3. Welcome to
Photoshop
Elements
The
®
®
TM
We’re very excited to have an entire book dedicated to this fantastic image-editing
software aimed at consumers, particularly as it’s often overshadowed by its CC sibling.
Sharing many of the features the professional version boasts, the revised edition of The
Photoshop Elements Book explores updates to Elements 11. Discover how to edit your
images, create digital art and share your projects with the wider world. Providing you
with an in-depth guide and step-by-step tutorials to fine-tune your techniques, this book
also comes with a free disc so you can follow along and experiment with free resources.
6. PAGE 76
Contents
08 Ultimate guide
Explore all Photoshop Elements has
to ofer, from editing images, creating
projects and sharing masterpieces
PAGE 154
Techniques
Clone objects
26 Duplicate people in your photos
28 Get started
with selections
46 Sharpen your images
Remove subtle blurring
72
48 Improve exposure
Bring life back into images
with curves
74 Fix images as far as you can
Push contrast
52 Make creative
panoramas
76 Convert images to
black and white
Use the Photomerge function
Manipulate your images
30 Master selections
and masking
Create the out-of-bounds efect
32
Retouch photos
Touch up your portraits
34 Control colour of photos
Improve the colour
know Gradients
36 Get tothis essential tool
Master
Photo editing
Make one-click fixes
58 Discover auto options
the Lomo
78 Get colour limits effect
Push
80 Edit colours with
Photo Filter
Fix white-balance problems
64 Make essential
adjustments
88 Fix heavy shadows
Bring back some light
Use blend modes for this efect
effectively
44 Use brushesuse the Brush
Discover how to
with
70 Add drama Burn
Dodge and
6 The Photoshop Elements Book
From colour to monochrome
84 Perfect macro efects
Add layered macro
66 Edit portraits shots
Improve your portrait
palette to its full potential
Fake the HDR look
62 Top guided edits
Make your editing easier
40 Rescue old photos
Restore faded family photos
Master HDR toning
Adjust lighting
90 Create exposure
effects
Make a layered composition
94 Light up your
seascapes
Create some atmosphere
7. PAGE 26
PAGE 30
PAGE 36
PAGE 166
98 Improve your
landscapes
134
Adjust colour and exposure
PAGE 58
PAGE 90
Create a family portrait
Fake a painted-portrait efect
with your family snaps
100 Create the
Dragan effect
140 Create an art-deco style
Master the Mezzotint filter
104
144 Design an abstract tool
Control the Custom Shape
Get creative with this efect
Retouch for
classic effects
Create a vintage portrait efect
110
Use the Lighting
Effects filter
Add stunning lighting efects
114
Add emphasis to eyes
116
Selective colour creations
Apply a rainbow efect
Bring out the tones
Digital art
122 Create a comicbook effect
Use the Color Halftone filter
126 Use Elements for
stunning effects
Make the most of Elements
130 Smudge your way to
an oil painting
Create an oil portrait with the
Smudge tool
for abstract artwork
148 Mix tradition with digital
Paint portraits
154 Re-create Andy Warhol's work
Create instant pop art
156 Make your own
watercolour
Merge traditional art efects
160 Turn photos to sketches
Get creative with your images
162 Customise brushes
Create eye-catching art
splatter
166 Create brushes andeffects
Combine
assets
170
Apply textures
Add some texture to your shots
effects
174 Make waterblend modes
Use filters and
180 Design ancient patterns
Create some ancient designs
for use in a variety of projects
PAGE 140
Photo project
184 Create underwater
scenes
Use filters and blend modes to
create a photomontage
188 Play with Perspective
Create a miniature efect
192 Design your own
holiday postcard
Send a modern-day postcard
the digital way
a photo album
194 Build your own virtual album
Create
196 Compose a piece
mixed-media
Create a musical composition
with a variety of media
200 Create a planet
panoramic
Make a 360-degree planet
202 Compose
surreal artwork
Create a bizarre composite
206 Achieve a retro
photo effect
Send your photos back in time
with a retro efect
The Photoshop Elements Book 7
8. Photoshop Elements
The ultimate guide to
Photoshop
Elements
Explore Photoshop Elements and find
out how it can transform your photos
T
he CS6 version
of Photoshop is a
wonderful program,
packed with tools, filters
and advanced facilities
for performing an
enormously wide range
of adjustments on
your images.
However, though its
breadth and depth is
its biggest strength, it
can be rather too much
when you just want to
do some simple image
editing and create some
straightforward effects.
Sometimes, Photoshop
CS6 is a bit more than
you need.
This is where
Photoshop Elements 11
comes to the rescue. It
contains a large number
of the features that
8 The Photoshop Elements Book
make its big brother
such an impressive
piece of software, but
strips away some of the
more complex aspects,
resulting in a program
that is both sleek and
easy to use.
It’s still an extremely
powerful program
that can enable you to
produce some incredible
effects, so you’ll need to
spend some time getting
to grips with everything
that it has to offer.
Over the next few
pages, we’ve prepared an
easy-to-follow guide to
help you uncover some of
the many ways in which
Photoshop Elements 11
can help you to make the
very best of your favourite
images in no time at all.
10. Photoshop Elements
Toolbar
Access a range
of very powerful
editing tools via the
Toolbar thatÕs on
the left-hand side
of the screen. How
many tools you have
access to will vary,
depending on which
editing mode you are
using in Elements 11.
Edit mode
Within the Photo Editor interface, choose between Quick, Guided and
Expert editing modes, depending on your skill level and how in-depth the
editing will be. Each mode functions very differently.
“Select between Full
edit, Quick edit or
Guided edit depending
on skill level and intent”
Layers palette
When editing an image, you can use
the Layers palette to build up the
enhancements non-destructively. You
need to be working in Expert mode
in order to access the range of Layers
options available in Elements 11.
Photo Bin
When working in the Photo Editor,
the images youÕve opened to edit
will appear in the Photo Bin along
the bottom. This means you have
quick access to images and can
view a sequence of images easily.
Main menu
The top bar of the Photo Editor interface has the main menu options you
might need to access during editing. Advanced features include image
and canvas size adjustments, image adjustments, filters and view options.
10 The Photoshop Elements Book
11. Ultimate guide
Tool adjustment panel
Whenever you select a tool from the Toolbar,
adjust its settings by clicking on Tool Options
at the bottom of the interface. If youÕre using
the paintbrush, for example, this panel will
allow you to change brush-size settings and
strength to suit your needs.
Layout
Click on the Layout button at the
bottom of the interface in order
to change the way the images are
arranged within the Photo Editor.
This is great if youÕre looking to
replicate a specific effect across
several images.
Share mode
Click on the Share tab to explore the
many ways of sharing your shots with
family members and friends. You need
to be in the Organizer interface to
access this in Elements 11.
Create tab
Click on the Create tab to output
images into personalised keepsakes and
products. YouÕll be able to construct
and customise photo books, greeting
cards, calendars and collages. There
are extra Create options when you are
working in the Organizer interface.
The Organizer
At the bottom left of the Photo Editor, you can access the Organizer. The Photo
Editor wonÕt close down; instead the Organizer will open in a separate window.
The Photoshop Elements Book 11
12. Photoshop Elements
Edit
W
Discover how you can transform your images using
filters, frames, text and more, right in the Photo Editor
in Elements 11
hen you load up Elements 11,
you’ll see a splash screen that
enables you to choose between
the Organizer and Photo Editor.
These two main choices offer completely
different functions, but retouching your
images and adding effects is one of the first
things that you’ll want to do so we’re going
to take a look at the incredible range of
editing possibilities on offer in Elements 11.
Simply click on the Photo Editor tab to start
working on your images. Elements 11 will
load up and you can begin to edit, enhance
and add effects to your photographs.
If you want to access the Organizer
simultaneously, click on the relevant button
at the bottom of the Photo Editor interface
and you can have the two windows open up
at once.
12 The Photoshop Elements Book
To make things as straightforward and
user-friendly as possible, the Photo Editor
provides you with three separate tabs
to choose from at the top centre of the
interface; the choice you make will be
informed by the complexity of editing and
retouching that you wish to carry out.
For very basic image touch-ups, the
Quick tab is definitely the best option.
Here, you are restricted to six quick editing
tools at the left-hand side of the interface,
with just the Quick Selection Tool, Red
Eye Removal Tool, Whiten Teeth Tool,
Horizontal Type Tool, Spot Healing Brush
Tool and Crop Tool at your disposal. If you
just want to remove a few blemishes from
a family snap or make some very simple
improvements to an image, the Quick tab
will be all that you need.
The Guided tab, meanwhile, works very
differently. In this tab, the Tools palette
disappears from the left-hand side of the
interface, but there’s actually a much wider
range of options available for retouching
your images than found in the Quick tab.
The image-editing tools in the Guided
tab are divided into three subsections at
the right-hand side of the interface. As the
name implies, when you click on each of
these, Elements 11 provides a clear set of
instructions to ensure you know what each
slider and control will do, allowing you to
create some quite advanced effects with a
minimum level of difficulty.
The Touchups menu allows you to
perform a dozen different basic image
corrections, some of which, like the Crop
Photo facility and the Sharpen feature,
13. Ultimate guide
Guided edits
The Perfect Portrait feature allows
you to easily make the most of your
people photos, taking you through
the retouching process.
Use features such as Enhance Colors in Elements’ Photo Editor to
improve the appearance of colours in your images.
are fairly basic, but others are much more
in-depth and powerful, like the Perfect
Portrait feature and the Recompose option.
If you want to get creative with your
images, the Photo Effects subsection has
plenty of fun on offer. There are ten effects
to choose from, including a feature to help
create an Old Fashioned Photo, a Line
Drawing effect and the ability to add Depth
of Field, Tilt-Shift and Vignette effects.
Photo Play is the third and final
subsection, featuring four fairly advanced
effects that would otherwise be difficult to
reproduce. Out Of Bounds allows you to
create the illusion of a part of your image,
such as someone’s leg kicking a ball, coming
out of the bounds of the image. Picture
Stack allows you to present your image as
four, eight, or twelve individual tiles, similar
to a jigsaw puzzle. Pop Art allows you to
If you’re a complete beginner to
Photoshop Elements 11, use the Guided
edits section to ensure you get the
image results you want. Easy to access
via the main Photo Editor interface,
you can explore a whole range of semiautomated editing options. Elements 11
will guide you through the entire editing
process, even showing you how to
customise each effect’s result. Guided
edits are a great way to get familiar with
image editing and ensure professionallooking results.
Add impact and get creative with
your presentation by adding a frame
around the edges of your images
within the Expert editing tab.
choose from two different, Warhol-esque
Pop Art effects, while the Reflection option
allows you to create a reflection effect
completely from scratch.
If you want to take things further, visit
the Expert tab. This is similar to the main
Photoshop interface, and offers significant
levels of creative control once your imageediting confidence grows.
There is an extensive Tools palette at the
left-hand side of the interface, with four
different selection tools, six enhancing tools,
eight drawing tools and four modifying
tools. Over on the right-hand side of the
interface, there’s a Layers palette. When
combined with blending modes, this allows
you to take very extensive control over
your image adjustments, and it’s not too
difficult to get to grips with after a little bit
of experimentation.
Quick
The Quick edit tab restricts you to a
very limited range of Tools, allowing you
to make minor, simple adjustments with
a minimum of fuss.
Guided
Guided editing allows you to produce
some really great effects without even
needing to be particularly experienced
with Photoshop or even with
Photoshop Elements.
Expert
Create incredible artistic effects using the Guided
editing tab, including professional-looking treatments
such as this Pop Art look.
Not just for beginners, you can use Guided edits to
learn how to apply specific styles to a shot such as
Lomo or Orton.
Use this mode when you want to take
full creative control of your images. You
have access to the full range of Tools
and you can also make use of Layers.
The Photoshop Elements Book 13
14. Photoshop Elements
Create
T
he Create tab can be found in both
the Photo Editor section and the
Organizer section in Elements 11,
although the Organizer version features
two additional options: Instant Movie and
DVD With Menu. In both cases though,
the Create tab is designed to make it easy
for you to take your images beyond the
editing stage and incorporate them into fun,
creative and practical projects that you can
enjoy with friends and family.
As you start to explore the Create tab,
youÕll find that there are plenty of userfriendly and powerful options for each
project, enabling you to make all of the
creative decisions when it comes to page
14 The Photoshop Elements Book
Output your images to a range of fun
creative projects using the Create
section of Elements 11
design, text and image layouts without the
need to be an experienced user. You begin
by first selecting a design theme or basic
template, which you can then customise
and develop as the project progresses.
Once youÕve selected a project, you can
then start to work on it to build it up until
you have produced the desired result. You
can select the Page tab to work with the
individual pages in your project or use
the Layouts tab to select from an array
of ready-made page template designs.
The Graphics tab provides options for
backgrounds and frames, allowing you to
add artwork onto the design for creative
background effects or photo framing,
and thereÕs even an option to include
customisable text. Drag and drop is all
thatÕs required to position images within
the project that you are creating.
Traditional photo prints can also be
prepared for home printing Ð and for extra
convenience ordered via online services Ð
using the Create tab. As with everything
in Photoshop Elements 11, the Create tab
offers plenty of guidance along the way so
whether you are making a detailed photo
book or a one-page collage, youÕll be able
to do so with absolute ease. In fact, itÕs
incredible how much you can actually
achieve with the Create tab in a relatively
short space of time.
15. Ultimate guide
Creating a
photo book
A photo book is a fantastic
keepsake that can take far
less time to put together
than a photo album, full of
prints. Easy to design and
customisable in the Create
tab of Elements 11, you can
decide on page layouts, design
and text as you go. There
are plenty of starter themes
and optional book sizes you
can select from before you
begin too. To get started on
your own photo-book project,
select the Photo Book option
from the available projects in
the Create tab. You can now
follow along with us as we take
you through the basic steps
of putting together your own
personalised photo book in
Elements 11.
Create a photo book
Click on the Create button and locate the
Photo Book option from the drop-down
menu. In the dialog box select a Photo Book
style that you would like, add in the page
amount and then un-check ÔAutofill with
Selected imagesÕ.
Inside page
Using the arrows along the bottom, scroll
through to the inside pages. If text is not
available on the layout but you would like
to add some, go to the Create tab and
text then click Add Text Block and apply
anywhere on the page.
Add in text
Design your cover
You can now begin designing your cover.
Drag an image from the Project Bin up or
double-click on the space to open one from
a separate file. Drag to the space allocated.
Design layout
You can scroll through the Create tab
options and add in additional artwork to
your photo book design or alternatively
change the page layouts by selecting a
new page template from the Layouts tab.
Click on the text space to activate and
adjust the text font, size, style and
alignment within the Create tab. You can
also adjust colour here and warp text for
more creative results. Now type in your
photo book title.
Add in pages
You may need more pages than you
originally intended. To add more into your
photo book, go to Pages in the Create tab
and select the + sign to add more in.
The Photoshop Elements Book 15
16. Photoshop Elements
Share
O
ne of the joys of photography, and
indeed one of the chief reasons for
actually taking photos, is to share
the images you’ve captured with other
people, particularly family and friends to
whom the images may have a meaning.
Where once upon a time this was
largely restricted to leafing through a
family album, thanks to the development
of the internet and social networking
sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr,
there’s no longer a need to have our
photos printed before we share them.
This instant process means all of
us are sharing more images, more
16 The Photoshop Elements Book
Discover how to really enjoy your
favourite images with friends and
relatives using the Share tab in
Elements 11
frequently. To fulfil the need for this, and
to make the shoot-edit-share process a
fully integrated one, Elements 11 features
a dedicated Share tab in its interface.
Once you’ve finished making all of
your final editing tweaks, head to the
Organizer interface where you can then
simply click on the share tab to upload
your images straight to the likes of
Facebook, Flickr or Adobe Revel, Adobe’s
own cloud-based storage, editing and
browsing service.
You can also opt to share them via
an online album, separately as an email
attachment or alternatively, burn them
onto a CD or DVD. The Organizer allows
you to add in keywords and tags to your
images, which is an ideal way to keep
track of your shots as you can specify
who’s in them, where they were taken
and at what event. Portrait and groupshot images can even be tagged using
your Facebook friends’ names to save you
the trouble of having to do it separately
on the online social networking site.
Depending on how you’ve opted to
share your images, the Organizer will
take you step-by-step through the entire
upload process. To share your images
via the likes of Flickr and Facebook, you
17. Ultimate guide
will have to have already registered with
either site and set up a viable account.
You can then begin editing and adding
images directly onto your online profile
through the software. Sharing images by
email is also easy, as Elements 11 gives
you the option to either email shots
directly or embed them within an existing
email. You can adjust image sizes within
the email preferences and even opt to
create and send shots as a PDF. The
Organizer also enables you to set up a
contacts book, which will allow you to
input and then search for contacts so that
you can send shots more efficiently. The
online album-sharing option will enable
you to export images onto a Hard Disk
or alternatively share them via Showcase
online. Photoshop Showcase is a mediahosting gallery site that lets users upload
and share their images and videos directly
through Photoshop software. Once youÕve
The big share
created a profile on the site, you can send
family members and friends a link to
your online gallery and share your latest
Elements creations. Keen videographers
will also appreciate the video sharing
options within the OrganizerÕs Share
tab. Here, youÕll be able to upload and
share video files on YouTube, burn them
onto a DVD or BluRay disc, and even
upload them onto mobile phones or other
portable video playing devices.
“Share precious
moments and
memories with your
friends and family”
Share to Flickr
Keep your online portfolio up-to-date by sharing and uploading edited images
instantly onto your Flickr profile. You are able to add relevant image tags
within the Organizer.
Share to Facebook
You can share your images via your own Facebook account through the
software. Go to the Share tab, choose Facebook and then tag people/places
within the Organizer before uploading.
Email images
ItÕs easy to attach or embed images into an email
directly through Elements 11; simply follow the
on-screen instructions for correct image sizes.
Online album
Create an album that you can share online via
the Create tab. Once completed, you can upload
it to Photoshop Showcase. Alternatively, you can
export the album onto a Hard Disk, CD or DVD.
The Photoshop Elements Book 17
18. Photoshop Elements
Manage
You can sort, rate, tag and keyword your images in Elements 11
A
fter shooting hundreds or thousands
of images, it can be all too easy to
upload images onto your computer
or portable hard drive and then just leave
them there, disorganised in various folders
without being edited or even correctly
named. To help you get into the habit of
managing your workflow, the Organizer
interface in Elements 11 has been designed
to make it easy to sort, rate, tag and
keyword your shots before filing them
away. You can use the Organizer to import
images, edit down a shoot size, create an
album, create personalised photo or video
keepsakes and instantly share shots. To
save you the bother of loading up the Photo
Editor interface, the Photo Fix Options tab
allows you to make minor corrections to
photos. In fact, thereÕs so much on hand,
thereÕs now no excuse for not keeping on
top of managing your photo masterpieces.
Importing images
If you have a batch of images to edit and enhance from a
shoot, avoid opening them all in Elements 11 in one go. Unless
you have a really powerful computer, this will cause a crash.
First use the Organizer to help narrow down which shots are
worth working with. This is also a time-saving way to import
images into the software, as you wonÕt have to load them
individually. YouÕll also be able to see them all clearly in one
place; great if creating a series and you want to determine
what images work together. If youÕre only looking to edit one
or two specific shots, use the quicker File>Open process.
You can use the Elements 11 Organizer to import media
from multiple sources, whether itÕs image or video files from a
digital camera, USB, mobile phone device, CD/DVD, scanner
or even a separate hard drive and so on. By importing a batch
of images from a portable device, youÕll be asked to create
a catalogue, which you can opt to save in an existing file
location on your computer desktop or documents folder. This
will ensure your shots stay together and that the selected few
can go through to editing in Elements 11 software. If however,
you have already uploaded images onto your computer, you
can simply select to open them all with this interface to edit
without having to create a catalogue.
18 The Photoshop Elements Book
19. Ultimate guide
Keyword Tags
Keywording is an essential part of managing
your workflow and organising your images.
Once youÕve imported shots through
the Elements 11 Organizer, you can insert
relevant keywords using the Keyword Tag
menu. This will help you to file and later find
specific images on your computer. You can
keyword tag people, places, events and other
important things about the image, such as
lighting style, effects or colours. Provided all
of your keyword tags are relevant and useful
they will help you to stay organised and
make finding specific shots more efficient.
To keyword your images correctly you need
to focus on highlighting the most important
elements within the shot. If youÕve got a
portrait image for example, you can keyword
tag the name and the word ÔportraitÕ. This will
ensure the image appears in multiple portrait
searches, including those that are not name
related. The best thing about the Elements
Keyword Tag system is that it then organises
the rest for you. Searching for shots is much
easier and results can be more specific,
which makes the possibility of sharing
images instantly more of a reality.
ItÕs worth noting that the keyword tag
system is not only great for images, but you
can also use it to manage and tag video files,
audio clips, PDFs and projects.
Find images
Select the green + symbol to create a tag. In the dialogue
box, you can select a category and add in a keyword and
notes. Once you’ve created the tag you can drag the tag
icon onto any other image that the keyword applies to.
Once youÕve built up a good imagemanagement system with the use
of keywords and tags, youÕll be able
to search for and find specific shots
quite easily. Photoshop Elements
11 features a simple search-andfind function for efficiency. To find
tagged images, you can simply
enter a keyword into the search bar
or alternatively, select one of the
active key words from the lists of
Keywords and Smart Tags to bring
up the right results.
Search bar
Once Elements 11 is familiar with a face it will attempt
to use people recognition in order to tag that person in
multiple images. Simply click to confirm if it’s correct, as it
saves extra tagging time.
When searching using keywords
in the search bar, you can enter
multiple tags for more specific
results. If youÕve tagged an image
with a personÕs name and a place
that the image was captured,
you can search for both of these
elements to get more accurate
search results.
Photo Bin
You can opt to edit images through the Photo Bin by
using the drop-down menu. Click Create to construct a
project, Share to upload images online, Print to print all
of the images within the bin, and Save to group all of the
shots together in an album.
To activate an image in the Photo Bin to edit, you’ll need
to scroll through the options and double-click on a shot
to expand in the main screen.
Once youÕve imported images into the
Organizer and selected the ones to edit,
transfer them over to the Photo Editor
in Elements 11. Your shots will appear
automatically as thumbnails in the Photo
Bin along the bottom of the interface. Just
click the Photo Bin icon at the bottom left
of the interface if the panel isnÕt visible.
This is a fantastic tool if editing a series
of images as you can see how well they
work as a collection. To change the order
of your shots for a different view, simply
click and drag them into a new position.
To change your editing screen view and
activate a shot to edit, double-click on
a thumbnail in the Photo Bin, it should
then appear large on screen. You can also
action some adjustments in the Photo Bin
via the drop-down menu in the right-hand
corner. Here, you can get a view of any
images currently active in the Organizer,
print all of the Photo Bin files or save
them as an album. This is a great way to
process multiple files quickly, rather than
having to trawl through loads of images
and save them individually.
People recognition
Once youÕve tagged a person
within a portrait using a specific
name, Elements 11 will attempt
to recognise this person in other
images. Once you open a shot it will
ask you to confirm if itÕs correct.
Keyword Tags panel
Another way to find specific
photos is to click on the box next
to the relevant tag in the Keyword
Tag panel. Elements 11 will then
automatically bring up all of the
images that carry this tag.
The Photoshop Elements Book 19
20. Photoshop Elements
Gallery
Elements can help you achieve a wealth of different effects
Ð here is a roundup of some of the possibilites open to you
Filter and auto effects
Just because something is easy doesn’t mean
to say that it can’t be beautiful. The range of
automatic efects in Elements is staggering
and each one can be used to create
something to be proud of. The obvious place
to go for the auto options is the Filters menu.
In here you can access filters to get a certain
style efect or apply a set edit. You can enjoy
a wealth of options here, from inky sketch
efects through to getting creative with blur.
The Artistic range of filters are a good place to
start, as are the Render and Pixellate.
For complete beginners, pay a trip to the
Guided edits. These will let you edit photos
and apply styles with just a few clicks of the
mouse. Simply run through the steps and
enjoy results such as sepia photos or popart-inspired prints. And once you’ve made
your images, use the Share workspace to
create a presentation package or to ready
the images for print.
20 The Photoshop Elements Book
21. Ultimate guide
Paint effects
Digital painting is a fantastic way to turn your photos into something
truly special, and with Elements you can paint even if you have no natural
artistic talent. We’ve spoken about the filters, but the Smudge tool is
also worth investigating. As you brush over a photo, it pulls up the colour
information and uses it to make realistic brush strokes.
Creative layers
The Layers palette is your best friend when it comes to larger
edits, as it enables you to control elements and separate
them from others. Layer masks were introduced in Elements
10, which enables users to enjoy even more control. The layer
blend modes are great for building up collages such as the
one above.
Photo edits
Being able to transform your ordinary photos into something
to be proud of is at the heart of Elements. Each version comes
equipped with a range of powerful editing tools, allowing you
to perfect aspects such as colour, lighting and sharpness. If you
don’t feel confident, most editing tools come with Auto options.
Traditional photo effects
If you are a fan of traditional photography and want to bring some of the
style to your own images, Elements can help. There are various options
for bringing traditional efects such as depth of field or high contrast, in
addition to colour and tone edits such as monochrome. These can be
achieved through dedicated tools or through filters.
The Photoshop Elements Book 21
22. Photoshop Elements
10 improvements to
Photoshop Elements 11
Ten reasons why Photoshop Elements is better than ever
GRAPHIC NOVEL
The Graphic Novel
filter, new to version
11, gives images a
sketched effect.
There are options to
alter the mood of the
effect, depending on
the scene, by using
the Painted Gray,
Fine Detail, Hard
Edges and Twisted
Plot presets.
LOW KEY EFFECT
P
hotoshop Elements 11 has been altered; not just in the way
that it looks, but also in the effects and tools it has on offer.
Here are ten improvements to the latest version of the
beginner’s choice in photo-editing software.
QUICK, GUIDED AND EXPERT MODES
The three modes in Photoshop Elements 11 have taken
centre stage. Edit images in either Quick, Guided or Expert
mode. Quick contains a few of the basic tools for enhancing
images, Guided guides you through some great creative effects,
and Expert features the entire program.
01
A NEW LOOK
The new version has been given a grey interface, which
is different to their traditional black interface. The whole
program has been refined to make it easier to follow, and effects
can now be applied to images faster and more effectively. Icons
and text are bigger and bolder, and the on-screen options and
menus are much tidier too.
02
22 The Photoshop Elements Book
New Guided Edits, such as this
Low Key effect, provide quick
ways of putting a creative spin on
ordinary images. Low Key darkens
the background and increases
the overall mood of the image.
23. Ultimate guide
ACCURATE
SELECTIONS
The improved Refine
Edge is a blessing when
it comes to selecting
and cutting out tricky
subjects. Plus, the Smart
Radius comes with a
brush that can be used to
paint out unwanted areas
around hair and other
intricate subjects.
MAPS
It’s easy to remember where
photos were shot by using
Organizer’s new Places
feature. It uses Google Maps
and is perfect for travellers.
PEOPLE, PLACES AND EVENTS
The Organizer is where images are collated and shared.
You can categorize and tag them depending on the
people involved, where they were photographed and when they
were created. People can be grouped quickly using the simple,
icon-based approach and faces can be tagged ready for uploading
straight to social networking sites.
03
LOCATION SPECIFIC
If you’re a keen traveller and aim to capture moments as
you go, then the Places section of the Organizer will
prove invaluable. Photos and videos can be placed inside a world
map with details of their exact location. This is great for keeping
snapshots together and locating them at a later date.
04
COMIC FILTERS
For more cartoon-like image effects, there are three new
Sketch filters that can give images a range of fun
finishes, including Comic, Graphic Novel and Pen and Ink. These
are useful for imitating drawn effects, with colour, line thickness
and shading all forming part of their adjustments.
06
ONLINE ALBUM
There’s a new set of templates for printing and creating
Online Albums. This feature, specific to the Organizer,
lets you store images using a variety of layouts and creative
designs, categorised under Family, Occasions and Interactive.
07
ACTIONS
Actions are one-click solutions to creative effects. These
are new to Elements in version 11, and include borders,
resizing and cropping commands. They also include effects such
as sepia toning, faded ink and instant Polaroid.
08
SHARE VIDEOS
BETTER REFINE EDGE
Photoshop Elements 11 lets you upload videos to online
portals Vimeo and YouTube. Since every digital camera
and mobile device has video capture available, there should be no
reason why sharing these is left out of the frame.
05
GUIDED EDITS
Reflecting Photoshop CS6, the Refine Edge command
now has more options. Selections can be controlled
using the full range of adjustments and sliders, including
Decontaminate Colors, which is useful for sorting out those stray
pixels between cutouts. Smart Radius makes selecting difficult
outlines such as hair a breeze, along with the feathering,
smoothing and contrast sliders for perfecting the overall area.
09
Unique to Photoshop Elements 11 is its range of Guided
Edits. They now include four new effects: Miniature,
Vignette, Low Key and High Key. Following step-by-steps, they
only take minutes to apply, and this is one reason why Elements 11
has proved popular with artists looking for quick, fun effects.
10
The Photoshop Elements Book 23
24. PAGE 28
PAGE 52
PAGE 30
Techniques
Enhance your skills and improve your projects with these techniques
26
Clone objects
28
Get started with selections
30
Master selections and masking
32
Retouch photos
34
Control colour
36
Get to know Gradients
Duplicate people in your photos
Manipulate your images
Create the out-of-bounds efect
Touch up your portraits
Improve the colour of photos
Master this essential tool
photos
40 Rescue oldfamily photos
Restore faded
brushes
44 Usefor using theeffectively
Tips
Brush palette
46
48
24 The Photoshop Elements Book
Improve exposure
PAGE 150 into images
Bring life back
52
PAGE 26
Sharpen your images
Make creative panoramas
Remove subtle blurring
Get to grips with the Photomerge function
26. Techniques
Clone objects
Duplicate the people in your photos
using the Clone Stamp tool
C
loning is a feature that has been around since the
early versions of Elements. It is a feature that is
mainly used in retouching to remove blemishes,
freckles and wrinkles, but can be adapted for creative
purposes too. In fact, you can clone absolutely anything
onto anything, so long as the tool has the right settings in
the Tool Options bar.
Using a soft-edged brush is fundamental when you are
painting with the Clone Stamp tool, because this helps to
blend the two areas together. There are other essential
options to tick as well, such as Align, and we will cover
how you can use masks in order to create a successful
cloned subject.
“You can clone absolutely
anything onto anything,
so long as the tool has the
right settings in the
Tool Options bar”
Understand the effect
Cloning subjects across your image
Set up the tool
Select
Clone Stamp tool from
Add
layer
01 Toolbar,theyou straightSthere. Go tothe 02 a newThis enables100%toand tickthe Use Clone Stamp a clone of
or press the key for a
Keep Opacity set to
To use the tool to create
shortcut to take
Aligned.
you paint
the Tool Options bar and click on the Brush
cloned subject to any area of the image. Make 03 the subject, press Alt/Opt and click
on the part of the subject you want to clone.
preview thumbnail. Pick a soft-edged brush,
sure Sample All Layers is ticked to account for
with a diameter that is just larger than the
subject you want to clone.
26 The Photoshop Elements Book
any new layers. With this set, add a new layer
above the Background image.
Release Alt/Opt and then paint the subject
back in to a different part of the scene.
27. Clone objects
Clone options Alter the settings and combine with other Elements features
Blur distant subjects
Perspective
Aligned
No selection
The smaller cloned subject in the
distance has been given a slight
Gaussian blur (Filter>Blur). This is to
match the rest of the background
elements, which are a little blurry.
Create a new layer each time before the
brush is applied, so the cloned area can
be resized. We can use Image>Transform>
Free Transform to shrink down the
duplicate and stay in perspective.
Tick the Aligned box in the Tool
Options bar so that the Clone
Stamp tool continues to work from
where you left off. Otherwise, the
tool will reset its position.
Subjects can be cloned and
flipped around as many times
as you like. The best thing of all
is that no selection is needed
to create duplicates.
What
does it mean?
Flip subject
Retouch clone
Once your subject has been
completely cloned to the new
position, go to Image>Rotate>Flip Layer
Horizontal to mirror it. Rotate it for variation
using Image>Rotate>Free Rotate Layer and
dragging the corner points.
the
05 To smarten uplayeredges of the the
subject, add a
mask
(Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All). Now use
04
Brush tool set to black to remove the rough
edges and reveal the background around
the subject.
MODE When cloning objects,
change the Mode setting (found in
the Tool Options bar) to alter the way
they appear and interact with your
image. Overlay, for example, creates
a high-contrast effect, whereas
using Screen mode will reduce
the contrast and turns
objects into ghostlike figures.
The Photoshop Elements Book 27
28. Techniques
Get started
with selections
Streamline your selections with our overview of
tools and tricks to control and manipulate the
elements of your images
S
elections form one of the cornerstones of
Photoshop editing, and mastering the skills to neatly
isolate areas of your image opens up a host of
possibilities for creative editing. Photoshop Elements has
a number of built-in selection options ranging from the very
basic to the more complex. We’ll be looking at the more
simple options to get your selection skills up to scratch in
this tutorial.
Selection options are laid out in the Select menu
with Photoshop ofering some additional choices
to Elements that perform more complex functions.
However, Elements has some fantastic options on ofer.
The annotations walk you through the basic, need-toknow features in this menu to give you control over your
selections from modifying, inverting and saving them.
The selection tools are purpose-built and each is suited
to a particular type of selection, from the Marquee tool
that makes selections based on shapes to the Magic
Wand tool which makes automatic selections based
on colour. The software realises that freehand drawing
is inaccurate but sometimes necessary, so a host of
magnetic and smart tools assist you in tracing outlines
and selecting only the part of an image that you need.
Learning the option menus that go with each tool will
help you better control it and get the most out of its
functionality. Above all, knowing what a particular tool
was built for will enable you to select the correct one for
the correct purpose and be able to make seamless and
accurate selections, time and time again.
Tool Options Each
selection tool comes
with its own settings.
These include the
Add to Selection
command that
enables multiple
selections to be
made on the same
image. Subtract from
Selection excludes
the new area from
the current selection
and Intersect with
Selection will let
only areas in your
new selection
that intersect with
previous ones be
highlighted.
Refine Edge and
Feather This set of
commands is available
when using any selection
tool and gives you options
to change the edges
of your selection. The
Smooth slider removes
bumps along the
selection line, Feather
softens the edges in
a uniform blur and
Contract/Expand either
increases or decreases
the selection edge.
Quick mode
Marquee tool
Options for speedy edits
Shape-based selections
Photoshop Elements 11 has three edit
modes: Quick, Guided and Expert. If
youÕre new to editing and choose the
Quick mode, selection options are limited
to the Quick Selection and Selection
Brush tools. With one click the Quick
Selection tool will read pixels and guess
selection parameters depending on how
similar the pixels are to each other. The
Brush Selection tool offers more accurate
results as you control the selection
yourself. Change the brush size to suit
your selection. If you require more intuitive
tools, switch between the Guided and
Expert modes while working on an image.
Make selections based on shapes in
your image with the Marquee tool. You
can choose either the Rectangular
or Elliptical tool to make a selection
within your image. Begin at a point on
the image and drag the tool across
your target as you hold the mouse
down. Hold down the Shift key to
create a perfect square or circle with
each tool respectively. Make the
selection carefully, as you canÕt change
dimensions once the selection is
complete. This tool works best with
simple elements in an image or to
make precise and even selections.
28 The Photoshop Elements Book
29. Get started with Selections
Anti-alias and Tolerance Anti-aliased is used
with the Marquee tool and automatically smooths
out the edges of circular or elliptical shapes. Keep
the box ticked to have the function on. Tolerance
controls the degree to which the automatic
selections recognise similar or different pixels and
gives a greater degree of control when using the
automatic selection functions.
Inverse and deselect The Inverse option
enables you to choose the opposite part
of the image from the selection you’ve
made. This is useful when working with the
Marquee tool to select borders. Deselecting
is to come out of any area, and is the only
command that can do this (Ctrl/Cmd+D).
Enhance selected colour
Use Elements to balance an image
Isolating elements within an image enables you
to inject enhancements where needed without
affecting the whole of your shot. In this image the
greens, yellows and browns are dynamic but the
blues seem washed out against them. By selecting
the sky and the water, the colour can be adjusted to
marry perfectly with the rest of the image.
Magic Wand
01
Select the Magic
Wand tool and make
a selection of the water by
clicking in a dark blue area.
Zoom in to ensure you select
the right shade rather than
the surrounding pigments
such as the boat or riverbank.
Add to Selection
02
In the Magic Wand’s
Tool Options, select
Add to Selection (two
squares). With this selected,
click in the sky area to make a
second selection of those
same-coloured pixels to be
added to the first.
Enhance colour
03
Go to Enhance>
Adjust Color>Adjust
Color Curves and increase
the Midtone curve by half
the available value. The
adjustment will only be
applied to the two blue
selected areas.
Save selection Save selections for later
use by choosing Select>Save Selection,
naming your file appropriately and then
clicking OK to save. Access the saved
data via Select>Load Selection and
choosing it from the list. Your selection
will then appear on your image.
Lasso selections
Magic Wand
Freehand and magnetic options
Automatic selections by colour
The Lasso tools include the
basic Lasso, Magnetic Lasso and
Polygonal Lasso. The basic tools
enable rough freehand selections,
good for situations where precision
isn’t required. The Polygonal
tool lets you add reference
points as you draw by clicking
the mouse, which is especially
handy for drawing straight lines.
The Magnetic Lasso traces along the edges of objects with
strong colour contrast and, as with the Polygonal, you can create
reference points as you draw, pressing the Backspace key to
return to the last reference point. Finish back at your start point
or double-click to complete a selection.
A single click and the Magic Wand
makes an automatic selection
within your image based on the
colour that you clicked on. This
tool gives fairly accurate results in
images with strong, similar colours
and varying accuracy in more
complex images. To get better
results with the tool, pay attention
to the Tolerance level that appears
in the Tool Options bar when the
tool is selected. This determines
how closely the selection will match
the clicked colour. The higher the
value, the wider the colour range.
The Photoshop Elements Book 29
30. Techniques
Before
Source files available
Use the files on the
site to re-create
this: http://blog.
photoshopcreative.
co.uk/tutorial-files
Master selections and masking
Explore the potential of masking and selections by creating this out of bounds effect in
Photoshop Elements
T
he ‘out of bounds’ effect in Elements 11 is actually a Guided
Edit. This only goes so far, however, and restricts the level of
control that you have over the effect. To create our own version
of the effect, we need to look at layers more closely in Expert Mode.
With masking techniques, the water in our seascape can be made
to look like it’s spilling out of the frame, and by making a selection, a
part of the image can be made to emerge from the frame beneath
30 The Photoshop Elements Book
this. We can even expand this out of the image, to make it look as
though it’s coming right at us!
Selections can be made quickly using a number of different tools.
The first one that we use is the Polygonal Lasso tool, which draws
straight selection lines – perfect for selecting the frame. Also, since
the colour in the seascape is so vivid, we’ll remove colour from the
background to improve the composition and give it more impact.
31. Master selections and masking
Create the effect
Nine steps to out of bounds magic!
Polygonal Lasso tool
Create selection
New layer mask
01
02
03
Place image
Quickly select
Combine masks
Open ‘Digital frame.jpg’ from blog.
photoshop creative.co.uk/tutorialfiles. Enter Expert Mode. Grab the Polygonal
Lasso tool (L) then tick Anti-aliasing in the
Options panel. Set Feather to 0px.
Zoom into the image a couple of
times. Click on each corner of the
digital frame using the Polygonal Lasso tool.
Once all four lines are connected, a
selection area will appear.
Click on the Create a New Layer
button in the Layers panel, then on
the Add Layer Mask button. The selection
area will disappear once you’ve done this,
but will be stored as the layer mask.
04
05
06
Water spillage!
Control opacity
Desaturate
Go to File>Place and upload
‘Seascape.jpg’ from the resources.
Move the placed image up so in line with the
top of the digital frame image. Holding Shift,
drag the bottom-right box to enlarge it so it
fits over the image. Press Enter to apply.
07
Go Select>Deselect. Locate Eraser
tool (E) and set Size to 600px,
Opacity to 100%, choose a soft tip, and
make Foreground colour black. Paint over
the seascape layer mask to reveal spillage.
Use the Quick Selection tool (A), set
to Size: 40px and Auto-Enhance in
the Options panel, to select the part of the
groyne on the beach. Turn its layer on and
off to make sure the selection covers the
digital frame.
08
Lower Opacity of the Eraser tool to
20% and reveal the water over the
table the further out it goes. Drag Layer 1
(between the Seascape and Digital Frame
layers) onto the trash icon to remove it.
Click Add Layer Mask to apply this
selection as a new mask to the
seascape. Add the other mask by Cmd/
Ctrl+clicking on its thumbnail to reactivate it,
then pressing Cmd/Ctrl+Backspace.
Foreground colour must be black to do this.
09
Click Background layer and add
Hue/Saturation adjustment.
Reduce Saturation to -100 to remove colour
from the Digital Frame. You should be left
with just the colour groyne exiting the frame.
The Photoshop Elements Book 31
32. Techniques
The camera was set
incorrectly here,
causing the image
to be overexposed.
This harsh light has
accentuated the
woman’s lines.
BEFORE
We have applied a
colour correction
as well as using the
Clone Stamp and
Spot Healing Brush
to tame the lines
and wrinkles.
AFTER
Retouchphotos
Don’t be intimidated by the thought of retouching portraits – Elements has
a host of beginner-friendly tools that do most of the work for you
E
lements is the tool of choice for starting out with retouching. You
are given the same tools as the pros to give your own portrait shots
a desirable veneer. Before you flick past in horror, we aren’t going to
suggest you spend your life airbrushing through your family photos. Even
five-minute edits can suddenly bring a portrait to life and Elements users
will find a lot of automated options for retouching tasks. However, we
are going to look at the manual tools here and show you how easy it is to
create the maximum impact.
Common retouching tasks will focus on the face, whether it’s
smoothing out skin or doing a touch of spot or blemish removal.
Whitening the eyes or teeth is another easy edit that can really make a
“Even five-minute edits can suddenly
bring a portrait back to life”
32 The Photoshop Elements Book
diference. The most important thing to remember, though, is to keep
your edits subtle. Like it or not, wrinkles and wobbly bits give us character
and if you wade in with a virtual plastic surgeon’s knife, you won’t improve
an image. A light touch here and there is all you need for the best results.
We’re also going to be covering another Elements skill within the
‘retouching’ monicker, and that is restoring old photos. Similar skills
and tools can be transferred from something like removing wrinkles
to removing creases and tears in scanned images, so the two really go
hand in hand.
It’s also worth pointing out that some of the other tools we’ve looked
at can be called upon here. For example, if you want to whiten eyes
or teeth, use one of the selection methods we suggested and then
use the Color Curves command to target the highlights and brighten
things up. As you use Elements more and more, you’ll see these
repetitions pop up time and again.
33. Retouch photos
Useful filters
Spot Healing Brush
Final touches for better images
Remove blemishes easily
In addition to the tools mentioned below, there are
some filters than can help you make the perfect
edit. For example, old photos tend to be blighted by
noise, so a blast of the Despeckle filter (Filter>Noise)
can work wonders. If you want to soften areas to
draw attention to others, apply a very low Gaussian
blur to a selected area, or use the Blur tool from
the toolbar to paint blur on. Finally, Unsharp Mask
(Enhance>Unsharp Mask) is good for adding clarity
to important areas such as eyes.
Clone Stamp is the king of
‘patching’ up unwanted areas
but an easier option is the Spot
Healing Brush.
Pick a brush size
01
Pick a brush size that’s
slightly larger than the
area to be edited. This lets you
perform a one-click fix, and gives
you the most accurate results.
The major retouching tools
The toolbar delivers pretty much all you need
Red Eye tool Even with fancy cameras,
red eye is a really common problem
that is thankfully very easy to fx. Simply
pick the tool, place it over the ofending
area and click. If it refuses to budge, go
to Edit>Undo and use the Pupil Size
and Darken Pupil settings to make
adjustments and try again.
Spot Healing Brush
Good for smaller areas
that need fxing. Again,
you use a brush to dab
over the area that needs
fxing. Edits made with
this tool should be
made with one click.
Clone Stamp tool The mother
of all retouching tools, this allows
you to sample parts of an image
and transfer it to another part. This
is achieved using a brush. Use the
largest, softest brush you can and
transfer the sampled area using
small dabs.
Set the tool
02
There are various
options available.
Proximity Match uses pixels from
the edge as a Patch. Create
Texture uses all pixels in the
selection, while Content-Aware
will create magic replacements!
Healing Brush tool Like the Clone Stamp, this
allows you to replace areas with information from
other parts of an image. However, the Healing
Brush also matches the texture, transparency,
lighting and shading. This makes it easy to fx
complicated areas.
Use the lot
03
Achieve best results by
selecting Sample All
Layers from the Tool Options bar.
This uses information from the
whole image. To make the edit,
click on the area and Elements
will work its magic.
The Photoshop Elements Book 33
34. Techniques
Controlcolour
Being able to control colour is an essential
skill for improving images
C
olour is a vital part of any
image. If you have a photo with
weak colour, it doesn’t matter
how impressive the composition or
how sharp the detail – all anyone will
see is the flat colour.
As you should come to expect by
now, Elements has many diferent
options when it comes to adding and
editing colour and most of them are
really simple to use. For adding colour,
you will spend most of your time in
the Color Picker. This is activated by
clicking the two little colour squares
at the bottom of the toolbar. The top
square is for the foreground colour
(or the main colour) and the bottom
square is the background.
The Color Picker gives you access
to all the diferent colours you could
possibly want and selecting them is
really easy. Just click on the bar to pick
a colour and then position the little
circle over the particular hue that you
want. There are loads of other libraries
and settings you can use, but you don’t
have to go any further than clicking on a
colour to select it.
Editing colour in an image is also
easy. Elements has Auto Color options
(Enhance>Auto Color Correction).
This is pretty much the easiest edit
you can make and both flavours do a
good job of fixing problem images. But
there are plenty of alternatives if you
want to have a bit more control over
proceedings. Hue/Saturation is an
excellent choice, allowing you to alter
not only the colour of things, but also
the intensity of the colour. In a similar
vein is the Color Variations command.
This is suited to beginners in particular
because you click on preview images
to make the changes, so you always
know what the outcome will be.
The Replace Color alters a chosen
colour in your image, which can either be
a simple case of improving one colour, or
something more creative. Read on and
discover how these tools work, how you
can use them and how you can take your
first steps to conquering colour!
The Variations command
Hue/Saturation
See how your edit will look
Go wild with your colour
The Color Variations command
isn’t high on a lot of users’ lists when
it comes to altering the colour
properties of an image, which
is a shame because it’s a very
intuitive way of editing, especially
for beginners. It allows you to
target the shadows, highlights and
midtones and set what colour you
want them to be. You need to go
to Enhance>Adjust Color>Color
Variations. Once open, you see a
range of small thumbnails showing
the image with a certain colour
applied. The intensity can be
adjusted to suit and you just click
to apply.
Have fun with the Hue/Saturation
command. It works using sliders,
and enables you to alter the
colour of an entire image or
just target a specific colour to
change. You can also use the
Saturation slider to increase
or decrease the intensity of
a colour, proving particularly
useful in photo edits and also
converting to black and white.
It is very easy to overdo the
Saturation slider, though, so
always keep the Preview box
ticked to keep on top of things.
You’ll find Adjust Hue/Saturation
under Enhance>Adjust Color.
34 The Photoshop Elements Book
35. Control colour
In balance
A useful tool for adjusting hues
Chosen colour
This is the colour
you’ve picked.
The Balance command lets you easily fix colour
casts by adding complementary colour to an image.
You will need to take a trip to the Quick mode to use
the Balance slider.
The edits
01
The Balance
command
adjusts the temperature
and tint of a photo, with a
slider for each. It’s just a
case of moving the slider left or right to increase
or decrease the effect.
HSB values HSB (or
HSL) values describe
the colour in terms of
its hue (wavelength),
saturation (vividness)
and lightness.
Warm up
02
The plan is to
warm this image
up. We pushed the
Temperature slider to the
right, towards the red part
of the slider. The colours underneath each
slider will let you know what the effect is
going to look like, so pay attention!
# hex value
The same
RGB code
expressed in
hexadecimal,
used for
website design.
Pick the shade
Click here to select
the exact shade that
you want. The colour
gets more saturated
towards the right and
lighter towards the top.
Spectrum bar Choose a
hue from the spectrum here.
Rather than the real spectrum,
it represents a colour wheel,
flattened out – that’s how red
gets to be at both the end and
the beginning.
Balance out
RGB values
These describe
the colour as
quantities of
red, green and
blue light, on a
scale of 0-255.
03
Warm images
look good if the
shadows are contrasted
and therefore cool in
colour. We can do this by
moving the Tint slider to the left, which represents
the green end of the colour spectrum. This will
inject green into the image.
Replace Color
Edit skin tone
Don’t like a colour? No problem!
Retouch with Adjust Color for Skin Tone
Elements offers a quick way of
replacing one colour with another
and that is the aptly-named
Replace Color command. Found
in Enhance>Adjust Color, it works
in a similar way to the Color
Range command, in that you use
an eyedropper to click on your
image to select the colour to
edit. There is a Fuzziness slider
to control the selection and then
it’s just a case of using the Hue,
Saturation or Lightness sliders to
make the new colour that
you want to use. Thankfully the
sliders make simple work of the
whole process.
Elements makes it
really easy to adjust skin
tone to ensure the best
portraits. Open the
Enahnce>Adjust Color
menu and pick Adjust
Color for Skin Tone.
Click on the person’s
skin and Elements will
adjust the whole photo
to improve the colour.
If you need more
correction, you can use
the Tan slider to boost/
reduce warm tones
or the Blush slider to
boost/reduce redness.
The Photoshop Elements Book 35
37. Get to know gradients
Get to know
gradients
BEFORE
The Gradient tool can be extremely useful in all types
of Photoshop scenarios so take a closer look
T
he Gradient tool can be a very
exciting and underestimated
feature. You shouldn’t be shy to
use them, but if you are just use these
tips and tricks to get to know them a bit
better. They can be used in numerous
ways to achieve several effects within
your work, and when used cleverly they
can help you soften transitions from one
image or colour to another. The Gradient
tool can be used on its own to build
dynamic backgrounds and textures, and it
can also be used to create masks and
feathered edges. You can even fake depth
of field through gradient masks for a
photographic touch.
Here we’ll show off the tool in full
colour, as we teach you how to create a
rainbow using the Radial Gradient preset.
We’ve chosen a holiday snap from
Thailand for this example and you can
download that from the website,
www.photoshopcreative.co.uk, but any
image you want to jazz up with a beautiful
rainbow will work. You’ll also learn how to
use the Gradient tool to mask the cloudy
sky, so let’s jump right in and explore
some of the options.
The Gradient Editor
Use a gradient preset or load a new one
GRADIENT PRESETS
GRADIENT TYPE
Choose your gradient type
here, or double-click to
open the Gradient Editor.
Choose one of the
gradient presets or load
more via the toggle. They
all create different levels
and shading effects, so
try them all out and get
used to the many looks.
PLAY WITH VARIANTS
Adjust the colour stops to
alter your gradient precisely.
ThereÕs a lot of trial and error
here, and playing with the
variants can create different
effects and outcomes.
The Photoshop Elements Book 37
38. Techniques
Make a rainbow
Use the Gradient tool to create a simple rainbow
Make a new layer
Select the Gradient tool
01
To explore the Gradient tool, creating a rainbow is ideal practice.
Download ‘Thailand.jpg’ from our site or use your own photo. Add
a new blank layer by clicking the New Layer icon at the bottom of the
palette and call it Rainbow. This will appear above the Background.
02
Select the Gradient tool from the Toolbar, click the
drop-down arrow in the Options bar, then click the right
pointing arrow to see another menu. Pick Special Effects to see
new patterns appear.
Radial Gradient option
Russell’s Rainbow
03
Click on the Russell’s Rainbow
gradient. Hover your cursor over the
gradient thumbnail to find the correct one.
04
Click the Radial Gradient option. This
works from the starting point to the
ending point in a circular pattern and makes
the rainbow appear as an arc. It is very
important that Transparency is switched on.
Create a rainbow
05
Click from outside the canvas on the
left and drag to the right while
holding down Shift to keep the angle straight.
Let go when you are happy – this will be trial
and error. Now position the rainbow where
you want it on the image.
Expert tip
Remember
shortcuts
In the fast-paced world of
Gradient mask
06
Select the Gradient tool again, but
this time use the first gradient in the
menu as shown. With the Rainbow layer
selected, click the mask icon at the bottom
of the palette. Click down and let go when
you are happy with the angle. Have a play
and if you make a mistake or are unhappy
with the result, just press Ctrl/Cmd+Z.
38 The Photoshop Elements Book
Final touches
07
To go further and make the rainbow more
realistic, adjust two simple settings. Set the
Rainbow layer to Screen in the Blend Modes menu,
then set the Opacity to about 45%. Play with these
options until you are happy with the result.
creative design, it’s a good
idea to get to know all the
keyboard shortcuts. When
the Gradient tool is selected
(G), you can press the full
stop or period key (.) to
navigate through the gradient
styles. To Help menu contains
lists of shortcuts, or you can
find them out by looking
in menus or hovering over
tools with your cursor. You
obviously don’t have to use
shortcuts, but they do speed
things up with the tools and
techniques you use the most.
39. Get to know gradients
Custom gradients
Making a gradient from scratch is often the best way to
achieve an effect – and it’s easier than you might think
Gradients explained
The Gradient tool works by gradually blending
different colours. To do that you begin by deciding
what kind of blending effect you want – moving
from the middle or the outer edges, for example.
Choose an effect from the preset gradient fills
or create your own. These are the presets most
regularly used. Explore the options and be creative!
Linear Gradient
Gradient editor
01
Creating a gradient is often an essential trick for Photoshop users whether
it’s for graphic design or photo editing. Select the tool and tick Radial
Gradient. Click the Gradient Picker in the top menu to open the Gradient Editor.
Blends from the starting point to the ending
point in a straight line. Great for faking depth
of field in a photo or adding in a blue sky.
Radial Gradient
Works outwards from a centre point to make a
circle. Try a few different colours and see what
happens with this popular effect.
Change the colour
02
Alter the first colour of the
gradient by double-clicking
the bottom-left colour stop and
changing it to blue.
Colours fading together
03
Double-click the bottom-right colour
stop and change it to red or a colour
you like. You should now see your two
chosen colours fading together. Click OK.
Angle Gradient
Works in a counterclockwise sweep from a
starting point. Good for creating fake metal.
Add some noise to grade and texture.
Reflected Gradient
Mirrors a gradient from the start point.
Use it to Create metal bars/general metal
effects and fake reflected surfaces.
Alter the angle
04
Now click from the centre
of the canvas and drag to
the right holding Shift. Let go when
you are happy with the angle.
Finished radial gradient
05
You now have a radial gradient ready
to use! Play with more colours by
selecting a default gradient with more colour
options or play with the final effect by
adjusting the line and/or the angle.
Diamond Gradient
Creates a diamond-shape gradient from the
start point. As the name might suggest, this one’s
perfect for diamond shapes and patterns.
The Photoshop Elements Book 39
40. Techniques
Spot healing
The Spot Healing Brush tool
is a fast way to get rid of
specks – just stamp and
watch the mark leave the
image’s surface.
BEFORE
Clone Stamp tool
The Clone Stamp tool enables you to directly
place good pixels over bad ones. This is an
effective feature for those slightly larger areas.
AFTER
Dust & Scratches
Chop it up
Any spots or small marks will disappear instantly
Where the image has been permanently
using the Dust & Scratches filter. It’s found in the damaged in the corners, it’s time to cut and
Filter menu under the Noise options.
paste surrounding areas over the top.
Rescue old photos
How to edit and reduce image defects in your archived collection
I
mages of the past are not only filled with
memories but can also give an interesting
insight into what life was like back then.
From the poses they made and the clothes
people wore to the activities they got up to,
these images deserve our care and attention.
Retouching and rescuing damaged photos is
quite simple. As long as you know which tool to
40 The Photoshop Elements Book
call upon, removing marks and blemishes should
be a breeze. Signs of aging come in the form of
specks; both black and also white ones. These are
commonly seen on images or negatives that have
been scanned in. Here we show you quick ways to
remove these artefacts and defects.
But image degradation can take the shape
of other kinds of marks, such as hairline
fractures, fading and damaged corners, and
much more. When you think an image is
beyond help, however, there is always a
technique that you can use in order to
rescue it. By using just a handful of the very
best tools that Elements has to offer, we
are able to reveal their original and
flawless states.
41. Rescue old photos
Remove dust and scratches
Dust & Scratches
ElementÕs Dust &
Scratches filter works
like magic on most old
images in order to clear
up marks.
Make light work of getting rid of unsightly marks
Use the Dust & Scratches filter if your image is speckled all over
with spots and scratches. What would otherwise be an arduous task
using a tool such as the Spot Healing Brush becomes a two-minute
job, and it’s all done for you!
Radius
Your best bet
For this image the Radius
amount was set to 2px. Look
to remove the majority
(ideally all) of the spots by
increasing this slider. You may
only need a 1px Radius.
For removing lots of tiny
specks of dust in one go,
there really is no substitute
option in Elements.
Threshold
Threshold will bring back
image details that were lost
after setting the Radius
amount. A Threshold of
20px worked here. Start
at 0 and work your way
up gradually.
BEFORE
AFTER
Spot Healing Brush tool Take control of images with a dedicated tool
Tool setup
Why this tool?
01
If you want to be more accurate
when removing marks than a blanket
filter effect can be, use the Spot Healing
Brush tool. This is especially helpful for
retouching damaged pixels around people,
as details in other areas go unaffected.
02
Select the tool from the Toolbar
and go to the Options bar at the top.
If your image has a paper texture to it, tick
the Create Texture option. Otherwise, tick
Proximity Match. Zoom in by holding Ctrl/
Cmd and then tapping the + key. Open the
Navigator palette from the Window menu to
see how close you are.
Paint away marks
03
Adjust the size of the brush using
the [ and ] keys so that it’s just larger
than the size of the mark being removed.
Now it’s just a matter of clicking once over
each speck to remove it. For longer marks,
click and drag to paint over them and they
should disappear.
The Photoshop Elements Book 41
42. Techniques
Clone, copy, paste
Restore damaged corners
Sometimes the corners and edges of an old
image can end up faded or even completely
destroyed, whether that’s because of the way
they were stored or just general wear and tear
over the years. We can restore these areas,
though, and to do so we need to combine the
Clone Stamp tool with the copy and paste
commands, which will cover these with
existing parts of the image.
What
does it mean?
BEFORE AFTER
DUPLICATE LAYERS ThereÕs no
limit to how times a layer can be
duplicated. We can continually select,
copy and paste parts of the image and
transform it until the damaged area
has been covered. When using the
Polygonal Lasso, select
different areas
for variation.
Set opacity and hardness
Stamp with the tool
02
03
Click on the Clone Stamp Tool in the
toolbar. Drag the Background onto
the Create a New Layer button to duplicate
it. This preserves the original.
Keep the tool’s Opacity in the
Options bar set to 100% to create a
solid stamp of pixels on your image. Click the
brush mark icon in the Options bar and then
select a soft-edged brush. This keeps the
results nice and smooth. Set the brush size to
slightly bigger than the area you want to clone.
Polygonal Marquee tool
Copy and paste
Transform to fit
04
05
06
Pick the Clone Stamp
01
For the corners of an image that
are completely destroyed, select
the Polygonal Marquee tool from the
Toolbar. This enables us to make a selection
of an area in the image to copy and paste
over the corners.
42 The Photoshop Elements Book
Make a selection with this tool by
clicking and drawing lines over an
area of good pixels. Join the ends together
to complete the selection and then press
Ctrl/Cmd+C. Now press Ctrl/Cmd+V and
you should notice a new layer appear.
To use the Clone Stamp tool, hold
Alt/Opt and then click on a part of
your image that’s next to the damaged area.
Release Alt/Opt and click once over the
damaged pixels to replace them with your
sample. Repeat this process until the entire
area has been covered up.
This new layer contains the pasted
pixels. Use the Move tool to drag
this new patch over the damaged area.
Press Ctrl/Cmd+T to activate the Transform
command. Hold Shift and click and drag on
a corner of the area to enlarge it.
43. Rescue old photos
Merge layers
Duplicate patch
Blend new area
07
After resizing and placing the new
area, select the Eraser tool. Pick a
nice, soft brush and then paint away the
hard sides of the new section to blend it into
the image for a seamless appearance.
08
Drag the layer of this patched area
onto the Create a New Layer icon in
the Layers palette to duplicate it. Move the
area to a new position and erase any
obviously repeating pixels. By duplicating
layers and resizing them, you should end up
with a good section over the damaged area.
New layer
When you’ve selected
the subject for
sharpening, place the
area onto a new layer
by pressing Ctrl/
Cmd+J.
Quick Selection
We used the Quick Selection
tool to apply a selection to
the boy in this old image. The
Magic Wand tool is also handy
for quickly laying
down a selection.
Sharpening
You access the Unsharp
Mask feature by going to
Enhance>Unsharp Mask.
09
Each time you copy and paste a
selected area, it will be given its own
layer. Once this has been positioned and
blended in using the Eraser tool, you can
press Ctrl/Cmd+E to merge the layer with
the one below. By repeatedly merging these
areas, they’ll be included in the next
selection with the Polygonal Marquee tool.
Unsharp Mask
Reduce blurriness in an old image
Sharpening images is also an important part
of the retouching process and should be
done as the last few steps after cloning and
patching up areas. This is because if you
sharpen before you have completely cleaned
up the picture, you will end up sharpening
and enhancing the defects. With the help of
a selection over the main subject, you can
selectively apply sharpening to the image
and bring out what’s important.
“With the help of a selection…
selectively apply sharpening to
bring out what’s important”
Unsharp Mask
By setting the Amount to 114
in the filter and Radius to 1.8,
more edges are sharpened.
Depending on the size of the
subject, you’ll need to adjust
these two carefully.
The Photoshop Elements Book 43
44. Techniques
What
does it mean?
Use the slider to alter
the size of the brush.
Click this arrow to see more options and to
load or replace the current brush set.
APPEND If you’ve
selected a brush set beyond
the basics, Elements will ask
if you want to append or
replace. Appending keeps
the basic set visible,
adding the new tips
to it.
Click on the
brush preview
to access the
different brush
tips.
Use brushes effectively
Brushes crop up everywhere in Elements so it is
important to understand how they work
B
rushes are obviously linked with
digital painting, but they are also
vital to a lot of other Elements
tools. They are incredibly powerful and
thankfully enable you to create a lot of
different effects.
44 The Photoshop Elements Book
The Elements brush tips vary
dramatically. You have the choice of
simple round or square ones, all the way
up to ones that mimic the kind of
paintbrushes you’d find in an art shop.
It’s really easy to change which tip you
are using and the Brush options enables
you to control what they look like. You
can even make your own.
Here, we will show you how to select,
load and edit a brush to do whatever you
wish it to do.
45. Use brushes effectively
Select and control brushes Show the brush who is boss
Pick a brush
Make a change
01
02
The first step in picking a brush is
selecting the Brush tool from the
Toolbar. It is easy to spot – it looks like a brush!
Click the brush preview in the Tool Options
bar to select the brush you want.
You can also use the Tool Options bar
to control how a brush looks. The
setting you will use most is Size, which uses a
slider. Simply drag left to make smaller and
right to make bigger.
More options
03
You have other choices for
controlling brushes in the Tool
Options bar as well. For example, you can
pick a blend mode for the brush to work in,
set the Opacity and also pick controls for
working with a graphics tablet.
Change a brush set Pick and choose
Get to the sets
Your new brushes
Go back to before
01
02
03
With the Brush tool selected, go to the
Tool Options bar and click on the Brush
Picker. Once it opens, click the Brushes
drop-down arrow and scroll down the brush
choices. Click one to pick it.
The new brushes will appear in your
Brush Picker. Simply click on one to
pick it. If you hover over the brushes, a
descriptive name will pop up helping you to
decide exactly which to use.
If you ever get swamped in the
different brushes you have picked,
click the right-pointing arrows in the Brush
Picker and then select the Reset Brushes
option. This takes you back to the default.
Load brushes Add to the collection
Permanent fixture
Load and go
01
With your Brush tool active, click the
right arrow in the Brush Picker and
select Load Brushes.
Pick it
02
Navigate to the brush file, click it and
then press the Load button. You are
looking for an .abr file.
03
The brush (or brushes) will appear in
the Brush Picker. To make it a
permanent resident, add it to the Brush
Support Files folder, found within the
Elements Applications folder.
The Photoshop Elements Book 45
46. Techniques
Sharpen your images
Use two simple techniques in Photoshop Elements to remove subtle blurring
Blurred shot
BEFORE
✗Without sharpening,
the bird’s feathers
lack definition and the
overall image is softer
than it should be.
AFTER
After sharpening up the
image, the highlights have
much more detail and the
outline of the bird is far
more defined.
46 The Photoshop Elements Book
47. Sharpen your images
N
ot every image you take will come out
the camera pin-sharp. The chances are
that they may still come out slightly soft,
or even with blurred subjects in some cases.
This is where sharpening comes in, bringing
back essential crispness to the shot.
Photoshop Elements 10 has some of the
best tools to counteract blurring. The two
methods described here require little to no
knowledge of the software, learned skill, or
artistic aptitude.
The best way to see how sharp your image
looks is by zooming in. Zoom until you reach
100% magnification, as this shows how each
pixel appears when printed out. When taking
your photos, be aware of over-blurring images
because sometimes the blurring is too severe
and can’t be rescued.
The techniques shown here use two
diferent filters and approaches. The High Pass
filter uses an extra grey layer on top of the
photo. This layer is given a blend mode and a
touch of filter to bring details into your images.
The Unsharp Mask filter is a similar method,
but instead, the filter is applied directly on to
the image, where you can see the results
straight away. So open an image and get
cracking with these quick steps.
3 of the best
Ways to avoid blurry shots
Keep steady
Avoid camera shake and keep
your camera still by resting it on a
hard surface or by using a tripod
if you have one.
“Some images might come out soft, but
sharpening brings back crispness to the shot”
Sharpening methods Easy ways to sharpen shots
Use autofocus
Half press your shutter before you
take the shot to ensure your
camera’s autofocus has time to
lock onto the subject.
Duplicate the layer
Apply filter
The first and most important step
when using this method is to make a
copy of the image’s layer. In Elements 10,
find the Layers panel and simply drag and
drop the Background layer on to the Create
A New Layer button at the base of the panel.
01
02
Change blend mode
Unsharp method
Set variables
03
04
05
When you’re happy with the amount
of Radius in the High Pass dialog, hit
OK. The photograph will be completely grey
at this point. To apply this sharpening, go to
the Layers panel and change the Mode from
Normal to Hard Light.
To apply the High Pass filter, go to
the Filter menu at the top. Select
High Pass, which is found inside Other. The
High Pass dialog pops up, and you need to
adjust the Radius slider until you see strong
definition in the edges of subjects.
Another way to sharpen a photo is
using the Unsharp Mask option.
With a blurry image open, in Photoshop
Elements 10 go to the top of the interface
into the Enhance menu. The Unsharp Mask
is found at the bottom of this menu.
Select the focus
If your camera has them, use your
autofocus selection points to more
accurately select what the camera
focuses on.
In the Unsharp Mask dialog, tick
Preview. Set Amount to 100%,
Radius to 2.0 pixels, and Threshold to 0
levels. This gives an average amount of
sharpening for slightly-blurred images. For
extreme blurring, push the amounts further.
The Photoshop Elements Book 47
48. Techniques
Levels adjustment
The Levels adjustment
shows the balance of
exposure through your
image. Shadows are dealt
with on the left and the
highlights on the right.
Brightness/Contrast
The Brightness/Contrast
adjustment is split into two.
Brightness first, then Contrast
second. This gives a quick boost
to the overall exposure.
Shadows/
Highlights
Use Shadows/Highlights
to target specific areas
and alter exposure. The
results are more instant
than the others, but it’s
harder to work with.
Shadow areas
Adjustments can help
lighten up areas steeped in
dark shadow, such as the
grass in this image.
Improve exposure
Adjustments and masks can produce stunning changes to images
E
xposure is not easy to get right, and
even with your camera set to autopilot
it can still produce mixed results for the
final image. The term exposure is a way of
describing how much light has been captured.
For an image to looks its best, correct
exposure is key and there are a number of
ways to ensure this and create a better
balance of lighting throughout compositions.
48 The Photoshop Elements Book
Problems can quickly arise when images
have either too much light (overexposed) or
too little light (underexposed). There are even
images that can have both, which prove
difficult to adjust and turn into a normallooking shot.
The techniques we take you through in this
tutorial range from using a basic adjustment,
such as the Brightness/Contrast, to a slightly
more difficult method using multiple masks
We suggest giving all three a try and
experimenting in order to find out exactly
which one has the desired effect.
Whether you want to make the subject of a
portrait brighter or lighten up a landscape,
we’re sure there’s a technique here for you
that will put your exposure right. Take a closer
look and decide for yourself.
49. Improve exposure
Get off the ground
Start with the Brightness/Contrast adjustment
Brightness
The Brightness slider
determines how much light is
added into the image.
Contrast
The Contrast slider changes
the intensity of the light
that’s in the image.
Your first port of call for improving exposure should be
the Brightness/Contrast adjustment. Using only two
sliders, the adjustment provides the essential edits for
altering the strength of light and contrast of highlights
and shadows. It’s the easiest adjustment out of them
all, and results can be seen very quickly.
Shadows
The Contrast slider will darken
shadows. Look for the darkest part of
your image and decide on how much
detail needs to be there.
Highlights
Look to bring the highlights
in your image to a bright
white, but not bleached out.
Bring life back into images
Brightness and contrast improved in no time
Load adjustment
Adjust brightness
Boost contrast
01
02
03
Find the Brightness/Contrast
adjustment from inside the Enhance
menu under Adjust Lighitng. Usually, if an
image needs brightening up then it needs an
increase in contrast too.
The first thing to do is boost the
Brightness slider. This affects the
entire image in terms of exposure. Take this
slider up to a point where the highlights start to
lose detail, but not entirely.
With the Brightness set, you’re now
ready to increase the Contrast slider.
Start by moving this to the same value. This
gives an even balance, but it won’t do it any
harm pushing it up more for extra impact.
The Photoshop Elements Book 49
50. Techniques
Improve exposure with Levels and masks
BEFORE
The Levels adjustment is ideal for balancing lighting in your image
There is absolutely nothing stopping you from
using two or more adjustments in one image to
alter lighting. In this portrait, the background
was considerably lighter than the person in the
foreground, so its exposure needed to be
balanced. By using a mask we were able to
darken the background and lighten the person
in separate stages.
Masks and more
AFTER
Have extra control over exposure
The Quick Selection tool
01
The Quick Selection tool is available in
Elements 6 and above. Select the tool
and tick Auto-Enhance in the Options bar.
Diameter can be set to 50px to begin with.
Select the person
02
Load Levels
Adjust Levels
04
Draw over the main person or object in
your image to form a selected area. The
tool will find the edges of your subject and
wherever you draw with the tool. Lower the
Diameter value for smaller parts.
03
Load and flip selection
Levels number two
Darken background
05
06
07
To reload the selection around the
main subject, Ctrl/Cmd-click on the
layer mask of the Levels adjustment. Go to
Select>Inverse to flip the area over to the
background, ready for the next adjustment.
50 The Photoshop Elements Book
From inside the Layers palette, open up
the adjustment options. Pick on the
Levels adjustment and you should see the
selection added to the adjustment mask.
With the background now highlighted
as a selection, add another Levels
adjustment. You’ll see a new adjustment layer
with a mask but this time the white areas are
black and vice versa.
The main subject should be singled out
and the Levels adjustment can be
edited. Move the far-right marker under the
graph to brighten the subject. Move the middle
of the three to boost brightness.
Darken or lighten the background parts
of your image using the Levels
adjustment layer. If it needs darkening, slide the
far-left marker over to the right, and the middle
marker to the right too.
51. Improve exposure
AFTER
Recover
underexposure
Rescue dull photographs
Slider control
Make the edits using
the three sliders.
The Shadows/Highlights adjustment is
another one of Photoshop’s exposurecorrection features, designed to retrieve lost
details in under and overexposed parts of an
image. The adjustment works instantly to
adjust both the brightest and darkest areas.
This one’s a bit easier than the previous
method, but it’s worth trying out both to see
which works best.
Control shadows
Because there are lots of shadows across the
building as well as on the ground, this
adjustment affects all these areas in one go.
Better lighting
Dealing with difficult exposure
BEFORE
Open the command
01
To open up the Shadows/Highlights
command you need to visit
Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Shadows/Highlights.
Instant effect
02
The adjustment goes to work
straightaway on your image by giving a
default effect. Assess the effect of this on your
shot as in a lot of cases it will suffice.
Readjust shadows
Highlight control
03
04
Depending on how dark your shadows
are, boost the Lighten Shadows slider
up gradually to bring back details into the areas.
With Preview ticked you can see how the
changes will affect your image.
If the highlight areas of your image look
too bright as a result of the changes,
slide the Darken Highlights up to lower the
exposure and balance things out. This is usually
necessary to get the perfect look.
The Photoshop Elements Book 51
52. Techniques
Make creative panoramas
The Photomerge function in Elements makes generating stunning
panoramas a piece of cake
H
ow many panoramas do you
own? WeÕre guessing not very
many. For some reason, people
either forget about the format or just
donÕt think they can create one. This is
a shame, as the format enables you to
capture large scenes with the kind of
detail not possible with a single lens.
A panorama is an image created by
stitching together individual photos.
There is a bit of thinking needed at the
photo-taking stage, but if you can hold
a camera steady you can take the
necessary shots. Keep the same
settings and then start to snap while
slowly rotating. You need to keep the
camera level and ensure thereÕs
overlap on each image to be joined.
Once you have your images, open up
Elements and use the Photomerge
function. WeÕll show you how easy it is
to do and since itÕs so simple, weÕll
even make some colour adjustment to
the final image for an extra bit of pop.
52 The Photoshop Elements Book
Use Photomerge
Transform individual photos to achieve lovely panoramas
Gather your files
01
You can use images from a
designated folder, add them
individually or use those currently open.
This is our preferred method and it can be
done by dragging the images in.
Light prep work
02
The Photomerge function blends
images together but check to see if
major edits are needed. Since the images
have been dragged into the workspace, just
cycle through each one. With these we’ll
use the Crop tool to cut a bystander out.
53. Make creative panoramas
Source files available
Use the images provided
to re-create this
Original images
Enter Photomerge
03
The other photos are fine, so enter
Photomerge. Go to File>New and
you’ll see Photomerge options. The one we
want is Photomerge Panorama. Once you
select it, a new window will appear.
Panorama options
Wait and be amazed
The Photomerge window is where
you decide on the type of
panorama you want and set photos to use.
Click the Auto option, select Add Open Files,
ensure Blend Images is ticked and click OK.
05
04
Your images will be stitched
together. There will be lots of space
around the final image and you’ll be asked if
you would like Elements to fill this space. If
you prefer to use the Crop tool, just click No.
The Photoshop Elements Book 53
54. Techniques
Crop to the edges
Prepare for the edit
06
Pick the Crop tool from the toolbar and then click and drag
to draw a rough rectangle. Now release this and use the
corner anchor points to click and drag out so as much of the image
is kept as possible, while all the white space is deleted.
Getting smart
08
It was a bright day when this photo
was taken, but we want some
drama. Head over to the Smart Brush tool
from the toolbar and pick the Blue Skies
from the Nature set. Now click and drag over
the entire image with a large brush.
Brighten up
09
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+D to deselect, then
with the Smart Brush tool, pick the
Sunset brush from the Nature set. Sticking
with a large brush, click and drag over the
entire image once more.
Things are much fresher now, but we aren’t finished yet.
Deselect once more and click the New Adjustment Layer icon
in the Layers palette (the half black-and-white circle). Choose Levels,
then set the white slider to 210 and the grey to 1.11.
54 The Photoshop Elements Book
Now the basic panorama has been created. You can either
stop here or apply further edits (which is what we are going
to do). Go to the Layers palette and click the dropdown options.
Choose Merge Visible to work on just the one file.
Sunset effect
Adjust the tone
11
07
10
Deselect, pick the Brighter brush
from the Lighting set and do the
same as before, clicking and dragging across
the whole image. This pulls the image out of
the dirge realm it was in.
Final touchups
12
Take a last look at the image. You might notice areas with dark
lines – this is where an original overlap has been highlighted by
the colour tweaks. To fix this, merge layers as before, pick the Spot
Healing Brush set to Proximity Match in the Options bar and apply.
55. Make creative panoramas
Get the perfect panorama
Combine several photos into one impressive result
START THE
PANORAMA
Kick things off using the
Photomerge Panorama
option from the
File>New menu.
SMART MOVES
CROP THE EXCESS
FROM MANY TO ONE
LAYER CONTROL
The Smart Brush tool
makes it easy to add
colour and lighting tweaks
to make panoramas sing.
The final panorama will
have untidy edges. Tidy
up by using the Crop tool
to delete excess edges.
To make a panorama
you need a series of
overlapping photos, as
our example shows here.
Once the panorama is
complete, the Layers palette
holds each image so you can
make any edits.
Photomerge window
When you select the Photomerge function, you will be greeted with a
window. From here you can select the images, whether theyÕre the
currently open files or a folder of files. You also get to choose the type
of panorama you want. The Auto option will be fine most of the time,
but you can pick different finishes from the left-hand side. These show
a little preview of the effect. The bottom of the window holds three
options, the most important being Blend Images Together.
Create a manual panorama
If you revel in panoramas, you may prefer to take the manual
route. Go to File>New>Photomerge Panorama as usual but tick
Interactive Layout as your Layout option. This opens another
dialog that enables you to manually move your source files
into the right position, as well as dictate the vanishing point.
Elements will still blend between the images and once you click
OK the panorama will open as a new file.
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56. PAGE 62
PAGE 66
PAGE 72
Photo editing
Learn how to fix, edit and retouch your photos for better effects
58 Make one-click fixes
Discover auto options
88 Fix heavy shadows
Bring back some light
62 Top guided edits
Make your editing easier
90 Create exposure effects
Make a layered composition
64 Make essential
adjustments
up your seascapes
94 Light some atmosphere
Create
Use blend modes for this efect
66 Edit portraits shots
Improve your portrait
PAGE 110
drama
70 AddBurn with Dodge
and
Adjust lighting
landscapes
98 Improve your exposure
Adjust colour and
100 Create the Dragan effect
Get creative with this efect
effects
104 Retouch for classicefect
Create a vintage portrait
HDR toning
72 MasterHDR look
Fake the
the Lighting Effects
110 Usestunning lighting efects filter
Add
with curves
74 Fix images as far as you can
Push contrast
114 Add emphasis to eyes
Apply a rainbow efect
76 Convert images to
black and white
creations
116 Selective colouryour images
Bring out the best in
From colour to monochrome
the Lomo
78 Get colour limits effect
Push
80 Edit colours with
Photo Filter
Combat white-balance problems
PAGE 76
56 The Photoshop Elements Book
84 Perfect macro efects
Add layered macro
PAGE 90
58. Photo editing
COLOUR BOOST
The blues in the original
were a little reserved, but
a blast of the Color option
has sorted this out.
SHARP EDGES
The original suffered
from soft edges, which
were easily fixed with the
Sharpen option.
FINAL SWEEP
Once you have targeted
certain areas, it doesn’t
do any harm to treat the
final image to a sweep
of the Smart Fix option.
This tidies anything you
may have missed.
SEE DETAIL
The distant hills were
originally in deep shadow,
but a Levels layer has
brought detail to the fore.
Make one-click fixes
Get to know the Auto options in Elements and improve images with just a click of the mouse
W
e will always encourage that you take some time to
explore the different commands and techniques in
Elements, as they give you all you need to create
outstanding images. However, time is precious for most, so the
prospect of spending ages editing one image when you have a
whole stack to get through could often mean you leave them as
they are. Even a well-designed interface like Elements can be a
bewildering maze of menus and tools.
So, thank goodness for the Quick Edit section of the program,
where you have a complete environment in which to make all
58 The Photoshop Elements Book
the edits you need to improve most images. There are options
for tackling exposure, colour, blurriness, colour casts and tone.
Each edit automatically makes a series of corrections using
different settings, then presents you with the result of each.
What this means is that you have a kind of editing market,
where you get to browse the final images and pick the one you
want. Simply open the fix you want by clicking on the arrow next
to its title, scroll over an option to see what it looks like and then
click the one you want. This will be outlined in blue, so commit
to the edit by closing the arrow.
