The creative projects in ‘Photoshop Elements - Maximum Performance’ are designed to provide you with the essential techniques for professional quality editing - without the need to upgrade to the full version of Photoshop. The projects are designed to unleash the hidden potential of the budget software through a series of workarounds, advanced techniques and loadable presets. Each creative project is supported by a QuickTime movie tutorial and high-resolution images - all available on a supporting DVD. The DVD contains full and comprehensive movie support together with a library of royalty-free, high-resolution stock images for self-initiated creative projects. Each project is designed to build the skills required so that any photographer can attain the status of ‘imaging guru’. The magic is deconstructed using a series of easy to follow step-by-step projects using large clear screen grabs and jargon-free explanations. Completed multilayered project files are also available on the DVD for those users who like to have access to the completed project for comparison and analysis.
This book will act as your guide to some of Elements’ less well-known and powerful post-production editing techniques. It will enable you to attain the same high quality images as professionals using the full version of Photoshop. This book makes Elements a viable alternative to the full version of Photoshop for imaging professionals and enthusiasts looking to extract the maximum performance from their software.
This book is primarily concerned with the post-production stage of the creative process and demonstrates how this part of the creative process can optimize and enhance the original capture or create an entirely new image out of several images (the creation of a composite photograph or photomontage). Where appropriate the book will discuss measures that can be taken by the photographer in pre-production or production to enable the highest quality outcome as a result of the post-production stage. To ensure the best quality image from our sophisticated and professional post-production techniques we should ensure that we access quality raw materials whenever possible - ‘quality in, quality out’. The vast majority of the JPEG images on the supporting DVD were processed from either camera RAW files or high quality 16 Bits/Channel scans. The images were captured using budget digital SLR and fixed lens digital cameras such as the Fuji FinePix s7000 and Olympus E300, affordable cameras used to capture information rich images.
The techniques used in this book promote a non-destructive approach to image editing wherever possible. The term ‘non-destructive image editing’ refers to the process of editing an image whilst retaining as much of the original information as possible and editing in such a way that any modifications can be usually undone or modified. Editing on the base layer of the image can often mean that modifications to the pixel information cannot be undone easily or at all, e.g. sharpening an image file cannot be undone once the file has been saved and flattened. It is however possible to sharpen non-destructively in post-production so that the amount of sharpening can be altered when the file is opened at a later date. This latter approach would be termed non-destructive. When capturing images with a digital camera many users do not realize that if the JPEG file format is used image processing starts in the camera. Color correction, contrast adjustment, saturation levels and sharpening all takes place in the camera. If maximum quality is to be realized the RAW format should be chosen in preference to the JPEG format if possible. The post-production decisions can then be left to the Adobe software, allowing the user many more options.
Photoshop Elements replaced ‘Photoshop LE’ (limited edition - as in limited function and not availability); both of these software packages share something in common - they offer limited elements of the full version of Photoshop. Adobe strips out some of the features that would be the first port of call for some professional image editors and photographers - but this does not mean that the same level of control cannot be achieved when using the budget software. Professional post-production image editing does NOT have to be compromised by using Photoshop Elements. With editing images there is usually more than a single way to reach the destination or required outcome. With a good roadmap the Elements user can reach the same destination by taking a slightly different course. These roads are often poorly signposted, so are often inaccessible to the casual user of the software. This book will act as your guide to enable you to attain a broad range of sophisticated post-production image editing skills through a series of creative projects designed to circumnavigate the missing features.
Photoshop Elements IS a viable alternative to the full version of Photoshop for professional image editing. Many professionals may disagree with this statement, as a quick glance at the Elements package may result in a long list of the elements that are missing rather than taking a long hard look at the elements that remain (a case of ‘the glass is half-empty’ rather than ‘the glass is half-full’). After a decade of professional image editing I have learnt that there is more than one way to create an image. There is no ‘one way’. In short - it is possible to take a high-quality image file and work non-destructively to create an image which is indistinguishable from one that has been optimized using the full version of Photoshop. This book does not aim to outline every tool in your kit (a paintbrush doesn’t really require an owners manual and some of the automated features are sometimes more trouble than they are worth). It just deals with how to adapt the tools you do have to perform the tasks you didn’t think you were able to. It aims to show you that Elements is better equipped than you were led to believe. Photoshop Elements really is the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothes.
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Location Image by Dorothy Connop