Photoshop Elements 3 First Steps Preliminaries Create a folder named lastname in the X: drive (e.g., X:/whisnant ). In a web browser enter the URL below: http://webs.wofford.edu/whisnantdm/training/elements/imagesforlessons/ You will see a list of links to image files. Right click on the first link (Airplane.jpg) and select Save Target As from the menu. Save the picture in the X:/lastname folder you created above. Repeat this process for all images in the list. Editing Images with Photoshop Elements 3 Adobe Photoshop currently is the most widely-used graphics and image-editing software package. Photoshop also is expensive (around $300) and has a steep learning curve, neither of which make it useful in an academic environment. Luckily, Adobe also has created a lower-end program, Photoshop Elements, which has most, if not all, of the image editing features that the average users needs. The Photoshop Elements interface also is similar to other Adobe software, so learning Elements will help if you move on the full-blown version of Photoshop later. Two newer versions of this software, Elements 4 and 5, are available. I do not recommend these versions, if you can get Elements 3, because the newer version does not include the file browser. When you open Photoshop 3, you will be given a choice of program modules. Select Edit and Enhance Photos. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 1
You soon will see the Photoshop Elements editing desktop. Image Area: The area in which you place an image to be edited. Main Menu: Commands to help you manipulate images Shortcuts Bar: Icons that correspond to frequently used functions on the Main Menu Options Bar: This bar permits you to change the properties of the tool you are using. The Options Bar is different for different tools. Toolbox: Tools that can be used to work on a picture The Toolbox We will work with almost all of the tools in the Toolbox. Tools that have additional associated tools are indicated by a small triangle in the lower right corner of the box in which they are located. Right-clicking on the triangle (with the mouse button you generally do not use) opens up a menu showing the additional tools. Clicking on one of the additional tools replaces the existing tool in the Toolbox with the additional tool. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 2
Different Image File Formats Digital images can be saved in different formats that use different types of compression. The file format is specified by the file extension after the period in its name (e.g., Old_Main.jpg is a jpg format file). Compression reduces the size of the file. If no detail in the image is lost during compression, then the scheme is said to be lossless. If detail is lost, then a compression scheme is said to be lossy. In the latter case, the smaller the size of the compressed file, the more the image has been degraded. There are two common file formats used for images on Web pages.gif files and.jpg files. Both of these formats involve lossy compressions. JPEG (.jpg): Files with.jpg compression retain up to16 million colors, but do less well with detail. If you are more interested in subtle variations in colors, a.jpg file is best. Pictures taken with digital cameras usually are.jpg images. The Old_Main.jpg image, which was taken with a digital camera, has over 200,000 different colors. GIF (.gif): A.gif file only uses 256 colors, but does retain most of the sharpness and detail of the original image. If you have a picture with text on it, a.gif file is the best to use, because the text often is blurry after a.jpg compression. You should be familiar with one other file format that is very important in Photoshop image editing. PSD (.psd): This is the native Photoshop file format, which can be opened in either Elements or Photoshop. Photoshop files are not compressed and retain all of the Photoshop features. You always should save files in the.psd format when you are working on them in Elements. When you have completed manipulating the image, you then can save it the format that fits your needs. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 3
Browsing for Files If you need to find one image in a folder that contains several files (as is usually the case), browsing is the best way to find a file. Select File, Browse Folders from the main menu. A new window should open up with a tree of folders on the left and thumbnail pictures on the right. Move to the X:/Last Name folder. You should see several thumbnail images. Double-click on the GreatOaks.jpg image to open it. This file has the JPG format, which you usually get with digital cameras. Saving a File When we work with files in Photoshop Elements, we want to save them in the Photoshop format as PSD files. PSD files are not compressed and do not degrade when they are saved, even if they have been saved several times. To save the image as a PSD file, choose File, Save As from the main menu. Save the file as GreatOaks_1.psd, in the X:/Last Name folder When you save the file choose Photoshop (*.PSD) in the Format menu. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 4
Rotating an Image by 90 o To better frame a picture, you may hold the camera vertically rather than horizontally. In this case, the initial image will be on its side, like the image GreatOaks_1.psd.We need to rotate the image by 90 o. Select Image, Rotate, 90 o Left from the main menu. This will orient the image properly. Save the image as GreatOaks_2.psd. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 5
Cropping an Image Open the image Old_Main.jpg and save it as Old_Main_1.psd, We will improve this image by cropping it removing some of the top, bottom, and sides so that the image is more effective. We want to remove portions of the image so it looks somewhat like the illustration below. We need to remove the wet sidewalk, which detracts from the image. We also need to think about the composition of the picture. One important guideline is the Rule of Thirds. Generally the center if interest should not be centered in the picture. Think of lines dividing the picture into thirds horizontally and vertically. o For example, the red lines in the picture below. Place the center of interest at the intersection of these lines or lined up with one of these lines. If we crop the picture as illustrated here, the portion of the building not obscured by trees lines up fairly well with the right vertical line. The tower is close to the upper right intersection. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 6
To crop the image, select the Crop Tool from the toolbar. Holding the mouse button down, sweep the cursor over the image so it looks something like the illustration on the right. The bright portion will remain after the cropping and the dark portion will be removed. Position the edges of the cropping area as you want. You can grab the small rectangles at the corners or on sides and move the boundaries around. When you are ready, click on the check mark above the workspace. Save the cropped image as Old_Main_2.psd. Freely Rotating an Image A not uncommon problem in photography is a picture with a horizon that is not quite level. A tilted image usually is due to one of two things: The camera was not held quite at the correct angle when the picture was shot. A picture or slide was not oriented properly in the scanner when it was scanned. Luckily a non-level horizon can be corrected by freely rotating the digital image. Open Horizon.jpg, which is a rather extreme example of a tilted image. It is so badly tilted that it looks like the cars are going downhill and the trees all are slanted. We would like to rotate the image so that the horizon is level. Save this file as a.psd file with the name Horizon_1.psd. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 7
Before we rotate the image, we will superimpose a grid over the image so we can tell when the horizon is horizontal.choose View, Grid from the main menu. You will see a grid superimposed on the image. Choose Select, All from the main menu to select the entire image. You should see a dotted rectangle around the image at this point. Choose Image, Rotate, Free Rotate Selection from the main menu. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 8
If you move the cursor close to the corner of the image, you should see the cursor take the shape of a curved arrow. While the cursor has the curved arrow shape, grab the image by depressing the left mouse button and slowly rotate the image by moving the mouse. Note that the grid does not rotate. Rotate the image until the street is parallel with the horizontal lines on the grid. The movement of the image may be a little choppy, so rotate it slowly. It may appear that some parts of the image (e.g., the automobiles) become jagged as your rotate the layer. When you click on the Check Mark on the Options Bar to commit to the transformation of the image, the jagged edges in the image will be smoothed out. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 9
Uncheck View, Grid on the main menu so that the grid does not show anymore. Use Select, Deselect from the main menu to deselect the image. Use the Crop tool to crop off the white sections that were created at the corners during the rotation. You will have lost a bit of the picture, but the remainder will be level. Save the picture again Open WindowDisplay.jpg and save it as WindowDisplay_1.psd. Improve the image by rotating and crop it. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 10
Undoing Things That You Have Done If you do happen to alter an image and lose a previous version, you often will be able to use the Undo History palette to jump back to an earlier state of the image. Click on Undo History in the Windows menu to see a list of the tools you have used on an image. On the right side of the screen you will see an Undo History list of the actions you have taken on the image. You can undo an action by clicking on an earlier one. For example, if you click on Paste in the list in the picture, this will undo the Crop that follows. This is particularly convenient if you have a long list of actions and want to return to the state of the picture way up the list somewhere. You also can use the Step Backward and Step Forward buttons to move back and forth through actions you have taken. Finally, you can Undo the most recent action or Step Backward using the Edit menu. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 11
Zooming In and Out on a Picture You can magnify or reduce the size of an image with the Zoom tool. The icon for the zoom tool is a magnifying glass in the Toolbox. When the Zoom tool has been selected, the cursor looks like a magnifying glass when it is over the image. Clicking on the image will zoom in on (magnify) the image Clicking on the image with the Alt key pressed will zoom out on (reduce the size of) the image. Open the Old_Main_2.PSD image and try the Zoom tool. NOTE: The Zoom Tool does NOT change the actual size of the image file. It just magnifies or reduces what you see on the screen. When you magnify an image, you may no longer be able to see all of it within the image area. You can use the Hand tool to move the image around within the magnified area. When you have selected the Hand tool, the cursor looks like a small hand when it is over the image. You can grab the image by holding down the left mouse button and moving it around within the image area. Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 12
Practice Problems Before you go on to the next lesson, plan how you would improve the following images and then make the improvements. 1. CountryChurch.jpg 2. Pisa.jpg 3. Lawrence.jpg 4. ChopWood.jpg (crop the photo to tighten up the image and put the man more in line with the Rule of Thirds) Review Questions 1. How do you open the Elements browser so that you can look at thumbnail pictures to find an image? 2. You want to save the color picture of the old house (shown at the right) as a compressed image. Would a.gif or a.jpg image be more appropriate? Why? 3. You want to save this color picture of the Microsoft Outlook screen (shown at the right) as a compressed image. Would a.gif or a.jpg image be more appropriate? Why? Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 13
4. What does this tool do? 5. On what icon do you click to crop a picture? 6. Describe three ways you can undo a set of actions and return to an earlier state of an image. 7. According to the Rule of Thirds, which of these two images is better composed? Lesson 2 Elements 3 First Steps 14