Choose this menu item if you want to start a new file in Elements. Your options are:

Choose this menu item or press Ctrl+O to open an existing file.

This menu option (or Alt+Ctrl+O) lets you choose the format for a file as you open it. Select it when you want to use the Raw Converter on non-Raw formats like JPEG or TIFF (Choosing bit depth: 8 or 16 bits?).

Here’s you’ll find a pop-out list of the most recent files you’ve had open in Elements.

When you need to make a copy of your photo, choose this option.

To close the active image window, choose this menu item or press Ctrl+W.

To close all your open image windows, choose this option or press Alt+Ctrl+W.

To save your work, select this option or press Ctrl+S.

To save your image under another file name or in a different format, choose this command or press Shift+Ctrl+S.

To save an image so that it’s optimized for posting on a Web page or sending by email, choose this menu item or press Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S. For more on the Save For Web window, see Saving Images for the Web or Email.

Choose this menu item to bring up the File Info window, which displays general information (file creation date, file format, and so on) about your image.

Use this command to place a PDF, Adobe Illustrator, or EPS file into an image as a new layer. When the artwork’s larger than the image you place it in, Elements automatically makes it small enough to fit.

Choose this menu option to add the files you have open in the Editor to the Organizer.

This is where you batch process your files to rename them, change their format, add copyright information, and so on (see Processing Multiple Files for everything that Elements lets you do to groups of files).

This is where you bring certain file formats into Elements. It’s also where you can connect to external devices like scanners. (They’ll show up in this menu if you install their drivers.) Your basic choices before you connect or install anything are:

This command is always grayed out. That’s normal. Adobe left it in for the benefit of any third-party plug-ins that may need it to be there—but you don’t need it in Elements to use the program’s standard tools and commands. (The Organizer contains an active Export command.)

Like Export, this command is only here for a few third-party plug-ins that may need it. Normally, it’s grayed out.

This menu option calls up your system’s regular Page Setup window, where you choose the page size and the orientation of your document and select the printer you plan to use. Read more about printing from the Editor on Page Setup. Keyboard shortcut: Shift+Ctrl+P.

Choose this command and you get the Print window, which is discussed in detail in Chapter 16. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+P.

With this command, you get the Organizer’s Print Photos window, which is discussed in detail on Printing at Home (from the Organizer). Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Ctrl+P.

This is your portal to connecting to Kodak EasyShare Gallery to order prints, calendars, or photo books. See Ordering Prints Online for how to order prints online.

You can close the Editor here or by pressing Ctrl+Q. The Organizer doesn’t quit along with the Editor. If the Organizer is also running, you must exit it separately.

You can back out of your last action by selecting Undo or by pressing Ctrl+Z. You can keep applying this command to undo as many steps as you’ve set in the Undo History palette preferences (Edit → Preferences → Performance → History States).

If you undo something and then change your mind again, redo it here or press Ctrl+Y.

Choose this command to return your image to the state it was in the last time you saved it.

To remove something from your image and store it on the Clipboard (so that you can paste it into another file), choose this menu item or press Ctrl+X.

To copy something to the Clipboard, highlight it and select this menu item or press Ctrl+C. The Copy command copies only the top layer in a file with layers. To copy all the layers in your selected area, use Copy Merged instead.

To copy all the layers in the selected area to the Clipboard, choose this menu option or press Shift+Ctrl+C. To copy just the top layer to the Clipboard, use Copy instead.

Use this command or press Ctrl+V to add whatever you have cut or copied into an image.

Use this special command for pasting something within the confines of an existing selection. See Controlling the Selection Tools for more on how this command works. Keyboard shortcut: Shift+Ctrl+V.

This command removes what you’ve selected without copying it to the Clipboard—it’s just gone. You can press Backspace to do the same thing.

Choose this menu item to fill your active layer with a color or pattern (Adding Fill and Adjustment Layers). When you make a selection in your image, this menu item changes to Fill Selection. You can also choose a blend mode and opacity for your fill.

This command lets you place a colored border around the edges of a selection.

If you want to create a custom brush from your photo or from an area of your photo, choose this command. The process is explained in detail on Making a Custom Brush.

This command creates a pattern from your image or selection. See Applying Patterns for more about applying patterns.

Use this command to permanently remove information from the Undo History, Clipboard Contents, or All (both of them). If you have a corrupt image in the Clipboard (or one that’s too large), it may cause Elements to slow way down or quit on you. Once in a while, the Clipboard may get stuck, too—you try to copy and paste an item but still get whatever you copied previously. Clear fixes all these problems.

This command lets you add a new, blank page to your current project. Find out more about working with multipage files on Creating Multipage Documents. Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Ctrl+G.

If you’re working with a Photo Collage (Photo Collages) and you want to use that page as a template for new pages, choose this command instead of Add Blank Page. Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Shift+Ctrl+G.

If you’re working with a multipage document and you decide you want to get rid of your current page, choose this command.

Here’s where you choose your color space for Elements (Choosing a Color Space). Keyboard shortcut: Shift+Ctrl+K.

This is where you access the window that helps you manage your brushes, swatches, gradients, and patterns. See When You Really Need Photoshop for more on how the Preset Manager works.

This menu item gives you access to the many Elements settings you can customize. You’ll find the following preference windows available from this menu:

Use these commands to change the orientation of your image (Rotating and Flipping Options). The first group of options applies to your whole image:

The next group does the same thing but on a layer or selection. The menu choices change depending on whether you have an active selection in your image. If you have a selection, you’ll see the word “Selection” instead of “Layer.”

Finally you can choose to:

These last two commands are mostly for use with scanned images when you need to straighten the position of the entire image. To straighten the contents of an image, use the Straighten tool (Straighten Tool).

These commands let you change the shape of your image by pulling it in different directions. They’re explained in detail on Transforming Images. Your choices are:

Choose this menu item to crop your image to the area you’ve selected (Cropping with the Marquee Tool).

You can create a group scan by placing several photos on your scanner glass at once and then choosing this command. Elements then cuts your photos apart and straightens and crops each individual photo. See Straightening Scanned Photos for more about how this works.

Here’s where you change the actual size of your image (as opposed to changing the size of the view on your screen). Resizing is explained in Chapter 3. Your choices are:

This is where you can change the color mode for your image (Choosing Color Mode). Your choices are:

You’ll find two other commands in this menu:

If you need to change the ICC (International Color Consortium) profile of an image, you can do it from this menu, which lets you apply an sRGB or Adobe RGB profile, or you can remove the profile from an image. For more on color profiles, go to Choosing a Color Space.

Use this command or press Alt+Shift+Ctrl+V to call up the Magic Extractor window, which automates the process of selecting an object in your photo and removing it from the background. See The Polygonal Lasso for details.

Choose this option or press Alt+Ctrl+M to adjust lighting, color, and contrast at the same time (Smart Fix).

Use this command or press Shift+Ctrl+L to adjust the individual color channels of your image (Adjusting Lighting and Contrast).

Choose this command or press Alt+Shift+Ctrl+L to adjust the brightness and darkness of your image without changing the colors (Contrast).

Use this option or press Shift+Ctrl+B to adjust your color in much the same way that Levels does. Auto Color Correction looks at different information in your photo to make its decisions, though (Color).

This command applies the same one-click sharpening you get when you use the Auto Sharpen button in Quick Fix (Using the Color sliders).

Use this command or press Ctrl+R to apply the same auto red-eye correction found in the Organizer (Editing Your Photos).

This command is the same as Auto Smart Fix, except you get a slider to adjust the degree of change Elements makes to your photo. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+M.

Your choices for adjusting the light and dark values in your photos are:

With these settings you can change a color, replace a color, remove a color cast, remove all the color from your image, or add color to a black-and-white photo. Choose from:

Use this menu item or press Atl+Ctrl+B to convert a color photo to a black-and-white image (Method One: Making Color Photos Black and White).

This is the most popular traditional method for sharpening your photos (Sharpening Your Images).

Choose this menu item to use Adobe’s newest sharpening tool (Adjust Sharpness).

This is where you create new, regular (as opposed to Adjustment) layers. Your options are:

If your image doesn’t currently have a Background layer, you see “Background from Layer” instead of “Layer from Background”.

Use this command to make a duplicate of the active layer. As long as you don’t have a selection, you can also use Ctrl+J to do the same thing.

If you want to eliminate a layer, click it in the Layers palette to make it the active layer and choose the Delete Layer command.

Choose this option to—you guessed it—rename a layer. You can also double-click the layer’s name in the Layers palette to rename it.

If a layer has a Layer style applied to it (Adding Layer Styles), you can adjust it here.

Choose this option to create a layer that’s filled with a color, gradient, or pattern. You can also do this from the Layers palette by clicking the Create Adjustment Layer icon. Your options are:

This command creates a new Adjustment layer (Adding Fill and Adjustment Layers). The types of layers you can create are:

For Adjustment and Fill layers, you can change the type of layer you’ve got, as long as you haven’t flattened your layers. For example, you could change a Levels layer into a Hue/Saturation layer. You can also change an Adjustment layer to a Fill layer, and vice versa. The choices include all the layers listed in the two previous sections.

Use this option to bring up the dialog box for an Adjustment or Fill layer. You can also double-click the left icon for the layer in the Layers palette.

This command gives you ways to modify a Type layer, as long as it hasn’t been simplified (Ellipse). You can choose:

The Simplify Layer command rasterizes your layer, turning the layer content from a vector or smart object to one that’s built pixel by pixel. See Ellipse for more about the difference between vectors and pixels.

This command links two layers together in such a way that the bottom layer determines the opacity of the upper layer (Grouping layers). Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+G.

This command separates grouped layers so that they’re now two unrelated layers. Keyboard shortcut: Shift+Ctrl+G.

Use these commands to change the order of layers in the layers stack, or just drag them in the Layers palette. See Arranging layers with the Move tool for details on rearranging layers. (Front is the top of the stack, and back is directly above the Background layer.)

Choose this command or press Ctrl+E to combine multiple layers into one layer. You may also see Merge Down, which merges a layer with the layer immediately beneath it, or Merge Clipping Mask, which merges grouped layers.

Use this option or press Shift+Ctrl+E to merge all the visible layers into one layer.

This command merges all the layers into one Background layer.

Choose this command or press Ctrl+A to select your entire image.

Use this command or press Ctrl+D to remove all selections from your image.

If you apply the Deselect command, but then want your selection back again, choose this menu item or press Shift+Ctrl+D.

This command switches the selected and unselected areas of your image. The area that wasn’t previously selected is now selected, and the previously selected area is now unselected. Keyboard shortcut: Shift+Ctrl+I.

Use this command to select all the layers in your image, including hidden layers.

Choose this option to unselect all the layers in your image.

Use this command to select all the layers of your image that are the same type, such as all Adjustment layers or all regular layers.

Choose this option or press Alt+Ctrl+D to feather (blur) the edges of a selection (The Lasso Tools).

This command lets you groom the edges of a selection (Refine Edge).

These commands let you change the size or edges of your selection. They’re all explained in Chapter 5.

This command expands your selection to include more contiguous areas of similar color (Moving Selected Areas).

This option expands your selection to include more areas of similar color, but— unlike the Grow command—it doesn’t restrict the growth to contiguous areas (Moving Selected Areas).

If you have saved a selection, choose this command to use it again.

If you wish to save a selection so that you can use it another time without recreating it, use this command (Saving Selections).

Use this command to permanently remove a saved selection.

The top item in the Filter menu always features the last filter you’ve applied. Choose it or press Ctrl+F to reapply that filter with the exact same settings you previously used. If you want to change the settings, then you need to choose the filter from its regular place in the list of filters or press Ctrl+Alt+F.

This option lets you try the effects of different filters, rearrange them, and preview what they’ll look like in your photo (Filter Gallery).

Use this filter to correct various kinds of lens distortion problems (Correcting Lens Distortion).

This group of filters is used primarily (but not exclusively) for correcting and enhancing photos. The filters are discussed on Special Effects, unless otherwise noted.

Use these filters to apply a variety of artistic effects to your image, ranging from a pencil-sketch look to a watercolor effect.

Soften and blur your images with these filters.

These filters give your image a hand-painted look.

These filters warp your image in a variety of ways.

Use these filters to add noise (graininess) to your photos or remove noise from them. (Unless otherwise specified, these filters are explained on The Healing Brush: Fixing Larger Areas.)

These filters break up the appearance of your photo into spots or blocks of various kinds.

This is a diverse but powerful group of filters that transform your photo in many ways.

Here’s another group of artistic filters. Most of them make your image look like it was drawn with a pencil or graphics pen.

These filters create special effects by displacing the pixels in your image or increasing contrast.

These filters change the surface of your photo to look like it was made from another material.

These filters are for use with video images.

This is a group of fairly technical filters.

Use this filter to check for Digimarc watermarks in photos. Digimarc is a commercial system that lets subscribers enter their information in a database so that anyone who gets one of their photos can find out who the copyright holder is by searching the Digimarc database.

This command lets you create a duplicate window for your image so that you can see it at two different magnification levels at once. The new window goes away when you close your image—it doesn’t create a copy of your photo.

To increase the view size, you can choose this menu item or press Ctrl+=. You can also use the Zoom tool (The Zoom Tool).

To reduce the view size, choose this menu item or press Ctrl+–. You can also use the Zoom tool (The Zoom Tool).

Use this command or press Ctrl+0 to make your photo as large as it can be without your having to scroll to see part of it.

Choose this option or press Alt+Ctrl+0 to see your image the exact size it would appear on the Web or in other programs that can’t adjust view size (as Elements can).

Elements makes its best guess as to how large your image would print at its current resolution (Resizing for Printing).

When this menu item is turned on, the outlines of your selections are visible. You can toggle the setting off and on here, or by pressing Ctrl+H.

If you want to see rulers around the edges of your image window, toggle them on and off here, or by pressing Shift+Ctrl+R. You can adjust the unit of measurement in Edit → Preferences → Units & Rulers.

If you want to see a measurement and alignment grid on your photos, use this setting to toggle it on and off. You can adjust the grid size in Edit → Preferences → Grid.

The preset document sizes for new files include a couple of video sizes with guidelines to help you know the workable areas of the document. The Guide Presets menu item becomes active when you’re working with a DV (digital video) file, or if someone sends you a Photoshop file with guides. It’s normally grayed out.

This command is available only for files that contain voice annotations. Toggle the annotation on and off here. You may get a file with a voice annotation from someone working with Photoshop, which lets you record sound annotations that you can add to your files.

If you want to control the Elements autogrid (a hidden system that determines how precisely you can place things when you move them in your images), use these commands.

Use these commands to control how your images display. The choices are explained in detail on Zooming and Repositioning Your View.

The Tools setting hides and shows the Toolbox.

Use Color Swatches to show and hide the Color Swatches palette (The Color Swatches Palette).

The Content palette holds frames, backgrounds, graphics, shapes, themes, and text effects to use in projects. It’s always visible in Create → Artwork, but if you want to see it in Edit mode as well, this is where you make it visible. See The Content Palette for more about how to use this palette.

Effects shows and hides the Effects palette, from which you apply filters, Photo Effects, and Layer styles. See Effects palette.

You can put your favorite items from the Content and Effects palettes into the Favorites palette for easier access (The Favorites Palette). Like the Content palette, it’s always visible in Create → Artwork, but you can use the setting here to make it visible in Full Edit or hide it again once it’s visible.

Use the Histogram to show or hide the Histogram in its own palette (Understanding the Histogram).

Use this setting to bring up a palette with information about your photos, like the file size and color value numbers.

Make the Layers palette visible or hidden by toggling this setting. See The Layers Palette.

Turn the Navigator off and on here. The Navigator lets you adjust which portion of a large image is visible on your screen and also adjust the zoom. See Changing the Size of Your Image.

The Undo History setting makes the Undo History palette visible or hides it. The Undo History palette shows a record of all the changes to your image up to the number of states you set in Edit → Preferences → Performance → History States. See The one rule of Elements for more about the Undo History palette.

This setting minimizes (hides) and maximizes (reopens) the Palette bin (The Palette bin). You can also just click the edge of the bin to hide or expand it.

Use this command to return all palettes to their original locations.

Choose this menu item to see the Welcome window that appears when Elements starts up. This is where you connect to Photoshop.com (Photoshop.com).

This setting minimizes (hides) the Project bin. Select it again to maximize (reopen) the bin.

At the bottom of the Window menu you see a list of all the files you have open in Elements. Choose one to bring it to the front as the active window.

When you call up the Elements Help files here, or press F1, your Web browser launches to show you the Help files.

Choose this to see a scrolling window with information about the version of Elements you’ve got. You’ll also see a very long list of patents and credits—an impressive testimony to the complexity of the engineering that went into Elements.

Select this option for a long pop-out menu displaying all the plug-ins in your copy of Elements. Choose a plug-in from the list to see its version and date information.

This menu item displays a long list of the various patents for Elements, as well as trademark information for some of the components used in the program.

The Elements Help files include a glossary of terms relating to digital imaging. If you’re wondering what a particular term means, choose this menu item and it’ll take you to the glossary index so you can look it up.

Choose this item for a window showing information about Elements itself and also about your Windows operating system. If you can’t remember which service pack you have, for instance, then you can check here. You’ll also find information about some important plug-ins. If you’re not sure whether you have QuickTime, for example, that information’s here, too.

If you didn’t register Elements with Adobe the first time you used the program, you can choose this menu item to bring up the registration window again.

This is where you check for updates to Elements components. Go to Adobe Updater window → Preferences and you can set your preferences for how you want Elements to handle updates.

Choose this option and Elements launches your Web browser and attempts to go to Adobe’s support Web site. If you’re not connected to the Internet when you select Online Support, then Elements launches an Internet connection window.

This menu item takes you to the main product page for Photoshop Elements on Adobe’s Web site. As it does with the online support link, Elements launches your browser and offers to connect to the Internet if you’re not already online.