The popularity of digital cameras continues to grow exponentially. They are now more powerful, feature rich, and affordable–turning digital photography into a mainstream interest. And with Photoshop Elements, Adobe has created the most popular photo-editing program on the planet. Learning how to work Photoshop Elements and manage digital photos can be a challenge for anyone just getting started–from the hobbyist to the pro photographer. With the latest Photoshop Elements 4 update, Adobe delivers a powerful new program that provides photo editing and organizing functionality with improved performance. The updated version also includes new, more intuitive features that are streamlined and easier to use–when the photographer has the right learning tool in hand.

With Photoshop Elements 4: The Missing Manual, author Barbara Brundage has written the perfect digital photography guide. In a clear, easy-to-read format, the author provides step-by-step instruction so readers can learn what they need to do to edit their photos successfully and manage their collection. This new edition also includes more than a dozen downloadable images so readers can practice using the editing tools. Readers will master useful editing techniques–from the most common to the advanced:

• Automatically correct red eye and skin tones
• Select and extract complex objects with the Magic Selection Brush and The Magic Extractor
• Create photomontages
• Restore old photographs
• Post photos on the web
• Manage and archive an entire collection
• Design a custom slide show with panning and zooming capabilities

Once photographers learn how to edit their photos successfully, they’ll also learn how to post them online or upload them to the Kodak EasyShare Gallery for use in creating personal mailing lists, post cards, calendars, and much more. Photoshop Elements 4: The Missing Manual, is for any photographer interested in learning the right editing techniques for producing and sharing beautiful digital photography.

Customer Review: Book shows you don’t need a Hummer to drive to work
Adobe’s Photoshop is the granddaddy of all image-editing programs. But Photoshop has some big drawbacks–it’s very hard to master, it’s horribly expensive, and many of the features in it are just plain overkill if you don’t plan to work on pictures for a living. For several years, Adobe tried to find a way to cram many of Photoshop’s marvelous powers into a package that normal people could use. Photoshop Elements offers much of the power of Photoshop in a program that almost anyone can learn to use. I’m a big fan of the Missing Manual series, and this book retains the excellence I’ve come to expect in the series. Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I discuss this book in the context of the table of contents:

Chapter 1 - “Finding Your Way Around Elements”, helps get you oriented in Elements starting with the Welcome Screen. You’ll learn about what to expect when you start up the program and how to use Elements to fix your photos with just a couple of keystrokes.

Chapter 2 - “Importing and Managing Your Photos” shows you how to import your photos from cameras, digital card readers, and scanners. You’ll also find out how to import individual frames from videos, how to open files that are already on your computer, and how to create a new file from scratch. After that, you’ll learn how to use the Organizer to sort and find your pictures once they’re in Elements.

Chapter 3 - “Rotating, Resizing, and Saving” looks at how to trim off unwanted areas, straighten out crooked photos, and save your files. You’ll also learn how to change the overall size of your images and how to zoom in and out, to get a better look at things while you’re editing.

Chapter 4 - “The Quick Fix” shows how to use “The Quick Fix Window”, which gathers together easy-to-use tools that can help you adjust the brightness and color of your photos and make them look sharper.

Chapter 5 - “Making Selections” shows you how to select part of your image and make changes only to that area. You can select your entire image or any part of it.

Chapter 6 - “Layers: The Heart of Elements” shows how to keep your changes and still revert to the original image by using layers, which is a system of transparent sheets that keep each element of your image on a separately editable sliver. By putting each change you make on its own layer, you can constantly rearrange the composition of your image, or add and subtract changes whenever you want.

Chapter 7 - “Basic Image Retouching” guides you through fixing basic exposure problems, new ways of sharpening your photos, and most important, understanding how Elements can improve the colors in your photos.

Chapter 8 - “Elements for Digital Photographers” shows you how to use a collection of advanced tools pulled straight from Photoshop. You learn how to use the RAW Converter, Photo Filter, and Batch File Processor.

Chapter 9 - “Retouching 102: Fine-Tuning Your Images” introduces you to some advanced editing maneuvers that will greatly help you either rescue damaged photos or give good ones some added style. Techniques include eliminating dust, scratches, stains, and other photographic imperfections.

Chapter 10 - “Creating Panoramas and Transforming Images” shows how to use the Photomerge command, which allows you to stitch together a group of photos that you’ve taken while panning across the horizon.

Chapter 11 - “Drawing with Brushes, Shapes, and Other Tools” shows how you can paint with lots of things besides color - such as lights or shadows, for example. In Elements, when you want to apply an effect in a precise manner, you’re often going to use some sort of brush to do it.

Chapter 12 - “Filters, Effects, Layer Styles, and Gradients” discusses special tools that will have people thinking you’re a better artist than you actually are. These are largely tools for turning a photo into an artistic work - say, a watercolor for example.

Chapter 13 - “Type in Elements” is about adding text to your photos. You will learn how to create all kinds of fancy text to use on greeting cards, newsletter headlines, or graphics for Web pages.

Chapter 14 - “Printing Your Photos” covers printing your photos at home on an inkjet printer, taking them to a printing kiosk at a local store, or using an online printing service. You’ll learn how to interface to Kodak’s EasyShare Gallery, Adobe’s online printing partner.

Chapter 15 - “Elements and the Web” shows you how to share your photos online, send your photos to cellphones, and transmit them to Palm-based handhelds.

Chapter 16 - “HTML Photo Galleries and Slideshows” discusses creating HTML Photo Galleries, collections of ready-made Web pages featuring all the photos you want to display. You’ll also learn how Elements helps you put together digital slideshows, complete with fancy between-photo transitions and audio.

Chapter 17 - “Beyond the Basics” discusses adding new brush shapes, Layer styles, and fancy filters. Also discussed are free add-on features already available on the web. This chapter also discusses how to know when you really do need the full version of Photoshop instead. You’ll also learn about the many resources available for expanding your knowledge of Elements beyond this book.

As you can see, Photoshop Elements 4 is a very complete image processing package, and this book is a very accessible guide to discovering all of its aspects. I make daily use of this manual and recommend it highly.

Buy It Now At Amazon!
Keywords: Printing,Publishing,Graphic Design,Printing,Color Copies,Publishing