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Page 1
Photoshop Elements
Essentials
Rob Sheppard
Important Guidelines:
1. Decide who’s in charge – you or Photoshop Elements.
2. Decide how to choose controls – the photo’s needs or what Photoshop
Elements includes.
3. Never use a control because it’s there and does cool things. Use it
because it helps interpret your photo better.
4. If in doubt, try it.
5. Experiment.
6. You don’t have to be perfect – use Undo (Ctrl/Cmd Z) and the History
palette.
7. Right-click for menus.
8. Focus on what you need to reach your photo-processing goal – ignore
the rest.
9. Have fun!
Rob Sheppard – Author/Photographer: Epson Complete Guide to Digital Printing, The Magic of Digital
Nature Photography, OP Landscape and Nature Photography with Photoshop CS2, Adobe Photoshop
Lightroom for Digital Photographers Only and others
Editor-at-large: Outdoor Photographer
Website: www.robsheppardphoto.com, www.photodigitary.com
Page 2
Four Key Photo Needs
and their controls (this is a basic workflow)
1. Blacks/whites – Levels with thresholds
2. Detail tones/“Midtones” – more than just the middle grays: light, middle,
dark – Color Curves or Levels
3. Color – correction and enhancement – Levels with gray eyedropper and
Hue/Saturation with individual colors
4. Emphasis/balance – adjusting controlled, local areas; selections and
layer masks
Page 3
Chart: Photo Adjustments – Translating the Camera Image into a
Photograph
Step 1: Set Step 2: Adjust Step 4: Step 6:
Step 3: Step 5: Size
Blacks and Tones with Change Color Optimize for
Correct Color and Sharpen
Whites Detail Intensity Output
a. Blacks & a. Midtones a. Warm photo a. Intensify color a. Size for a. Darken
whites, normal b. Dark tones b. Cool photo b. Reduce color printing corners
exposure intensity b. Size for b. Picture
c. Light tones c. Add/remove
b. Blacks & colors c. Specific color e-mail balance
whites, d. Contrast
needs c. Sharpen –
underexposure landscapes &
c. Blacks & architecture
whites, d. Sharpen –
overexposure action
e. Sharpen –
light
Note that these put the thinking of the photographer onto the photograph and what it
needs, not what software tool do I use.
Page 4
Control 1: Blacks and whites – Levels
Locate:
Elements: Enhance Menu Adjust Lighting Levels
Lightroom: Develop Basic Blacks and Exposure
Photoshop: Image Menu Adjustments Levels
Camera Raw: Basic Blacks and Exposure
a. Set blacks and whites for photograph
b. Use Alt/Option key with shadows (Blacks) to see where black thresholds are
c. Blacks are very subjective and can be “right” with a wide range of adjustment
d. Use Alt/Option key with highlights (Exposure) to see where white thresholds are
e. Whites are very sensitive and typically have a narrow range of adjustment
The Histogram:
Pixels graphed by
tonal brightness
Black or White or
shadow side highlight side
Weak Weak
Middle
blacks whites
eyedropper is
here here
the “white
balance”
eyedropper
Page 5
Control 2: Detail and midtone adjustment
Locate:
Elements: Enhance Menu Adjust Color Adjust Color Curves
Enhance Menu Adjust Lighting Levels
Lightroom: Develop Tone Curve
Photoshop: Image Menu Adjustments Curves
Camera Raw: Brightness, Contrast, Tone Curve
a. In Camera Raw and Lightroom, first check darkest and lightest tones with
Recovery and Fill Light
b. Curves – tonal adjustment that blends adjustments over the curve
c. Color Curves use parametric adjustments to do this
d. Compare the needs of your photo with the parametric controls
e. Use parametric adjustments related to the tones you want to change, then
move that up or down to adjust (top of curve is light, bottom is dark)
f. Adjust different tones with some individual control
g. Try presets called Styles
h. The middle slider in Levels is a midtone adjustment
Page 6
Control 3: Color Correction
a. Back to Levels, middle eyedropper – “white balance eyedropper”
b. Camera Raw and Lightroom – white balance eyedropper
c. Click on something that should be neutral
d. Keep clicking as needed
Control 3: Color Enhancement – Hue/Saturation
Locate:
Elements: Enhance Menu Adjust Color Adjust Hue/Saturation
Lightroom: Develop HSL
Photoshop: Image Menu Adjustments Hue/Saturation
Camera Raw: HSL
a. Be wary of overall adjustments to Saturation
b. Saturation has Master control and individual colors (click arrow right of
Master); rely on individual colors – same for Camera Raw and Lightroom
c. Vibrance is worth a try in Camera Raw and Lightroom, but with care
d. Define color range for individual colors by selecting color from drop-down
menu then using cursor to select color in the image
e. Adjust Hue in small amounts to correct color
f. Use Lightness in Photoshop sparingly (OK in Lightroom and Camera Raw)
The Dialogue Box:
Drop-down list restricts
adjustments to
individual colors
Eyedroppers used to refine
color restriction for
adjustment
Page 7
Added Control at all levels – Adjustment Layers
Key Tools:
Adjustment layers
- Understanding layers
- Adjustment layers are ayers of instruction
- Like a filter
- No change to pixels
- Can be readjusted at any time
- Can be saved with file (use .psd format)
- Allow you to work problem areas separately (isolated by layer and
layer mask)
Page 8
Layers
Locate:
Layers Menu and Layers Palette
a. Like a stack of photographs
b. Each piece of the stack is a layer
c. Layers allow for individual control of specific parts of photo
d. Layers affect everything underneath them; base image on bottom
(background layer) is affected by layers above it
e. Key parts of layers: eye icon (on/off), thumbnail icon, masks, layer label,
modes, opacity, bottom icons
f. Layers can be moved, renamed and opacity changed
The Layers Palette:
Modes Opacity
(translucence)
Eye icon
Adjustment Layer
In order from left: In order from right:
Layer Styles Trash
Layer Mask Duplicate layer
Layer Sets (groups) Adjustment layer
Page 9
Control 4: Emphasis/Balance – Adjustment Layers and Layer
Masks
Adjusting controlled, local areas
Key Tools:
1. Layer Masks
- Control the effect of the layer
- White – “clear”; allows the effect
- Black – “blocks” the effect
- Important – layer masks have no direct control over photograph;
they only affect what can be changed by an adjustment layers
- Always comes with adjustment layers
- Fill layer mask with black or white (Edit>Fill>Black or White)
o use black if you are only adjusting a small area (i.e., most of
the layer is not needed)
o use white if you are mainly adjusting the whole image and only
need to restrict a small area
o if area is easily selected with selection tools, do that
- Selections create layer masks
- Paint black or white over areas that need to be blocked or allowed;
do this as needed to refine the specific area of the effect
- Use Gaussian blur to smooth edges
- Use Gradient tool to create a blend from black to white (with black
and white on foreground/background colors)
- Good resource: www.hiddenelements.com
2. Brush Tools
- Use Option Bar to control attributes
- Size is key
- Softness is important
- Reset brush by right-clicking brush icon at left on bar and choosing
Reset Brush
- ** Opacity changes density
Layer Masks
Locate:
Layers Menu Add Layer Mask
Or at bottom of Layer Palette
Elements only has Layer Masks with
Adjustment Layers
Page 10
Layer Masks:
a. Offer a great deal of control over layer for photographer
b. Gives the ability to hide or show (reveal) parts of a layer
c. Black blocks, white allows (gray is in between) – Black conceals, white
reveals
d. Paint white or black with paint brush – be sure you are in layer mask
e. Use Gradient Tool for large areas that need a gradual change
f. Useful technique: Fill entire layer mask with black to remove effect, then
paint it back in with white
Layer Masks in Layers Palette:
Layer Mask
Adjustment layers
Layer Mask with black
and white
Page 11
EXTRAS:
Other Possibilities: Selections
- The principle of selections
- Use automated tool (Magic Wand, Magnetic Lasso) when you can
- Magic Wand: contiguous means pixels touch each other; tolerance
affects how much you see being selected
- Polygonal lasso is essential; click, drag, click; Backspace (Mac: Delete)
backs up for points; double-click to complete
- Brush selection tool
- Add to selection while pressing Shift key; delete from selection with
Alt/Option key
- Make selection before adding any Layer Mask and the mask is created
for you based on that selection
- Feather selections to soften their edges (Select>Feather)
- Soften edges in Layer Mask with Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian
Blur)
Cloning
1. Basics – set brush size, set clone
point; do in steps
2. Clone to a layer
3. Avoiding artifacts – change brush
size and clone point
4. Straight lines
5. Selections
Finishing
Sizing
1. Two stages:
- Size without resampling first
(uncheck Resample)
- Size larger or smaller than
native pixels by resampling
(check Resample)
Page 12
2. Native resolution – using the original
pixels; none are changed
3. Printing resolution: 200-300 ppi
- Use 200 to spread out pixels for
larger print
- Use 300 to compress pixels for
smaller print
4. Larger or smaller – smartly
interpolating
5. Larger – Bicubic smoother
6. Smaller – Bicubic sharper
Page 13
Resizing Image Files
Locate:
Image Image Size (Resize Image Size)
f. The size of your image file affects how big it can be printed
g. Three parts – the top area, full dimensions, shows total image size in pixels and
megabytes; the middle, relative dimensions, shows a how standard dimensions
are affected by resolution; the bottom changes how the image is resized
h. First, uncheck Resample Image and adjust resolution to a printing resolution;
tweak dimensions as needed using this native image size
i. Next, if more of a change is needed, check Resample, use Bicubic Smoother
(bigger) or Bicubic Sharper (smaller), then change relative dimensions as
needed; sharpen after size change
Full
dimensions
Relative
dimensions
Special
choices
Page 14
Sharpening
1. Sharpening is about getting the
original sharpness of your lens, NOT
about making fuzzy things sharp
2. A last step – sharpen to size and to
avoid artifacts
3. Unsharp Mask
- A real sharpening process used
in the commercial printing
industry
- Differences in contrast at pixel
level
- Amount: intensity of sharpening
- Radius: how far USM goes to
find differences
- Threshold: the amount of
difference in contrast that USM
looks for
- Very subjective – lots of formulas
- Watch noise and “halos”
4. Try
- Amount: 130-180
- Radius depends on file size: 1
for smaller files; 1.5 for larger
files; never more than 2
- Threshold depends on noise: 0-4
for standard digital shots; 4-8 for
moderate noise; up to 10-12 for
high noise
5. Smart Sharpen
6. nik Sharpener Pro
Page 15
Sharpness – Unsharp Mask (USM)
Locate:
Filter Menu Sharpen USM
Elements 5.0:
Enhance Menu Adjust Sharpness
a. Very important finishing tool for photographer; one of last controls
b. Based on old commercial printing; looking for edge contrast
c. Very personal and subjective; different “formulas” common
d. Three controls vary depending on image size, use of photo, noise in image
e. Amount – the intensity of the sharpening; 130-150 good start for digital cameras,
150-170 for scanned photos
f. Radius – how far sharpening applied; highly dependent on file size; try 1.0-1.3 for
10 MB, 1.3-1.5 for 20 MB
g. Threshold – tonal difference where sharpening starts; critical with noise; clean
image can start at 0-3; noise will need 3-6; increase amount to compensate
Page 16
Useful Keyboard Shortcuts
(Control/Ctrl is the same in Windows as Command/Cmd/Apple key for Mac;
Alt for Windows is the same as Option for Mac)
General computer commands:
Undo ............................................................... Ctrl + Z
Save................................................................ Ctrl + S
Print ................................................................ Ctrl + P
Toggle among applications.......................... Alt + Tab
Help ................................................................ F1
Select All ......................................................... Ctrl + A
Copy................................................................ Ctrl + C
Cut................................................................... Ctrl + X
Paste ............................................................... Ctrl + V
Open New document ...................................... Ctrl + N
Open ............................................................... Ctrl + O
Open Windows Explorer ................................. Windows + E
Minimize all open windows ............................. Windows + M
Photoshop Elements Keyboard Commands:
Fit on Screen ................................................. Ctrl + 0
Deselect ......................................................... Ctrl + D
Hide Edges..................................................... Ctrl + H
Show/Hide All Palettes ................................. Tab
Save As........................................................... Ctrl + Shift + S
Exit/Quit........................................................... Ctrl + Q
Close ............................................................... Ctrl + W
Close All .......................................................... Ctrl + Shift + W
Zoom In ........................................................... Ctrl + +
Zoom Out ........................................................ Ctrl + -
Step Back in History........................................ Ctrl + Alt + Z
Step Forward in History................................... Ctrl + Shift + Z
Reselect .......................................................... Ctrl + Shift + D
Inverse ............................................................ Ctrl + Shift + I
Page 17
Feather............................................................ Ctrl + Alt + D
Paste Into ........................................................ Ctrl + Shift + V
Adjust Levels................................................... Ctrl + L
Adjust Curves.................................................. Ctrl + M
Adjust Color Balance....................................... Ctrl + B
Adjust Hue/Saturation ..................................... Ctrl + U
Layer via Copy ................................................ Ctrl + J
Merge Layers .................................................. Ctrl + E
Merge Visible .................................................. Ctrl + Shift + E
Free Transform ............................................... Ctrl + T
Last Filter ........................................................ Ctrl + F
Show/Hide Rulers ........................................... Ctrl + R
Fill with Foreground Color ............................... Alt + Backspace
Fill with Background Color .............................. Shift + Backspace
