A workshop covering the basics of Photoshop Elements. Green Hectares offers this content as part of an initiative to enable rural communities with technology.
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A dobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Photoshop, and Photoshop Elements are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems
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3. Welcome Screen
When Elements is first loaded, a Welcome Screen
will appear automatically on the screen.
5. Importing Images
The Organizer can be used to import photos from
almost any digital device. Photos already on a
computer can also be imported into the Organizer.
6. Importing from a Digital Camera
Connect a Digital Camera to the computer and the
Elements Photo Downloader will launch
automatically. There will be options to create a
subfolder, rename files and delete files after
import.
7. The Organizer Interface
There are two main areas to the Organizer. The
Photo Browser is the main area with
thumbnails and the Bin on the right holds the
Panels. There are also a few important
features that can be turned on from under the
V and Window Menus.
iew
9. Keyword Tags
The Keyword Tags
Panel also resides in
the Bin on the right and
is a very powerful way
to organize, sort,
categorize and find all
your photos.
10. Albums
Albums are another great way to organize
photos. They are a digital version of traditional
photo albums.
11. Finding Photos
Photos can be located many
ways inside the Organizer. A
text search can be done in
the top left Corner. Many
options are available under
the Find Menu.
12. Using the Editor
There are many powerful tools
inside the Editor available for
photo manipulation. Select any
photo in the Organizer, right
click and choose Edit with
Photoshop Elements .
14. Other Features
Undo, Redo and Organizer Button
Proj Bin and Thumbnails
ect
Elements
15. Where am I?
It can get confusing with both the Organizer and
the Editor running at the same time.
There is a coloured horizontal stripe running near
the top of each program.
Blue for the Organizer / Orange for Editor.
16. Zooming
When working on large photos it is a good
idea to zoom at times and take a look at
the pixels in more detail especially when
making corrections. Hold down A and use
LT
the scroll wheel on the mouse to zoom in
and out one step at a time.
17. Moving around
When zoomed in on a photo, moving around
can be done with the Hand Tool. The Hand
Tool is located near the top of the Tool
Panel. When using other tools hold down
the Spacebar to toggle to the Hand.
18. What Type of Edit?
The Editor has three types of Edits:
Full Edit - all the controls are manual.
Quick Edit – sliders for common fixes and
adjustments.
Guided Edit – explanations and descriptions for
common fixes.
19. Quick Fix - Lighting
The Lighting can be
adjusted through the
Highlights, the Shadows and
the Midtone Contrast. All
three can be very powerful
to help fix an underexposed
or overexposed photo.
20. Accept or Rej
ect
A slider changes need to be accepted
ny
with the checkmark or denied with the X
before other changes can be done.
21. Color and Balance
Use these sliders to create
a photo with vivid colors or
use the Saturation slider to
pull all the color out of the
photo. Use Temperature and
Tint to help counter balance
a color cast.
23. Saving a File
Elements can save a photo
out in many different formats.
.PSD is the native file format
for Elements and the most
flexible for future edits.
24. Saving Features
There are many great features to help from
saving over originals and keeping track of
different versions.
25. Sharing Photos Online
The Share Tab has many options to output
photos from the Organizer including many online
options. The Online Album is a great way to
share photos with friends and family.
26. Creating an Online Album
Creating an Online Album uses the Photoshop
Showcase to distribute a link for people to view
photos online.
Notas del editor
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Welcome to Photoshop Elements - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - *Instructor Notes will be distinguished by italics Make sure the following are installed /updated: Photoshop Elements Other Requirements Digital Camera with USB cable Internet Connection (High Speed Preferred) *You will need a graphics/digital photo background and be familiar with Photoshop ® Elements. Create a folder with 10 photos in it. These are the photos you will import into the Organizer as examples to edit and publish. This is the first of a series on using Photoshop Elements. The purpose of this workshop is help the participant become comfortable within the Elements Environment, learn to import and organize photos in the Elements Organizer, learn to do some quick fixes and changes in the Elements Editor and finish by building an Online Photo Gallery to share with others. Photoshop Elements is very powerful consumer level image-editing software that is easy to use with many of the same tools, effects and functions as the professional grade Photoshop and Photoshop Extended. Not only is Elements a great bargain to purchase but Adobe has built Elements from the ground up to be user friendly. Once comfortable inside the Elements environment, it becomes very easy to touch up photos, make tonal adjustments, apply effects and styles as well as prepare images for the web. Many complex features and skills have been streamlined to be applied in one or two clicks.
This is the place we have to decide where to start. Elements has two built-in components, the Organizer and the Editor. Each is self-running (independent) once loaded. You can have one running or both. Both is usually ideal. The Organizer is where you go to import, organize, find and keep track of all your digital photos and graphics. The Editor is where you go to edit photos and save photos out to many different file formats.
Double click on the Organizer button. This is the best place to start a Digital Photo session. Digital Photography can be an incredible blessing giving people the power to control all aspects of their photography but at the same time an incredible burden with the sheer volume of digital photo files that can collect over time. This is where the Elements Organizer will help out. Not only are you able to import your photos straight into the organizer and be able to view them via a user-friendly graphical interface but you can sort, rate, keyword tag, manage and backup your entire digital photo library from this one location. When a photo needs to be edited, an auto edit (not recommended or covered in the workshop) can be done inside the Organizer or the photo(s) can be loaded from the Organizer into the Elements Editor with the Organizer keeping track of all saved changes and versions of the file(s) along the way. * So if you need to find and edit a photo, go to the Organizer to find the photo and load it up from the Organizer in the Editor to fix it and save it out.
Create a folder on the desktop named “Elements Folder” with all the photos that are going to used in the workshop. They need to be imported into the Organizer. 1 - File Menu > Get Photos and Videos > From Files and Folders A new “Get Photos and Videos from File” Dialog Box will appear. 2 - Navigate to the Desktop > Elements Folder > and click on the GET MEDIA BUTTON (not the Open Button) All the files inside that folder will be imported into the Organizer.
*Since students will not have cameras or USB cables, it is important to demonstrate these steps for the students.
We need to get comfortable inside of the Organizer and learn about the many features available to manage all your photos. First, lets turn on some features that will be very helpful. We will access these features from the Menus at the top of the Organizer. 1 - Go to the View Menu and turn on Show File Names . This will put the File Name right under each photo icon along with the Date and Time and the Star Ranking which are already there. 2 – Go to the Window Menu and turn on both the Timeline and Properties . The Timeline gives a visual horizontal graph near the top of the Organizer displaying when each photo was shot. The Margins can be pulled in to narrow down the photos in the Photo Browser to a specific range of time or the Slider can be moved along the Timeline as well. The Properties Panel will float by default when turned on. If you click on the little double arrows that point down it will dock itself inside of the Bin.
The Properties Panel has some very important and useful information. When a photo is clicked once in the Photo Browser it will have a Blue Highlight around it. This means the photo is selected. This will load information in the Properties Panel about that specific photo. There are four tabs inside the Properties Panel. 1 - General – (Shown Above Left) Is a place to put notes, captions along with rename and rate the photo. The date and time when the photo was shot can also be changed. Another handy feature shows exactly where the photo resides on the computer and if clicked will take you there. 2 – Metadata - (Shown Above Right) Shows all the detailed (Metadata) information that ships with all photos. Things like the make of the camera, model, ISO speed, Exposure, F-Stop, etc. 3 – Keyword Tags – Displays any tags associated with the photo 4 – History – Displays a general history of the file *At this point, have the students change some general information to practice.
New Categories and Keyword Tags can be created by clicking on the Plus Sign in the top left corner of the panel. One or more selected photos can be dragged onto the Keyword Tag/Category or the Keyword Tag/Category can be dragged on one or more selected photos in the photo bin. This will apply the Tag to the photo(s). Once applied, click on the small box to the left of the Keyword Tag. Little binoculars will appear in the box. This displays only the photos with that Keyword Tag attached to them in the Photo Browser. Keywords can be very powerful when a person has a large library and takes the time apply Keyword Tags to all their photos. A library of 1000 photos can be narrowed down to 5 or 10 specific ones in just a couple of clicks. *For example, if there is a photo of Bob under a bridge in the Yukon, a Keyword Tag for Bob could be created and applied to the photo, along with a Keyword Tag for Bridges and a Keyword Tag for Yukon. That way the photo could be found three different ways in a Keyword Search. *At this point, have the students tag some photos.
Albums work very similar to Keyword Tags. Click on the Plus Sign in the top left of the panel to create a new Album. Name the Album and click done at the bottom. Now any photos can be dragged and dropped onto the Album to be added. This creates a link to the photo, but it does not copy or move the photo. If an Album is clicked, the Photo Browser will only show pictures from that Album. If the Album is clicked again the Photo Browser will go back to the previous view. Photo Albums are another nice way to organize and sort photos. Photos can be added or deleted from the Album at any time. * There are also Smart Albums - covered in another course. Removing a photo from an Album does not remove it from your Photo Library.
*Walk through a few different searches with the class to practice finding photos.
Select a photo that needs to be edited and right click on the thumbnail. Choose Edit in Photoshop Elements . This will load the photo into the Editor.
Your photo will most likely open in the Editor in Full Edit mode. On the Left is the Tool Panel which contains all the main tools used in Elements , things like the Zoom Tool, Hand Tool, Selection Tools, Type tool, Crop Tool, Brushes, Erasers and many others. At the Bottom is the Project Bin which shows a thumbnail of all files that are currently open in the Editor. Double click on a thumbnail to bring the photo into use. On the right is the Panel Bin which holds the Effects Panel , Layers Panel and others. Many other panels are available under the Window Menu.
The top right corner has Undo and Redo Buttons. You can go back multiple steps in the Editor. There is also a button to get back to the Organizer. The Arrange Button will adjust the way open windows are displayed in the Editor. Consolidate All in the Top Left corner will maximize the current file window and tab the rest of any open file windows. There are horizontal views and vertical views as well as Float All in Windows .
*There are other features like Create and Share which carry their own Color Identity .
*At this point, explain pixels. There are many ways to zoom and move around inside of Elements . ( Control + ) zooms in one step ( Control – ) zooms out one step There is also a zoom tool in the Tool Panel.
With the Hand Tool selected, click and hold the left mouse button down and move the mouse. The Hand will grab the picture so it can be moved around. Holding down the Spacebar toggles from whatever tool is in use to the Hand Tool . When done moving the photo, release the spacebar and the previous tool will be selected again. * This works for all tools except the Type Tool .
There will be three editing options. 1 – Full Edit – This is a edit with full manual controls. * More will be covered in higher levels 2 – Quick Edit – This is an area with a bunch of sliders for quick color adjustments, tonal adjustments and other tasks. 3 – Guided Edit – This is where Elements helps walk the user through some of the different adjustments and fixes while giving descriptions and directions. This is a great way to learn how to use many of the features inside the Editor.
Spend a couple minutes adjusting the lighting with the sliders. Adjust the sliders anywhere from zero to 100. There is also an auto feature. This is nice to try and see how Elements tries to fix the photo.
Accepted changes can still be undone after the fact with the Reset Button just above the top right corner of the photo or using the Undo Button . ( Control Z ) is the shortcut for Undo.
Saturation adds or subtracts color from the photo. Pulling the Saturation slider all the way to the left will turn the photo to Black and White. Hue will shift the color of the pixels in the photo. Temperature and Tint also help adjust color. Adjusting these sliders can also help counter balance any color casts created from the wrong white balance in a photo.
Image > Resize > Image Size Resizing depends on the output of the photo. If the photo is going to the web, it is going to be smaller in physical size and usually have a lower resolution ( 72 ppi ). *Example on the Right* If a photo is going to print is should be bigger and have a higher resolution ( 150 – 300 ppi ). *Example on the Left* Resolution is measured in PPI or Pixels per Inch. A photo that fits 300 pixels into every inch is going to have much more detail than a photo that fits only 72 pixels in every inch. Turn on Resampling to adjust the photo in pixels for the web. Choose one of the Resampling methods depending on the situation. The Width and Height are constrained by default so if one changes, the other changes with it. Click OK when done. - - - - - - - - - - - *Resize one photo for Print and resize one photo for web with the class.
Lets save our file now. File > Save as .PSD is a native Photoshop file and will save all layers, styles, effects, typography, filters and adjustment layers with the file for future use. This is the most flexible format for future alterations but is very large in file size. .JPEG is the format most digital cameras capture photos. This format compresses photos very well for the web and is the most universal of the formats. Files can be saved from 1 – 120% quality
Include in Elements Organizer puts the photo into the Organizer so it is easy to track. This feature is checked on by default and very useful. Save in Version Set with Original will put all versions of a file in a Stack in the Organizer with the Original. This is checked on by default and if a very useful feature. Elements always names the new version of a file - the original name with edited-1 added to the end so the original is not saved over. This is a very powerful and nice safety feature. Decide on a name change if any, choose a file format and click Save .
Galleries can be private or public and the Online Gallery has open access to all guests. No Sign up required. It is a great way to share photos and creations for free online. Once invitations are sent out, they can be tracked also. Switch back to the Organizer.
1 - Click on the Share Tab. 2 - Click on Online Album. 3 – Create New Album and choose Share to: Photoshop Showcase 4 – Give the Album a name 5 – Drag photos from the Organizer into the Content window 6 – Choose a template 7 – Sign up – It’s Free * Be familiar with these steps. The handouts have an area to record User Name and Password for future reference. 8 – Create a contact list 9 – Send out the Invite * Have the Students email the Gallery to themselves and each other so that they can see what it looks like online . 10 – View online
