an experienced editor in need of a road map to this version of Photoshop Elements, this book has you covered!

Barbara Obermeier is the principal of Obermeier Design, a graphic design studio, and an Adjunct Professor at California Lutheran University. She has authored or coauthored more than 30 books.

Ted Padova, author of 60+ computer books, is Adjunct Professor of Visual Arts and Digital Photography at Silliman University in Dumaguete, Philippines.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Photoshop Elements 2019 5

Chapter 1: Getting Started with Image Editing 7

Getting Familiar with the New Home Screen 8

Launching the Photo Editor 9

Making Basic Edits in Quick Mode 10

Sharing a Photo 12

Retracing Your Steps 14

Using the History panel 14

Reverting to the last save 15

Getting a Helping Hand 16

Saving Files with Purpose 17

Using the Save/Save As dialog box 17

Saving files for the web 18

Chapter 2: Taking Pictures 21

Understanding the Importance of Lighting 22

Identifying the Different Kinds of Photography 23

Focusing on the Phases of Photography 24

Setting up 24

Shooting the picture 25

Processing your images 26

Choosing Your Camera Equipment 26

DSLR cameras 26

Mirrorless cameras 27

Point-and-shoot cameras 27

Cellphone cameras 28

Working with Color Profile Equipment 28

Getting Familiar with Indoor Lighting Equipment 29

Inexpensive lighting equipment 29

Professional lighting equipment 31

Working with Common Lighting Patterns 32

Split lighting 32

Loop lighting 32

Broad lighting 32

Short lighting 33

Butterfly lighting 34

Rembrandt lighting 34

Reflecting the Light 34

Working with Flash 35

Understanding flash units and equipment 35

Using flash as a fill light 36

Chapter 3: Basic Image-Editing Concepts 37

Grappling with the Ubiquitous Pixels 38

Understanding resolution 38

Understanding image dimensions 41

The Art of Resampling 41

Changing image size and resolution 42

Choosing a Resolution for Print or Onscreen 43

Working with File Formats 44

JPEG (*.JPG, *.JPEG, *.JPE) 45

PNG (*.PNG) 46

TIFF (*.TIF, *.TIFF) 46

Getting Familiar with Color 47

Getting Color Right 48

Color the easy way 49

Calibrating your monitor 49

Choosing a color workspace 50

Understanding how profiles work 51

Chapter 4: Exploring the Photo Editor 53

Examining the Photo Editor 53

Examining the image window 57

Uncovering the contextual menus 60

Selecting the tools 61

Selecting from the Tool Options 64

Playing with panels 64

Using the Photo Bin 67

Creating different views of an image 68

Viewing filenames 68

Using Photo Bin Actions 69

Finding Your Bearings in Guided Mode 69

Controlling the Editing Environment 71

Launching and navigating preferences 72

Checking out all the preferences panes 73

Part 2: Managing Media 77

Chapter 5: Navigating the Organizer 79

Organizing Photos and Media on a Hard Drive 80

Adding Images to the Organizer 81

Adding files from folders and removable media 81

Downloading camera images with the Elements Downloader 83

Importing additional photos from folders 85

Navigating the Media Browser 86

Using a Scanner 87

Understanding image requirements 88

Using scanner plug-ins (Windows) 88

Scanning on the Mac 90

Scanning many photos at a time 90

Phoning in Your Images 92

Setting Organizer Preferences 93

Chapter 6: Organizing Your Pictures 95

Touring the Organizer 96

Organizing Groups of Images with Tags 99

Creating and viewing a tag 99

Adding icons to tags 101

Working with custom tags 102

Working with default tags 103

Working with subcategories 104

Sorting photos according to tags 105

Auto Curating Images 106

Working with Auto Creations 106

Auto-generating creations 106

Adding new events 107

Rating Images with Stars 107

Adding Images to an Album 108

Creating an album 108

Using albums for temporary work 110

Editing an album 110

Finding out more about sharing your albums 111

Adding People in the Media Browser 111

Placing Pictures on Maps 113

Working with Events 115

Chapter 7: Viewing and Finding Your Images 117

Cataloging Files 117

Using the Catalog Manager 118

Working with catalogs 119

Backing up your catalog 120

Backing up photos and files (Windows) 121

Switching to a Different View 122

Viewing Photos in Memories (Slideshow) 123

Searching for Photos 125

Using Search 125

Searching for untagged items 127

Searching captions and notes 127

Searching by history 128

Searching metadata 128

Searching similarities 130

Grouping Files That Get in the Way 131

Marking files as hidden 131

Stackin’ ’em up 131

Creating versions 133

Part 3: Selecting and Correcting Photos 135

Chapter 8: Making and Modifying Selections 137

Defining Selections 137

Creating Rectangular and Elliptical Selections 138

Perfecting squares and circles with Shift and Alt (Option on the Mac) 140

Applying Marquee options 140

Making Freeform Selections with the Lasso Tools 142

Selecting with the Lasso tool 143

Getting straight with the Polygonal Lasso tool 145

Snapping with the Magnetic Lasso tool 145

Working Wizardry with the Magic Wand 148

Talking about Tolerance 148

Wielding the Wand to select 149

Modifying Your Selections 151

Adding to, subtracting from, and intersecting a selection 151

Avoiding key collisions 152

Painting with the Selection Brush 153

Painting with the Quick Selection Tool 155

Selecting with the Auto Selection Tool 157

Fine-Tuning with the Refine Selection Brush 158

Working with the Cookie Cutter Tool 160

Eliminating with the Eraser Tools 162

The Eraser tool 162

The Background Eraser tool 163

The Magic Eraser tool 165

Using the Select Menu 165

Selecting all or nothing 165

Reselecting a selection 166

Inversing a selection 166

Feathering a selection 166

Refining the edges of a selection 167

Using the Modify commands 168

Applying the Grow and Similar commands 169

Saving and loading selections 169

Chapter 9: Working with Layers 171

Getting to Know Layers 171

Converting a background to a layer 172

Anatomy of the Layers panel 173

Using the Layer and Select menus 176

Working with Different Layer Types 178

Image layers 178

Adjustment layers 179

Fill layers 181

Shape layers 182

Type layers 183

Tackling Layer Basics 183

Creating a new layer from scratch 183

Using Layer via Copy and Layer via Cut 184

Duplicating layers 185

Dragging and dropping layers 186

Using the Paste into Selection command 186

Moving a Layer’s Content 187

Transforming Layers 188

Adding Layer Masks 189

Flattening and Merging Layers 192

Flattening layers 192

Merging layers 193

Chapter 10: Simple Image Makeovers 195

Cropping and Straightening Images 195

Cutting away with the Crop tool 196

Fixing distortion with the Perspective Crop tool 198

Cropping with a selection border 200

Straightening images 200

Recomposing Images 201

Employing One-Step Auto Fixes 203

Auto Smart Tone 204

Auto Smart Fix 205

Auto Levels 206

Auto Contrast 206

Auto Haze Removal 207

Auto Color Correction 207

Auto Shake Reduction 208

Auto Sharpen 209

Auto Red Eye Fix 209

Editing in Quick Mode 210

Fixing Small Imperfections with Tools 214

Cloning with the Clone Stamp tool 214

Retouching with the Healing Brush 216

Zeroing in with the Spot Healing Brush 219

Repositioning with the Content-Aware Move tool 220

Lightening and darkening with Dodge and Burn tools 222

Smudging away rough spots 224

Softening with the Blur tool 225

Focusing with the Sharpen tool 226

Sponging color on and off 227

Replacing one color with another 229

Chapter 11: Correcting Contrast, Color, and Clarity 233

Editing Your Photos Using a Logical Workflow 234

Adjusting Lighting 235

Fixing lighting with Shadows/Highlights 235

Using Brightness/Contrast 236

Pinpointing proper contrast with Levels 237

Adjusting Color 239

Removing color casts automatically 240

Adjusting with Hue/Saturation 241

Eliminating color with Remove Color 242

Switching colors with Replace Color 244

Correcting with Color Curves 245

Adjusting skin tones 247

Defringing layers 249

Eliminating haze 250

Adjusting color temperature with photo filters 251

Mapping your colors 252

Adjusting Clarity 253

Removing noise, artifacts, dust, and scratches 253

Blurring when you need to 254

Sharpening for better focus 257

Opening closed eyes 260

Adjusting Facial Features 261

Reducing shake 262

Working Intelligently with the Smart Brush Tools 263

Part 4: Exploring Your Inner Artist 267

Chapter 12: Playing with Filters, Effects, Styles, and More 269

Having Fun with Filters 269

Applying filters 270

Corrective or destructive filters 271

One-step or multistep filters 271

Fading a filter 272

Selectively applying a filter 272

Working in the Filter Gallery 273

Distorting with the Liquify filter 275

Correcting Camera Distortion 277

Exploring Element’s Unique Filters 278

Creating a comic 279

Getting graphic 280

Using the Pen and Ink filter 281

Dressing Up with Photo and Text Effects 282

Adding Shadows, Glows, and More 284

Applying styles 285

Working with styles 286

Using the Graphics panel 287

Mixing It Up with Blend Modes 288

General blend modes 289

Darken blend modes 289

Lighten blend modes 291

Lighting blend modes 291

Inverter blend modes 294

HSL blend modes 294

Using Photomerge 295

Photomerge Panorama 296

Photomerge Group Shot 298

Photomerge Scene Cleaner 300

Photomerge Exposure 301

Photomerge Compose 303

Chapter 13: Drawing and Painting 307

Choosing Color 307

Working with the Color Picker 308

Dipping into the Color Swatches panel 309

Sampling with the Eyedropper tool 311

Getting Artsy with the Pencil and Brush Tools 312

Drawing with the Pencil tool 312

Painting with the Brush tool 314

Using the Impressionist Brush 316

Creating your own brush 317

Filling and Outlining Selections 319

Fill ’er up 319

Outlining with the Stroke command 320

Splashing on Color with the Paint Bucket Tool 321

Working with Multicolored Gradients 322

Applying a preset gradient 322

Customizing gradients 324

Working with Patterns 327

Applying a preset pattern 327

Creating a new pattern 328

Creating Shapes of All Sorts 329

Drawing a shape 330

Drawing multiple shapes 331

Specifying Geometry options 332

Editing shapes 333

Chapter 14: Working with Type 335

Understanding Type Basics 335

Tools 336

Modes 336

Formats 337

Creating Point Type 337

Creating Paragraph Type 339

Creating Path Type 340

Using the Text On Selection tool 340

Using the Text On Shape tool 341

Using the Text On Custom Path tool 343

Specifying Type Options 344

Editing Text 346

Simplifying Type 347

Masking with Type 348

Stylizing and Warping Type 351

Adjusting type opacity 351

Applying filters to your type 351

Painting your type with color and gradients 353

Warping your type 354

Part 5: Printing, Creating, and Sharing 355

Chapter 15: Getting It on Paper 357

Getting Pictures Ready for Printing 358

Working with Color Printer Profiles 359

Printing a photo with the printer managing color 360

Printing a photo with Elements managing color 366

Printing a picture package or contact sheet 368

Getting Familiar with the Print Dialog Box 369

Using Page Setup 371

Creating transfers, borders, and more with More Options 371

Chapter 16: Sharing Your Work 373

Getting Familiar with the Elements Sharing Options 373

Planning ahead 374

Understanding photo sharing in Elements 375

Using the Share Panel 376

Emailing photos 377

Working with Adobe Premiere Elements 379

Sharing your photos on social networks 379

Creating Facebook Cover Images 381

Chapter 17: Making Creations 385

Checking Out the Create Panel 385

Grasping Creation-Assembly Basics 386

Creating a Memories Video 390

Creating a PDF Slideshow 391

Making Additional Creations 391

Part 6: The Part of Tens 393

Chapter 18: Ten Tips for Composing Better Photos 395

Find a Focal Point 395

Use the Rule of Thirds 396

Cut the Clutter 396

Frame Your Shot 397

Employ Contrast 398

Experiment with Viewpoints 398

Use Leading Lines 399

Use Light 399

Give Direction 400

Consider Direction of Movement 401

Chapter 19: Ten (Or So) More Project Ideas 403

Screen Savers 403

Flyers, Ads, and Online Auctions 404

Clothes, Hats, and More 406

Posters 407

Household and Business Inventories 407

Project Documentation 407

School Reports and Projects 408

Blogs 408

Wait — There’s More 408

Index 409

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