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Photoshop Elements:  editing photos

NOTE: Photoshop Elements is the "consumer" version of Adobe Photoshop, which has been used by professionals for years. The full Photoshop generally costs more thank $500 per license, while PE may be available for less than $100 (and both should be available at significant discount for educational users).

file formats

Photoshop Elements can open and save image documents in many different “formats.”  The format dictates which software programs can view or edit the saved file.  We are mainly concerned with these formats:

  1. .jpg:  JPG files are generally the best format in which to save digital photos or artwork with subtle shadings of color.  Photos in this format can be viewed by anyone and are the preferred format for the web.
  2. .gif: GIF files are the preferred type for images with large areas of flat color, such as logos, banners, text images, and cartoons. GIF also allows animation and transparency.
  3. .psd:  PSD files can ONLY be opened or edited with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.  Do not email these or put them on a website.  You may wish to save a complex, multi-layered photo file in PSD so you can edit the layers separately at a later date.  (If I’m working on a photo montage, for instance, I save one copy in PSD but also save a JPG to put on the web or email.)

rotating images

Choose Image > Rotate, and choose one of the appropriate commands from the submenu

photo size and resolution

Photo size is measured by the number of pixels in width and height.

Resolution means different things in the print and online worlds. In printing, resolution is the fineness of detail you can see in an image and is measured in dots per inch (dpi).  The more dots per inch, the greater the resolution and the better the printed image quality. In general, most modern digital cameras and scanners will default to creating high-resolution files, which is necessary to good printing.  However, you must reduce the resolution for email and web use of the photo. 
IMPORTANT!  If you think you may ever want to print your file, make sure you keep one copy of it with the original (highest) resolution.

Since computer monitors and displays are limited to between 60 and 100 pixels per inch (based on the settings and size of the screen), you are wasting disk space and your users' patience to save images at higher than 72ppi.

Saving with useful size and resolution for web and email:

  1. In Quick Fix mode, click on the Zoom tool to see the current view percentage.  This will give you an idea of whether your photo file is oversize for on-screen viewing.
  2. Try clicking “Actual Pixels” and “Fit on Screen”
  3. From the Image menu, select Resize, then Image Size
  4. First, change the resolution to 72—this is the magic number for ON-SCREEN viewing resolution.  You should notice the change in pixel size as the resolution is reduced.
  5. Change the larger of width or height to resize the photo.  As a rule of thumb, I use 200 to create a small photo and 600 for large.  You may experiment to get the viewing size you wish.
  6. Click “Actual Pixels” to view the photo as it will appear to others (if their monitors are like yours).
  7. Remember to “Save As” to keep your original, high-resolution photo for printing.

cropping

You can remove (crop) part of an image by doing the following:

  1. In the Editor, select the Crop tool
  2. Drag over the part of the image you want to keep. When you release the mouse button, the crop marquee appears as a bounding box with handles at the corners and sides.
  3. If you need to, you can adjust the crop marquee:
    • To move the marquee to another position, place the pointer inside the bounding box, and drag.
    • To scale the marquee, drag a handle. To constrain the proportions, hold down Shift as you drag a corner handle.
  4. Click the OK button in the options bar.
  5. Note: Click the Cancel button in the options bar to cancel the cropping operation.

adjusting brightness & contrast

From the Enhance menu, select Auto Contrast.

correcting red eye

  1. In the Editor or in Quick Fix, select the Red Eye Removal tool.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Click a red area of an eye.
    • Draw a selection over one red eye.
  3. When you release the mouse button, the red is removed from the eye.

Note: Red eye is caused by a reflection of the subject’s retina by the camera’s flash. You’ll see it more often when taking pictures in a darkened room because the subject’s iris is wide open.

text layer

Layers are like clear plastic sheets you can lay over your image, to add text or other images without altering the original. Note that only certain file formats (like .psd) will retain layer information. When you save your file for the web, the layers will be flattened. Be sure to keep a .psd original in case you ever need to alter the image.

  1. Select the Text tool, click on your photo and start typing. Notice that a new layer is automatically created.
  2. Using the Text tool, you can select your text and change its size, font, color, alignment, etc.
  3. Select the Move tool to change the location of your text.

selecting areas

Most of the time, you will wish to edit only certain portions of your image. Photoshop provides some complex but powerful tools for selection. For precise selection, you may need to zoom in on a section of your image.

other features to explore