Product Description

Anyone still think that Adobe Photoshop Elements is a toy version of the real thing? As the most popular photo-editing program on the market, Photoshop Elements not only has Photoshop's marvellous powers, but also has capabilities the mothership lacks. Each new version includes more tools designed specifically for today's consumer digital photo enthusiasts. The latest edition, Photoshop Elements 5, solidifies the reputation of this superb and inexpensive product with new scrapbook features, a link to online photo services, and many other improvements. In fact, there's so much to Photoshop Elements that it can be quite confusing at times. That's precisely why our "Missing Manuals" are the best-selling books on the topic. Adobe provides a pamphlet and some help files; our book, now in its fifth edition, carefully explains every feature the program has to offer (something no other book has done) by putting each one into a clear, easy-to-understand context. "Photoshop Elements 5: The Missing Manual" covers the Windows version of Adobe's workhorse and gives you the low down on a host of new features: learn to create multiple page documents, custom photo layouts with frames, and highly customized layouts for scrapbook projects; master the new editor for Layer Styles, which lets you customize individual layers in a photo; and "Attach" your photos to areas of a Yahoo! Map so your friends and family can see the pictures you took in specific places. Author Barbara Brundage also introduces you to a new sophisticated tool called "Curves" to adjust the color and contrast in your photos, and shows you how to burn multi-session CDs and DVDs. As always, she lets you know which features work well, which don't, and why - all with a bit of wit and good humor. Although the book progresses from simple to complex tasks, you can easily jump around to learn specific techniques, such as creating photomontages (composites), restoring old photos, preparing images for the Web, and archiving. More than a dozen downloadable images let you practice using the editing tools right away!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52041 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 554 pages

From the Publisher
The most popular photo-editing program on the market, Photo Elements not only has Photoshop's marvelous powers, but includes creative capabilities the mothership lacks. The latest version, Photoshop Elements X, offers new scrapbook features among many other improvements. Our Missing Manual carefully explains every feature (something no other book has done) by putting each one into a clear, easy-to-understand context -- all with a bit of wit and good humor.

About the Author
Barbara Brundage is the author of the bestselling Photoshop Elements 4: The Missing Manual, and a member of Adobe's pre-release group for Elements since version 3. She's been teaching people how to use Photoshop Elements since it first came out in 2001. Barbara first got interested in Elements for creating graphics for use in her day job as a harpist, music publisher, and arranger.

Excerpted from Photoshop Elements X: The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage. Copyright © 2005. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 4 The Quick Fix

With Elements,you can dramatically improve the appearance of a photo with just a click or two â€"even if you have no idea of what you ’re doing.The Quick Fix window gathers together easy-to-use tools that can help you adjust the brightness and color of your photos and make them look sharper.You don ’t even need to understand much about what you ’re doing.You just need to know how to click a button or slide a pointer with your mouse,and then decide whether you like the look of what you just did.

If,on the other hand,you do know what you ’re doing,you may still find yourself adjusting things like shadows and highlights in the Quick Fix window because it ’s the only place in Elements that gives you a before-and-after view as you work.

In this chapter,you ’ll learn how to use all of Elements ’Quick Fix tools.You ’ll also learn about what order to apply the fixes so you get the most out of these tools. Adobe is very focused on making Elements as easy to use as possible,so in Elements 4,they ’ve given you two new tools for making quick fixes:the Magic Selection brush and the Adjust Color for Skin Tone command.The Magic Selection brush makes it easy to use the Quick Fix commands on only part of your photograph instead of altering the whole image.Adjust Color for Skin Tone fixes the colors in your photo based on the skin tones of someone in the picture.This chapter explains how to use these new tools,too.

NOTE If an entire chapter on Quick Fix is frustratingly slow,you can start off by trying out the ultra-fast Auto Smart Fix:a quick-fix tool for the truly impatient.Page 91 tells you everything you need to know.

The Quick Fix Window

Getting to the Quick Fix window is easy.If you ’re in the Editor,go to the Shortcuts bar and click the Quick Fix button.If you ’re in the Organizer,on the Shortcuts bar, click the Edit button ’s drop-down triangle,and choose “Go to Quick Fix.”The Quick Fix window looks like a stripped-down version of the Standard Editor (see Figure 4-1).

Your tools are neatly arranged on both sides of your image:on the left side,there ’s a five-item Toolbox,and on the right side,there ’s a collection of quick-edit palettes stored inside the Control Panel.First,you ’ll take a quick look at what tools Quick Fix provides you with.Then,later in the chapter,you ’ll learn how to actually use them.

The Quick Fix Toolbox

The Toolbox holds an easy-to-navigate subset of the larger tool collection you ’ll find in the Standard Edit window.All the tools work the same way in both modes, and you can also use the same keystrokes to switch tools here.From top to bottom, the Quick Fix Toolbox holds:

•The Zoom tool lets you telescope in and out on your image so that you can get a good close look at details or pull back to see the whole photo.(See page 64 for more on how the Zoom tool works.)You can also zoom by using the Zoom pull-down menu below the image preview area.

•The Hand tool helps move your photo around in the image window â€"just like grabbing it and moving it with your own hand (page 66).

•The Magic Selection Brush tool is new in Elements 4.It lets you apply Quick Fix commands to a part of your image only.The regular Elements Selection brush is also available in Quick Fix now.To get to the Selection brush,in the Toolbox,just click and hold on the Magic Selection brush icon,or click its icon in the Options bar when the Magic Selection brush is active.The difference between the two tools is that the Selection brush lets you paint a selection exactly where you want it (or mask out part of your photo to keep it from getting changed),while the Magic Selection brush makes Elements figure out the boundaries of your selection based on your much less precise marks on the image.The Magic Selection brush is much more automatic than the regular Selection brush.

To get the most out of both these tools,you need to understand the concept of selections.Chapter 5 tells you everything you need to know about working with selections,including the details of using these brushes,on page 116.

•The Crop tool lets you change the size and shape of your photo,by cutting off the areas you don ’ t want (page 56).

•The Red Eye tool makes it a snap to fix those horrible red eyes you see in flash photos (page 89).

Customer Reviews

It really is the MISSING MANUAL.
I have B Bs previous Elements Missing Manuals (Elements 3 & 4),all are excellent guides,& this for Elements 5 is no exception.Especially as this version is in full colour.
B B does not pull her punches if she thinks Adobe has not got it quite right.Throughout the book you get the feeling that she is talking TO you...not AT you.
There is also a good backup site for extras & questions.
This should be a mandatory acquisition for all Elements 5
(would be)owners as El 5 is a considerable improvement over version 4!
If you only want one book to guide you through Elements 5
this is it.

Cover everthing and more
This book is absolute mustard, it covers everything in a clear and concise manner. Dont't waste your time looking any futher; this is by far the best instruction book I have ever pupchased. It covers every topic in depth, but still remains understandable to a 62 year old.

An essential companion for any Elements 5 user
I have bought quite a few books about Photoshop Elements over the last few years, and this is the one I can rely on to answer any question I may have about this complex piece of software. Barbara Brundage writes in a straightforward way, not talking down to the reader or trying to crack pointless jokes to jolly them along. The book follows a logical progression, is well laid out, and most-importantly has a very comprehensive index at the back.

Some books are glossier with more photographic examples, but this one explains the concepts of Photoshop Elements in a clear way and every time I look at it I discover more features of the program than I would find any other way. It does not have the worked examples with catchy titles like some instruction books (how to change your friend's hair colour, how to make a greeetings card etc), but personally I find that few of these are every really relevant to what I want to do anyway. What it does to is to use the software intelligently so that I can easily work out how to perfrom specific tasks.

This is far and away the best instruction book for Elements 5 and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who wants to move beyond the instant fix buttons in the program and explore its more complex features.