Macromedia Photoshop Elements - 6.0 User Guide

ADOBE

Photoshop Elements 6

User Guide

MAC OS X

Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 6.0 User Guide for Mac OS®

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Part Number: 90085330 (02/08)

Chapter 1: Getting started

Installing Photoshop Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Using Help and getting support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

New and enhanced features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Working in Photoshop Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 2: Photoshop Elements workspace

About the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Context menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Palettes and bins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Undo, redo, and cancel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Scratch disks and plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Chapter 3: Import photos

Importing photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Cameras and card readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Local files, CDs, DVDs, and video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

iii

Chapter 4: Working with files

Opening files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Managing and organizing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Viewing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Rulers and the grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Saving and exporting images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Guided Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Chapter 5: Using layers

Creating layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Editing layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Copying and arranging layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Opacity and blending modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Adjustment and fill layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Layer groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Layer styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 6: Camera raw files

Processing camera raw image files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Settings and controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Color and camera raw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter 7: Selecting parts of an image

Making selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Modifying selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Smoothing selection edges with anti-aliasing and feathering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Moving and copying selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Saving selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 8: Color and tonal correction

Color and tonal correction basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Adjusting shadows and light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Correcting color casts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Adjusting color saturation and hue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Adjustment filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Setting press target values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Chapter 9: Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Cropping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Image size and resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Retouching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Sharpening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Transforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Chapter 10: Understanding color

Understanding color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Using image modes and color tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Setting up color management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Chapter 11: Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172

Artistic filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Blur filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Brush Stroke filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Distort filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Noise filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Pixelate filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Render filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Sketch filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Stylize filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Texture filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Video filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Other filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Chapter 12: Painting

Painting overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Choosing colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Painting tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Setting up brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Fills and strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220

Presets and libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Chapter 13: Adding text and shapes

Add and edit text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Work with Asian type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234

Creating shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Editing shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Chapter 14: Making projects

Projects overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Making photo projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Make a Photo Book, photo collage, greeting card, or other project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Editing photo projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Making digital projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Creating slide shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Stitching together panoramas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Chapter 15: Optimizing for the web

Optimizing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Using transparency and mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Dithering in web images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Previewing web images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268

Chapter 16: Printing and sharing photos

Printing photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270

Options for printing and sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Chapter 17: Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Chapter 18: Glossary

Find definitions for terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285

Digital imaging terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Chapter 1: Getting started

Adobe® Photoshop® Elementssoftware combinespower andsimplicity soyou caneasily make your photos looktheir best, share them in imaginative ways, and easily find and view all your photos.

Installing Photoshop Elements

Requirements

To review the complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® software, see the ReadMe file included with your software.

Install the software

1 Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.

2 Insert the installation disc into your DVD drive, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Note: For more information, see the ReadMe file included with your software.

Register

❖ To register, follow the on-screen instructions in the Registration dialog box, which appears after you install.

If you postpone registration, you can register at any time by choosing Help > Registration.

ReadMe file

The installation DVD contains the ReadMe file for your software. (This file is also copied to the application folder during product installation.) Open the file to read important information.

Using Help and getting support

Using Photoshop Elements Help

Photoshop Elements Help is available several ways, each one useful to you for different circumstances.

• LiveDocs Help on the web

• Help in the application

• Help PDF

• Links in the application

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User Guide

The two forms of Help that will be most useful to you are LiveDocs Help on the web and Help in the application. Help in the application is a convenient first step in getting help because it’s built into the application and does not require an Internet connection. It covers most concepts and many tasks in an abbreviated form. LiveDocs Help on the web contains in-depth coverage of all concepts and tasks and requires an Internet connection. If you want to know more about a topic in the application Help, you can jump easily to the LiveDocs Help on the web; just click “This page on the web” at the bottom of any topic.

Search tips

The search feature in Help works by searching the entire Help text for topics that contain any of the words typed in the Search For box. These tips can help you improve your search results in Help:

• If you search using a phrase, such as “shape tool,” put quotation marks around the phrase. The search returns only

those topics containing all the words in the phrase.

• Make sure that the search terms are spelled correctly.

• If a search term doesn’t yield results, try using a synonym, such as “web” instead of “Internet.”

• If you find a topic you may want to view again, bookmark it for easy access later.

Printing a topic

To print a topic from Help, use the Print command in the browser.

LiveDocs Help on the web

LiveDocs Help on the web is the most comprehensive and up-to-date version of Photoshop Elements Help. It is the

recommended choice if you have an Internet connection.

Once you arein LiveDocs for PhotoshopElements, youcan navigatefrom theside panel in any of the following ways:

• Choose a different product from the pop-up menu.

• Use the Search field to search within Photoshop Elements Help.

• Browse all topics in Photoshop Elements Help using the contents or index.

Help in the application

Help in the application provides easy accessto summarized information on common tasks and concepts.Help inthe application can be especially useful if you are new to Photoshop Elements or if you aren’t connected to the Internet.

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User Guide

To access the Photoshop Elements Help in the application, use the Command+? keys on your keyboard or choose Photoshop Elements Help from the Help menu.

If you are connected to the Internet, you can click “This page on the web” on any page in the application’s Help to go to the corresponding page in LiveDocs.

Note: If you are not connected to the Internet and you click “This page on the web,” you will get a browser error message.

Help PDF

Helpis also available asa PDFthat is optimized forprinting; justgo towww.adobe.com.Thisisthebestwaytoaccess the most comprehensive Help when you don’t have an Internet connection.

Links in the application

There are some links within Photoshop Elements (for example, in the Guided Edits section, there are “Tell me more...” links for each of the guided tasks). Clicking these links will take you to the corresponding topic in either LiveDocs Help or Help in the application.

Note: If the link in the application points to a LiveDocs page and you are not connected to the Internet, you will get a browser error.

Adobe Photoshop Elements website

Visit Adobe Photoshop Elements Training Resources; it offers tutorials, links to online resources and services, and information about instructional and inspirational books for learning the product.

Customer support

Visit the Adobe Support website at www.adobe.com/support to find troubleshooting information for your product and to learn about free and paid technical support options.

New and enhanced features

What’s new

Make your photos look their best

Count on step-by-step assistance Do you need to touch up a scratch or blemish but you’re not sure how to begin?

Photoshop Elements walks you through each editing step to make improving your photos easier than ever.

Get the perfect group shot Create amazing composites with new Photomerge® technology. Never let a frowning

mouth or a closed pair of eyes ruin a group photo again. With the new Photomerge Group Shot, you can easily combine the best facial expressions and body language from a series of shots to create a single, perfect composite.

Have fun with faces Take advantage of smooth image-blending technology to combine the eyes, noses, and other

featuresfrom different facesfor entertaining results. Try on the facial featuresof a favorite celebrity,combine yourself with your current squeeze to see what your offspring might look like, and more.

Create seamless panoramas with refined technology Easily combine horizontal or vertical panoramas using

Photomerge Panorama technology to automatically stitch together multiple photos with unprecedented results.

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User Guide

Create dramatic black-and-whites with ease Dramatically transform your color originals by converting them to

elegant, nuanced black-and-white.

Make selections in a snap Take advantage of new technology that lets you make image selections in seconds, so you

can easily adjust specific areas of a photo. Simply brush your selection, and then use sliders to make the adjustment blend perfectly with the background.

Easily isolate objects from backgrounds Quickly separate an object from its background—even in complex,

textured areas—and instantly remove rough edges.

Sharpen blurred edges Get crisper-looking photos—even removing blurring caused by low lighting conditions.

Correct lens distortion Easily correct lens distortion at photoedges and keystone effects thatexaggerate perspective.

Fine-tune exposure Get the perfect exposure with the new color curves adjustment that makes it even easier to fine-

tune color, brightness, and contrast.

Enjoy enhanced support for working with raw files Get the highest-quality results by performing non-destructive

editing on the raw image files from your digital camera. Edit raw files from a greater selection of camera models; enjoy finer control over lightingand color adjustments; and save time by applying the same set of adjustments across multiple raw images simultaneously—even see batch-applied changes as they’re made.

Do more with your photos

Start creating quickly Get step-by-step assistance for making photo projects, like scrapbook pages, cards, and

CD/DVD labels. Simply choose the type of project you’d like to create, and the appropriate tools and instructions appear at your fingertips.

Share in many ways from one convenient place Quickly andeasily share your photos ina varietyof ways—including

e-mail, Web galleries, and burning to CD.

Liven up your photo projects Use great-looking new themes and artwork to give your photo projects a professional

look.

Easily find and view photos

Enjoy improved performance Start Photoshop Elements and view and organize your photos faster than ever before.

Create projects more quickly Save time by gathering the photos you need for a specific project in one place. A

dedicated Project Bin provides easy access to all of your open photos, photo book pages, and saved albums.

Working in Photoshop Elements

Photoshop Elements overview

PhotoshopElementssoftwarecombinespowerandsimplicitysoyoucaneasilytellcreativestorieswithyourphotos. Start by importingphotos andthen refine them by makingbasic edits by following step-by-step guided editing tasks, or by using advanced editing tools. Then create printed and electronic photo projects such as scrapbook pages, slide shows, photobooks, and online interactive galleries that you can easily share with family and friends.

Importing and organizing photos

When you start Photoshop Elements, it displays a Welcome screen that provides a starting point for whatever you want to do. You can start from scratch, browse for files with Adobe Bridge, or open files from a camera or a scanner.

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User Guide

With Photoshop Elements, you can import photos from a card reader or from a folder on a hard disk. To speed import, you can set the program to start automatically when you attach your camera to your computer.

Use Adobe Bridge to manage photo files.

When working in Photoshop Elements, use Adobe Bridge to find and manage your photos and Adobe PDF documents, even if they’re stored in different locations. Adobe Bridge automatically organizes photos by date as it downloads, and you can further sort and categorize photos by adding star ratings, by stacking photos, and by assigning keyword tags to help you identify people, places, and events. You can quickly view every photo you’ve ever takenofyourdog,forexample,byclickingonyourdog’skeywordtag.Youcanalsosearchforimagesbasedondate range, caption, filename, media type, and more.

Editing photos

Photoshop Elements offers several levels of editing, from simple one-click fixes to advanced color correction and compositing. The Photoshop Elements workspace provides three editing modes: Quick Fix, Guided Edit, and Full Edit. Quick Fix offers slider controls for adjusting lighting and color and sharpening entire photos or selected areas of photos. Full Edit mode provides a complete editing toolset and controls. Here, you can adjust the exposure of specific areasof aphoto using professionaldarkroom toolssuch asdodge, burn,and sponge; fine-tuneexposure with the enhanced Brightness/Contrast control, or use Color Curves adjustments to get the perfect exposure.

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User Guide

Use the slider controls in the Quick Fix mode to quickly improve the color and lighting of a photo.

In Full Edit mode, you can also remove imperfections or unwanted elements, brush away wrinkles and flaws, and apply artistic filters and effects.

Any time you’re not sure how to proceed, switch to the Guided Edit mode, which provides step-by-step assistance on how to perform common tasks, such as rotating and straightening photos, correcting skin tone, and performing color corrections.

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User Guide

The Guided Edit mode walks you through each editing step to make improving your photos easier than ever.

You can feel free to experiment, too, because you can undo or redo multiple steps with a click.

Creating photo composites

You can also create beautiful composites, including perfect group shots and seamless panoramas, with easy-to-use tools. New photo-blending technology, called Photomerge, lets you easily combine the best facial expressions and body language from a series of group shots into one composite in which everyone looks their best. Or, you can blend features from different faces just for fun. For example, combine your facial features with those of your spouse to see what your offspring might look like. With Photomerge, you can also automatically stitch together a series of scenic photos to create smooth panoramic images.

You can use Photomerge to create composites in all three modes. Simply choose File > New, and then select one of the three Photomerge commands. Or choose one of the Photomerge commands in the Guided Edit tab.

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User Guide

Use a single tool to easily combine the best facial expressions and body language from a series of group shots to create a single composite in which everyone looks great.

Creating and sharing photo projects

After you’ve perfected your photos in Photoshop Elements, you can use them in a variety of fun projects that you can share with family and friends. For example, you can create printed photo projects, such as albums, scrapbook pages, greeting cards, CD/DVD labels and jackets, and photo collages that you can print at home or upload to an online printing service (services are not available in all areas outside the United States). Professionally designed templatesfeature color-coordinated themed layoutsfor scrapbookpages, cards,and more.In theCreate orShare tab, simply choose the type of project you’d like to create, and Photoshop Elements walks you through the process with the appropriate tools and instructions.

Make printed CD/DVD labels and jackets.

To give your projects a more personal look, you can customize the templates. Adjust layout colors to better complement your photos, for example, and add new graphical elements, text, and effects, such as drop shadows and glows. Use the Artwork palette to quickly browse hundreds of frames, themes, backgrounds, clip art, and effects to apply to your photos and photo projects.

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User Guide

Create customized photo collages with graphical elements, such as frames, drop shadows, backgrounds, and text.

You can also use your photos in digital projects, such as online photo galleries, and photo slide shows. As with print photo projects, Photoshop Elements guides you through the process of creating your digital projects. It helps you to designthepage,arrangethephotos,customizethelayout,andburntheprojecttoadiscoruploadittoanFTPserver.

Create eye-catching slide shows with captions, pan and zoom effects, transitions, narration, and music. Then send photo e-mail and share Web galleries.

Chapter 2: Photoshop Elements workspace

Use the Photoshop Elements workspace for creating, editing, and fixingyour images. You can add functionality with plug-in modules and expand system memory by using scratch disks.

Select a photo and then choose Quick Fix, Full Edit, or Guided Edit to edit it.

About the workspace

The Welcome screen

When you start Photoshop Elements, the Welcome screen opens by default. The Welcome screen is a convenient starting place, or hub, for major tasks.

Click abutton on the Welcome screen to open theworkspace. You can browse with Adobe Bridge, start from scratch, or import photos from a camera or scanner.

YoucancloseorreopentheWelcomescreenatanytimebychoosingWindow>Welcome.Ifyouprefertoomitthe WelcomescreenwhenyoustartPhotoshopElements,deselecttheShowAtStartupboxatthebottomoftheWelcome screen.

The editing workspace

There are three ways to create and edit images: Full Edit, Quick Fix, and Guided Edit. The Full Edit workspace has toolsto correct colorproblems,create specialeffects, andenhance photos.The QuickFix workspace contains simple tools for correcting color and lighting, and commands to quickly fix common problems like red-eye. If you are new to digital imaging, Quick Fix or Guided Edit is a good place to start fixing photos.

If you’ve worked with image-editing applications before, you’ll find that the Full Edit workspace provides a flexible and powerful image-correction environment. It has lighting and color-correction commands, along with tools for fixing image defects, making selections, adding text, and painting on your images. You can rearrange the Full Edit workspace to best suit your needs by moving, hiding, and showing palettes; arranging palettes in the Palette Bin; zooming inor outof the photo; scrollingto a different area ofthe document window; and creating multiple windows and views.

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User Guide

Full Edit workspace A. Menu bar B. Workspace buttons C. To ol b ox D Project Bin E. Palettes F. Palette bin G. Active image area

Menu bar Contains menusfor performingtasks. Themenus areorganized by topic.For example, theEnhance menu

contains commands for applying adjustments to an image.

Workspace buttons Moves you between the Guided Edit, Quick Fix, and Full Edit workspaces. These buttons

change according to the current workspace.

Toolbox Holds tools for editing images.

Options bar Provides options for the tool you select.

Project Bin Displays thumbnails of opened images, and lets you easily manage them.

Palettes Help you monitor and modify images.

Palette Bin Helps you organize the palettes in your work area.

Note: To view the area behind open photos, including other open applications, uncheck Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Fill Workspace Background. To fill the workspace with a gray backdrop, select the Fill Workspace Background. option.

See also

“Correct color in Quick Fix” on page 100

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Exit Photoshop Elements

1 Choose Photoshop Elements > Quit Photoshop Elements.

2 Choose whether to save any open files.

See also

“Save changes in different file formats” on page 42

Context menus

Use context menus

You can use context menus to display commands that are relevant to the active tool, selection, or palette. These menus are often another way to access the commands in the window menus.

User Guide

Control-click or right-click to open a context menu. This menu appears in the Project Bin in Full Edit.

1 Position the pointer over an image or a palette item.

Note: Not all palettes offer context menus.

2 Right-click and choose a command from the menu.

Using keyboard commands and modifier keys

Keyboard commands let you quickly execute commands without using a menu; modifier keys let you alter how a tool operates. When available, the keyboard command appears to the right of the command name in the menu.

See also

“Keys for selecting and moving objects” on page 278

“Keys for selecting tools” on page 276

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User Guide

Tools

About the toolbox

Usetools in the toolbox toselect, edit, and view images; some tools letyou paint,draw,and type. The toolbox appears ontheleftsideoftheFullEditandQuickFixworkspaces.IntheFullEditworkspace,youcanmovethetoolboxby dragging the gripper bar at the top of the box.

Youmustselectatoolinthetoolboxbeforeyoucanuseit.Onceselected,thetoolishighlightedinthetoolbox,and optional settings for the tool appear in the options bar, which is located below the shortcuts bar at the top of the workspace. Some tools in the toolbox have additional tools beneath them. These are called nested tools. A small triangleatthelowerrightofthetooliconsignalsthattherearenestedtools.Whenyouselectatool,anyadditional nested tools appear in the options bar.

Note: Youcannotdeselectatool—onceyouselectatool,itremainsselecteduntilyouselectadifferenttool.Forexample, if you’ve selected the Lasso tool, and you want to click your image without selecting anything, select the Hand tool.

You can view information about any tool in the toolbox by positioning the pointer over it. The name of the tool appears below the pointer—this is called the tool tip. You can click a link in some tool tips to see additional information about the tool.

Toolbox overview

A D F

Navigation and measuring tools

Move (V)

Zoom (Z)

Hand (H)

Eyedropper (I)

Selection tools

Rectangular Marquee (M)

Elliptical Marquee (M)

Lasso (L)

Magnetic Lasso (L) Polygonal Lasso (L)

Magic Wand ( W)

Quick Selection (A)

Selection Brush (A)

Type tools

Horizontal Type (T)

Vertical Type (T) Horizontal Type

Mask (T) Vertical Type

Mask (T)

Crop tools

Crop (C)

Cookie Cutter (Q)

Straighten (P)

Retouching tools

Red Eye Removal (Y)

Spot Healing Brush (J)

Healing Brush (J)

Clone Stamp (S)

Pattern Stamp (S)

Eraser (E)

Background Eraser (E) Magic Eraser (E)

Blur (R)

Sharpen (R) Smudge (R)

Sponge (O)

Dodge (O) Burn (O)

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Painting and drawing tools

Brush (B)

Pencil (N) Impressionist

Brush (B) Color Replacement (B)

Paint Bucket (K)

Gradient (G)

Shape tools

Rectangle (U)

Rounded Rectangle (U)

Ellipse (U) Polygon (U) Line (U) Custom Shape (U) Shape Selection (U)

User Guide

Indicates default tool * Keyboard shortcuts appear in parenthesis

Tool box Ove rv ie w

Select a tool

❖ Do one of the following:

• Click a tool in the toolbox. If there is a small triangle in a tool’s lower-right corner, hold down the mouse button

to view the hidden tools nested with the tool. Then click the tool you want to select.

• Press the tool’s keyboard shortcut. The keyboard shortcut is displayed in its tool tip. For example, you can select

the Move tool by pressing the V key.

• To open a nested tool, use the tool’s keyboard shortcut several times to cycle through all nested tools.

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User Guide

D E

Using tools A. To ol b ox B. Active tool C. Hidden tools D. To ol na me E. Tool s hortcut F. Hidden tool triangle

See also

“Keys for selecting tools” on page 276

Set tool preferences

1 Choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General.

2 Set one or more of the following options, and click OK.

• Select Show Tool Tips to show or hide tool tips.

• Select Use Shift Key For Tool Switch to cycle through a set of hidden tools by holding down the Shift key. When

this option isdeselected,you cancycle through a set of hidden tools bypressingthe shortcut key (without holding down Shift).

Set the appearance of a tool pointer

1 Choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Display & Cursors.

2 Select a setting for the Painting Cursors:

Standard Displays pointers as tool icons.

Precise Displays pointers as cross-hairs.

Note: When not in Preferences, use the Caps Lock key to toggle the appearance of the Precise cursors.

Normal Brush Tip Displays the pointers as circles at 50% of the size you specify for the brush.

Full Size Brush Tip Displays the pointers as circles at the full size you specify for the brush.

Show Crosshair In Brush Tip Displays cross-hairs in the circles when you choose either Normal Brush Tip or Full

Size Brush Tip.

3 Select a setting for Other Cursors:

Standard Displays pointers as tool icons.

Precise Displays pointers as cross-hairs.

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User Guide

Set tool options

The options bar appears below the shortcuts bar at the top of the workspace. The options bar is context sensitive— it changes as you select different tools. Some settings in the options bar are common to several tools, and some are specific to one tool.

Lasso options bar A. Tool ic on B. Active tool C. Hidden tools D. Tool options

1 Select a tool.

2 Look in the options bar to see the available options. For more information on setting options for a specific tool,

search for the tool’s name in Photoshop Elements Help.

Note: To return a tool or all tools to their default settings, click the tool icon in the options bar, then choose Reset Tool or Reset All Tools from the context menu.

See also

“Keys for selecting tools” on page 276

Set a completed operations alert

1 Choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General.

2 Select Beep When Done, and click OK.

Palettes and bins

About palettes

Palettes help you manage, monitor, and modify images. Some palettes have menus that provide additional commands and options. You can organize palettes in the workspace in many different ways. You can store palettes in the Palette Bin to keep them out of your way, but easily accessible, or you can keep frequently used palettes open in the workspace. Another option is to group palettes together or dock one palette at the bottom of another palette. Palettes are stored in the Palette Bin, which is accessible in Full Edit mode.

Note: Drag a palette out of the Palette Bin if you want to remove it from the Palette Bin and keep it open.

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User Guide

Dragging a palette

Palette menus

Some commands appear in both the palette menu and the menu bar. Other commands are exclusive to palette menus.

Only those palettes with a More button at the top have a menu. Click More to choose a command from the palette menu. The location and appearance of the More button depend on whether the palette is located in the Palette Bin or in a palette group.

Pop-up sliders within palettes

Some palettes and dialog boxes contain settings that use pop-up sliders(for example, the Opacity option in the Layers palette). If there is a triangle next to the text box, you can activate the pop-up slider by clicking the triangle. Position the pointer over the triangle next to the setting, hold down the mouse button, and drag the slider or angle radius to the desired value. Click outside the slider box or press Enter to close the slider box. To cancel changes, press Esc.

To increase or decrease values in 10% increments when the pop-up slider box is open, hold down Shift and press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key.

F G H

Different ways to enter values A. Dial B. Click to open window C. Text box D. Menu arrow E. Scrubby slider F. Check box G. Slider H Pop-up slider triangle

Work with palettes

The Palette Bin lets you store multiple palettes in a single area that you can easily configure, close, or keep open for easyandfastaccess.Bydefault,thePaletteBinappearsontherightsideoftheworkspace.Whenyouadjustpalettes, they remain as you leave them until you reset or change them.

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User Guide

A B

The Palette Bin A. Collapse or expand a palette B. Adjust palette height C. Palette menu D. Scroll to view rest of palette E. Change palette tools F. Adjust palette width G. Show or hide Palette Bin

C D

1 To adjust the Palette Bin, do any of the following:

• To adjust its height, drag the dark gray bar on the left side or dotted-line bar on the bottom.

• To adjust its width, choose to collapse, show, or hide it.

• To show or hide the bin, choose Window > Palette Bin; or click Hide or Show Palette Bin.

2 To use palettes in the Palette Bin, do any of the following:

• To remove a palette from the Palette Bin, drag the palette’s title bar out of the Palette Bin.

• To add a palette to the Palette Bin, drag the palette’s title bar into the Palette Bin. Or, click the More button in the

palette, select Place In Palette Bin When Closed, and then close the palette.

• To rearrange palettes in the Palette Bin, drag the palette’s title bar to a new location.

• To expand or collapse palettes in the Palette Bin, click the triangle next to the palette’s name.

3 To use palettes outside of the Palette Bin, do any of the following:

• To open a palette, choose the palette’s name from the Window menu.

• Tocloseapalette,choosethepalette’snamefromtheWindowmenu.OrclicktheClosebutton inthepalette’s

title bar. (This option works on palettes that you’ve opened from a menu. If you’ve dragged a palette out of a bin and click the Close button, the palette simply returns to the bin.)

• To change the size of a palette, drag any corner of the palette.

• To group palettes together (one palette with multiple tabs), drag another palette’s tab onto the body of the target

palette. A thick line appears around the body of the target palette when the pointer is over the correct area for groupingtooccur.Ifyouwanttomoveapalettetoanothergroup,dragthepalette’stabtothatgroup.Toseparate a palette from a group, drag the palette’s tab outside the group.

• To move a palette group, drag the title bar.

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User Guide

• To expand or collapse a palette or palette group, double-click the palette’s tab or title bar.

• To reset palettes to their default positions, choose Window > Reset Palette Locations.

Note: If you want palettes to always open in their default positions, choose PhotoshopElements > Preferences > General, and then deselect Save Palette Locations. The change takes effect the next time you start the application.

Work with the Palette Bin

The Palette Bin appears on the right side of the workspace. It contains a tab for each of the basic steps of photo editing: Edit, Create, and Share. You can open the Palette Bin to access the tabs, or close it to expand the workspace.

Tabs on the Palette Bin

Show or hide the Palette Bin

❖ Select Window > Show/Hide Palette Bin.

Use tools in the Edit, Create, and Share tabs

In the Palette Bin, click the Edit, Create, or Share tab.

2 Click a button for any of the tools listed on that tab.

Use the Project Bin

Located at the bottom of the edit workspaces, the Project Bin displays thumbnails of open photos. It’s useful for switching between multiple open photos in your workspace. The Project Bin has controls that let you open or close images, hide images, navigate through open images, make a specific image the frontmost, duplicatean image, rotate an image, or view file information. Because the Project Bin appears in both Full Edit and Quick Fix, you can easily bring open images into Quick Fix for editing. Multiple-page projects are highlightedby agray framearound thepage thumbnails. To show or hide the individual pages, click the right edge of the frame.

❖ Do any of the following:

• To open an image, use File > Open.

• To bring an opened image forward as the frontmost image, double-click a thumbnail.

• To rearrange photos, drag thumbnails in the Project Bin.

• To close an image, right-click a thumbnail in the Project Bin and choose Close.

• To hide an image, right-click the thumbnail and choose Minimize from the context menu.

Note: To show an image after hiding it, double-click its thumbnail in the Project Bin, or right-click the thumbnail and choose Restore from the context menu.

• To view a photo’s file information, right-click a thumbnail and choose File Info from the context menu.

• To duplicate an image, right-click a thumbnail, choose Duplicate from the context menu, and name the file.

• To rotate an image, right-click a thumbnail and choose Rotate 90˚ Left or Rotate90˚ Right fromthe context menu.

• To show filenames, right-click in the Project Bin and choose Show Filenames from the context menu.

• To open or close the Project Bin, choose Window > Project Bin.

• To manually show or hide Project Bin, click the Project Bin button.

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User Guide

Undo, redo, and cancel

Undo, redo, or cancel operations

Many operations can be undone or redone. For instance, you can restore all or part of an image to its last saved version. Available memory may limit your ability to use these options.

1 To undo or redo an operation, Choose Edit > Undo or choose Edit > Redo.

2 To cancel an operation, hold down the Esc key until the operation in progress has stopped.

Using the Undo History palette

The Undo History palette (Window > Undo History) lets you jump to any recent state of the image created during the current work session. Each time you apply a change to pixels in an image, the new state of that image is added to the Undo History palette. You don’t need to save a change in order for the change to appear in the History.

For example, if you select, paint, and rotate part of an image, each of those states is listed separately in the palette. You can then select any of the states, and the image reverts to how it looked when that change was first applied. You can then work from that state.

Actions, such as zooming and scrolling, do not affect pixels in the image and do not appear in the Undo History palette. Nor do program-wide changes, such as changes to palettes, color settings, and preferences.

The Undo History palette A. Original state B. State C. Selected state and state slider

Note the following guidelines when using the Undo History palette:

• By default, the Undo History palette lists 50 previous states. Older states are automatically deleted to free more memory

for Photoshop Elements. You can change the number of states displayed in the Undo History palette in Performance Preferences (Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Performance). The maximum number of states is 1000.

• The original state of the photo is always displayed at the top of the Undo History palette. You can always revert an

image to its original state by clicking this top state. Clicking the original state is also handy for comparing before and after versions of your editing.

• When you close and reopen the document, all states from the last working session are cleared from the palette.

• Statesareaddedtothebottomofthelist.Thatis,theoldeststateisatthetopofthelist,themostrecentoneatthe

bottom.

• Each state is listed with the name of the tool or command used to change the image.

• Selecting a state dims those below. This way you can easily see which changes will be discarded if you continue

working from the selected state.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 6.0

• Selecting a state and then changing the image eliminates all states that came after it. Likewise, deleting a state

deletes that state and those that came after it.

Revert to the last saved version

When editing a photo in Full Edit or Quick Fix, you can revert to the last saved version.

❖ Choose Edit > Revert.

Note: Revert is added as a history state in the Undo History palette and can be undone.

Revert to a previous state of an image

❖ In Full Edit, do any of the following:

• Click the name of the state in the Undo History palette.

• Drag the slider at the left of the state up or down to a different state in the Undo History palette.

• Click the Undo or Redo buttons on the shortcuts bar.

• Choose Undo or Redo from the Undo History palette menu or the Edit menu.

To set the keyboard command for Step Forward and Step Backward, choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General, and choose from the Step Back/Fwd menu.

User Guide

Delete one or more states from the Undo History palette

❖ Do one of the following:

• To delete a state, click the name of the state, and choose Delete from the Undo History palette menu. States

following the one you selected are also deleted.

• To delete the list of states from the Undo History palette, without changing the image, choose Clear Undo History

from the palette menu or choose Edit > Clear > Undo History.Clearing is useful for freeing up memory, especially if you get an alert that Photoshop Elements is low on memory.

Note: Clearing the Undo History palette cannot be undone.

Clear memory used by the clipboard and the Undo History palette

You can delete items copied to the clipboard or states in the Undo History palette to free up memory.

❖ In Full Edit, do one of the following:

• To clear memory used by the clipboard, choose Edit > Clear > Clipboard Contents.

• To clear memory used by the Undo History palette, choose Edit > Clear > Undo History or choose Clear Undo

History from the Undo History palette menu.

• To clear the memory used in both the clipboard and the Undo History palette simultaneously, choose Edit >

Clear > All.

Note: Clearing the Undo History palette or clipboard cannot be undone.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 6.0

User Guide

Restore default preferences

Preference settings control how Photoshop Elements displays images, cursors, and transparencies; saves files; uses plug-ins and scratch disks, and so on. If the application exhibits unexpected behavior, the preferences file may be damaged. You can restore all preferences to their defaults.

❖ Press and hold Option+Command+Shift immediately after Photoshop Elements begins launching. Click Yes to

delete the Adobe Photoshop Elements settings file.

A new preferences file is created the next time you start Photoshop Elements. For information on a specific preference option, search for the preference name in Help.

Redisplay disabled warning messages

In certain situations, messages containing warnings or prompts are displayed. You can disable the display of these messages by selecting the Don’t Show Again option in the message, and reset the messages you’ve disabled at a later time.

1 Choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > General.

2 Click Reset All Warning Dialogs, and click OK.

Scratch disks and plug-ins

About scratch disks

When your system does not have enough RAM to perform an operation, Photoshop Elements uses scratch disks. A scratch disk is anydrive orpartition of a drive withfree memory. Bydefault, Photoshop Elementsuses the hard drive on which the operating system is installed as its primary scratch disk.

You can change the primary scratch disk or designate a second, third, or fourth scratch disk to be used when the primary disk is full. Your primary scratch disk should be your fastest hard disk and have plenty of defragmented space available.

For best performance, use the following guidelines when assigning scratch disks:

• Scratch disks should not be on the same physical drive as Photoshop Elements or any large files you are editing.

• Scratch disks should be not be on the same physical drive as the one used for the operating system’s virtual

memory.

• Scratch disks should be on a local drive. That is, they should not be accessed over a network.

• Scratch disks should be conventional (non-removable) media.

• RAID disks/disk arrays are good choices for dedicated scratch disk volumes.

• Drives with scratch disks should be defragmented regularly. Or better yet, use an empty drive or a drive with

plenty of unused space to avoid fragmentation issues.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 6.0

User Guide

Change scratch disks

Photoshop Elements needs contiguous hard drive space to create a scratch disk. For this reason you should frequently defragment your hard drive. Adobe recommends that you use a disk tool utility to defragment your hard drive on a regular basis.

1 Choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Performance.

2 Select the desired disks from the Scratch Disks menu (you can assign up to four scratch disks), and click OK.

3 Restart Photoshop Elements for the change to take effect.

About plug-in modules

Plug-in modulesare softwareprograms developed by Adobe Systems and other software developersto add functionality to Photoshop Elements. A number of importing, exporting, and special-effects plug-ins come with your program; they are inside the Photoshop Elements Plug-ins folder. You can select an additional plug-ins folder in which toload compatibleplug-ins stored with another application. You can alsocreate ashortcut for a plug-in stored in another folder on your system. You can then add the shortcut or alias to the Plug-ins folder to use that plug-in with Photoshop Elements. Once installed, plug-in modules appear as options added to the Import or Export menu, as filters added to the Filter menu, or as file formats in the Open and Save As dialog boxes. If you install a large number of plug-ins, Photoshop Elements may not be able to list them all in their appropriate menus. If so, newly installed plug-ins appear in the Filter > Other submenu. To prevent a plug-in or folder of plug-insfrom loading, add a tilde character (~) at the beginning of the plug-in name, folder, or directory. That file (or all files in the folder) is ignored by the application when you restart it. To view information about installed plug-ins, choose Help > About Plug-In and select a plug-in from the submenu.

See also

“Plug-in filters” on page 196

Install plug-in modules

❖ Do one of the following:

• Use the plug-in installer, if provided.

• Follow the installation instructions that came with the plug-in module.

• Make sure the plug-in files are uncompressed, and then copy them to the appropriate Plug-ins folder in the

Photoshop Elements folder.

Select an additional plug-ins folder

You can select an additional plug-ins folder in which to load compatible plug-ins stored with another application.

1 Choose Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Plug-Ins.

2 In the Preferences dialog, select Additional Plug-ins Folder, select a folder from the list, and click Choose.

3 To display the contents of a folder, double-click the directory. The path to the folder appears in the preferences

window.

Note: Do not select a location inside the Plug-ins folder for Photoshop Elements.

4 Restart Photoshop Elements to load the plug-ins.

Chapter 3: Import photos

Importing photos

About getting photos

When you begin to use Photoshop Elements, you can use media files from many sources, whether a camera, scanner, CD, or a folder on your hard disk. If you simply want to start editing a photo on your hard disk, and you know its filename and location, use the File > Open command to browse to the file. To open photos from another source, use the Photo Downloader in Adobe Bridge, or use the Photoshop Elements Import option or the Welcome screen to select the image’s source.

Open a file for editing on your hard disk

❖ Choose File > Open and browse to the file.

Open a file from a device

❖ Choose File > Import, select the camera or scanner, and browse to the file.

Open a file from the Welcome screen

1 Choose Window > Welcome to open the Welcome screen.

2 Click Import From Camera or Import From Scanner to open Adobe Bridge.

Open a file from Adobe Photo Downloader

❖ Choose File > Adobe Photo Downloader to open Adobe Bridge Photo Downloader.

Guidelines for getting photos from devices

When downloading image files from a camera or a scanner, follow these guidelines:

1. Use the Adobe Photo Downloader

For some devices, you may need to install the device software on your computer before downloading files. During installation, the software may ask whether a specific program will be used to edit the images files. If asked, specify Photoshop Elements.

Some device software starts automatically when you connect and switch on the device. However, usingAdobe Photo Downloader enables you to perform a variety of functions notoffered by device software. To obtain image files with the Adobe Photo Downloader, close any device software that starts automatically.

2. Organize photos during the import process

The Adobe Photo Downloader Advanced dialog box enables you to improve and organize photos while importing them to your computer. Properly organizing photos during import makes finding and improving them later much easier and faster.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 6.0

User Guide

For example, you might have many pictures from a recent vacation stored in your digital camera. Some of the pictures are from a family reunion, and the rest are pictures of tourist attractions visited along the way. During the import process, you can divide these photos into Place and Family folders, and then name them accordingly.

Import keywords attached to photos

When you receive photos that contain keyword metadata, you can import them with the photo. You can decide whethertokeeptheattachedkeyword,renamethekeyword,ormapittooneofyourownkeywords.Ifyouimport a new keyword, it appears in the Adobe Bridge Keyword Tags palette, and you can use it to tag other photos.

Cameras and card readers

About cameras and card readers

You can download (copy) photos from cameras and card readers in several ways:

• Copy photos from your camera and import them into Photoshop Elements using the Adobe Photo Downloader.

This method is recommended because it is quick and easy, and allows you to improve and organize your photos when importing them.

• Open the Welcome screen and click the Import From Camera option.

• If your camera or card reader displays as a drive, you can open the files from there and place them directly into

Photoshop Elements.

Insomecases,youneedtoinstallthesoftwaredriverthatcamewithyourcamerabeforeyoucandownloadpictures to your computer.

Get photos from a digital camera or card reader

1 Connect your camera or card reader to your computer. (See the documentation that came with your device, if

necessary.)

2 Do either of the following:

• If theAdobe Photo Downloaderappears,choose thename of thecamera or cardreader from theGet Photos From

menu. Usually, theconnected device’s name automaticallyappears, andPhotoshop Elements automatically detects your camera.

Note: Your camera or card reader must be switched on to appear in the Get Photos From list. If the menu doesn’t display the specific device name, choose Untitled. If no option for the device is available, choose Refresh List.

• Ifthedownloaderdoesnotappear,usePhotoshopElementsFile>AdobePhotoshopDownloaderorBridgeFile>

Get Photos From Camera to open it.

3 In the Import Settings area, set the following options:

Location Specifies the folder to which images are downloaded. To change the default folder location, click Select,

and specify a new location.

Create Subfolder(s) Creates a subfolder using the format selected from the pop-up menu. If you choose Custom

Name, type a subfolder name in the box.

Rename Files Changesthefilenamesusingtheformatselectedfromthepop-upmenu.IfyouchooseCustomName,

type a filename in the box.

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