No matter what version of Photoshop Elements you use, you can easily edit your digital photos for printing or Internet use. The program helps you along the way. You may just want to make some basic edits, or you may want use special effects to create works of art out of your images. Either way, it takes only a few basic guidelines to get started. As you use the program more, you will learn do different things with it, but to start you only need a few tools.
Instructions
1. Open Adobe Photoshop Elements and the "Welcome" window will appear. You can use this window to select digital photos from saved files in your hard drive, directly from your digital camera or to create digital photos from negatives or prints using a scanner. Assuming you already have saved your photos to your hard drive, select "Browse With Bridge." Use Bridge, a secondary organizing program packaged with recent version of Elements, to find the photo you want to edit. Double-click the image and it will open into Elements.
2. Save your digital image under a new name. Go to the "File" menu and choose "Save As." You can save the copy of your photo in the same folder or create a new folder. Do all of your editing work on this copy, not on the original image. If you intend the photo for the Web, save it as a JPEG image. Select "JPEG" in the bar next to "Format:" If you plan to print the photo, select "TIFF."
3. Resize your image. Digital cameras typically save images in unwieldy sizes, so you will need to change the size according to your intended use. Go to the "Image" menu and select "Image Size." In the dialog box that appears, you will make your size adjustments in the bottom section. If you will only use the photo on the Internet or email, set the "Resolution" to 72 pixels per inch and adjust the "Width" and "Height" accordingly. If you plan to print your image, change the "Resolution" to at least 300 ppi and set your other dimensions according to how you will print it. When set, click "OK."
4. Move to the "Enhance" menu and select "Auto Smart Fix" if you want to have Elements make standard adjustments to your image. This will produce good photos in most cases, but sometimes you will have to go beyond this. The basic things you will need to edit in most photos will be the color and the light and dark levels. "Auto Smart Fix" can do this for you most of the time. Otherwise, you will need to use other tools.
5. Use "Layers" to get more control over light and dark levels in your photos. "Auto Levels" in the "Enhance" menu can do some of this, but you can do more. Go to the "Layers" menu and select "New" and then "Layer..." to create an adjustment layer. Select the "Edit" tab at the top right. In the bottom right, you will see a thumbnail of your image and another layer. Select the new layer, then click on the black and white circle just above it and select "Levels." In the dialog box that appears, you can adjust light and dark levels two ways. You can use the sliders under the histogram of the image. The left one is for darks and the right is for lights. You also can use the eyedroppers under the "Auto" button. To do this, first go to the "Window" menu and select "Info." While watching the number in "Info," select the left eyedropper and move it to the darkest areas. When any of the numbers reach zero or close to it, click. Select the right eyedropper and move it to the lightest areas of the image and click.
Tags: menu select, your image, dark levels, digital photos, light dark, light dark levels