User manual ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS

©2001 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe® Photoshop® Elements User Guide for Windows® and Macintosh If this guide is distributed with software that includes an end user agreement, this guide, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. Except as permitted by any such license, no part of this guide may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Please note that the content in this guide is protected under copyright law even if it is not distributed with software that includes an end user license agreement. The content of this guide is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in the informational content contained in this guide. Please remember that existing artwork or images that you may want to include in your project may be protected under copyright law. The unauthorized incorporation of such material into your new work could be a violation of the rights of the copyright owner. Please be sure to obtain any permission required from the copyright owner. Any references to company names in sample templates are for demonstration purposes only and are not intended to refer to any actual organization. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Acrobat Reader, Adobe Dimensions, Adobe Gamma, Illustrator, InDesign, Minion, Myriad, PageMaker, Photomerge, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, PostScript, and Streamline are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Apple, AppleTalk, ColorSync, LaserWriter, Mac, Macintosh, and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the United States and other countries. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks used under license. Kodak and Photo CD are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company. The Proximity/Merriam-Webster Inc./Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc. Database © 1990/1994 Merriam-Webster Inc./Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc., © 1994 All Rights Reserved. Proximity Technology Inc. The Proximity/Merriam-Webster Inc./Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Second Ed. C: "Copyright (C) 1987-1992 Numerical Recipes Software" Contains an implementation of the LZW algorithm licensed under U.S Patent 4,558,302. Portions copyright 1984-1998 FairCom Corporation. "FairCom" and "c-tree Plus" are trademarks of FairCom Corporation and are registered in the United States and other countries. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95110, USA Notice to U.S. Government End Users. The Software and Documentation are "Commercial Items," as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of "Commercial Computer Software" and "Commercial Computer Software Documentation," as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202, as applicable. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §§227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S. Government end users (a) only as Commercial Items and (b) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein. Unpublished-rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States. 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Part Number: 90030139 (03/01) iii Contents Installing and Learning Adobe Photoshop Elements Registration ............................................ 1 .................. 1 ................... 1 Installing Adobe Photoshop Elements Learning Adobe Photoshop Elements Using Web resources Customer support ................................... 3 ...................................... 4 ............... 7 ................ 9 Overview Digital Photography: Capture and Correct Digital Photography: Explore and Create Easy to Use and Affordable Web Tools Explore Your Creativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Produce Outstanding Results Looking at the Work Area Chapter 1 Getting familiar with the work area Viewing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . . 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Getting the most out of Photoshop Elements Correcting mistakes Working with presets Reverting to any state of an image Configuring Photoshop Elements Closing files and quitting Getting Images into Photoshop Elements Chapter 2 About bitmap images and vector graphics About image size and resolution Scanning images Changing image size and resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Importing images from a digital camera Importing images using WIA (Windows Image Acquisition) Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Creating new images Placing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Opening and importing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 iv Working with Color Chapter 3 About color and computer graphics Using color management Calibrating your monitor Describing color Choosing a color mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 . . . . . . . . . . 74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Choosing foreground and background colors Using the Adobe Color Picker Using other color pickers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Making Color and Tonal Corrections Chapter 4 About correcting images Adjusting tonal range Adjusting color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Checking scan quality and tonal range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Applying special color effects to images Sharpening images Selecting Chapter 5 About selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 . . . . 110 Making pixel selections Adjusting pixel selections Softening the edges of a selection Deleting selections Moving, copying, and pasting selections and layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Transforming and Retouching Chapter 6 Cropping images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 . . . . . . . 118 Changing the size of the work canvas Using the Liquify filter Creating panoramic images using Photomerge Rotating and straightening images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Transforming layers, selections, and shapes Transforming objects in three dimensions Retouching an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 v Painting and Drawing Chapter 7 About painting and drawing Using the painting tools Erasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 . . . . . . . . . 147 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Using the impressionist brush tool Customizing brush libraries Using the gradient tools Using the paint bucket tool Drawing shapes Editing shapes Setting options for painting and editing tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Filling and stroking selections and layers Creating and editing patterns Using Layers Chapter 8 About layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Using the Layers palette Creating a layered image Managing layered images Using layer styles Editing layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Specifying opacity and blending options Creating grouped layers Using adjustment layers and fill layers Applying Filters and Effects Chapter 9 Using filters Using effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Tips for applying special filter effects Improving performance with filters Choosing a filter effect Artistic filters Blur filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Brush Stroke filters Distort filters Liquify filter Noise filter vi Pixelate filters Render filters Sharpen filters Sketch filters Stylize filters Texture filters Video filters Other filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Lighting Effects filter About plug-in filters Using Type Chapter 10 About type Creating type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Working with type layers Formatting characters Setting options for Asian type Optimizing Images for the Web Chapter 11 About optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Using the Save For Web dialog box Optimizing images Choosing a file format for optimization Making transparent and matted images Previewing and controlling dithering Creating animated GIFs Saving optimized images Previewing an image in a browser Creating Web photo galleries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Saving Images Chapter 12 About file formats Saving images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Saving images in specific formats Adding file information Setting preferences for saving files Using the Batch command Creating multiple-image layouts vii Printing Chapter 13 Printing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Positioning and scaling images Setting output options Printing part of an image Choosing a print encoding method Printing over the Web Using color management when printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 1 Installing and Learning Adobe Photoshop Elements elcome to the Adobe® Photoshop® Elements application, an easy-to-use yet powerful image-editing, photoretouching, and Web-graphics solution. Adobe Photoshop Elements software offers robust features designed specifically for amateur photographers, hobbyists, and business users who want to create professional-quality images for print and the Web. W Installing Adobe Photoshop Elements You must install the Photoshop Elements application from the Adobe Photoshop Elements CD onto your hard drive; you cannot run the program from the CD. Follow the on-screen installation instructions. For more detailed information, see the How_to_Install.wri (Windows®) or How_to_Install.txt (Mac® OS) file on the CD. Registration Adobe is confident you will find that its software greatly increases your productivity and enables you to explore your creativity. So that Adobe can continue to provide you with the highest quality software, offer technical support, and inform you about new Photoshop Elements software developments, please register your application. When you first start the Adobe Photoshop Elements application, you're prompted to register online. You can choose to submit the form directly or fax a printed copy. You can also register by filling out and returning the registration card included with your software package. Learning Adobe Photoshop Elements Adobe provides a variety of options for you to learn Photoshop Elements, including a printed user guide, online Help, Hints, Recipes, tutorials, and tool tips. You can also use the free Adobe Online service to easily access a host of continually updated Web resources for learning Photoshop Elements, from tips and tutorials to technical support information. Adobe Acrobat® ReaderTM software, included on the Photoshop Elements CD, lets you view Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Acrobat Reader or Acrobat is required to view some of the documents included on this CD. 2 Installing and Learning Adobe Photoshop Elements Using the printed documentation A printed user guide, Adobe Photoshop Elements User Guide, is included with the application. The user guide assumes you have a working knowledge of your computer and its operating conventions, including how to use a mouse and standard menus and commands. It also assumes you know how to open, save, and close files. For help with any of these techniques, please see your Microsoft Windows or Mac OS documentation. To start online Help: Do one of the following: · Choose Help > Help Contents. · (Windows) Press F1. Note: To properly view online Help topics, you must open them in Photoshop Elements. Using Hints, Recipes, and tutorials Photoshop Elements provides Hints, Recipes, and tutorials to help you learn the application quickly and work knowledgeably. The Hints palette automatically displays an illustration of and brief description about any palette or tool your mouse pointer is on. The Recipes palette guides you through typical image-editing tasks such as removing red-eye in photos, adding effects to text, and adding GIF animations. Tutorials are available through the Help system and use included sample files to take you step-bystep through the basics of working with layers, animated GIFs, and merging photos. It is a good idea to work through the layers tutorial in particular, since understanding layers is an important step in understanding Photoshop Elements tools and techniques. Using online Help The Adobe Photoshop Elements application includes complete documentation in an accessible HTML-based help system.The help system includes all of the information in the Adobe Photoshop Elements User Guide. It contains essential information on using all of the Photoshop Elements commands, features, and tools, as well as tutorials, keyboard shortcuts, and full-color illustrations. The accessible HTML format provides easy navigation online, as well as easy reading using Web browsers. The file can also be printed out from the HTML version or from an included PDF version to provide a handy desktop reference. To properly view online Help topics, you need Netscape Communicator 4.X or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, 5.0, or 5.5. Using context-sensitive menus Context-sensitive menus display options for tools and palettes, and change depending on the item you've currently selected. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 3 User Guide To display context menus: Using Adobe Online Adobe Online provides access to the latest products and features that expand your application's power, including professional services from Adobe and our partners. Bookmarks are also included to take you quickly to noteworthy Adobe and Photoshop Elements-related sites. Through Adobe Online, you'll find the following information about how to use and update Photoshop Elements: · Step-by-step tutorials. · Quick tips that provide fast answers to common problems. · Updates, patches, and plug-ins. · Photoshop Elements Top Issues containing the latest Photoshop Elements technical support solutions. · Technical guides. · A searchable database of answers to technical questions. · Links to user forums. 1 Position the pointer over an image or palette item. 2 Click with the right mouse button (Windows) or hold down Control and press the mouse button (Mac OS). If no context-sensitive menu appears, no menu is available for that tool or palette. Using tool tips The tool tips feature lets you display the name of tools, buttons, or controls. To identify a tool, button, or control: Position the pointer over a tool, button, or control, and pause. A tool tip appears showing the name and keyboard shortcut (if any) for the item. Note: Tool tips are not available in most dialog boxes. Using Web resources If you have an Internet connection and a Web browser installed on your system, you can access additional resources for learning Photoshop Elements, located on the Adobe Systems Web site on the World Wide Web. These resources are continually updated. To access the Adobe home page for your region: Adobe Online is constantly changing, so you should click Refresh before you use it. Refreshing through Adobe Online updates bookmarks and buttons so you can quickly access the most current content available. You can use preferences to automatically refresh Adobe Online daily, weekly, or monthly. When you set up Adobe Online to connect to your Web browser, Adobe can either notify you whenever new information for Adobe Online is available or automatically download that information to your hard disk and install it. If you 1 Open the Adobe U.S. home page at www.adobe.com. 2 From the Adobe Sites menu, choose your geographical region. The Adobe home page is customized for several geographical regions. 4 Installing and Learning Adobe Photoshop Elements choose not to use the automatic download feature, you can still view and download new Adobe Online files whenever they are available by using the Refresh command. To use Adobe Online: Customer support When you register your product, you may be entitled to technical support for a single incident. Terms may vary depending on the country of residence and are only available for retail and upgrade versions. For more information, refer to the technical support card provided with the Photoshop Elements documentation. 1 In Photoshop Elements, choose Help > Adobe Online, or click the Adobe icon in the shortcuts bar. Note: You must have an Internet connection and an Internet browser installed. Adobe Online will launch your browser using your default Internet configuration. 2 Do one of the following: · Click Refresh to make sure you have the latest Customer support on Adobe Online Adobe Online provides access to FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and troubleshooting information that provides solutions to common problems. version of the Adobe Online window and its buttons, as well as the latest bookmarks. It is important to refresh the screen so that the current options are available for you to choose from. · Click Preferences to specify connection options. Additional customer support resources Adobe Systems provides several forms of automated technical support: · See the ReadMe and ReadMe First! files installed General preferences affect how Adobe Online interacts with all Adobe products installed on your system, and Application preferences affect how Adobe Online interacts with Photoshop Elements. To see an explanation of each preference option, click Setup and follow the prompts. You can also set up an automatic refresh using the Update Options. · Click any button in the Adobe Online window to with the program for information that became available after this guide went to press. · Explore the extensive customer support infor- mation on the Adobe World Wide Web site (www.adobe.com). To access the Adobe Web site from Photoshop Elements, choose Help > Adobe Online or click the Adobe icon in the shortcuts bar. (See "Using Web resources" on page 3.) · Read the Top Issues Adobe document that is open the Web page to which the button is linked. · Click the bookmark button ( ) to view suggested Web sites related to Photoshop Elements and Adobe. These bookmarks are automatically updated as new Web sites become available. · Click Close to return to Photoshop Elements. available from the Help menu. 7 Overview his overview of Adobe Photoshop Elements introduces you to the key features of the program. You'll learn how easy access to state-of-the-art tools lets you transform photos captured with digital cameras and scanners into high-impact images. Photoshop Elements provides flexible tools that allow you to freely experiment and get creative with your images. And the versatile output options let you quickly prepare images for print, email, or posting on the Web. Also, be sure to explore Recipes to learn additional digital imaging tools and techniques for perfecting your artwork. T Digital Photography: Capture and Correct With Photoshop Elements, you can capture photos from digital or traditional cameras and start working with your images immediately. When Photoshop Elements is launched, the Quick Start screen lets you quickly open or create a file, acquire an image from a scanner or digital camera, and more. Once you have the image in Photoshop Elements, the software offers features designed to help you begin retouching images with ease. 8 Overview Fix your photos Photographs are often taken or scanned at a slight angle and as a result may need to be cropped or rotated. Photoshop Elements lets you automatically straighten and crop images by using one of the Straighten Image commands. You can also cut and rotate images by using the crop tool. Red eye occurs when light from a camera's flash reflects off the back of the eye. You can easily remove red eye from an image using the red eye brush. With the red eye brush, you select the color you want to replace, such as the red in a person's eyes, and replace it with the color you choose. For red eye reduction, you can just click the Default Color button in the options bar for fastest and easiest results. You can even use the red eye brush to retouch other details in an image, such as braces. Photoshop Elements software can also correct common photographic problems such as improper lighting. The Adjust Backlighting command lets you darken overexposed areas of an image, while the Fill Flash command instantly adjusts underexposed areas. Adjust the tone Tools such as dodge, burn, and sponge simulate traditional darkroom techniques and let you easily adjust the tone of specific areas in a photo. The dodge tool lightens areas, while the burn tool darkens them. The sponge tool, meanwhile, lets you subtly alter the color saturation of an area. Correct color Photoshop Elements provides an extensive collection of powerful color correction tools that let you eliminate the guesswork from color correction. The Variations command automatically generates multiple color-adjusted versions of an image and displays them side-by-side so you can easily identify the best color adjustment to make. Levels and other professional controls precisely enhance color and dynamic range without sacrificing picture detail. Color Cast Correction offers one-click adjustments to remove color cast problems. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 9 User Guide Digital Photography: Explore and Create Photoshop Elements tools enable you to explore your visual ideas while mastering the elements of digital imaging. Create panoramas Adobe PhotomergeTM technology automatically resizes, skews, and blends portions of multiple images into seamless panoramas. Edit art on layers To create composite images, you can simply drag and drop an object (including text and images) from one file to another. Because these objects exist on separate layers, you have the flexibility to move or modify the objects without affecting the rest of the image. Similarly, you can adjust and store color correction choices in editable layers without altering your original image layer. Create subtle or spectacular effects The Liquify command lets you quickly distort an image by interactively twisting and pulling it as if it were made of putty. You can use the command as a touch-up tool to make subtle enhancements as well. 10 Overview Erase The Background Eraser lets you easily remove the background of a photo without affecting the foreground. You can then paste the foreground object into another image to create professional, seamless composites. Easy to Use and Affordable With an intuitive interface and affordable price, Photoshop Elements enables anyone interested in digital imaging to quickly enhance their images using professional tools. Search for images by previewing them If you're searching for an existing file, the integrated file browser lets you find photos simply by viewing thumbnails of images in a folder. Hints and Recipes The Hints palette provides context-sensitive illustrations and tips that explain how to use Photoshop Elements tools. The Recipes palette interactively teaches you how to perform a variety of multistep tasks, such as adding gradient effects, yet still gives you full control throughout each task. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 11 User Guide Apply effects easily The Layer Styles palette lets you drag and drop styles including drop shadows, pattern fills, and bevels, that can be applied to everything on a layer. You can scan through a variety of predefined styles in the Layer Styles palette and then apply a style by clicking it. Moreover, you can apply styles cumulatively, giving you the freedom to mix and match styles to achieve just the right effect. Filters you can preview Over 90 special-effects filters are provided in the Filters palette. Once you've chosen the filter you want, you can drag and drop the filter onto an image or double-click to apply it. Undo errors The History palette provides extensive undo capabilities. You can quickly view your most recent editing operations in the palette and use multiple undo levels to correct mistakes and experiment without worry. Or simply click the Step Backward button or Step Forward button in the shortcuts bar until you've returned to the step you want. You can even configure your preferences for the number of undos Photoshop Elements allows, giving you the ability to optimize the program's performance and usability. 12 Overview Web Tools Photoshop Elements provides a series of commands and tools that let you quickly and easily create eye-catching visuals for your Web page. Add custom effects You can specify layer settings such as drop shadows, bevels, and glows. This gives you a fast way to create realistic three-dimensional text, buttons, and other effects that look as if you spent hours refining them. Once applied to art on a layer, anytime you edit that art the effect is instantly updated and reapplied to the new art. GIF animation tools You can enhance or create animations for the Web by importing or creating GIF animations using layers, in which each frame of the animation is a separate layer. You can then interactively preview the results before saving the file. Create custom Web galleries The Web Photo Gallery lets you produce photo gallery Web pages automatically using custom templates, without having to learn HTML.