The new PSE 6

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6

Blog Entry: 24th May 2008
Siegfried Seierlein

The only way to take good pictures is with a Nikon D300 or the Nikon D3. Its also said that the only way to edit digital pictures is with Adobe Photoshop CS3. Folks there just is nothing further from the truth than repeating the opening sentence. Ahh what a relieve you think, I was always thinking I am miles away with Picasa from Google or with “PhotoshopAlikeForFree” that I have been using for the last three years.

Folks I am not going to give you a sales argument for why you should go and buy Elements 6, instead I am hoping to discuss with you a few of its functions plus a few of the things one can do with this extraordinary software solution. And yes I know that Paintshop Pro has more functionality packed in for the same dollar BUT......and lets talk about that....

Lets start of with the local bookshop in Bern, Switzerland. Its one of my favorite addresses and a place I spend a hour or two in every month. On the third floor of only books one reach the digital software section. They really have a excellent selection of software and almost anything you want you can get there and if its not there they will order it and they will put it in the post for you, no questions asked.

In this section they also have a large selection of books on various software packages. Having said this, what I like to point out is the selection of written text one can get on Photoshop Elements. I would guess Elements nearly has 5 times as many books written about it than what you will get on CS3 plus Lightroom combined.

On the web there are literally hundreds of videos, web sites and resources that are willing to tell you all the secrets you need to know about Elements.

The book on the right is most probably one of the best I came across giving easy to understand to the point descriptions of how to use Elements like the PRO’s do.

Click on the book and you will get to one of the best web sites with hundreds of lessons that will help you become a master with Elements. They a little expensive on a annual basis and therefor its possible to subscribe on a monthly basis.

If you new to Photoshop Elements and you looking for a quick start that will help you to get going then my advice is to subscribe to Elements User for 1 year. It is less expensive than the first option and its also very good The difference is, its not as complete as the first option.


	For as little as 50 USD you get a 1 year subscription that will set you up for life. Keep in mind I get no benefit from telling you these things, its not my uncle’s shop....

The Organizer

I do not want to spend to much time on the organizer other than saying its a great way of organizing, tagging and storing your valuable collection of pictures. For example you can have watched folders and what the organizer will do is, it will keep an eye on that folder and anything that’s added to that folder will be added automatically to the organizer.

From the organizer window you can start any action you like to do, whether that is editing, a video project, building a web site, preparing pictures for print, print yourself, making a calendar, the list is endless.

The Photoshop Elements Editor

Folks this is the best part of Elements for me, personally I spend most of my time in the editor. If you get to understand the basic elements of the editor and if you master these basic elements, believe me your digital photography will go to a next level. If there is one thing that will convince you that the equipment you have is OK and in most cases good, then its the Elements Editor.

If you start to understand what is possible and how to do that then dynamic range, noise, lens problems, then all these much discussed subjects will be something of the past. Why, you ask? Simple, you will no how to deal with the little things that makes new cameras sell....


				On the left is the layers pallet. This is most probably the most powerful area of the editor. Do whatever is necessary to understand the layers pallet and how its used to edit pictures. By only working with and by only understanding the layers pallet or how to work with layers and you will be able to do amazing things with the Elements Editor. Lets take a very basic example. Open one of your under exposed pictures in Photoshop Elements. On the layers pallet click on the layer that is now open and drag that layer into the top left button above the layers pallet. That will duplicate the bottom layer and you will now have two layers that looks the same. (Background and Background Copy) Click on the drop down menu that says “Normal” and from the drop down menu select “Screen” You will see that the picture is now over exposed. Click on the 100% window next to Opacity and type a value of say 70% in there. Keep on changing this opacity value until the exposure is OK for you.




	In a similar way one can duplicate an over exposed picture and by selecting “Multiply” instead of “Screen” it is possible to correct the picture’s exposure. So much more is possible when layers are well understood. The next area one can spend time to better understand is all the different selecting methods in Photoshop. On the left of the editing area is the Tools Pallet and from there one can select the different selection tools. I have included a number of free videos on the site that will help the new Photoshop Elements owner to get going. In addition to that I regularly add new techniques and concepts I believe will help the photographer new to Photoshop to better understand what to do. I am hoping that in the months that come that we will be able to exchange interesting brushes and overlays like Herman does and that we will have a lot of fun with new ideas and new techniques.

The RAW file format myth in photography

Raw files are great and its great to have a camera that can take RAW files. That RAW files are some sort of magical solution a few Guru’s only know how to work with is one of those D300 is the only good digital camera sayings.

There are advantages having RAW and there are times the photographer will shoot in RAW. For the normal hobby photographer my advice will be to only use it when you really need it and to exclude RAW files from your organizer. They take up space and they make the organizer slow.

If you really need to correct exposure and white balance and if you think RAW is the answer for that then I will recommend you to give this article, post processing a try or to edit your JPEG file in the Adobe RAW converter. Is it possible to edit a JPEG or a TIFF file in the Adobe RAW converter?

Yes, 100%, the only function that is not available is the pull down white balance conditions. Only as shot and auto is available. But the temperature slider and the tint slider plus all the other functions of the RAW converter is available.


	To open the JPEG file in he RAW converter, select Open As from the File menu. In the Open As window select the JPEG file you like to edit and in the bottom drop down menu (Open As) select the Camera RAW option like in the picture to the right. Click on open and the file will be opened in the RAW converter.




		Brushes This is another of Elements many tools that will help you to make something from your pictures. While back I wrote a small article on how to watermark your pictures. The final watermark you use can be saved as a brush and every time you need to put a watermark on a picture you will select the brush and you will “brush” it onto the picture. You can for example sign your normal signature on a tablet and that you can save as a brush. Every time you want to place your signature on a picture all you need to do is to select the brush.

Finally the Web

All the graphics I use to develop this site I do on Photoshop Elements. I hope the above short Blog entry will help you to better understand the benefits of this great package. Again I have absolutely no benefit in telling you about this other than me enjoying photography.

I think one of the great benefits from working with a package like this is the enormous amount of info available on the web. If you think you have discovered something interesting please let us know on the forum.

Kind Regards

Siegfried


		PhotoShopUserTV

			The best part of using Photoshop is most probably PhotoshopUserTV. To tune into these guys go to the Adobe official web site and download the new flash player. When done go to education and start to learn...