This lesson provides an overview of Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.
The exercises will familiarize you with the Photoshop Elements workspace and with many of the tools and procedures you’ll use to capture and edit your digital images.
As you work through the exercises in this lesson you’ll be introduced to the following basic skills and concepts:
Working with the Organizer and the Editor
Creating and loading Catalogs
Attaching media
Reviewing and comparing photos
Sending photos in e-mail
Using the Photo Downloader
Creating an Adobe ID
Using Photoshop Elements Help
You’ll probably need between one and two hours to complete this lesson.
Welcome to Adobe Photoshop Elements! Take a quick tour and get to know the Photoshop Elements workspace. You’ll find all the power and versatility you’d expect from a Photoshop application in an easy-to-use, modular interface that will help you take your digital photography to a new level.
Photoshop Elements has two primary workspaces: the Elements Organizer and the Editor. An easy way to understand these two components is to think of the Organizer as a library and browser for your photo collection, and the Editor as a darkroom and workshop.
You’ll work in the Organizer to locate, import, manage, and share your photos and media files, and use the Editor to edit and adjust your images and to create presentations to showcase them.
A typical Photoshop Elements workflow follows these basic steps:
Bring images and other media into the Organizer from a digital camera, scanner, digital video camera, or a hard disk.
Sort and group images and media by a variety of methods, including applying keyword tags and creating albums, in the Organizer.
Edit, adjust, and correct images and media or add text in the Editor.
Share your images and media by creating projects and presentations, using e-mail or an online sharing service, or by burning them to CD/DVD-ROM.
Back up and synchronize your catalog to Photoshop.com and across multiple computers.
Photoshop Elements stores information about your images in a library catalog file, which enables you to conveniently manage the photos on your computer from within the Organizer.
Photoshop Elements creates a new entry in the catalog file for each image you import. Whenever you assign a tag or a rating to a photo, or group images as an album, the catalog file is updated. In the Organizer, all your work is recorded in the catalog.
As well as digital photographs, a catalog can include video and audio files, scans, PDF documents, and any presentations and layouts you might create in Photoshop Elements, such as slide shows, photo collages, and CD jacket designs.
The first time you launch Photoshop Elements it automatically creates a default catalog file (named My Catalog) on your hard disk. A single catalog can efficiently handle thousands of files, but you can also establish separate catalogs for different purposes if that’s the way you prefer to work.
Note
Before you start working on this exercise, make sure that you’ve installed the software on your computer from the application CD (see the Photoshop Elements 9 documentation) and that you have correctly copied the Lessons folder from the CD in the back of this book onto your computer’s hard disk (see “Copying the Classroom in a Book files” on page 2).
In this exercise you’ll create and load a new catalog specifically to handle the sample files used for this lesson.
Start Adobe Photoshop Elements 9. Click the Organize button in the Welcome screen to launch the Elements Organizer module.
When the Organizer has opened, choose File > Catalog.
In the Catalog Manager dialog box, click New. Don’t change the location setting, which specifies where the Catalog file is stored.
In the Enter A Name For The New Catalog dialog box, type Lesson1 as the new catalog name, disable Import Free Music Into This Catalog, if necessary, and then click OK.
The new Lesson1 catalog is loaded in the Organizer. If you’re ever unsure which catalog you’re working with, you can always check the name of the currently active catalog in the lower left corner of the Organizer workspace.
Now that you have a special catalog that you’ll use just for this lesson, all you need are some pictures to put in it.
Before you can view, organize, and edit your photos in Photoshop Elements, you first need to link them to your catalog by importing them into your image library. Bringing your digital files into Photoshop Elements is easy.
You can bring photos into Photoshop Elements from a variety of sources and in a number of different ways.
If your image files are already on your computer hard disk, you can either drag them directly into the Organizer workspace from Windows Explorer / the Finder or import them from within Photoshop Elements by using a menu command.
Choose File > Get Photos And Videos > From Files And Folders.
In the Get Photos And Videos From Files And Folders dialog box, navigate to and open the Lessons folder inside your PSE9CIB folder. Click once to select the Lesson01 folder.
Make sure that the option Automatically Fix Red Eyes is disabled. On Windows, you can also disable the Automatically Suggest Photo Stacks option.
Click Get Media.
The Getting Media dialog box appears briefly as the photos are imported. Since the imported photos contain keyword metadata, the Import Attached Keyword Tags dialog box appears. You’ll learn more about keyword tags in Lessons 2 and 3.
In the Import Attached Keyword Tags dialog box, click Select All, and then click OK. Click OK to close any other alert dialog box.
Thumbnails of the imported photos appear in the Organizer’s Media Browser pane.
In the Organizer, the main work area is the Media Browser pane. This is where you sort, organize, and search your photos and media files, and preview the presentations that you create to showcase and share them. At the right of the Organizer window is the Task Pane, with tabs for the Organize, Fix, Create, and Share modes.
Note
The Elements Organizer is an integral part of both Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements video editing software. You can import, manage, and view both your photos and video clips in Elements Organizer, which serves as a hub, allowing seamless integration of the two editing applications.
The Media Browser pane can display a single photo or show thumbnails of the files in your catalog arranged in a variety of ways. You can view your images sorted by import batch, folder location, or keywords—or presented in a calendar format in the Date view. The Media Browser makes it easy to browse, preview, organize, and search all the files in your catalog in one comprehensive window.
On the Organize tab of the Task Pane are the panels you’ll use to sort, search and manage your photos by applying keyword tags and grouping them in albums.
The Fix tab offers tools for some of the most common editing tasks. For more sophisticated editing, you’ll switch to one of the three editing modes in the Editor.
On the Create tab you’ll find options and guidance for creating projects and presentations—from greeting cards to slide shows.
The Share tab offers a variety of options for sharing your files with your friends, family, clients, or the world at large by burning a CD or DVD, sending your photos as e-mail attachments or photo mail layouts, or publishing an online album.
Experiment with the Thumbnail Size slider above the Media Browser pane. Note that when you reduce the thumbnails to a very small size, the orange tags are no longer visible at the lower right of the image cells; set the thumbnails to a large enough size to see the tags.
Move the pointer over the orange tag below any of the images in the Media Browser; a tool tip appears to show that the image has been tagged with the keyword Lesson 01. This is the tag that you imported in the last step of the previous exercise.
In the Keyword Tags panel to the right of the thumbnail view, click the small triangle to expand the Imported Keyword Tags category; you can see that the newly imported Lesson 01 tag is nested inside.
Double-click any thumbnail in the Media Browser. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to cycle through the photos in the single photo view. When you’re done, double-click the enlarged image to return to the thumbnail grid view.
Tip
To switch to the single photo view, you can also press Ctrl+Shift+S (Windows)/ Command+Shift+S (Mac OS). In single photo view, you can use the controls below the enlarged image to add either a text or audio caption to a photo.???
About keyword tags
Keyword tags are personalized labels, such as “Vacation” or “Beach,” that you attach to photos, video clips, audio clips and other creations in the Media Browser to make it easier to organize and find them.
When you use keyword tags, there’s no need to manually organize your photos in subject-specific folders or rename files with content-specific names.
In fact, both of the latter solutions confine a given photo to a single group. By contrast, you can assign multiple keyword tags to a photo, allowing it to be included in several different groupings. You can then easily retrieve the selection of images you want by clicking the appropriate keyword tag or tags in the Keyword Tags panel.
For example, you could create a “Beach - Normandy” keyword tag and attach it to every photo you took at that location. You can then instantly find all the photos with the Beach - Normandy keyword tag by clicking the Find box next to that tag in the Keyword Tags panel, even if the photos are stored in different folders on your hard disk.
You can create keyword tags to group your images any way you want. For example, you could create keyword tags for individual people, places and events in your life.
You can attach multiple keyword tags to your photos and easily run a search based on a combination of keyword tags to find a particular person at a particular place or event.
For example, you can search for all “Pauline” keyword tags and all “Sophie” keyword tags to find all pictures of Pauline taken together with her sister Sophie.
Or search for all “Pauline” keyword tags and all “Beach - Normandy” keyword tags to find all the pictures of Pauline vacationing at the beach in Normandy.
Use keyword tags to organize and find photos by their content or any other association. You’ll learn more about keyword tags in Lessons 2 and 3.
Photoshop Elements provides several options for quickly and easily reviewing and comparing your images in the Elements Organizer. Use the Full Screen view to assess your photos in detail, or to effortlessly present a selection of images as an instant slideshow. The Side By Side viewing mode lets you keep one image fixed on one side of a split screen while you cycle through a selection of photos on the other—great for comparing composition and detail or for choosing the best of a series of similar shots. In both Full Screen and Side By Side viewing mode you can add keyword tags, add photos to albums, and even perform a range of editing tasks.
The Side By Side View lets you compare photos at any zoom level without the distraction of interface items such as windows, menus and panels.
Ctrl+Shift+A / Command+Shift+A to ensure that no images are selected in the Media Browser.
Click the Display button (
) near the upper right corner of the Organizer window, and choose Compare Photos Side By Side from the menu.
Because we made no selection in the Media Browser, the Organizer treats all the images visible in the Media Browser as the selection. The Film Strip at the right of the screen displays thumbnails of the photos in the selection.
Tip
If you don’t see the Film Strip at the right of the screen, press Ctrl+F / Command+F on your keyboard or click the button at the left end of the control bar at the bottom of the screen. If you don’t see the control bar at the bottom of the screen, move the pointer; the control bar fades from view after a few seconds of inactivity.
By default, the photo on the left—image #1—is active, as indicated by the blue line surrounding the preview and the highlighted thumbnail in the Film Strip.
With the photo on the left—image #1—still active, scroll down the Film Strip at the right of the screen and click another thumbnail. Your new choice becomes the #1 image in the Side By Side view.
Click image #2—the photo on the right—to make it active. Click the forward and back navigation buttons in the control bar at the bottom of the screen, or use the arrow keys on your keyboard, to cycle the #2 preview through all the photos in the filmstrip, while the photo on the left of the screen remains fixed.
Click either image repeatedly to toggle between fit-to-view and 100% magnification. To compare detail at higher magnification, zoom in and out in the active image using the scroll-wheel on your mouse—or by pressing the Ctrl / Command key together with the plus (+) or minus (-) key. Drag the zoomed photo with the hand cursor to see a different portion of the image.
Tip
You can sync panning and zooming in the #1 and #2 photos by clicking the chain-link icon at the right end of the extended control bar. If you don’t see the chain-link icon, click the triangle at the right end of the control bar to extend it.
As well as the forward and back navigation buttons, the control bar contains buttons that let you show and hide the Film Strip, the Quick Edit pane and the Quick Organize pane, where you can perform common editing tasks and tag images or group them by adding them to an album.
If necessary, click the triangle at the end of the control bar to extend it. Click the triangle next to the Side By Side View button (
) to switch the split-screen arrangement from Side By Side to Above And Below.
Press the Esc key on your keyboard or click the Exit button (x) in the control bar to close the Side By Side view and return to the regular Organizer workspace.
In the Media Browser, there are a number of ways to select images. You can simply drag a selection marquee in the thumbnail view, but for better control, use your mouse together with a modifier key.
To select a series of four or five images that are in consecutive order, click the first photo in the series, and then hold down the Shift key as you click the last. All the photos in the range you Shift-clicked are selected.
Add three or four non-consecutive photos to the selection by holding down the Ctrl / Command key and clicking the thumbnails you wish to select. Keep your selection active for the next exercise.
Click the View, Edit, Organize In Full Screen button, beside the Thumbnail Size slider in the bar above the thumbnails view.
The Full Screen view opens in slideshow mode, cycling through the images in the Film Strip. Experiment with the three buttons at the left of the control bar to show and hide the Film Strip and the Quick Edit and Quick Organize panels.
Try the two buttons to the right of the navigation controls to set Full Screen View and slideshow options and to choose a style for the transitions between slides. When you’re done, press the Esc key to return to the Organizer.
Although the Fix tab in the Organizer offers one-step tools for some of the most common editing tasks, for more sophisticated editing, you’ll switch to the Editor.
Select any two photos in the Media Browser.
Do one of the following:
Choose Edit > Edit With Photoshop Elements.
Click the Fix tab in the Task Pane, and then click the Edit Photos button.
Right-click / Control-click either of the selected images and choose Edit With Photoshop Elements from the context menu.
Once both the Organizer and the Editor are open, you can move quickly between the two workspaces by using the task bar in Windows or the Dock in Mac OS.
The Editor is where you’ll edit, adjust and correct your images, and create projects and presentations to showcase them. You can choose between the default Full Edit mode, with a powerful set of tools for color correction, special effects, and image enhancement, the Quick Edit mode, with simple tools and commands for quickly fixing common image problems, and the Guided Edit mode, which provides step-by-step instructions for a range of editing tasks.
In the Editor, the main work area is the Edit pane. This is where you’ll work on your photos and the presentations that you create to showcase and share them. Below the Edit pane is the Project Bin, which provides easy access to the images you’re working with, no matter how many files you have open. The Edit pane is flanked by the tool bar on the left and the Panel Bin on the right. The Panel Bin has tabs for Edit, Create, and Share modes. At the top of the Edit tab, you’ll find buttons for switching between the three editing modes.
If you’re new to digital imaging, the Quick Edit and Guided Edit modes make a good starting point for fixing and modifying your photos, and provide a great way to learn as you work. The Full Edit mode provides a more powerful and versatile image editing environment, with commands for correcting exposure and color and tools for making precise selections and fixing image imperfections. The Full Edit tool bar also includes painting and text editing tools. You can arrange the flexible Full Edit workspace to suit the way you prefer to work by floating, hiding, and showing panels or rearranging them in the Panel Bin.
In the Project Bin, double-click each of the thumbnails in turn to bring that photo to the front in the Edit pane, making it the active image.
Choose Preferences > General from the Edit / Photoshop Elements menu. On the General tab of the Preferences dialog box, click the check box to activate the option Allow Floating Documents In Full Edit Mode. Click OK.
Drag the front image by its name tab, away from its docked position to float above the Editor workspace.
Note
Once you’ve activated the option to allow floating document windows, this becomes the default for any image opened in Full Edit mode. Throughout the rest of this book however, it will be assumed that you are working with tabbed image windows that are docked (consolidated) in the Edit pane, unless otherwise specified. When you complete this exercise you’ll disable floating document windows so that it’ll be easier for you to follow the exercise steps as written.???
Multitouch support
If the hardware and operating system of your computer supports the Touch functionality, you can use touch gestures to scroll, rotate, and zoom in on an image in the Editor. In Photoshop Elements 9, Multitouch is supported in all three Edit modes: Full Edit, Quick Fix, and Guided Edit.
Flicking scrolls the image horizontally or vertically. To scroll an image, touch the screen with one finger (Windows) / trackpad with two fingers (Mac OS) and move left or right, and up or down.
Twisting rotates the image clockwise or counterclockwise by 90 degrees. To rotate an image, touch two spots on the screen / trackpad, and twist the image just as you’d twist a real photo. Move both fingers in opposite directions or pivot one finger around the other.
Pinching in or out zooms in or out of the image. To zoom in, place two fingers on the screen / trackpad, and pinch. Similarly, , to zoom out of the image, place two fingers close together on the screen / trackpad, and then move them apart.
Explore the options for arranging image windows that are available from both the Window > Images menu, and from the menu on the Arrange button (
) at the top of the Editor workspace to develop a feel for the way you prefer to work with your images. When you’re done, Choose Preferences > General from the Edit / Photoshop Elements menu and disable floating documents. Click OK.
In the Full Edit workspace, the Panel Bin provides a convenient location to organize the panels you use most often. By default, the Effects, Content and Layers panels are docked in the Panel Bin; other panels can be opened from the Window menu. All panels can either be kept docked in the Panel Bin or dragged to float in a convenient position above your image as you work. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with organizing the Full Edit workspace so that you’ll always have the controls you need at your fingertips.
Try each of the following tips and techniques:
To open a panel that you don’t see in the workspace, choose its name from the Window menu in the menu bar at the top of the workspace.
To collapse an open panel so that you see only its header bar, choose its name from the Window menu or double-click its header bar.
To float a panel above your image in the work area, drag it out of the Panel bin by its header bar. You can also float the Project Bin and the toolbox by dragging them away from their default positions.
To return a floating panel to the Panel Bin, drag it into the Panel Bin and release the mouse button when you see a blue line indicating the new position. Place the panel between two others, or drag it onto another panel to create a tabbed panel group. Switch between grouped panels by clicking their name tabs. Drag the name tag to move a panel out of a group.
To collapse a floating panel to an icon, click the two white triangles at the right of the header bar. You can collapse a group of floating panels that are snapped together in the same manner.
To expand a single panel in a collapsed group, choose its name from the Window menu.
To close a panel, drag it out of the Panel Bin and click the close button (x) in its header bar (at the right on Windows, at the left for Mac OS) or click the small menu icon at the right of the header and choose Close from the panel’s Options menu.
To adjust the height of panels in the Panel Bin, drag the separator bars between panels up or down. To adjust the size of a floating panel, drag the panel’s lower right corner. (Some panels can not be resized.)
To return the workspace to the default arrangement, you can either choose Window > Reset Panels or click the Reset Panels button (
) at the top of the workspace.
Choose File > Close All to close both of the open images. Close the Editor window by clicking the Close button (in the top right corner of the workspace on Windows, at the upper left on Mac OS).
Have you ever had to wait a long time for an incoming e-mail to download, and then found that the e-mail contained photos at an unnecessarily high resolution? You can avoid imposing this inconvenience on others by using the Organizer’s e-mail function, which exports images optimized specifically for sending via e-mail.
In the Media Browser, select a photo to attach to an e-mail.
Note
The first time you access this feature you may be presented with the E-mail dialog box. Choose your e-mail client (such as Outlook Express or Adobe E-mail Service / Mail or Microsoft Entourage) from the menu, and then click Continue. You can review or change your settings later by choosing Sharing from the Preferences menu.
Click the Share tab at the top of the Task Pane; then click the E-mail Attachments button.
Drag another photo from the Media Browser to the Items pane to add to your selection.
Choose Very Small (320 × 240 px) from the Maximum Photo Size menu and adjust the image quality using the Quality slider. The estimated file size and download time for a typical 56 Kbps dial-up modem are displayed for your reference. When you’re done, click Next.
Select the example text in the Message box and type a message of your own.
Click the Edit Recipients In Contact Book button (
) above the Select Recipients box to create a new Contact Book entry. In the Contact Book dialog box, click New Contact.
In the New Contact dialog box, type in the personal details and e-mail address of the person to whom you wish to e-mail the picture. Click OK to close the New Contact dialog box, and then click OK again to close the Contact Book dialog box.
Make sure that there is a check mark beside the new contact in the Select Recipients box, and then click Next.
Photoshop Elements automatically launches your default e-mail application and opens an e-mail message with the images you selected already attached. You can edit the Subject line and the message as you wish. When you’re done, either click Send if you want to go ahead and send this example e-mail, or close the message without saving or sending it.
Click the Organize tab above the Task Pane to switch back to the standard Elements Organizer workspace.
If you have a digital camera or memory card at hand with your own photos on it, you can step through this exercise using those images. Alternatively, you can simply follow the process in the book without performing the steps yourself, or skip to the next section and return to this exercise when you are prepared.
There are several ways that you can download photos from your camera to your hard disk, and then several ways to get them from your hard disk into Photoshop Elements, but these are two-step processes.
By far the most streamlined option is to download images from your camera or card reader directly into the Elements Organizer using the Adobe Photo Downloader—a one-step process that will save you time and get you started working with your photos sooner.
The Adobe Photo Downloader is a feature of Photoshop Elements that searches for and downloads photos from attached card readers, cameras, or mobile phones, making it easy to import photos from these devices directly into your Photoshop Elements catalog.
On Windows, you can set the Adobe Photo Downloader to import your photos automatically, as soon as you attach your camera to the computer; you can configure the automatic download options in the Camera Or Card Reader section of the Organizer Preferences. Even with automatic detection disabled, you can always access the Adobe Photo Downloader from within the Elements Organizer by choosing File > Get Photos And Videos > From Camera Or Card Reader.
Connect your camera or card reader to your computer. For instructions on connecting your device, refer to the manufacturer’s documentation.
If you’re working on Mac OS, skip to step 3. On Windows, the Auto Play dialog box may appear. You could choose the option Organize And Edit Using Adobe Elements Organizer 9, but for the purposes of this lesson, simply click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box. If the Photo Downloader dialog box appears automatically, you can skip to step 4; otherwise, continue to step 3.
Choose File > Get Photos And Videos > From Camera Or Card Reader.
Under Source at the top of the Photo Downloader dialog box, choose the name of the connected camera or card reader from the Get Photos From menu.
Under Import Settings, accept the folder location listed next to Location, or click Browse / Choose to specify a new destination.
Next to Create Subfolder(s), choose one of the date formats from the menu if you want the photos to be stored in subfolders named by capture or import date. You can also choose the Custom Name option to create a folder using a name you type in the text box, or choose None if you don’t want to create any subfolders at all. Your selection is reflected in the Location pathname.
From the Rename Files menu, choose Do Not Rename Files and from the Delete Options menu choose After Copying, Do Not Delete Originals. On Windows, if the Automatic Download option is activated, click the check box to disable it.
Click the Get Media button.
The photos are copied from the camera to the specified folder location.
If the Files Successfully Copied dialog box appears, click Yes. The Getting Photos dialog box appears as the photos are imported into Photoshop Elements. Click OK to dismiss the dialog box informing you that the files you just imported are the only ones visible in the Media browser.
Click OK to close any other alert dialog box. On Windows, click No if you are asked whether you wish to import files newly detected in a watched folder. Thumbnails of the newly imported photos appear in the Media Browser pane.
Photoshop Elements users in the U.S. can create an Adobe ID to register their software and sign up for a free Photoshop.com account. Creating an Adobe ID enables Elements Membership services that are integrated with your software, giving you access to the Inspiration Browser as well as Organizer-based backup and sharing and other exciting Adobe-hosted services that extend the capabilities of your Photoshop Elements software.
Basic Elements Membership is free and gives you your own storage space and a personal Photoshop.com URL where you can not only share and showcase your images but access your photos and videos anytime and from anywhere that you can connect to the Internet. You can also use your Photoshop.com account to back up your Photoshop Elements albums and even to synchronize albums on multiple computers. Basic membership includes access to the Inspiration Browser, with integrated tips, tricks and tutorials related to whatever you’re currently working on, providing a powerful way to advance your skill set and helping you make the most out of your photos and creations.
You can upgrade to a Plus Membership to get more storage space as well as access to advanced tutorials. With Plus membership you also get regularly updated content such as project templates, themes, backgrounds, frames, and graphics delivered directly to your software to help you keep your projects fresh and appealing.
Start Photoshop Elements or—if Photoshop Elements is already running—click the Welcome Screen button (
) at the top right of the workspace.In the Welcome screen, click Create New Adobe ID. Enter your name, e-mail address and a password, type a name for your personal Photoshop.com URL, and then click Create Account. An e-mail message will be sent to you to confirm the creation of your account. Follow the instructions in the e-mail to activate your account. If you are asked whether you wish to activate backup and synchronization, click No; you’ll learn about using this feature in Lesson 5.
Once you’ve created an Adobe ID, you may still need to sign in if you or another user has signed out of your account.
Make sure your computer is connected to the Internet, and then start Adobe Photoshop Elements.
In the Welcome screen, enter your Adobe ID and password, and click Sign In.
If you didn’t sign in at the Welcome screen, you can always click the Sign In link at the top of either the Organizer or Editor workspace.???
Help is available in several ways, each one useful in different circumstances:
Help in the application. The complete user documentation for Adobe Photoshop Elements is available from the Help menu, in the form of HTML content that displays in the Adobe Community Help application. This documentation provides quick access to summarized information on common tasks and concepts, and can be especially useful if you are new to Photoshop Elements or when you are not connected to the Internet.
Help on the Web. You can also access the most comprehensive and up-to-date documentation on Photoshop Elements via your default browser.
Help PDF. Help is also available as a PDF document, optimized for printing; you can download the document by clicking the View Help PDF link in the top right corner of any Help page.
Links in the application. Within the Photoshop Elements application there are links to additional help topics, such as the hot-linked tips associated with specific panels and tasks, and the tips and tutorials links that appear below the Task pane in both the Organizer and the Editor.
Note
You do not need to be connected to the Internet to view Help in the application. However, with an active Internet connection you can see a more complete version of the user documentation and also access the latest updates as well as community-contributed content.
Depending on which module you’re working with, choose Help > Elements Organizer Help or Help > Photoshop Elements Help, or simply press the F1 key. Even if you are not currently connected to the Internet, the Adobe Community Help application will open to the front page of the respective Help documentation, which was installed on your computer with the Photoshop Elements software. Click a topic heading in the table of contents. Click the plus sign (+) to the left of a topic heading to see its sub-topics. Click a topic or sub-topic to display its content. In Community Help, choose View > Show Search Panel. Type a search term in the Search text box at the top of the Search panel, choose search options, and then press Enter on your keyboard.
Community Help searches the entire Help text for topics that contain all the words typed in the Search box. These tips can help you improve your search results:
If you search using a phrase, such as “shape tool,” put quotation marks around the phrase. The search returns only those topics containing that specific phrase.
Make sure that the search terms are spelled correctly.
If a search term doesn’t yield results, try using a synonym, such as “photo” instead of “picture.”
You’ll find links to additional task-specific help at various places in the Photoshop Elements workspace. Clicking these links will either take you to the corresponding topic in Help or—in the case of the links shown here—open the Elements Inspiration Browser.
Hot-linked tips, marked with a light bulb icon, are scattered throughout Adobe Photoshop Elements. These tips either display information in the form of a typical tip balloon or link you to the appropriate topic in Help.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Classroom in a Book is not meant to replace the documentation that comes with the program, nor to be a comprehensive reference for every feature; only the commands and options used in the lessons are explained in this book.
Additional resources are listed in detail at the end of the Getting Started chapter in this book; please refer to these resources for comprehensive information and tutorials about program features.
You’ve reached the end of the first lesson. Now that you know how to import photos, understand the concept of the catalog, and are familiar with the essentials of the Photoshop Elements interface, you are ready to start organizing and editing your photos in the next lessons.
Before you move on, take a few moments to read through the review questions and answers on the next page.