Adobe Using Photoshop Elements 8 Editor 8.0 (Windows) User Guide Photoshopelements Windows Eng

User Manual: adobe Photoshop Elements - 8.0 (Windows) - User Guide Free User Guide for Photoshop Software, Manual

Open the PDF directly: View PDF .
Page Count: 317

Download
Open PDF In Browser	View PDF

Using
ADOBE® PHOTOSHOP® ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR

Using Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 for Windows®
This user guide is protected under copyright law, furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a
commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear
in the informational content contained in this guide.
This user guide is licensed for use under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 License. This License allows users to copy,
distribute, and transmit the user guide for noncommercial purposes only so long as (1) proper attribution to Adobe is given as the owner of the user guide; and
(2) any reuse or distribution of the user guide contains a notice that use of the user guide is governed by these terms. The best way to provide notice is to include
the following link. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe Premiere, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, PostScript, Reader, and XMP are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Windows and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Apple,
Macintosh and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Sun
Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. OS/2 is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other
countries, or both. Dolby is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the US and other countries. SGI is a
trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Updated Information/Additional Third Party Code Information available at http://www.adobe.com/go/thirdparty.
This product contains either BSAFE and/or TIPEM software by RSA Security, Inc.
This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).
This Program was written with MacApp®: ©1985-1988 Apple Computer, Inc. APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER,
EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS
FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The MacApp software is proprietary to Apple Computer, Inc. and is licensed to Adobe for distribution only for
use in combination with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.
PANTONE® colors displayed here may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color.
PANTONE® and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc. © Pantone, Inc., 2009.
Portions © Eastman Kodak Company, 2009 and used under license. All rights reserved. Kodak is a registered trademark and Photo CD is a trademark of Eastman
Kodak Company.
Portions of this code are licensed from Focoltone Colour System.
Software is produced under Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc.’s (DIC) copyrights of color-data-base derived from Sample Books.
Portions © 1995-2005 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler
Video compression and decompression is powered by On2 TrueMotion video technology. © 1992-2005 On2 Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.on2.com.
This product includes software developed by the OpenSymphony Group (http://www.opensymphony.com/).
Portions of this code are licensed from Nellymoser (www.nellymoser.com).

Sorenson Spark™ video compression and decompression technology licensed from Sorenson Media, Inc.
MPEG Layer-3 audio compression technology licensed by Fraunhofer IIS and THOMSON Licensing (http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/).
Certain Spelling portions of this product is based on Proximity Linguistic Technology. ©Copyright 1990 Merriam-Webster Inc. ©Copyright 1990 All rights
reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 2003 Franklin Electronic Publishers
Inc.©Copyright 2003 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. Legal
Supplement ©Copyright 1990/1994 Merriam-Webster Inc./Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc. ©Copyright 1994 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A
Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1990/1994 Merriam-Webster Inc./Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc.
©Copyright 1997All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA ©Copyright 1990
Merriam-Webster Inc. ©Copyright 1993 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey
USA. ©Copyright 2004 Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc. ©Copyright 2004 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic
Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1991 Dr. Lluis de Yzaguirre I Maura ©Copyright 1991 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A
Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1990 Munksgaard International Publishers Ltd. ©Copyright 1990 All
rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1990 Van Dale Lexicografie
bv ©Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1995
Van Dale Lexicografie bv ©Copyright 1996 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey,
USA. ©Copyright 1990 IDE a.s. ©Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New
Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1992 Hachette/Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc. ©Copyright 2004 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin
Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1991 Text & Satz Datentechnik ©Copyright 1991 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology
A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 2004 Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag ©Copyright 2004 All rights
reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 2004 MorphoLogic Inc.
©Copyright 2004 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1990
William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. ©Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New
Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1993-95 Russicon Company Ltd. ©Copyright 1995 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic
Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 2004 IDE a.s. ©Copyright 2004 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin
Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. The Hyphenation portion of this product is based on Proximity Linguistic Technology. ©Copyright
2003 Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc.©Copyright 2003 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc.
Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1984 William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. ©Copyright 1988 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of

Last updated 7/26/2011

Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1990 Munksgaard International Publishers Ltd. ©Copyright 1990 All rights
reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1997 Van Dale Lexicografie bv
©Copyright 1997 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1984
Updated 12 June 2009 Editions Fernand Nathan ©Copyright 1989 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc.
Burlington, New Jersey USA. © Copyright 1983 S Fischer Verlag ©Copyright 1997 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic
Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1989 Zanichelli ©Copyright 1989 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin
Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1989 IDE a.s. ©Copyright 1989 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology A Division of
Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1990 Espasa-Calpe ©Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Proximity Technology
A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA. ©Copyright 1989 C.A. Stromberg AB. ©Copyright 1989 All rights reserved.
Proximity Technology A Division of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Burlington, New Jersey USA.
Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95110, USA.
Notice to U.S. Government End Users. The Software and Documentation are “Commercial Items,” as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of
“Commercial Computer Software” and “Commercial Computer Software Documentation,” as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202,
as applicable. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §§227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Commercial Computer Software and
Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S. Government end users (a) only as Commercial Items and (b) with only those rights
as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein. Unpublished-rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States.
Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110-2704, USA. For U.S. Government End Users, Adobe agrees to comply with all applicable
equal opportunity laws including, if appropriate, the provisions of Executive Order 11246, as amended, Section 402 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment
Assistance Act of 1974 (38 USC 4212), and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the regulations at 41 CFR Parts 60-1 through 60-60,
60-250, and 60-741. The affirmative action clause and regulations contained in the preceding sentence shall be incorporated by reference.

Last updated 7/26/2011

Contents
Chapter 1: Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements
What to do first . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Using Help and getting support

........................................................................................ 2

Converting a catalog from a previous version
About backing up/synchronizing files

.......................................................................... 3

.................................................................................. 4

Working in Elements Organizer and Photoshop Elements Editor
Importing and organizing photos and video
Creating photo projects

........................................................................... 6

............................................................................................... 8

Printing and sharing photos
Fixing (editing) photos
Troubleshooting tips

........................................................ 5

........................................................................................... 9

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chapter 2: Photoshop Elements workspace
About workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Tools

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Panels and bins

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Undo, redo, and cancel

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Scratch disks and plug-ins

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Chapter 3: Working in the Editor
Opening files in the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
File information

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Viewing images in the Editor
Guides, grids, and rulers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Saving and exporting images
Guided Edit

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Chapter 4: Using layers
Creating layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Editing layers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Copying and arranging layers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Opacity and blending modes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Adjustment and fill layers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Layer masks

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Layer styles

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 5: Camera raw files
Processing camera raw image files

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Settings and controls

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Color and camera raw

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter 6: Selecting parts of an image
Making selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Modifying selections

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Contents

Smoothing selection edges with anti-aliasing and feathering
Moving and copying selections
Saving selections

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 7: Color and tonal correction
Color and tonal correction basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Adjusting shadows and light
Correcting color casts

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Adjusting color saturation and hue
Adjustment filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Chapter 8: Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos
Cropping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Image size and resolution

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Retouching

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Sharpening

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Transforming

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Recomposing

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Stitching together panoramas

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Chapter 9: Understanding color
Understanding color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Using image modes and color tables
Setting up color management

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Chapter 10: Filters, effects, styles, and artwork
Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Artistic filters
Blur filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Brush Stroke filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Distort filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Noise filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Pixelate filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Render filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Sketch filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Stylize filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Texture filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Video filters

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Other filters

Chapter 11: Painting
Painting overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Choosing colors
Painting tools

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Setting up brushes
Fills and strokes
Patterns

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Contents

Gradients

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Presets and libraries

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Chapter 12: Adding text and shapes
Add and edit text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Work with Asian type

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Creating shapes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Editing shapes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Chapter 13: Creating projects in the Editor
Editor projects overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Making photo projects
Create a photo book

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Create a greeting card

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Create photo calendars

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Create a DVD with a menu of slide shows
Editing photo projects

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Chapter 14: Optimizing for the web
Optimizing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Using transparency and mattes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Dithering in web images

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Previewing web images

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Chapter 15: Printing and sharing photos
Printing photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Print options

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Send photos to online sharing services
Sharing photos

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Chapter 16: Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts
Keys for viewing images (Full Edit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Keys for selecting tools

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Keys for selecting and moving objects

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Keys for the Magic Extractor dialog box

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Keys for transforming selections
Keys for painting and brushes
Keys for using text

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Keys for the Layers panel

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Keys for using blending modes
Keys for the Info panel

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Keys for the Color Swatches panel

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Keys for showing or hiding panels (Full Edit)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Keys for the Filter Gallery

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Keys for the Liquify filter

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Keys for using Photomerge Panorama
Keys for the Camera Raw dialog box

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Last updated 7/26/2011

vii

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Contents

Chapter 17: Glossary
Find definitions for terms
Digital imaging terms

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Last updated 7/26/2011

Chapter 1: Getting started with Adobe
Photoshop Elements
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 software combines power and simplicity so you can easily make your photos look their
best. You can also share them in imaginative ways, and easily find and view all your photos and video clips.

What to do first
Check the system requirements
If you’re not sure if Adobe Photoshop Elements can run on your computer, review the complete system requirements
and recommendations for your Adobe® software. See the ReadMe file included on your software installation disc.

Install the software
1 Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.
2 Insert the installation disc into your disc drive, and follow the onscreen instructions.

Note: You can specify the language and select the country while installing the application. If you want to change these
settings after installing the application, you need to uninstall the application and then re-install it.
Should I uninstall my previous version of Adobe Photoshop Elements? If you’ve installed a trial version of
Adobe Photoshop Elements, it’s a good idea to uninstall it first. However, it’s not necessary to uninstall a previous
version of Adobe Photoshop Elements. But, you can uninstall a previous version if you want to.
How do I uninstall a version of Adobe Photoshop Elements? In the Windows® OS, click the Start menu, and then select

Control Panel. Double-click Add Or Remove Programs. Select the version of Adobe Photoshop Elements that you
want to uninstall, and click Remove. Confirm the uninstallation when prompted.

Register
After installing Adobe Photoshop Elements, register your software to receive complimentary installation support,
notifications of updates, and other services.
Note: Users in non-US locations, can register at any time by choosing Help > Registration.

ReadMe file
The installation disc contains the ReadMe file for your software. (This file is also copied to the application folder
during product installation.) Open the file to read important information.

Sign up with your Adobe ID
Important: Adobe Photoshop Elements free online benefits and Photoshop Elements Plus are available in the United
States only. Internet access required.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

Sign up with your Adobe ID to receive free online benefits, such as 2 GB of free storage, automatic online backup,
automatic syncing of your photos and video clips on multiple computers, tutorials that appear when you need them,
access to your photos and videos at Photoshop.com, and a personal URL for sharing your photo/video albums. If you
purchased Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 Plus, sign up with your Adobe ID to receive all the above plus additional
storage space, artwork, and tutorials. For more information, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_pse_membership_en.
How do I sign up? Click the link in the Welcome screen or in the menu bar to sign up with your Adobe ID. You can

sign up at any time from the Welcome screen. To display the Welcome screen, click the Welcome screen icon in the
menu bar. If you don't have an Adobe ID, click the link in the Welcome screen or in the menu bar to create one.

New and enhanced features
Visit www.adobe.com/go/learn_pse_features_en to learn about new and enhanced features. Improving your photos
and doing more with them is easier than ever.

Using Help and getting support
Learning Adobe Photoshop Elements
The Photoshop Elements Help and Support page on the web provides links to articles and video tutorials to help you
get started with Adobe Photoshop Elements. The Help and Support page also includes top troubleshooting tips,
advanced articles, and links to help and forums. Go to www.adobe.com/support/photoshopelements.
How do I ask a question You can also ask questions and get advice from other Adobe Photoshop Elements and

Adobe Premiere Elements users at www.adobe.com/go/forums.

Using Photoshop Elements Help
Photoshop Elements Help is available several ways. To access Help, select Help > Photoshop Elements Help (or press
the F1 key on your keyboard). If your computer is connected to the Internet, Adobe Photoshop Elements
automatically launches Help on the web.
To see the complete Help for Adobe Photoshop Elements, see Elements Organizer and the Photoshop Elements Editor Help.
Help on the web Help on the web is the most comprehensive and up-to-date version of Adobe Photoshop Elements
Help. To view Help on the web, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_pse8_en. Your computer must be connected to the
Internet to access Help on the web. Use the Search field to search within Photoshop Elements Help.
Help in the application Help in the application provides access to key tasks and concepts. If you aren’t connected to
the Internet, Photoshop Elements launches Help in the application. Help in the application is a small subset of the
complete Help available on the web.
Help PDF Help is also available as a PDF that is optimized for printing. For more information, see

www.adobe.com/go/learn_pse8_printpdf_en, or click the Help PDF link at the top of each Help page. The Help PDF
is the best way to access the most comprehensive Help when you don’t have an Internet connection.
Links in the application Some Help links are within Photoshop Elements. Clicking these links takes you to the
corresponding topic in either Help on the web or Help in the application.

Note: If you try to access a Help topic that only exists in Help on the web, Photoshop Elements displays a message with a
URL and a link to the complete Help on the web.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

Tips for searching Help
• If you search using a phrase, such as “shape tool,” place quotation marks around the phrase. The search returns only
those topics containing all the words in the phrase.

• Make sure that the search terms are spelled correctly.
• If a search term doesn’t yield results, try using a synonym, such as “web” instead of “Internet.”
• If you find a topic you want to view again, bookmark it for easy access later.
Print a Help topic To print a topic from Help, use the Print command in the browser.
How to search for troubleshooting topics You can view top issues and search for common problems and error
messages by going to www.adobe.com/support/photoshopelements. You can also ask questions to other
Adobe Photoshop Elements users at www.adobe.com/go/forums.
Forum You can access the Elements user community forum through the application. To access the forum page from
Photoshop Elements, select Help > Forum. To access the forum page from Elements Organizer, select Help > Forum
> Photoshop Elements. If your computer is connected to the Internet, Photoshop Elements launches the forum page.
The forum is used to ask other Photoshop Elements users for suggestions on your designs and also to post useful tips
and tricks that help other users.
Look for Photoshop Elements updates If your computer is connected to the Internet, you’ll receive notifications
whenever Photoshop Elements is updated. You can also find out about the latest updates by going to
www.adobe.com/downloads/updates.

How do I get customer support?
You can get support by contacting Adobe directly or submitting a web case. Visit www.adobe.com/support/contact for
contact information. Visit the Adobe Support website at www.adobe.com/go/support. Adobe Support has
troubleshooting information and also information about free and paid technical support options.

Converting a catalog from a previous version
When you open Elements Organizer in Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, you could experience difficulties opening a
catalog you used in an earlier version of Adobe Photoshop Elements. Convert the catalog to view the photos.
1 Select File > Catalog.
2 Click Convert in the Catalog Manager.
3 In the Convert Catalog window, select the catalog you want to convert.

Note: Catalogs saved to a folder in a location other than the default location do not appear in the Convert Catalog
window automatically. Click Find More Catalogs, and then select the folder where your catalog is located. Catalogs
located in that folder are added to the list of catalogs that can be converted.
4 Click Convert.

Show Previously Converted Catalogs
You can view the catalogs that have previously been converted or that were backed up by an earlier version. The
Convert Catalog window does not display these catalogs by default. Select Show Previously Converted Catalogs to view
a list of the previously converted catalogs.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

Note: You cannot use the converted catalog with earlier versions. However, when the catalog is converted, it copies the
data into a new catalog file, and the original catalog file remains unchanged. You can continue to use the original catalog
in the earlier versions.

About backing up/synchronizing files
Back up/Synchronize files
Note: Adobe Photoshop Elements free online benefits and Photoshop Elements Plus are available in the United States
only. Internet access required.
When you sign in with your Adobe ID, you can back up your albums and catalogs to Photoshop.com servers. Backing
up and synchronizing your albums and catalogs are essential for protecting your photos and media files. For example,
if you add keyword tags to media files on your computer, the corresponding photos on Photoshop.com are updated
with the tags. The albums and catalogs must be marked for Backup/Synchronization on each computer.
Important: All images within a stack are automatically backed up/synchronized across all machines. However, you must
manually re-create the stack on each machine.
The Backup/Synchronization wizard is automatically launched when the user activates Backup/Synchronization for
the first time.

Backup/Synchronization window

1 Start Elements Organizer, and then sign in with your Adobe ID.
2 Choose an option from the Backup/Synchronization dialog box.
Yes - Turn It On For Me Enables you to set your entire catalog for Backup/Synchronization. All your videos and photos

securely get uploaded to your online account.
Yes - But Show Me The Advanced Settings Enables you to set advanced Backup/Synchronization settings in the

Preferences dialog box.
No - Leave It OFF. I Don’t Want To Protect My Photos And Videos Your videos and photos don’t get backed up and

synchronized online.
3 Select the required option, and then follow the onscreen instructions to enable Back up/Synchronization.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

View Backup/Synchronization activity status
❖ Do one of the following:

• Right-click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon

in the system tray and select View

Backup/Synchronization Status.

• Double-click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon in the system tray.
• Click the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent icon in the status bar of Elements Organizer, and then select
View Backup/Synchronization Status.
The Elements Backup/Synchronization Status dialog box is displayed. The dialog box displays the following
information:

• The total number of assets that are being synchronized
• The overall progress of the synchronization activity
• The online storage capacity being used
• The asset that is being synchronized
The dialog box also allows you to pause and resume the Backup/Synchronization activity.

View Backup/Sync activity status

Start backup and synchronization activity manually
Backup/Synchronization is a scheduled activity. The Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent checks for assets to
synchronize at regular intervals. Between these periods of activity, the Elements Backup/Synchronization Agent is idle.
To synchronize right away instead of waiting for the next scheduled synchronization, click Backup/Sync Now in the
system tray. The Backup/Synchronization process starts, and any changes that you have made are synced to
Photoshop.com immediately.

Working in Elements Organizer and
Photoshop Elements Editor
For a video overview, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2309_pse8_en and www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2301_pse8_en.
Adobe Photoshop Elements has two basic workspaces— Elements Organizer and the Photoshop Elements Editor that
you switch between, depending on the task you’re performing. You start by importing photos into
Elements Organizer, where you view, manage, and find all of your photos and video clips. You can also make quick
fixes in Elements Organizer.
In the Editor workspace, you can refine your photos more fully, make basic edits, follow step-by-step guided editing
tasks, or use advanced editing tools.
After working with your photos in either Elements Organizer or the Photoshop Elements Editor, you can create photo
projects, such as scrapbook pages, slide shows, photo books, and online albums. You can easily share these projects
with family and friends.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

To access Elements Organizer from the Photoshop Elements Editor, click the icon

Importing and organizing photos and video
As you work in Adobe Photoshop Elements, you start by importing photos into Elements Organizer. In
Elements Organizer, you can view, manage, and find all your photos and video clips.

Use the Photo Downloader to download files
1 Connect your camera or card reader to your computer. (See the documentation that came with your device, if

necessary.)
The Windows AutoPlay dialog box opens with a list of options for getting the photos.
2 In the Windows AutoPlay dialog box, select Organize, and Edit using Adobe Elements Organizer 8, and then click OK.

If Elements Organizer is not already open, the Photo Downloader dialog box opens. Click Get Photos. Elements
Get Photos
Organizer opens and imports the media files. If Elements Organizer is already running, choose File >
And Videos >
From Camera Or Card Reader to open the Photo Downloader.
3 In the Photo Downloader dialog box under Source, choose from the Get Photos From menu to specify where to

copy/import the photos from.
4 In the Import Settings area, set the following options:
Location Specifies the folder to which images are downloaded. To change the default folder location, click Browse, and

then specify a new location.
Create Subfolder(s) Creates a subfolder using the naming scheme chosen from the pop-up menu. If you choose

Custom Name, type a subfolder name in the box.
Rename Files Changes the filenames using the naming scheme selected from the pop-up menu. If you choose Custom

Name, type a base filename and a starting number for assigning sequentially numbered filenames to the photos.
Note: If the name you entered exists, the copied image filename is appended with “-1” or another appropriately numbered
designator.
Preserve Current Filename In XMP Select this option to use the current filename as the filename stored in the metadata

of the photo.
Delete Options Specifies whether to leave the photos on your camera or card, verify and delete the files, or delete the
files after they are copied. Photos that you do not import into Adobe Photoshop Elements are not deleted from the
camera or card.

5 (Optional) To automatically download photos to Photoshop Elements after a device is connected, select Automatic

Download. Automatic download options are set in the Camera Or Card Reader preferences.
6 (Optional) For more download options, click the Advanced Dialog button. See

www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_advanceddownload_en.
7 Click Get Photos.

The photos are copied to your hard drive.
8 Click OK in the Files Successfully Copied dialog box.

Note: If Elements Organizer is launched while copying the photos, click Yes in the Files Successfully Copied box.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

Organizing your photos and video clips
Use Elements Organizer to manage your files. Elements Organizer enables you to find photos, video files, audio clips,
and Adobe PDF documents, even if they’re stored in different locations on your computer.
Adobe Photoshop Elements automatically organizes photos by date as they download. Elements Organizer has a
Timeline (choose Window > Timeline) and Date View for finding photos by date. It’s a good idea to put related photos
into an album. Albums are great for sharing photos in projects, creations, online albums, and they also make it easy to
find related photos.
You can further sort and categorize photos by adding star ratings, by stacking photos, and by assigning keyword
. For more information on using keyword tags, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_photos_tag_en.
tags
Do I have to use Elements Organizer? No. You can copy photos to your computer and use the Editor to fix your
photos. However, there are lots of great things you can do with your photos in Elements Organizer. Also, after
collecting hundreds and thousands of photos on your computer, you’ll discover that finding and managing photos
with Elements Organizer is much easier.

Create an album
1 Click the Create New Album Or Album Category button

in the Albums panel of the Organize tab, and then

choose New Album.
2 (Optional) From the Albums Category menu, choose a category into which to place the album.

Albums Category menu

3 In the Album Name box, type a name for the album.
4 Drag photos into the Items area.

The album appears in the Albums panel under the album category you specified. For more information about creating
an album, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_albums_create_en .

Finding photos and video clips
You can find photos and video files by date, star rating, album, folder location, filename, media type, keyword tag, text,
or other criteria. For more information, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_photos_find_en.
Here are a few of the features in Elements Organizer to find photos:
Timeline Click a month or set a range to find photos and media files chronologically by date, import batch, or folder

location.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

Find bar Drag a photo, keyword tag, project, or album onto the Find bar to find matching or similar photos and media

files.
Albums panel Select an album to view only the media files in it.
Keyword Tags panel Select a keyword tag to see only the files with that tag.
Text box Type text in the Search box to find files with matching text. Matches can include items such as filenames,
metadata, keyword tags, captions, notes, album names, album groups, camera information, dates, folders, and formats.
A

Elements Organizer has many tools and features for finding photos.
A. Find bar B. Text box C. Timeline D. Albums panel E. Keyword Tags panel

Find the actual file of a photo or media clip
1 In Elements Organizer, select the photo or media clip whose file you want to find.
2 Press Alt + Enter to open the Properties-General window.
3 Click the Reveal In Explorer icon

Creating photo projects
You can use your photos in various fun projects that you can share with family and friends. For example, you can create
photo projects, such as albums, scrapbook pages, greeting cards, CD/DVD labels and jackets, and photo collages. You
can print these photo projects at home, or you can upload them to an online printing service. You can also use your
photos in online photo galleries, photo slide shows, and flipbooks. For more information, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_projects_en.
Give your projects a personal look by customizing the project templates. Adjust layout colors to better complement
your photos, and add new graphical elements, text, and effects, such as drop shadows and glows. Use the Contents
panel to quickly browse hundreds of frames, themes, backgrounds, clip art, and effects to apply to your photos and
photo projects.

Create and share a slide show
1 In Elements Organizer, select the photos you want in the slide show.
2 In the Create tab

, clickSlide Show to show the Slide Show Preferences.

3 Change any of these options, or click OK to use the default options.

All the tools for creating your slide show are in the Slide Show dialog box. The photos you chose to use in the slide
show appear at the bottom of the screen.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

4 In the Slide Show Editor, have fun adding effects, text, small graphics, music, or your own narration. The Slide Show

Editor provides lots of possibilities for creativity.
5 If you want to reorder your slides, drag the slide’s thumbnail image to a new location. The image thumbnails are at

the bottom of the Slide Show Editor. Drag one forward or back until you see the blue bar, and then release the
mouse button.
6 To preview your slide show with all its effects, use the VCR-style buttons under the slide preview. You can return

to editing slides at any time by pressing the VCR-style button.
Note: You can also preview your slide show with all its effects using the Full Screen Preview icon. You can return to editing
slides from the Full screen preview by pressing the Esc key.
7 Click Save Project (in the upper left of the Slide Show Editor). It’s a good idea to save the slide show regularly as you work.
8 To output your slide show for viewing or sharing, click Output (in the upper left of the Slide Show Editor). Choose

how you want to share your slide show. You can save it as a movie file or a PDF file. You can also burn it to a disc
so you can play it on a TV or computer.

Printing and sharing photos
Photoshop Elements offers many ways to quickly share your photos. You can let people view your photos through an
interactive online album. You can send photos to people via e-mail. You can print photos to your home printer or
order professionally printed photos. Or, you can put your files or albums on CDs/DVDs.
In Elements Organizer, you first select photos you want to share. Click the Share tab, and then select the way you want
to share photos. For more information, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_share_en.

Print from Elements Organizer
1 Select photos or video clips in the Photo Browser. If you select a video clip, only the first frame of the clip is printed.
2 Choose File > Print.
3 Specify printing options in the Prints dialog box, and then click Print.

Print online
1 In Elements Organizer, select the photos you want to print.
2 Do one of the following and follow the instructions in the Order Prints dialog box that opens.

• Click File > Order Prints > Order Shutterfly Prints.
Note: Sign up for Shutterfly to use their services.

• Click File > Order Prints > Order Kodak Prints.
Note: Sign up for Kodak membership to use their services.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

Share photos using e-mail
Photoshop Elements streamlines sharing photos by e-mail. You can either attach photos to an e-mail or embed a photo
in an e-mail using Photo Mail.
1 Make sure your e-mail client is specified in Preferences. In Elements Organizer, choose Edit > Preferences >

Sharing. In Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > Organize & Share, and then select Sharing. Choose
Microsoft Outlook®, Outlook Express, or Adobe E-mail Service.
Note: In Windows Vista®, choose Microsoft Outlook®, Windows mail, or Adobe E-mail Service.
2 Select a photo in the Photo Browser or Date view, and then click Share

and Photo Mail.

3 The first time you e-mail a photo, you are prompted to confirm the e-mail service you want to use. Confirm your

choice, and then click OK.
The Photo Mail panel appears displaying the photos you chose to e-mail.
4 Select recipients of the e-mail by doing one of the following:

• Select a name from the Select Recipients list (the names you see are from your contact book).
• If you want, add the recipient to your contact book by selecting New Contact in the Contact Book dialog. Click OK;
the recipient appears selected in the Select Recipients list.
5 In the Stationery & Layouts wizard, choose a stationery style and background. Then click Next Step, and customize

the layout.
6 Click Next.

Photoshop Elements opens your default e-mail application.
What if I use a web-based e-mail service? If you use a web-based e-mail service such as Gmail™ or Yahoo® Mail, you

can export your photos and attach them to e-mail messages. Click the Share tab, and select E-mail Attachments. The
E-mail Attachments wizard leads you through the steps for creating versions of your photos that are suitable for e-mail.

Fixing (editing) photos
Adobe Photoshop Elements offers several levels of editing, from simple one-click fixes in Elements Organizer to
advanced color correction and composition in the Photoshop Elements Editor.

Fix photos in Elements Organizer
In Elements Organizer, you can perform various basic image adjustments: Auto Smart Fix, Auto Color, Auto Contrast,
Auto Red Eye, and Auto Sharpen, for example. For more information, see
www.adobe.com/go/learn_org_fix_organizer_en.
1 In Elements Organizer, select the photos you want to fix.
2 Click the Fix tab, and select Edit Photos. Make the required adjustments.

If you don’t like the results, click Undo

, or press Ctrl-Z.

Crop a photo in Elements Organizer
Cropping removes unwanted areas from a photo.
1 In Elements Organizer, select the photo you want to crop.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

2 Click the Fix tab, select Crop, and then follow the instructions in the Crop dialog box.

Fix photos in the Photoshop Elements Editor
The Photoshop Elements Editor provides additional editing modes: Quick Fix, Guided Edit, and Full Edit. The level
of your editing expertise and complexity of the image editing determine which mode is appropriate for your task. For
more information, see www.adobe.com/go/learn_pse8_photos_fix_en.
1 In Elements Organizer, select the photos you want to work with in the Editor.
2 Click the triangle beside the Fix tab, and then select one of the following: Full Photo Edit, Quick Photo Edit, or

Guided Photo Edit.

Organizer bar

In the Photoshop Elements Editor, photos appear in the Project Bin at the bottom of the Editor workspace. You can
move between the photos you want to fix by double-clicking them in the Project Bin.
Do I have to use Elements Organizer to open images in the Editor? No. You can open photos from the Editor too.

Choose File > Open and navigate to the photos you want to open.
What if I switch to Elements Organizer while fixing photos in the Photoshop Elements Editor? If you switch to
Elements Organizer while files are open in the Editor, you’ll see a banner over the thumbnails of the opened files. The
files cannot be changed in Elements Organizer until they are closed in the Editor.

More Help topics
“Color and tonal correction basics” on page 100
“Guided Edit” on page 46

Saving your edits
After you edit an image in the Photoshop Elements Editor, save it, or you’ll lose your work. Fixes you make in
Elements Organizer are saved automatically.
❖ In the Photoshop Elements Editor, choose File > Save.

Photos saved to the Editor are saved as a version and grouped with other saved versions and the original photo. These
version sets are stacked together in Elements Organizer with the latest saved version at the top of the stack.
What if I don’t want to save versions of a photo? It’s recommended that you save versions of a photo to preserve the
original file. If for some reason, you don’t want to save a version of a photo, choose File > Save after you’ve finished
editing a photo. Under Save Options in the Save As dialog box, deselect the Save In Version Set With Original option.
By default, Photoshop Elements Editor saves the file in PSD format without a version number appended to the
filename.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Getting started with Adobe Photoshop Elements

Troubleshooting tips
Here are some things to consider when troubleshooting Photoshop Elements. For more tips, visit
www.adobe.com/go/forums.

• Restart Photoshop Elements, or restart your computer.
• Reset the Photoshop Elements preferences. Hold down the Ctrl + Alt + Shift keys immediately after starting
Photoshop Elements. Then, choose a task on the Welcome screen.

• Turn off other programs, including anti-virus, firewall, and CD/DVD burning applications that run in the
background.

• Make sure that the computer operating system is up-to-date. Install the latest drivers for your video card, sound
card, printer, and other devices.

• Remove any recent additions to your computer. What was the last thing you changed on your computer before the
problem began? Did you install a new printer, font, or other software?

• If something in Photoshop Elements doesn’t seem to work properly, check Photoshop Elements Help.
• If a problem occurs when you open or edit a photo, does the problem occur with all photos? Does it occur with
photos from different cameras or sources?

Last updated 7/26/2011

Chapter 2: Photoshop Elements workspace
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 has two main workspaces: the Elements Organizer and the Editor. Use the Elements
Organizer for finding, organizing, and sharing your photos and media files. Use the Editor for creating, editing, and
fixing your images. You can also add functionality with plug-in modules and expand system memory by using scratch
disks.
To open a photo in the Editor workspace, select the photo in Elements Organizer. Click the triangle beside the Fix tab,
and then choose Full Photo Edit, Quick Photo Edit, or Guided Photo Edit. When you are working in the Editor
to open the Elements Organizer workspace.
workspace, click the Organizer button
If both the Elements Organizer and the Photoshop Elements Editor are open, you can move between the two
workspaces by clicking the corresponding button in the Windows® OS task bar.

About workspaces
The Welcome screen
When you start Photoshop Elements, the Welcome screen opens by default. The Welcome screen is a convenient
starting place, or hub, for major tasks.
Note: The Photoshop Elements free online benefits and Photoshop Elements Plus are available in the United States only.
Internet access required.
Click Organize to open Elements Organizer and import, tag, or organize your photos. Click Edit to open the Editor
and enhance your images or add special effects.
You can close or reopen the Welcome screen at any time by clicking the Welcome Screen button
. It’s not necessary
to return to the Welcome screen to open other workspaces—you can open different workspaces from within any other
workspace.
When you click the settings icon , the Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 dialog is displayed with the following options.
Specifying the settings here determine the Adobe Photoshop Elements launch behavior. Select one of the options and
click OK:

• Just Show The Welcome Screen
• Always Launch Elements Organizer Behind The Welcome Screen
• Always Launch Photoshop Elements Editor Behind The Welcome Screen.

More Help topics
“Sign up with your Adobe ID” on page 1

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Disable tracking of information
The Welcome screen by default records and relays some usage information to Adobe to assist in the improvement of
the Welcome screen experience. The Welcome screen usage data is anonymous and does not link the information to
your personal data or your Adobe ID account information. Usage information from Photoshop Elements Editor or
Elements Organizer is not tracked. To disable the tracking of information in the Welcome screen:
1 In Windows XP, click start > Run (or in Windows Vista choose Start), and type regedit.exe, and click OK.

The Windows Registry Editor opens. Using the tree navigator on the left, navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Elements Organizer\8.0\Organizer.
2 Right-click anywhere on the right panel, and select New > DWORD Value.

A new DWORD Value with the name New Value #1 is created.
3 Rename New Value #1 to DisableTracking.
4 Double-click DisableTracking.

The Edit DWORD Value dialog opens.
5 Enter 1 in the Value Data field, click OK, and close the Registry Editor.

The Editor workspace
For videos about the Full Edit and Guided Edit modes, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2319_pse8_en and
www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2318_pse8_en.
The Editor workspace provides modes to create and edit images. Click the triangle beside Edit Full and select one of
the following options:
Edit Full Enables you to edit photos in the Full Edit mode.
Edit Quick Enables you to edit photos in the Quick Fix mode.
Edit Guided Enables you to edit photos in the Guided Edit mode.

The Full Edit workspace has tools to correct color problems, create special effects, and enhance photos. The Quick Fix
workspace contains simple tools for correcting color and lighting, and commands to quickly fix common problems
like red eye. The Guided Edit workspace contains tools for basic photo edits, guided activities, and photographic
effects. If you are new to digital imaging, Quick Fix or Guided Edit is a good place to start fixing photos.
If you’ve worked with image-editing applications before, you’ll find that the Full Edit workspace provides a flexible
and powerful image-correction environment. It has lighting and color-correction commands, along with tools for
fixing image defects, making selections, adding text, and painting on your images. You can rearrange the Full Edit
workspace to best suit your needs. You can move, hide, and show panels, and arrange panels in the Panel Bin. You can
also zoom in or out of the photo, scroll to a different area of the document window, and create multiple windows and
views.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

C
F

Full Edit workspace
A. Inactive tab B. Active tab C. Active image area D Menu bar E Tool box F. Organizer button G. Options bar H. Panels I. Projects bin
J. Panels bin

Menu bar Contains menus for performing tasks. The menus are organized by topic. For example, the Enhance menu

contains commands for applying adjustments to an image.
Toolbox Holds tools for editing images.
Options bar Provides options for the tool you select.
Project Bin Displays thumbnails of opened images, and lets you easily manage them.
Panels Help you monitor and modify images.
Panel Bin Helps you organize the panels in your work area.
Status bar In the Editor, the Status bar has buttons for showing or hiding the Project Bin.

Note: Photoshop Elements users in the United States can also access special services in the Status bar.

More Help topics
“Correct color in Quick Fix” on page 100
“Sign up with your Adobe ID” on page 1

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Launch the Elements Inspiration Browser
The Inspiration Browser lets you access and organize tutorials that contain ideas and ways to do more with your media
files.
❖ To launch the Inspiration Browser, select Help > Elements Inspiration Browser.

If you are not signed in with your Adobe ID, a dialog box opens up enabling you to sign in.

Use context menus
You can use context menus in both the Editor and Elements Organizer workspaces. Context-sensitive menus display
commands that are relevant to the active tool, selection, or panel. These menus are often another way to access the
commands in the window menus.

Right-click to open a context menu. This menu appears in the Project Bin in Full Edit.

1 Position the pointer over an image or panel item.

Note: Not all panels offer context menus.
2 Right-click and choose a command from the menu.

Using keyboard commands and modifier keys
You can use keyboard shortcuts in both the Editor and Elements Organizer workspaces. Keyboard commands let you
quickly execute commands without using a menu; modifier keys let you alter how a tool operates. When available, the
keyboard command appears to the right of the command name in the menu.

More Help topics
“Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts” on page 286
“Keys for selecting tools” on page 286

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Exit Photoshop Elements
To exit Photoshop Elements, you need to close both the Editor and the Elements Organizer workspace—closing one
does not automatically close the other.
1 In the Editor, the Elements Organizer, or both workspaces, do one of the following:

• Choose File > Exit.
• Click the Close button (X) in the upper-right corner of the workspace.
2 When closing the Editor, choose whether to save any open files.

More Help topics
“Save changes in different file formats” on page 41

Tools
About the toolbox
You can access tools in the Editor workspace. You use tools in the toolbox to select, edit, and view images; some tools
let you paint, draw, and type. The toolbox appears on the left side of the Full Edit and Quick Fix workspaces. In the
Full Edit workspace, you can move the toolbox by dragging the gripper bar at the top of the box.
Select a tool in the toolbox to use it. Once selected, the tool is highlighted in the toolbox. Optional settings for the tool
appear in the options bar, which is located below the shortcuts bar at the top of the Editor workspace. Some tools in
the toolbox have additional tools beneath them. These tools are called hidden tools. A small triangle at the lower right
of the tool icon indicates the presence of hidden tools. When you select a tool, any additional hidden tools appear in
the options bar.
Note: You cannot deselect a tool—once you select a tool, it remains selected until you select a different tool. For example,
if you’ve selected the Lasso tool, and you want to click your image without selecting anything, select the Hand tool.
You can view information about any tool in the toolbox by positioning the pointer over it. The name of the tool appears
below the pointer—this name is called the tool tip. You can click a link in some tool tips to see additional information
about the tool.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Toolbox overview
A
A

Navigation and
measuring tools

Move (V)

Cookie Cutter (Q)

Zoom (Z)

Straighten (P)
Recompose (C+C)

Eyedropper (I)

Crop (C)

Hand (H)
C

Crop tools

Brush (B)
Pencil (N)
Impressionist
Brush (B)
Color Replacement (B)

Retouching tools

Smart Brush (F)
Detail Smart Brush (F)

Red Eye Removal (Y)
B

Selection tools
Rectangular
Marquee (M)
Elliptical Marquee (M)

Lasso (L)
Magnetic Lasso (L)
Polygonal Lasso (L)

Magic Wand (W)

Quick Selection (A)
Selection Brush (A)
C

Type tools
Horizontal Type (T)
Vertical Type (T)
Horizontal Type
Mask (T)
Vertical Type
Mask (T)

Spot Healing
Brush (J)
Healing Brush (J)
Clone Stamp (S)
Pattern Stamp (S)

Painting and
drawing tools

Paint Bucket (K)
Gradient (G)
G

Eraser (E)
Background Eraser (E)
Magic Eraser (E)
Blur (R)
Sharpen (R)
Smudge (R)
Sponge (O)
Dodge (O)
Burn (O)

Shape tools
Rectangle (U)
Rounded
Rectangle (U)
Ellipse (U)
Polygon (U)
Line (U)
Custom Shape (U)
Shape Selection (U)

Indicates default tool * Keyboard shortcuts appear in parenthesis

Toolbox Overview

Select a tool
For a video about tools, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2320_pse8_en.
❖ Do one of the following:

• Click a tool in the toolbox. If there is a small triangle in a tool’s lower-right corner, hold down the mouse button to
view the hidden tools nested with the tool. Then, click the tool you want to select.

• Press the tool’s keyboard shortcut. The keyboard shortcut is displayed in its tool tip. For example, you can select
the Move tool by pressing the V key.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

B
C

Using tools
A. Toolbox B. Active tool C. Hidden tools D. Tool name E. Tool shortcut F. Hidden tool triangle

More Help topics
“Keys for selecting tools” on page 286

Set tool preferences
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > General.
2 Set one or more of the following options, and click OK.

• Select Show Tool Tips to show or hide tool tips.
• Select Use Shift Key For Tool Switch to cycle through a set of hidden tools by holding down the Shift key. When
this option is deselected, you can cycle through a set of hidden tools by pressing the shortcut key (without holding
down Shift).

Set the appearance of a tool pointer
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > Display & Cursors.
2 Select a setting for the Painting Cursors:
Standard Displays pointers as tool icons.
Precise Displays pointers as cross-hairs.
Normal Brush Tip Displays pointers as circles at 50% of the size you specify for the brush.
Full Size Brush Tip Displays pointers as circles at the full size you specify for the brush.
Show Crosshair In Brush Tip Displays cross-hairs in the circles when you choose either Normal Brush Tip or Full Size

Brush Tip.
3 Select a setting for Other Cursors:
Standard Displays pointers as tool icons.
Precise Displays pointers as cross-hairs.

Set tool options
The options bar appears below the shortcuts bar at the top of the Editor workspace. The options bar is context
sensitive—it changes as you select different tools. Some settings in the options bar are common to several tools, and
some are specific to one tool.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Lasso options bar
A. Tool icon B. Active tool C. Hidden tools D. Tool options

1 Select a tool.
2 Look in the options bar to see the available options. For more information on setting options for a specific tool,

search for the tool’s name in Photoshop Elements Help.
Note: To return a tool or all tools to their default settings, click the tool icon, and then click the triangle in the options bar,
then choose Reset Tool or Reset All Tools from the context menu.

More Help topics
“Keys for selecting tools” on page 286

Set a completed operations alert
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > General.
2 Select Beep When Done, and click OK.

Panels and bins
About panels
Panels are available in both the Editor and Elements Organizer workspaces; however, they behave a little differently in
each. Panels help you manage, monitor, and modify images. Some panels have menus that provide additional
commands and options. You can organize panels in the workspace in many different ways. You can store panels in the
Panel Bin to keep them out of your way, but easily accessible, or you can keep frequently used panels open in the
workspace. Another option is to group panels together or dock one panel at the bottom of another panel.
Note: Drag a panel out of the Panel Bin if you want to remove it from the Panel Bin and keep it open.

Dragging a panel.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Panel menus
Some commands appear in both the panel menu and the menu bar. Other commands are exclusive to panel menus.
Click panel menu to view the different commands in each panel.
Pop-up sliders within panels
Some panels and dialog boxes contain settings that use pop-up sliders (for example, the Opacity option in the Layers
panel). If there is a triangle next to the text box, you can activate the pop-up slider by clicking the triangle. Position the
pointer over the triangle next to the setting, hold down the mouse button, and drag the slider or angle radius to the
desired value. Click outside the slider box or press Enter to close the slider box. To cancel changes, press Esc.
To increase or decrease values in 10% increments when the pop-up slider box is open, hold down Shift and press the
Up Arrow or Down Arrow key.
A

Different ways to enter values
A. Dial B. Click to open window C. Text box D. Menu arrow E. Scrubby slider F. Check box G. Slider H Pop-up slider triangle

Work with panels in the Editor
The Panel Bin in the Editor lets you store multiple panels in a single area. You can easily configure, close, or keep open
the Panel Bin for easy and fast access. By default, the Panel Bin appears on the right side of the workspace. When you
adjust panels, they remain as you leave them until you reset or change them.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

A
D

The Panel Bin
A. Change panel tools B. Adjust panel height C. Panel menu D. Scroll to view rest of panel

1 To show or hide the Panel Bin, Choose Window > Panel Bin.
2 To adjust the height of a panel, select the panel and a handle bar appears

at the bottom of the panel. Drag the

panel using the handle bar.
3 To use panels in the Panel Bin, do any of the following:

• To remove a panel from the Panel Bin, drag the title bar of the panel out of the Panel Bin.
• To add a panel to the Panel Bin, drag the title bar of the panel into the Panel Bin.
• To rearrange panels in the Panel Bin, drag the title bar of the panel to a new location.
• To expand or collapse panels in the Panel Bin, double-click the name of the panel.
4 To use panels outside the Panel Bin, do any of the following:

• To open a panel, choose the name of the panel from the Window menu.
• To close a panel, choose the name of the panel from the Window menu. Or click the Close button

in the title

bar of the panel.

• To change the size of a panel, drag any corner of the panel.
• To group panels (one panel with multiple tabs), drag the panel onto the body of the target panel. A thick line
appears around the body of the target panel when the pointer is over the correct area for grouping to occur. If you
want to move a panel to another group, drag the tab of the panel to that group. To separate a panel from a group,
drag the tab of the panel outside the group.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

• To move a panel group, drag the title bar.
• To expand or collapse a panel or panel group, double-click the tab of the panel or title bar.
• To dock panels together (stacked panels), drag a tab of the panel or the title bar to the bottom of another panel. A
double line appears at the bottom of the target panel when the pointer is over the correct area. You cannot dock
entire panel groups.

• To reset panels to their default positions, choose Window > Reset Panel.
Note: If you want panels to always open in their default positions in the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > General, and
then deselect Save Panel Locations. The change takes effect the next time you start the application.

Use the Project Bin in the Editor
Located at the bottom of the Full Edit and Quick Fix workspaces, the Project Bin displays thumbnails of open photos.
It’s useful for switching between multiple open photos in your workspace. The Project Bin has controls that let you
open or close images, hide images, navigate through open images, make a specific image the frontmost image,
duplicate an image, rotate an image, or view file information. Because the Project Bin appears in both Full Edit and
Quick Fix, you can easily bring open images into Quick Fix for editing. Multiple-page projects are highlighted by a
gray frame around the page thumbnails. To show or hide the individual pages, click the right edge of the frame.
A

The Project Bin
A. Collapsed photo creation (selected) B. Click to expand photo creation C. Project Bin drop-down menu

❖ Do any of the following:

• To open an image, drag a file from any location on your computer (including the Photo Browser) or from any
storage device connected to your computer into the Project Bin.

• To bring an opened image forward as the frontmost image, double-click a thumbnail.
• To rearrange photos, drag thumbnails in the Project Bin. The order here does not impact the photo’s order in the
Elements Organizer.

• To close an image, right-click a thumbnail in the Project Bin and choose Close.
• To hide an image, right-click the thumbnail and choose Minimize from the context menu.
Note: To show an image after hiding it, double-click its thumbnail in the Project Bin, or right-click the thumbnail and
choose Restore from the context menu.

• To view a photo’s file information, right-click a thumbnail and choose File Info from the context menu.
• To duplicate an image, right-click a thumbnail, choose Duplicate from the context menu, and name the file.
• To rotate an image, right-click a thumbnail and choose Rotate 90° Left or Rotate 90° Right from the context menu.
• To show filenames, right-click in the Project Bin and choose Show Filenames from the context menu.
• To open or close the Project Bin, choose Window > Project Bin.
• To manually show or hide the Project Bin, click the title bar of the Project Bin.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Undo, redo, and cancel
Undo, redo, or cancel operations
Many operations in both the Elements Organizer and the Editor can be undone or redone. For instance, you can
restore all or part of an image to its last saved version. Available memory may limit your ability to use these options.
1 To undo or redo an operation, Choose Edit > Undo or choose Edit > Redo.
2 To cancel an operation, hold down the Esc key until the operation in progress has stopped.

Using the Undo History panel (Editor only)
The Undo History panel (Window > Undo History) lets you jump to any recent state of the image created during the
current work session. Each time you apply a change to pixels in an image, the new state of that image is added to the
Undo History panel. You don’t need to save a change in order for the change to appear in the History.
For example, if you select, paint, and rotate part of an image, each of those states is listed separately in the panel. You
can then select any of the states, and the image reverts to how it looked when that change was first applied. You can
then work from that state.
Actions, such as zooming and scrolling, do not affect pixels in the image and do not appear in the Undo History panel.
Nor do program-wide changes, such as changes to panels, color settings, and preferences.

A
B
C

The Undo History panel
A. Original state B. State C. Selected state and state slider

Note the following guidelines when using the Undo History panel:

• By default, the Undo History panel lists 50 previous states. Older states are automatically deleted to free more
memory for Photoshop Elements. You can change the number of states displayed in the Undo History panel in
Performance Preferences (Edit > Preferences > Performance). The maximum number of states is 1000.

• The original state of the photo is always displayed at the top of the Undo History panel. You can always revert an
image to its original state by clicking this top state. Clicking the original state is also handy for comparing before
and after versions of your editing.

• When you close and reopen the document, all states from the last working session are cleared from the panel.
• States are added to the bottom of the list. That is, the oldest state is at the top of the list, the most recent one is at
the bottom.

• Each state is listed with the name of the tool or command used to change the image.
• Selecting a state dims those below. This way you can easily see which changes will be discarded if you continue
working from the selected state.

• Selecting a state and then changing the image eliminates all states that came after it. Likewise, deleting a state deletes
that state and those that came after it.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Revert to the last saved version
When editing a photo in Full Edit or Quick Fix, you can revert to the last saved version.
❖ Choose Edit > Revert.

Note: Revert is added as a history state in the Undo History panel and can be undone.

Revert to a previous state of an image
❖ In Full Edit or Quick Fix, do any of the following:

• Click the name of the state in the Undo History panel.
• Drag the slider at the left of the state up or down to a different state in the Undo History panel.
• Click the Undo

or Redo

buttons on the shortcuts bar.

• Choose Undo or Redo from the Undo History panel menu or the Edit menu.
To set the keyboard command for Step Forward and Step Backward, choose Edit > Preferences > General, and choose
from the Step Back/Fwd menu.

Delete one or more states from the Undo History panel
❖ Do one of the following:

• To delete a state, click the name of the state, and choose Delete from the Undo History panel menu. States following
the one you selected are also deleted.

• To delete the list of states from the Undo History panel, without changing the image, choose Clear Undo History
from the panel menu or choose Edit > Clear > Undo History. Clearing is useful for freeing up memory, especially
if you get an alert that Photoshop Elements is low on memory.
Note: Clearing the Undo History panel cannot be undone.

Clear memory used by the clipboard and the Undo History panel
You can delete items copied to the clipboard or states in the Undo History panel to free up memory.
❖ In Full Edit, do one of the following:

• To clear memory used by the clipboard, choose Edit > Clear > Clipboard Contents.
• To clear memory used by the Undo History panel, choose Edit > Clear > Undo History or choose Clear Undo
History from the Undo History panel menu.

• To clear the memory used in both the clipboard and the Undo History panel simultaneously, choose Edit > Clear > All.
Note: Clearing the Undo History panel or clipboard cannot be undone.

Restore default preferences
Preference settings control how Photoshop Elements displays images, cursors, and transparencies, saves files, uses
plug-ins and scratch disks, and so on. If the application exhibits unexpected behavior, the preferences file may be
damaged. You can restore all preferences to their defaults.
❖ Press and hold Alt+Control+Shift immediately after Photoshop Elements begins launching. Click Yes to delete the

Adobe Photoshop Elements settings file.
A new preferences file is created the next time you start Photoshop Elements. For information on a specific preference
option, search for the preference name in Help.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Redisplay disabled warning messages
In certain situations, messages containing warnings or prompts are displayed. You can disable the display of these
messages by selecting the Don’t Show Again option in the message, and reset the messages you’ve disabled at a later
time.
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > General.
2 Click Reset All Warning Dialogs, and click OK.

Scratch disks and plug-ins
About scratch disks
When your system does not have enough RAM to perform an operation, Photoshop Elements uses scratch disks. A
scratch disk is any drive or partition of a drive with free memory. By default, Photoshop Elements uses the hard drive
on which the operating system is installed as its primary scratch disk.
You can change the primary scratch disk or designate a second, third, or fourth scratch disk to be used when the
primary disk is full. Your primary scratch disk should be your fastest hard disk and have plenty of defragmented space
available.
For best performance, use the following guidelines when assigning scratch disks:

• Scratch disks should not be on the same physical drive as Photoshop Elements or any large files you are editing.
• Scratch disks should not be on the same physical drive as the one used for the operating system’s virtual memory.
• Scratch disks should be on a local drive. That is, they should not be accessed over a network.
• Scratch disks should be conventional (non-removable) media.
• RAID disks/disk arrays are good choices for dedicated scratch disk volumes.
• Drives with scratch disks should be defragmented regularly. Or better yet, use an empty drive or a drive with plenty
of unused space to avoid fragmentation issues.

Change scratch disks
Photoshop Elements needs contiguous hard drive space to create a scratch disk. For this reason you should frequently
defragment your hard drive. Adobe recommends that you use a disk tool utility, such as Windows Disk Defragmenter,
to defragment your hard drive on a regular basis. See your Windows documentation for information on
defragmentation utilities.
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > Performance.
2 Select the desired disks from the Scratch Disks menu (you can assign up to four scratch disks), and click OK.
3 Restart Photoshop Elements for the change to take effect.

About plug-in modules
Plug-in modules are software programs developed by Adobe Systems and other software developers to add
functionality to Photoshop Elements. A number of importing, exporting, and special-effects plug-ins come with your
program; they are inside the Photoshop Elements Plug-ins folder. You can select an additional plug-ins folder in which
to load compatible plug-ins stored with another application. You can also create a shortcut for a plug-in stored in
another folder on your system. You can then add the shortcut or alias to the Plug-ins folder to use that plug-in with

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements workspace

Photoshop Elements. Once installed, plug-in modules appear as options added to the Import or Export menu, as filters
added to the Filter menu, or as file formats in the Open and Save As dialog boxes. If you install a large number of
plug-ins, Photoshop Elements may not be able to list them all in their appropriate menus. If so, newly installed plug-ins
appear in the Filter > Other submenu. To prevent a plug-in or folder of plug-ins from loading, add a tilde character
(~) at the beginning of the plug-in name, folder, or directory. That file (or all files in the folder) is ignored by the
application when you restart it. To view information about installed plug-ins, choose Help > About Plug-In and select
a plug-in from the submenu.

More Help topics
“Plug-in filters” on page 207

Install plug-in modules
❖ Do one of the following:

• Use the plug-in installer, if provided.
• Follow the installation instructions that came with the plug-in module.
• Make sure the plug-in files are uncompressed, and then copy them to the appropriate Plug-ins folder in the
Photoshop Elements folder.

Select an additional plug-ins folder
You can select an additional plug-ins folder in which to load compatible plug-ins stored with another application.
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > Plug-Ins
2 In the Preferences dialog, select Additional Plug-ins Folder, select a folder from the list, and click Choose.
3 To display the contents of a folder, double-click the directory. The path to the folder appears in the preferences

window.
Note: Do not select a location inside the Plug-ins folder for Photoshop Elements.
4 Restart Photoshop Elements to load the plug-ins.

Last updated 7/26/2011

Chapter 3: Working in the Editor
Working in the Editor gives you choices about working with your files. You can set options for opening, saving, and
exporting files by type, by file size, and resolution. You can also process and save camera raw files. These tools make it
easy to combine files of different types and optimize them in Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8.
In the Editor, you can create a blank file, open a recently used file, specify which files types to open in
Photoshop Elements, and more.
An additional option for working in the Editor is to use the Guided Edit feature. Guided Edits help you when you’re
unsure of a workflow or how to accomplish a task.

Opening files in the Editor
Create a new blank file
You may want to create a web graphic, banner, or company logo and letterhead, in which case you need to start from
a new blank file.
1 In the Editor, choose File > New > Blank File.
2 Enter options for the new image and click OK.
Name Names the new image file.
Preset Provides options for setting the width, height, and resolution of images that you intend to print or to view

on-screen. Select Clipboard to use the size and resolution of data that you copied to the clipboard. You can also base a
new image on the size and resolution of any open image by choosing its name from the bottom of the Preset menu.
Width, Height, and Resolution Sets these options individually. The default values are based on the last image you
created, unless you’ve copied data to the clipboard.
Color Mode Sets an image to RGB color, grayscale, or bitmap (1-bit mode).
Background Contents Sets the color of the image Background layer. White is the default. Select Background Color to

use the current background color (shown in the toolbox). Select Transparent to make the default layer transparent,
with no color values—the new image will have a Layer 1 instead of a Background layer.
You can also right-click the background of an image to choose a background color (gray, black, or a custom color).

Open a file
In the Editor, you can open and import images in various file formats. The available formats appear in the Open dialog
box, the Open As dialog box, and the Import submenu.
To open a file from the Media Browser in Elements Organizer, select it, click the triangle beside the Fix tab and select
Full Photo Edit
.
1 In the Editor, choose File > Open.
2 Locate and select the file you want to open. If the file does not appear, choose All Formats from the Files Of Type menu.
3 Click Open. In some cases, a dialog box appears, letting you set format-specific options.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

There may be instances when Photoshop Elements cannot determine the correct format of a file. For example,
transferring a file between Mac OS® and Windows can cause the format to be mislabeled. In such cases, you must
specify the correct format in which to open the file.

More Help topics
“Save changes in different file formats” on page 41

Open a recently used file
❖ In the Editor, choose File > Open Recently Edited File, and select a file from the submenu.

Note: To specify the number of files that are available in the Open Recently Edited File submenu, choose Edit >
Preferences > Saving Files, and enter a number in the Recent File List Contains text box.

Specify the file format in which to open a file
❖ Choose File > Open As, and select the file you want to open. Then choose the desired format from the Open As

menu, and click Open.
Important: If the file does not open, then the chosen format may not match the file’s true format, or the file may be
damaged.

Open a PDF file
Portable Document Format (PDF) is a versatile file format that can represent both vector and bitmap data and can
contain electronic document search and navigation features. PDF is the primary format for Adobe® Acrobat®.
With the Import PDF dialog box, you can preview the pages and images in a multipage PDF file, then decide if you
want to open them in the Editor. You can choose to import full pages (including text and graphics), or you can import
just the images from a PDF file. If you import only the images, the resolution, size, and color mode of the images
remains unchanged. If you import pages, you can change the resolution and color mode.
Each page is shown as a thumbnail. To increase the size, choose an option from the Thumbnail Size menu.

Importing pages from a PDF file.

1 In the Editor, choose File > Open.
2 Select the name of the file, and click Open. You can change which types of files are shown by selecting an option

from the Files Of Type menu.
3 To import just the images from a PDF file, choose Image from the Select menu in the Import PDF dialog box. Select

the image or images you want to open. (To select multiple images, Ctrl-click each image.)

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

4 To import pages from a PDF file, choose Page from the Select menu, and then do any of the following:

• If the file contains multiple pages, select the page or pages you want to open, and click OK. (To select multiple pages,
Ctrl-click each page.)

• Under Page Options, accept the existing name, or type a new filename in the Name box.
• Choose an option from the Mode menu (RGB to keep the photos in color, or Grayscale to automatically make them
black and white). If the file has an embedded ICC (International Color Consortium) profile, you can choose the
profile from the menu.

• For Resolution, accept the default (300 ppi) or type a new value. A higher resolution increases the file size.
• Select Anti-aliased to minimize the jagged edges as the image is rasterized (bitmapped).
5 Select Suppress Warnings to hide any error messages during the import process.
6 Click OK to open the file.

Open an EPS file
Encapsulated PostScript® (EPS) can represent both vector and bitmap data and is supported by virtually all graphics,
illustration, and page-layout programs. Adobe applications that produce PostScript artwork include Adobe
Illustrator®. When you open an EPS file containing vector art in the Editor, it is rasterized—the mathematically defined
lines and curves of the vector artwork are converted into the pixels or bits of a bitmap image. The Elements Organizer
does not support EPS files.
1 In the Editor, choose File > Open.
2 Select the file you want to open, and click Open.
3 Indicate the desired dimensions, resolution, and mode. To maintain the same height-to-width ratio, select

Constrain Proportions.
4 Select Anti-aliased to minimize the jagged appearance of edges, and then click OK.

Anti-aliasing lets you produce smooth-edged objects by blending the edges of the objects into the background.
You can also bring PostScript artwork into Photoshop Elements using the Place command and the Paste command.

Place a PDF, Adobe Illustrator, or EPS file in a new layer
You can place PDF, Adobe® Illustrator®, or EPS files into a new layer in an image. Because the placed artwork is
rasterized (bitmapped), you cannot edit text or vector data in placed artwork. The artwork is rasterized at the
resolution of the file into which it is placed.
1 In the Editor, open the image into which you want to place the artwork.
2 Choose File > Place, select the file you want to place, and click Place.
3 If you are placing a PDF file that contains multiple pages, select the page you want to place from the provided dialog

box, and click OK.
The placed artwork appears inside a bounding box at the center of the Photoshop Elements image. The artwork
maintains its original aspect ratio; however, if the artwork is larger than the Photoshop Elements image, it is resized to fit.
4 (Optional) Reposition the placed artwork by positioning the pointer inside the bounding box of the placed artwork

and dragging.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

5 (Optional) Scale the placed artwork by doing one or more of the following:

• Drag one of the handles at the corners or sides of the bounding box. Hold down Shift as you drag a corner handle
to constrain the proportions.

• In the options bar, enter values for W and H to specify the width and height of the artwork. By default, these options
represent scale as a percentage. However, you can enter a different unit of measurement—in (inches), cm
(centimeters), or px (pixels). To constrain the proportions of the artwork, click the Constrain Proportions box. This
option is on when the icon has a white background.
6 (Optional) Rotate the placed artwork by doing one or more of the following:

• Position the pointer outside the bounding box of the placed artwork (the pointer turns into a curved arrow), and
drag.

• In the options bar, enter a value (in degrees) for the Rotation option

7 (Optional) Skew the placed artwork by holding down Ctrl and dragging a side handle of the bounding box.
8 Set the Anti-alias option in the options bar. To blend edge pixels during rasterization, select the Anti-alias option.

To produce a hard-edged transition between edge pixels during rasterization, deselect the Anti-alias option.
9 To commit the placed artwork to a new layer, do one of the following:

• Click the Commit button

• Press Enter.
To cancel the placement, click the Cancel button

, or press Esc.

Process multiple files
The Process Multiple Files command applies settings to a folder of files. If you have a digital camera or a scanner with
a document feeder, you can also import and process multiple images. (Your scanner or digital camera may need an
acquire plug-in module that supports these actions.)
When processing files, you can leave all the files open, close and save the changes to the original files, or save modified
versions of the files to a new location (leaving the originals unchanged). If you are saving the processed files to a new
location, you may want to create a new folder for the processed files before starting the batch.
Note: The Process Multiple Files command does not work on multiple page files.
1 Choose File > Process Multiple Files.
2 Choose the files to process from the Process Files From pop-up menu:
Folder Processes files in a folder you specify. Click Browse to locate and select the folder.
Import Processes images from a digital camera or scanner.
Opened Files Processes all open files.

3 Select Include All Subfolders if you want to process files in subdirectories of the specified folder.
4 For Destination, click Browse and select a folder location for the processed files.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

5 If you chose Folder as the destination, specify a file-naming convention and select file compatibility options for the

processed files:

• For Rename Files, select elements from the pop-up menus or enter text into the fields to be combined into the
default names for all files. The fields let you change the order and formatting of the components of the filename.
You must include at least one field that is unique for every file (for example, filename, serial number, or serial letter)
to prevent files from overwriting each other. Starting Serial Number specifies the starting number for any serial
number fields. If you select Serial Letter from the pop-up menu, serial letter fields always start with the letter “A”
for the first file.

• For Compatibility, choose Windows, Mac OS, and UNIX® to make filenames compatible with the Windows,
Mac OS, and UNIX operating systems.
6 Under Image Size, select Resize Images if you want each processed file resized to a uniform size. Then type in a

width and height for the photos, and choose an option from the Resolution menu. Select Constrain Proportions to
keep the width and height proportional.
7 To apply an automatic adjustment to the images, select an option from the Quick Fix panel.
8 To attach a label to the images, choose an option from the Labels menu, then customize the text, text position, font,

size, opacity, and color. (To change the text color, click the color swatch and choose a new color from the Color
Picker.)
9 Select Log Errors That Result From Processing Files to record each error in a file without stopping the process. If

errors are logged to a file, a message appears after processing. To review the error file, open with a text editor after
the Batch command has run.
10 Click OK to process and save the files.

Close a file
1 Do one of the following in the Editor:

• Choose File > Close.
• Choose File > Close All.
2 Choose whether or not to save the file:

• Click Yes to save the file.
• Click No to close the file without saving it.

File information
About file information (metadata)
When you take a photo with your digital camera, each image file includes information such as the date and time the
photo was taken, the shutter speed and aperture, the specific camera model, and so on. When you import a video clip
or audio clip, the files contain important media file information. All of this information is called metadata, and you
can view it and add to it in the Properties panel of the Elements Organizer and the File Info dialog box in the Editor.
You can add file information, such as a title, keyword tags, and descriptions, to help identify your images as you
manage and organize your collection. As you edit your images, Photoshop Elements automatically keeps track of the
file’s edit history and adds this information to the file’s metadata.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

In addition, opened images are automatically scanned for Digimarc watermarks. If a watermark is detected,
Photoshop Elements displays a copyright symbol in the image window’s title bar and includes the information in the
Copyright Status, Copyright Notice, and Owner URL sections of the File Info dialog box.

View or add file information in the Editor
In the Editor, the File Info dialog box displays camera data, caption, and copyright and authorship information that
has been added to the file. Using this dialog box, you can modify or add information to files saved in
Photoshop Elements. The information you add is embedded in the file using XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform).
XMP provides Adobe applications and workflow partners with a common XML framework that standardizes the
creation, processing, and interchange of document metadata across publishing workflows. If you have metadata that
you repeatedly enter for different files, you can create metadata templates to expedite the adding of information to files.
You cannot edit the information displayed for the Keywords, Camera Data 1, and Camera Data 2 metadata categories.
Important: Tags added to a file in the Media Browser appear as keywords in the File Info dialog box. Some file formats,
such as PDF and BMP, do not support tags as keywords.
1 With an image open, choose File > File Info. (You can also right-click a thumbnail in the Photo Bin and choose File

Info.)
2 Click the Description attribute on the left of the dialog box to display specific information. In Description, you can

add or modify the document title, file authorship, caption, caption authorship, and copyright information. Type in
the appropriate text boxes and click OK to embed the information. For copyright status, choose from the Copyright
Status menu.

Use the Info panel in the Editor
In the Full Edit workspace, the Info panel displays file information about an image and also provides feedback as you
use a tool. Make sure the Info panel is visible in your work area if you want to view information while dragging in the
image.
1 Display the Info panel by clicking its triangle

if it’s in the Panel Bin. If the Info panel isn’t visible in the Panel Bin
or the work area, choose Window > Info to display the panel.

2 Select a tool.
3 Move the pointer into the image, or drag within the image to use the tool. The following information may appear,

depending on which tool you’re using:
The numeric values for the color beneath the pointer.
The x- and y-coordinates of the pointer.
The width (W) and height (H) of a marquee or shape as you drag, or the width and height of an active selection.
The x- and y-coordinates of your starting position (when you click in the image).
The change in position along the x-coordinate,
shape.

, and y-coordinate,

, as you move a selection, layer, or

The angle (A) of a line or gradient, the change in angle as you move a selection, layer, or shape, or the angle of
rotation during a transformation. The change in distance (D) as you move a selection, layer, or shape.
The percentage of change in width (W) and height (H) as you scale a selection, layer, or shape.
The angle of horizontal skew (H) or vertical skew (V) as you skew a selection, layer, or shape.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

More Help topics
“About color” on page 168
“About image modes” on page 170

Set color modes and units of measurement in the Info panel
❖ Do one of the following:

• To change the mode of color values displayed, click an eyedropper icon

in the Info panel, and choose a color
mode from the pop-up menu. You can also choose Panel Options from the More menu in the Info panel, then
choose a color mode for First Color Readout and/or Second Color Readout:

Grayscale Displays the grayscale values beneath the pointer.
RGB Color Displays the RGB (red, green, blue) values beneath the pointer.
Web Color Displays the hexadecimal code for the RGB values beneath the pointer.
HSB Color Displays the HSB (hue, saturation, brightness) values beneath the pointer.

• To change the unit of measurement displayed, click the cross hair

in the Info panel, and choose a unit of
measurement from the pop-up menu. You can also choose Panel Options from the More menu in the Info panel.
Choose a unit of measurement from the Ruler Units menu, and click OK.

Display file information in the Info panel or status bar
In the Editor, you can change the information displayed in the Info panel or the status bar. (The leftmost section of the
status bar, which is located at the bottom of the document window, displays the current magnification. The section
next to the leftmost one displays information about the current file.)
1 Do one of the following:

• In the Info panel, choose Panel Options from the More menu.
• In the status bar, click the black triangle.
2 Select a view option:
Document Sizes Displays information on the amount of data in the image. The number on the left represents the

printing size of the image—approximately the size of the saved, flattened file in PSD format. The number on the right
indicates the file’s approximate size, including layers.
Document Profile Displays the name of the color profile used by the image.
Document Dimensions Displays the size of the image in the currently selected units.
Scratch Sizes Displays RAM and scratch disk usage and allocation. The number on the left indicates the RAM used
and scratch disk space allocated to Photoshop Elements. The number on the right indicates the amount of RAM that
Photoshop Elements can use for image storage or the scratch disk.
Efficiency Displays the percentage of time actually spent performing an operation instead of reading from or writing
to the scratch disk. If the value is below 100%, Photoshop Elements is using the scratch disk and, therefore, is operating
more slowly.
Timing Shows how long it took to complete the last operation.
Current Tool Shows the name of the active tool.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

More Help topics
“About color” on page 168
“About scratch disks” on page 26
“About rulers, grids, and guides” on page 38

Save or delete metadata templates in the Editor
If you have metadata that you repeatedly enter, you can save the metadata entries in metadata templates. The templates
can be used for entering information, and they save you the effort of retyping metadata in the File Info dialog box. In
the Media Browser, you can search for metadata to locate files and photos.
❖ In the Editor, open the File Info dialog box and do one of the following:

• To save metadata as a template, click the triangle at the top right of the File Info dialog box, and choose Save
Metadata Template. Enter a template name, and click Save.

• To delete a metadata template, click the triangle at the top right of the File Info dialog box, and choose Delete
Metadata Template. Select the name of the template you want to delete, and click Delete.
Note: To open the file location of your metadata templates, click the triangle icon at the top right of the File Info dialog
box, and choose Show Templates.

Use a saved metadata template in the Editor
❖ In the Editor, choose File > File Info, click the triangle at the top of the File Info dialog box, and choose a template

name from the top section of the menu. The metadata from the template will replace the current metadata.
Note: You must save a metadata template before you can import metadata from a template.

Viewing images in the Editor
Viewing images in Full Edit or Quick Fix
In Full Edit or Quick Fix, the Hand tool , the Zoom tools
, the Zoom commands, and the Navigator
panel let you view different areas of an image at different magnifications. The document window is where your image
appears. You can open additional windows to display several views of an image at once (such as different
magnifications).
You can magnify or reduce your view using various methods. The window’s title bar displays the zoom percentage
(unless the window is too small for the display to fit).
If you want to view another area of an image, either use the window scroll bars or select the Hand tool and drag to pan
over the image. You can also use the Navigator panel.
To use the Hand tool while another tool is selected, hold down the spacebar as you drag within the image.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

Dragging the Hand tool to view another area of an image.

Zoom in or out
❖ In Full Edit or Quick Fix, do one of the following:

• Select the Zoom tool

, and click either the Zoom In
or Zoom Out
button in the options bar. Click the
area you want to magnify. Each click magnifies or reduces the image to the next preset percentage, and centers the
display around the point you click. When the image has reached its maximum magnification level of 3200% or
minimum reduction level of 1 pixel, the magnifying glass appears empty.

Note: You can drag a Zoom tool over the part of an image you want to magnify. Make sure that the Zoom In button is
selected in the options bar. To move the zoom marquee around the image, begin dragging a marquee, and then hold down
the spacebar while dragging the marquee to a new location.

Dragging the Zoom tool to magnify the view of an image.

• Click the Zoom In

or Zoom Out

button in the Navigator panel.

• Choose View > Zoom In or View > Zoom Out.
• Enter the desired magnification level in the Zoom text box, either in the status bar or in the Navigator panel.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

When using a Zoom tool, hold down Alt to switch between zooming in and zooming out.

Display an image at 100%
❖ In Full Edit or Quick Fix, do one of the following:

• Double-click the Zoom tool

in the toolbox.

• Select a Zoom tool or the Hand tool, and click the 1:1 button in the options bar.
• Choose View > Actual Pixels, or right-click the image and choose Actual Pixels.
• Enter 100% in the status bar and press Enter.

Fit an image to the screen
❖ In Full Edit or Quick Fix, do one of the following:

• Double-click the Hand tool

in the toolbox.

• Select a Zoom tool or the Hand tool, and then click the Fit Screen button in the options bar. Or, right-click the
image and choose Fit On Screen.

• Choose View > Fit On Screen.
These options scale both the zoom level and the window size to fit the available screen space.

Resize the window while zooming
❖ With a Zoom tool active, select Resize Windows To Fit in the options bar. The window changes size as you magnify

or reduce the view of the image.
When Resize Windows To Fit is deselected, the window maintains a constant size regardless of the image’s
magnification. This can be helpful when you are using smaller monitors or working with tiled images.
Note: To automatically resize the window when using keyboard shortcuts to reduce or magnify an image view, in the
Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > General, and then select the Zoom Resizes Windows preference and click OK.

Using the Navigator panel
The Navigator panel lets you adjust the image’s magnification and area of view. Typing a value in the text box, clicking
the Zoom Out or Zoom In button, or dragging the zoom slider changes the magnification. Drag the view box in the
image thumbnail to move the view of an image. The view box represents the boundaries of the image window. You can
also click in the thumbnail of the image to designate the area of view.
Note: To change the color of the view box, choose Panel Options from the Navigator panel menu. Choose a color from the
Color menu or click the color swatch to open the Color Picker and select a custom color. Click OK.
A

The Navigator panel
A. Zoom text box B. Zoom Out C. Drag the view box to move the view D. Zoom slider E. Zoom In

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

More Help topics
“Fit an image to the screen” on page 37

Open multiple windows of the same image
In Full Edit, you can open multiple windows to display different views of the same file. A list of open windows appears
in the Window menu, and thumbnails of each open image appear in the Photo Bin. Available memory may limit the
number of windows per image.
❖ Choose View > New Window For [image filename]. Depending on the position of the first window, you may have

to move the second window to view both simultaneously.
You can use the New Window command when you’re working with a zoomed image to see what the image will look
like at 100% size in a separate window.

View and arrange multiple windows
❖ In Full Edit, do one of the following:

• To display windows stacked and cascading from the upper left to the lower right of the screen, choose Window >
Images > Cascade.

• To display windows edge-to-edge, choose Window > Images > Tile. As you close images, the open windows are
resized to fill the available space.

• To view all open images at the same magnification as the active image, choose Window > Images > Match Zoom.
• To view the same section (upper-left corner, center, lower-right corner, and so on) of all open photos, choose
Window > Images > Match Location. The view in all windows shifts to match the active (frontmost) image. The
zoom level does not change.

Close windows
❖ In Full Edit, do one of the following:

• Choose File > Close to close the active window.
• Click the Close button

on the title bar of the active window.

• Right-click a thumbnail in the Photo Bin and choose Close.
• Choose File > Close All to close all open windows.

Guides, grids, and rulers
About rulers, grids, and guides
In Full Edit, rulers, grids, and guides help you position items (such as selections, layers, and shapes) precisely across
the width or length of an image. In Quick Fix, only guides and grids are available.
When visible, rulers appear along the top and left side of the active window. Markers in the ruler display the pointer’s
position when you move it. Changing the ruler origin (the 0, 0 mark on the top and left rulers) lets you measure from
a specific point on the image. The ruler origin also determines the grid’s point of origin.
Use the View menu to show or hide the rulers (Full Edit only), the grid or guide. The View menu also helps you to
enable or disable the snapping of items to the grid or guide.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

Change the rulers’ zero origin and settings
❖ In Full Edit, do one of the following:

• To change the rulers’ zero origin, position the pointer over the intersection of the rulers in the upper-left corner of
the window, and drag diagonally down onto the image. A set of cross hairs appears, marking the new origin on the
rulers. The new zero origin will be set where you release the mouse button.
Note: To reset the ruler origin to its default value, double-click the upper-left corner of the rulers.

Dragging to create a new ruler origin.

• To change the rulers’ settings, double-click a ruler, or choose Edit > Preferences > Units & Rulers. For Rulers,
choose a unit of measurement. For Column size, enter values for Width and Gutter. Click OK.
Some layout programs use the column width setting to specify the display of an image across columns. The Image Size
and Canvas Size commands also use this setting.
Note: Changing the units on the Info panel automatically changes the units on the rulers.

More Help topics
“Use the Info panel in the Editor” on page 33
“Change the size of the canvas” on page 133
“Change print dimensions and resolution without resampling” on page 137

Change the grid settings
1 In Full Edit or Quick Fix, choose Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid.
2 For Color, choose a preset color, or click the color swatch to choose a custom color.
3 For Style, choose the line style for the grid. Choose Lines for solid lines, or choose Dashed lines or Dots for broken

lines.
4 For Gridline Every, enter a number value, and then choose the unit of measurement to define the spacing of major

grid lines.
5 For Subdivisions, enter a number value to define the frequency of minor grid lines, and click OK.

Change the guide settings
1 In Full Edit or Quick Fix, choose Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid.
2 For Color, choose a preset color, or click the color swatch to choose a custom color.
3 For Style, choose the line style for the grid. Choose Lines for solid lines, and Dashed Lines or Dots for broken lines.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

Saving and exporting images
About saving images and file formats
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2321_pse8_en.
After you edit an image in the Editor, ensure that you save it. To ensure that all the image data is preserved, save regular
images in Photoshop (PSD) format. Multiple-page creations are always saved in Photo Creations (PSE) format. These
formats don’t compress your image data.
Save your photos in PSD format (instead of JPEG), unless you plan to share your photos or use them in a web page.
Each time you save in JPEG format, the image data is compressed, potentially causing some data to be lost. You may
start to notice reduced image quality after saving the file as a JPEG 2-3 times. The disadvantage of saving in PSD format
is that the file size increases significantly because the file is not compressed.
Photoshop Elements can save images in several file formats, depending on how you plan to use them. If you are
working with web images, the Save For Web command provides many options for optimizing images. To convert
several images to the same file format, or the same size and resolution, use the Process Multiple Files command.

More Help topics
“Using the Save For Web dialog box” on page 266
“Process multiple files” on page 31

File formats for saving
Photoshop Elements can save images in the following file formats:
BMP A standard Windows image format. You can specify either Windows or OS/2 format and a bit depth for the

image. For 4-bit and 8-bit images using Windows format, you can also specify RLE compression.
CompuServe GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) Commonly used to display graphics and small animations in web

pages. GIF is a compressed format designed to minimize file size and transfer time. GIF supports only 8-bit color
images (256 or fewer colors). You can also save an image as a GIF file using the Save For Web command.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) Used to save photographs, JPEG format retains all color information in an

image but compresses file size by selectively discarding data. You can choose the level of compression. Higher
compression results in lower image quality and a smaller file size; lower compression results in better image quality
and a larger file size. JPEG is a standard format for displaying images over the web.
PCX A bitmap format widely supported on a variety of platforms.
Photoshop (PSD) The standard Photoshop Elements format for images. You should generally use this format for
edited images to save your work and preserve all your image data and layers in a single page file.
Photo Creations Format (PSE) The standard Photoshop Elements format for multiple page creations. You should

generally use this format for photo creations to save your work and preserve all your image data and layers in a multiple
page file.
Photoshop PDF (Portable Document Format) A cross-platform and cross-application file format. PDF files accurately

display and preserve fonts, page layouts, and both vector and bitmap graphics.
Note: PDF and PDP are the same except that PDPs are opened in Adobe Photoshop® and PDFs are opened in Acrobat.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

Photoshop EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) Used to share Photoshop files with many illustration and page-layout

programs. For best results, print documents with EPS images to PostScript-enabled printers.
PICT Used with Mac OS graphics and page-layout applications to transfer images between applications. PICT is
especially effective at compressing images with large areas of solid color.

When saving an RGB image in PICT format, you can choose either 16-bit or 32-bit pixel resolution. For a grayscale
image, you can choose from 2, 4, or 8 bits per pixel.
Pixar Used for exchanging files with Pixar image computers. Pixar workstations are designed for high-end graphics
applications, such as those used for three-dimensional images and animation. Pixar format supports RGB and
grayscale images.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Used for lossless compression and for displaying images on the web. Unlike GIF,

PNG supports 24-bit images and produces background transparency without jagged edges; however, some web
browsers do not support PNG images. PNG preserves transparency in grayscale and RGB images.
Photoshop Raw Used for transferring images between applications and computer platforms when other formats don’t

work.
Scitex CT Used in the prepress industry.
TGA (Targa) Designed for systems using the Truevision video board. When saving an RGB image in this format, you

can choose a pixel depth of 16, 24, or 32 bits per pixel and RLE compression.
TIFF (Tagged-Image File Format) Used to exchange files between applications and computer platforms. TIFF is a
flexible bitmap image format supported by most paint, image-editing, and page-layout applications. Most desktop
scanners can produce TIFF files.

In addition, Photoshop Elements can open files in several other older formats: PS 2.0, Pixel Paint, Alias Pix, IFF format,
Portable Bit Map, SGI RGB, Soft Image, Wavefront RLA, and ElectricImage.

More Help topics
“Optimized file formats for the web” on page 267

Save changes in different file formats
You can set options for saving image files, such as the format, and whether to include the saved file in the Photo
Browser catalog or to preserve layers in an image. Depending on the format you select, other options may be available
to set.

More Help topics
“Set file-saving preferences” on page 45
“About transparent and matted web images” on page 274
“About the JPEG format” on page 268
“Optimized file formats for the web” on page 267
“About the GIF format” on page 269
“Convert an image to indexed color” on page 172
“About the PNG-8 format” on page 269
“About the PNG-24 format” on page 270

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

Change file-saving options
1 In the Editor, choose File > Save.
2 To change file-saving options, such as the filename or format, choose File > Save As, set any of the following file-

saving options, and then click Save.
Note: Some file formats open another dialog box with additional options.
File Name Specifies the filename for the saved image.
Format Specifies the file format for the saved image.
Include In The Elements Organizer Includes the saved file in your catalog so that it displays in the Photo Browser. Note

that some file formats supported in the Editor are not supported in the Elements Organizer. If you save a file in one of
these formats, like EPS, this option is unavailable.
Save In Version Set With Original Saves the file, then adds it to a version set in the Photo Browser to keep the different

versions of the image organized. This option is unavailable unless Include In The Organizer is selected.
Layers Preserves all layers in the image. If this option is disabled or unavailable, there are no layers in the image. A
at the Layers check box indicates that the layers in your image will be flattened or merged for the
warning icon
selected format. In some formats, all layers are merged. To preserve layers, select another format.
As a Copy Saves a copy of the file while keeping the current file open. The copy is saved to the folder containing the
currently open file.
ICC Profile Embed a color profile in the image for certain formats.
Thumbnail Saves thumbnail data for the file. This option is available when the Ask When Saving option for Image
Previews is set in the Preferences dialog box.
Use Lower Case Extension Makes the file extension lowercase.

Note: UNIX file servers are often used to help send information over networks and the Internet. Some of these servers do
not recognize uppercase extensions. To make sure your images arrive at their destinations, use lowercase extensions.

Save a file in GIF format
1 In the Editor

, choose File > Save As.

2 Specify a filename and location, and choose CompuServe GIF Format from the format list.

Your image is saved as a copy in the specified directory (unless it's already in indexed-color mode).
3 If you are creating an animated GIF, select the Layers As Frames option. Each layer in the final file will play as a

single frame in the animated GIF.
4 Click Save. If your original image is RGB, the Indexed Color dialog box appears.
5 If necessary, specify indexed color options in the Indexed Color dialog box and click OK.
6 In the GIF Options dialog box, select a row order for the GIF file and click OK:
Normal Displays the image in a browser only when the image is fully downloaded.
Interlaced Displays a series of low-resolution versions of the image while the full image file is downloaded to the

browser. Interlacing can make downloading time seem shorter and assures viewers that downloading is in progress.
However, interlacing also increases file size.

Save a file in JPEG format
1 In the Editor

, choose File > Save As, and choose JPEG from the format list.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

Note: You cannot save indexed-color and bitmap mode images in JPEG format.
2 Specify a filename and location, select file-saving options, and click Save.

The JPEG Options dialog box opens.
3 If the image contains transparency, select a Matte color to simulate the appearance of background transparency.
4 Specify image compression and quality by choosing an option from the Quality menu, dragging the Quality slider,

or entering a value between 1 and 12.
5 Select a format option:
Baseline (“Standard”) Uses a format that is recognizable to most web browsers.
Baseline Optimized Optimizes the color quality of the image and produces a slightly smaller file size. This option is
not supported by all web browsers.
Progressive Creates an image that is gradually displayed as it is downloaded to a web browser. Progressive JPEG files

are slightly larger in size, require more RAM for viewing, and are not supported by all applications and web browsers.
6 To view the estimated download time of the image, select a modem speed from the Size pop-up menu. (The Size

preview is available only when Preview is selected.)
Note: If a Java application cannot read your JPEG file, try saving the file without a thumbnail preview.
7 Click OK.

Save a file in Photoshop EPS format
1 In the Editor

, choose File > Save As, and choose Photoshop EPS from the format list.

2 Specify a filename and location, select file-saving options, and click Save.
3 In the EPS Options dialog box, set the following options:

• For Preview, choose TIFF (8 bits/pixel) for better display quality, or choose TIFF 1-bit/pixel for a smaller file size.
• For Encoding, choose an encoding method from the following options:
• ASCII
• ASCII85
• JPEG(Low Quality)
• JPEG(Medium Quality)
• JPEG(High Quality)
• JPEG(Maximum Quality)
4 To display white areas in the image as transparent, select Transparent Whites. This option is available only for

images in bitmap mode.
5 If you want to apply anti-aliasing to a printed low-resolution image, select Image Interpolation.
6 Click OK.

Save a file in Photoshop PDF format
1 In the Editor

, choose File > Save As, and choose Photoshop PDF from the format list.

2 Specify a filename and location, select file-saving options, and click Save.
3 In the Save Adobe PDF dialog box, select a compression method. (See “Understanding file compression” on

page 44.)

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

4 Choose an option from the Image Quality menu.
5 To view the PDF file, select View PDF After Saving to launch Adobe Acrobat or Adobe® Reader (depending on

which application is installed on your computer).
6 Click Save PDF.

If you've made changes to an Acrobat Touchup file, but the changes are not reflected when you open the file, check the
Saving File preferences dialog box. Choose Edit > Preferences > Saving Files, and then choose Save Over Current File
from the On First Save menu.

Save a file in PNG format
1 In the Editor

, choose File > Save As, and choose PNG from the format list.

2 Specify a filename and location, select file-saving options, and click Save.
3 In the PNG Options dialog box, select an Interlace option and click OK.
None Displays the image in a web browser only after it is completely downloaded.
Interlaced Displays low-resolution versions of the image while the full image file is downloading to the browser.

Interlacing can make downloading time seem shorter and assures viewers that downloading is in progress. However,
interlacing also increases file size.

Save a file in TIFF format
1 In the Editor

, choose File > Save As, and choose TIFF from the format list.

2 Specify a filename and location, select file-saving options, and click Save.
3 In the TIFF Options dialog box, select options:
Image Compression Specifies a method for compressing the composite image data.
Pixel Order Choose Interleaved to be able to add the photo to the Elements Organizer.
Byte Order Most recent applications can read files using Mac or Windows byte order. However, if you don’t know

what kind of program the file may be opened in, select the platform on which the file will be read.
Save Image Pyramid Preserves multiresolution information. Photoshop Elements does not provide options for

opening multiresolution files; the image opens at the highest resolution within the file. However, Adobe InDesign® and
some image servers provide support for opening multiresolution formats.
Save Transparency Preserves transparency as an additional alpha channel when the file is opened in another

application. (Transparency is always preserved when the file is reopened in Photoshop Elements.)
Layer Compression Specifies a method for compressing data for pixels in layers (as opposed to composite data).

Many applications cannot read layer data and skip it when opening a TIFF file. Photoshop Elements can read layer
data in TIFF files. Although files that include layer data are larger than those that don’t, saving layer data eliminates
the need to save and manage a separate PSD file to hold the layer data.

Understanding file compression
Many image file formats compress image data to reduce file size. Lossless compression preserves all image data without
removing detail; lossy compression removes image data and loses some detail.
The following are commonly used compression techniques:
RLE (Run Length Encoding) Lossless compression technique that compresses the transparent portions of each layer in
images with multiple layers containing transparency.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

LZW (Lemple-Zif-Welch) Lossless compression that provides the best results in compressing images that contain large

areas of a single color.
JPEG Lossy compression that provides the best results with photographs.
CCITT A family of lossless compression techniques for black-and-white images.
ZIP Lossless compression technique that is most effective for images that contain large areas of a single color.

Set file-saving preferences
❖ In the Editor

, choose Edit > Preferences > Saving Files, and set the following options:

On First Save Gives you the ability to control how files are saved:

• Ask If Original (default) opens the Save As dialog box the first time you edit and save the original file. All
subsequent saves overwrite the previous version. If you open the edited copy in the Editor (from Elements
Organizer), the first save, as well as all subsequent saves, overwrites the previous version.

• Always Ask opens the Save As dialog box the first time you edit and save the original file. All subsequent saves
overwrite the previous version. If you open the edited copy in the Editor (from Elements Organizer), the first save
opens the Save As dialog box.

• Save Over Current File does not open the Save As dialog box. The first save overwrites the original.
Image Previews Saves a preview image with the file. Select Never Save to save files without previews, Always Save to

save files with specified previews, or Ask When Saving to assign previews on a file-by-file basis.
File Extension Specifies an option for the three-character file extensions that indicate a file’s format: Select Use Upper

Case to append file extensions using uppercase characters, or Use Lower Case to append file extensions using
lowercase characters. Generally it’s a good idea to keep this option set to Use Lower Case.
Prefer Adobe Camera Raw Files For Supported Raw Files Ensures that all the supported raw files are opened with

Adobe Camera Raw instead of other software. Select this option if you have added other plug-ins to Plug-Ins folder.
Ignore Camera Data (EXIF) Profiles Select this option to automatically discard any color profiles used by your digital

camera. The color profile you use in Photoshop Elements is saved with the image.
Maximize PSD File Compatibility Saves a composite image in a layered Photoshop file so that it can be imported or

opened by a wider range of applications. Do one of the following:

• Select Never to skip this step
• Select Always to automatically save the composite
• Select Ask if you’d like to be prompted each time you save a file
Recent File List Contains: _ Files Specifies how many files are available in the File > Open Recently Edited File
submenu. Enter a value from 0 to 30. The default value is 10.

More Help topics
“Save changes in different file formats” on page 41

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

Guided Edit
The Guided Edit mode provides more structure around specific tasks, helping you accomplish those tasks more easily,
and with explanations throughout the process. The Guided Edit tab is located in the Edit tab of the Panel Bin in the
Editor.
With Guided Edit, you can complete these tasks:
Basic Photo Edits Crop, recompose, rotate and straighten or both, and sharpen photos.
Lighting And Exposure Lighten or darken, adjust brightness and contrast, and adjust levels.
Color Correction Enhance colors, remove a color cast, and correct skin tone.
Guided Activities Touch up scratches, blemishes or tear marks, guide for editing a photo, and fix keystone distortion.
Photomerge Intelligently merge multiple images of group shots or faces, or use the scene cleaner to remove unwanted
elements in a photo.

Note: The Guided Edits available may vary in your version of Photoshop Elements.
Automated Actions Lets you perform a series of tasks on a photo. Photoshop Elements comes with a set of actions.
You can also play actions created in Adobe Photoshop CS3. Keep in mind that the custom actions can only perform
tasks that use features supported in Photoshop Elements, and may not work on all file types or layers.
Photographic Effects Lets you apply effects to create a line drawing, create an old-fashioned photo look, and make a
photo look saturated like slide film images.

Use the Guided Edit options
1 On the Edit tab in the Editor, click the Edit Guided button.
2 Choose from the list of Guided Edits.
3 Do one of the following:

• Follow the steps that appear and click Done.
• Click Cancel to choose a different Guided Edit, or go back to the Editor.
Note: If you enter a Guided Edit, then click on the “After Only” button at the bottom of the Guided Edit panel to see the
Before and After view of your photo, when you exit the Guided Edit, that view will remain. To reset the view back to After
only (the default), click on the window mode button again until the After only view is restored, or simply click on either
Full or Quick modes to reset to a single view.

The Crop Photo Guided Edit
Use the Crop Photo Guided Edit to crop an image.
You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
Note: You can also use the Cookie Cutter tool to crop an image. For more on the Cookie Cutter tool, see “Use the Cookie
Cutter tool” on page 133.
For more information on cropping, see “Cropping” on page 131.

The Recompose Photo Guided Edit
For more information on the features used in the Recompose Photo Guided Edit, see “Recomposing” on page 160.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

The Rotate And/Or Straighten Guided Edit
Use the Rotate and/or Straighten Guided Edit to rotate a picture in 90-degree increments or draw a line through an
image to realign it.
You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
For more on rotating an image, see “Rotate or flip an item” on page 155.
For more on straightening an image, see “Straighten an image” on page 134.

The Sharpen Photo Guided Edit
Use the Sharpen Photo Guided Edit to sharpen an image.
You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
For more on sharpening images, see “Sharpening overview” on page 152 or “Sharpen an image” on page 153.

The Lighten Or Darken Guided Edit
Use the Lighten or Darken Guided Edit to lighten or darken an image.
You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
For more on lightening or darkening an image, see “Adjusting shadows and light” on page 109.

The Brightness And Contrast Guided Edit
Use the Brightness And Contrast Guided Edit to adjust brightness or contrast in an image.
You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
For more on adjusting brightness and contrast, see “Adjusting shadows and light” on page 109.

The Adjust Levels Guided Edit
For more information on using Levels, see “About Levels adjustments” on page 112.

The Enhance Colors Guided Edit
Use the Enhance Colors Guided Edit to enhance the hue, saturation, and lightness in an image.
You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
For more on enhancing colors, see “Adjusting color saturation and hue” on page 120.

The Remove A Color Cast Guided Edit
Use the Remove a Color Cast Guided Edit to correct color casts in an image.
You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
For more on correcting color casts, see “Correcting color casts” on page 116.

The Correct Skin Tone Guided Edit
Use the Correct Skin Tone Guided Edit to correct skin tones (tan, blush, and ambient light) in an image.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
For more on correcting color casts, see “Adjust the color of skin tone” on page 122.

The Touch Up Photo Guided Edit
Use the Touch Up Photo Guided Edit to fix (large or small) flaws in an image (using the Healing Brush or the Spot
Healing Brush).
You can view the after image only, or view both the before and after images either vertically or horizontally.
For more on correcting color casts, see “Fix large imperfections” on page 141 or “Remove spots and small
imperfections” on page 140.

The “Guide For Editing A Photo” Guided Edit
Use the “Guide for Editing a Photo” Guided Edit to follow the recommended sequence of applying common editing
steps to your photos. This sequence is how Adobe recommends you make your various edits, and the order in which
you should do them. This will help you get the best results for all your basic photo retouching tasks.

The Fix Keystone Distortion Guided Edit
For more information on the features used in this Guided Edit, see “Correct camera distortion” on page 144 and
“Freely transform an item” on page 159.

The Photomerge Group Shot Guided Edit
For more information on Photomerge Group Shot, see “Use Photomerge Group Shot” on page 146.

The Photomerge Faces Guided Edit
For more information on Photomerge Faces, see “Use Photomerge Faces” on page 147.

The Photomerge Scene Cleaner Guided Edit
For more information on Photomerge Scene Cleaner, see “Use Photomerge Scene Cleaner” on page 148.

The Photomerge Exposure Guided Edit
For more information on Photomerge Exposure, see “Photomerge Exposure” on page 150.

The Automated Action Player Guided Edit
An action is a series of tasks that Photoshop Elements performs with a click of a button. Photoshop Elements comes
with a set of actions. You can also play actions that are created in Photoshop as long as the actions use features
supported by Photoshop Elements. Keep in mind that the Automated Actions may not work on all file types or layers.
1 In the Editor with the Edit Guided tab selected, make sure that Automated Actions is expanded and then click

Action Player.
2 Follow the instructions and choose an action from the menu.
3 Click Play Action.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Working in the Editor

Install actions created in Photoshop
The Action Player in the Automated Actions guided edit can play actions created in Photoshop. Keep in mind that you
can only play actions that use features supported in Photoshop Elements.
❖ Copy the .atn file to the one of the following locations:
Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop

Elements\8.0\Locale\en_US\Workflow Panels\actions
Vista C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Photoshop Elements\8.0\Locale\en_US\Workflow Panels\actions

The next time you start Photoshop Elements, the action will appear in the Automated Actions guided edit menu.

The Line Drawing Guided Edit
For more information on the features used in this Guided Edit. See “Precisely convert to black and white” on page 124,
“About Levels adjustments” on page 112, “Add Noise” on page 196, and “Adjust saturation and hue” on page 120.

The Old Fashioned Photo Guided Edit
For more information on the features used in this Guided Edit, see “Using the Effects panel” on page 178, “Specify the
opacity of a layer” on page 62, and “About Levels adjustments” on page 112.

The Saturated Slide Film Effect Guided Edit
For more information on saturation adjustment, see “Adjust saturation and hue” on page 120.

Last updated 7/26/2011

Chapter 4: Using layers
Layers are useful because they let you add components to an image and work on them one at a time, without
permanently changing your original image. For each layer, you can adjust color and brightness, apply special effects,
reposition layer content, specify opacity and blending values, and so on. You can also rearrange the stacking order, link
layers to work on them simultaneously, and create web animations with layers.

Creating layers
Understanding layers
Layers are like stacked, transparent sheets of glass on which you can paint images. You can see through the transparent
areas of a layer to the layers below. You can work on each layer independently, experimenting to create the effect you
want. Each layer remains independent until you combine (merge) the layers. The bottommost layer in the Layers
panel, the Background layer, is always locked (protected), meaning you cannot change its stacking order, blending
mode, or opacity (unless you convert it into a regular layer).

Transparent areas on a layer let you see through to the layers below.

Layers are organized in the Layers panel. It’s a good idea to keep this panel visible whenever you’re working in
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8. With one glance, you can see the active layer (the selected layer that you are editing).
You can link layers, so they move as a unit, helping you manage layers. Because multiple layers in an image increase
the file size, you can reduce the file size by merging layers that you’re done editing. The Layers panel is an important
source of information as you edit photos. You can also use the Layer menu to work with layers.
Ordinary layers are pixel-based (image) layers. There are several other layer types you can use to create special effects:
Fill layers Contain a color gradient, solid color, or pattern.
Adjustment layers Enable you to fine-tune color, brightness, and saturation without making permanent changes to

your image (until you flatten, or collapse, the adjustment layer).
Type layers and shape layers Let you create vector-based text and shapes.

You can’t paint on an adjustment layer, although you can paint on its mask. To paint on fill or type layers, you first
convert them into regular image layers.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

More Help topics
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64
“About layer clipping masks” on page 68
“Lock or unlock a layer” on page 55
“About opacity and blending options in layers” on page 61

About the Layers panel
The Layers panel in the Editor (Window > Layers) lists all layers in an image, from the top layer to the Background
layer at the bottom. You can drag the panel by its title out of the Panel Bin to keep it visible as you work with it.
The active layer, or the layer that you are working on, is highlighted for easy identification. As you work in an image,
it’s a good idea to check which layer is active to make sure that the adjustments and edits you perform affect the correct
layer. For example, if you choose a command and nothing seems to happen, check to make sure that you’re looking at
the active layer.
Using the icons in the panel, you can accomplish many tasks—such as creating, hiding, linking, locking, and deleting
layers. With some exceptions, your changes affect only the selected, or active, layer, which is highlighted.

F G

Layers panel
A. Blending mode menu B. Show/Hide layer C. Layer thumbnail D. Highlighted layer is active layer E. Locked layer F. Layer is linked to
another layer G. Layer has style applied

In the list of layers, the panel shows a thumbnail, a title, and one or more icons that give information about each layer:
The layer is visible. Click the eye to show or hide a layer. (Hidden layers are not printed.)
The layer is linked to the active layer.
The layer has a style applied to it. Click to edit the layer style in the Style Settings dialog box.
The layer is locked.
The image contains layer groups and was imported from Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop Elements doesn’t support
layer groups and displays them in their collapsed state. You must simplify them to create an editable image.
You use the buttons at the bottom of the panel to perform actions:

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Create a new layer.
Create a new fill or adjustment layer.
Delete a layer.
The layer is linked to another layer.
Lock transparent pixels.
Lock all layers.
Also at the top are the panel Blending Mode menu (Normal, Dissolve, Darken, and so on), an Opacity text box, and a
More button displaying a menu of layer commands and panel options.

More Help topics
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64
“About opacity and blending options in layers” on page 61
“Simplify a layer” on page 56

Adding layers
Newly added layers appear above the selected layer in the Layers panel. You can add layers to an image by using any
of the following methods:

• Create new, blank layers or turn selections into layers.
• Convert a background into a regular layer or vice versa.
• Paste selections into the image.
• Use the Type tool or a shape tool.
• Duplicate an existing layer.
You can create up to 8000 layers in an image, each with its own blending mode and opacity. However, memory
constraints may lower this limit.

More Help topics
“About text” on page 238
“About shapes” on page 246
“Delete a layer” on page 56

Create and name a new blank layer
❖ Do one of the following in the Editor:

• To create a layer with default name and settings, click the New Layer button

at the bottom of the Layers panel.
The resulting layer uses Normal mode with 100% opacity, and is named according to its creation order. (To rename
the new layer, double-click it and type a new name.)

• To create a layer and specify a name and options, choose Layer > New > Layer, or choose New Layer from the
Layers panel menu. Specify a name and other options, and then click OK.
The new layer is automatically selected and appears in the panel above the layer that was last selected.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

More Help topics
“Copy a layer from one image to another” on page 57
“Delete a layer” on page 56
“Duplicate a layer within an image” on page 57
“Specify a blending mode for a layer” on page 62
“Specify the opacity of a layer” on page 62

Create a new layer from part of another layer
You can move part of an image from one layer to a newly created one, leaving the original intact.
1 In the Editor, select an existing layer, and make a selection.
2 Choose one of the following:

• Layer > New > Layer Via Copy to copy the selection into a new layer.
• Layer > New > Layer Via Cut to cut the selection and paste it into a new layer.
The selected area appears in a new layer in the same position relative to the image boundaries.

Creating a new layer by copying part of another layer and pasting it into a new layer

More Help topics
“Duplicate a layer within an image” on page 57
“About selections” on page 81

Convert the Background layer into a regular layer
The Background layer is the bottom layer in an image. Other layers stack on top of the Background layer, which usually
(but not always) contains the actual image data of a photo. To protect the image, the Background layer is always locked.
If you want to change its stacking order, blending mode, or opacity, you must first convert it into a regular layer.
1 In the Editor, do one of the following:

• Double-click the Background layer in the Layers panel.
• Choose Layer > New > Layer From Background.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

• Select the Background layer, and choose Duplicate Layer from the More menu in the Layers panel to leave the
Background layer intact and create a copy of it as a new layer.
You can create a duplicate layer of the converted Background layer no matter how you convert the layer; simply select
the converted Background layer and choose Duplicate Layer from the More menu.
2 Name the new layer.

If you drag the Background Eraser tool onto the Background layer, it is automatically converted into a regular layer,
and erased areas become transparent.

Make a layer the Background layer
You can’t convert a layer into the Background layer if the image already has a Background layer. In this case, you must
first convert the existing Background layer into a regular layer.
1 In the Editor, select a layer in the Layers panel.
2 Choose Layer > New > Background From Layer.

Any transparent areas in the original layer are filled with the background color.

Editing layers
Select a layer
Any change you make to an image only affects the active layer. If you don’t see the desired results when you manipulate
an image, make sure that the correct layer is selected.
❖ In the Editor, do one of the following:

• In the Layers panel, select a layer’s thumbnail or name.
• To select more than one layer, hold down Ctrl and click each layer.
To select layers interactively as you use the Move tool, select Auto Select Layer in the options bar. To see which layer
will be highlighted, select Show Highlight On Rollover. Drag to select multiple layers at a time.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“Select all opaque areas in a layer” on page 63
“Copy selections with the Move tool” on page 96

Show or hide a layer
In the Layers panel, the eye icon

in the leftmost column next to a layer means that the layer is visible.

1 In the Editor, choose Window > Layers if the Layers panel is not already open.
2 Do one of the following:

• To hide a layer, click its eye icon. Click in the eye column again to show the layer.
• Drag through the eye column to show or hide more than one layer.
• To display just one layer, Alt-click the eye icon for that layer. Alt-click in the eye column again to show all the layers.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

More Help topics
“About the Layers panel” on page 51

Resize or hide layer thumbnails
1 In the Editor, choose Panel Options from the More menu in the Layers panel.
2 Select a new size, or select None to hide the thumbnails. Then click OK.

More Help topics
“About the Layers panel” on page 51

Lock or unlock a layer
You can fully or partially lock layers to protect their contents. When a layer is locked, a lock icon appears to the right
of the layer name, and the layer cannot be deleted. Except for the Background layer, you can move locked layers to
different locations in the stacking order of the Layers panel.
❖ In the Editor, select the layer in the Layers panel, and do one of the following:

• Click the Lock All icon

at the bottom of the Layers panel to lock all layer properties. Click the icon again to

unlock them.

• Click the Lock Transparency icon

at the bottom of the Layers panel to lock the transparent areas of the layer, so
that no painting occurs in them. Click the icon again to unlock.

Note: For type and shape layers, transparency is locked by default and cannot be unlocked without first simplifying the
layer.

More Help topics
“About the Layers panel” on page 51

Rename a layer
As you add layers to an image, it’s helpful to rename layers according to their content. Use descriptive layer names so
that you can easily identify layers in the Layers panel.
Note: You can’t rename the Background layer unless you change it into a normal layer.
❖ In the Editor, do one of the following:

• Double-click the layer’s name in the Layers panel, and enter a new name.
• Right-click the layer and choose Rename Layer from the context menu.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About the Layers panel” on page 51
“Convert the Background layer into a regular layer” on page 53

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Simplify a layer
You simplify a smart object, frame layer, type layer, shape layer, solid color layer, gradient layer, or pattern fill layer
(or a layer group imported from Photoshop) by converting it into an image layer. You need to simplify these layers
before you can apply filters to them or edit them with the painting tools. However, you can no longer use the type- and
shape-editing options on simplified layers.
1 In the Editor, select a type layer, shape layer, fill layer, or a Photoshop layer group in the Layers panel.
2 Simplify the layer or imported layer group:

• If you selected a shape layer, click Simplify in the options bar.
• If you selected a type, shape, or fill layer, or a Photoshop layer group, choose Simplify Layer from either the Layer
menu or the Layers panel More menu.

More Help topics
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Delete a layer
Deleting layers that you no longer need reduces the size of your image file.
1 In the Editor, select the layer in the Layers panel.
2 Do one of the following:

• Drag the layer to the Delete Layer icon

at the bottom of the Layers panel.

• Click the Delete Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, and click Yes in the delete confirmation dialog box.
To bypass this dialog box, press Alt as you click the Delete icon.

• Choose Delete Layer from either the Layer menu or the Layers panel More menu, and click Yes.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“Create and name a new blank layer” on page 52

Sample color from all visible layers
By default, when you work with certain tools, the color you apply is sampled only from the active layer. With this
default behavior, you can smudge or sample in a single layer even when other layers are visible, and you can sample
from one layer and paint in another one.
If you want to paint using sampled data from all visible layers, do the following:
1 In the Editor, select the Magic Wand tool, Paint Bucket tool, Smudge tool, Blur tool, Sharpen tool, or Clone Stamp tool.
2 In the options bar, select All Layers.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About painting tools” on page 208

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Copying and arranging layers
Duplicate a layer within an image
You can duplicate any layer, including the Background layer, within an image.
❖ In the Editor, select one or more layers in the Layers panel, and do one of the following to duplicate it:

• To duplicate and rename the layer, choose Layer > Duplicate Layer, or choose Duplicate Layer from the Layers
panel More menu. Name the duplicate layer, and click OK.

• To duplicate without naming, select the layer and drag it to the New Layer button

at the bottom of the Layers

panel.

• Right-click the layer name or thumbnail, and choose Duplicate Layer.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Duplicate one or more layers in another image
You can take any layer, including the Background layer, from one image and duplicate it in another. Keep in mind that
the pixel dimensions of the destination image determine how large the printed copy of the duplicated layer can be.
Also, if the pixel dimensions of the two images are not the same, the duplicated layer may appear smaller or larger than
you’d expect.
1 In the Editor, open the source image. If you plan to copy a layer to an existing image rather than a new one, open

the destination image as well.
2 In the source document’s Layers panel, select the name of the layer or layers you want to duplicate. To select more

than one layer, hold down the Ctrl key and click each layer’s name.
3 Choose Layer > Duplicate Layer, or choose Duplicate Layer from the More menu in the Layers panel.
4 Type a name for the duplicate layer in the Duplicate Layer dialog box, and choose a destination document for the

layer, and then click OK:

• To duplicate the layer in an existing image, choose a filename from the Document pop-up menu.
• To create a new document for the layer, choose New from the Document menu, and enter a name for the new file.
An image created by duplicating a layer has no background.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About image size and resolution” on page 136

Copy a layer from one image to another
You can copy any layer, including the Background layer, from one image to another. Keep in mind that the resolution
of the destination image determines how large the printed copy of the layer can be. Also, if the pixel dimensions of the
two images are not the same, the copied layer may appear smaller or larger than you’d expect.
1 In the Editor, open the two images you want to use.
2 In the Layers panel of the source image, select the layer that you want to copy.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

3 Do one of the following:

• Choose Select > All to select all of the pixels in the layer, and choose Edit > Copy. Then make the destination image
active, and choose Edit > Paste.

• Drag the layer’s name from the Layers panel of the source image into the destination image.
• Use the Move tool

to drag the layer from the source image to the destination image.

The copied layer appears in the destination image, above the active layer in the Layers panel. If the layer you’re
dragging is larger than the destination image, only part of the layer is visible. You can use the Move tool to drag other
sections of the layer into view.
Hold down Shift as you drag a layer to copy it to the same position it occupied in the source image (if the source and
destination images have the same pixel dimensions) or to the center of the destination image (if the source and
destination images have different pixel dimensions).

Dragging the bamboo layer to another image

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About image size and resolution” on page 136

Move the content in a layer
Layers are like stacked images on panes of glass. You can “slide” a layer in a stack to change what portion of its content
is visible in relation to the layers above and below.
1 In the Editor, select a layer in the Layers panel. To move multiple layers at the same time, link the layers together

in the Layers panel by selecting the layers and then clicking the Link Layers icon
2 Select the Move tool

3 Do one of the following:

• Drag within the image to slide the selected layer or layers to the desired position.
• Press the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the layer or layers in 1-pixel increments, or press Shift and an arrow
key to move the layer in 10-pixel increments.

• Hold down Shift as you drag to move the layer or layers directly up or down, directly to either side, or on a 45°
diagonal.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Change the stacking order of layers
The stacking order determines whether a layer appears in front of or behind other layers.
By default, the Background layer must remain at the bottom of the stack. To move the Background layer, you need to
convert it into a regular layer first.

Dragging a layer below another layer changes the stacking order

1 In the Layers panel, select one or more layers. To select more than one layer, hold down the Ctrl key and click each

layer.
2 To change the stacking order, do one of the following:

• Drag the layer or layers up or down the Layers panel to the new position.
• Choose Layer > Arrange, and then choose Bring To Front, Bring Forward, Send Backward, or Send To Back.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“Convert the Background layer into a regular layer” on page 53

Link and unlink layers
When layers are linked, you can move their contents together. You can also copy, paste, merge, and apply
transformations to all linked layers simultaneously. At some point, you may want to edit or move one linked layer. You
can simply unlink the layers to work on one layer at a time
1 In the Editor, select the layers you’d like to link in the Layers panel. To select more than one layer, hold down Ctrl

and click each layer.
2 Click the Link Layer icon

at the bottom of the Layers panel. A linked icon

appears in the linked layers.

3 To unlink layers, select a linked layer in the Layers panel and click the Link Layers icon at the bottom of the Layers

panel.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About layer clipping masks” on page 68

Merge layers
Layers can greatly increase the file size of an image. Merging layers in an image reduces file size. You should merge
layers only after you have finished manipulating them to create the image you want.

Example of merging

You can choose to merge only the linked layers, only the visible layers, only a layer with the layer below it, or only
selected layers. You can also merge the contents of all visible layers into a selected layer, yet not delete the other visible
layers (in this case, there is no reduction in file size).
When you complete work on an image, you can flatten it. Flattening merges all visible layers, discards all hidden layers,
and fills transparent areas with white.
1 In the Editor, go to the Layers panel and make sure that an eye icon

appears next to each of the layers you want

to merge.
2 Do one of the following:

• To merge selected layers, select more than one layer by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking each layer. Then
choose Merge Layers from the Layers panel More menu.

• To merge a layer with the one below, select the top layer of the pair and choose Merge Down from either the Layer
menu or the Layers panel More menu.
Note: If the bottom layer in the pair is a shape, type, or fill layer, you must simplify the layer. If the bottom layer in the
pair is linked to another layer or is an adjustment layer, you can’t choose Merge Down.

• To merge all visible layers, hide any layers you don’t want to merge and choose Merge Visible from the Layer menu
or Layers panel More menu.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

• To merge all visible linked layers, select one of the linked layers and choose Merge Linked from the Layer menu or
Layers panel More menu.
Note: If the bottom-most merged layer is a type, shape, solid color fill, gradient fill, or pattern fill layer, you must first
simplify the layer.

More Help topics
“Merging adjustment layers” on page 66
“Simplify a layer” on page 56

Merge layers into another layer
Use this procedure when you want to keep the layers you are merging intact. The result is a new merged layer plus all
the original layers.
1 In the Editor, click the eye icon next to layers you don’t want to merge, and make sure that the eye icon is visible

for the layers you do want to merge.
2 Specify a layer in which to merge all visible layers. You can either create a new layer in which to merge or select an

existing layer in the Layers panel.
3 Hold down Alt, and choose Merge Visible from either the Layers menu or the Layers panel More menu. Photoshop

Elements merges a copy of all visible layers into the selected layer.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“Merging adjustment layers” on page 66

Flatten an image
When you flatten an image, Photoshop Elements merges all visible layers into the background, greatly reducing the
file size. Flattening an image discards all hidden layers, and fills any transparent areas with white. In most cases, you
won’t want to flatten a file until you’ve finished editing individual layers.
1 Make sure that the layers you want to keep in your image are visible.
2 Choose Flatten Image from either the Layer menu or the Layers panel More menu.

You can see the difference between your image’s layered file size and its flattened file size by choosing Document Sizes
from the status bar pop-up menu at the bottom of the image window.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Opacity and blending modes
About opacity and blending options in layers
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2306_pse8_en.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

A layer’s opacity determines the degree to which it obscures or reveals the layer beneath it. A layer with 1% opacity is
nearly transparent, while a layer with 100% opacity is opaque. Transparent areas remain transparent regardless of the
opacity setting.
You use layer blending modes to determine how a layer blends with the pixels in layers beneath it. Using blending
modes, you can create various special effects.
A layer’s opacity and blending mode interact with the opacity and blending mode of painting tools. For example, a
layer uses Dissolve mode at 50% opacity. You paint on this layer with the Paintbrush tool set to Normal mode at 100%
opacity. The paint appears in Dissolve mode at 50% opacity. Similarly, if a layer uses Normal mode at 100% opacity,
and you use the Eraser tool at 50% opacity, only 50% of the paint disappears from the layer as you erase.

Blending layers.
A. Bamboo layer and Borders layer B. Bamboo layer with 100% opacity and Color Burn mode C. Bamboo layer with 50% opacity and Color
Burn mode

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About blending modes” on page 209
“About painting tools” on page 208

Specify the opacity of a layer
1 In the Editor, select the layer in the Layers panel.
2 In the Layers panel, enter a value between 0 and 100 for Opacity, or click the arrow at the right of the Opacity box

and drag the Opacity slider that appears.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Specify a blending mode for a layer
1 In the Editor, select the layer in the Layers panel.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

2 Choose an option from the Blending Mode menu.

Immediately after you choose a blending mode, you can press the up or down arrows on your keyboard to try other
blending mode options in the menu.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About blending modes” on page 209

Select all opaque areas in a layer
You can quickly select all the opaque areas in a layer. This procedure is useful when you want to exclude transparent
areas from a selection.
1 In the Layers panel, Ctrl-click the layer thumbnail:
2 To add the pixels to an existing selection, press Ctrl+Shift and click the layer thumbnail in the Layers panel.
3 To remove the pixels from an existing selection, press Ctrl+Alt and click the layer thumbnail in the Layers panel.
4 To load the intersection of the pixels and an existing selection, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift and click the layer thumbnail

in the Layers panel.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About selections” on page 81

Customize the transparency grid
The checkerboard grid identifies transparency in a layer. You can change the appearance of this grid; however, do not
change it to solid white because you’ll eliminate the visual distinction between opaque (white) and transparent
(checkerboard).
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > Transparency.
2 Choose a pattern size from the Grid Size menu.
3 Choose a pattern color from the Grid Colors menu. To choose a custom color instead, click one of the two boxes

below the Grid Colors menu and select a color from the Color Picker.

More Help topics
“About the Layers panel” on page 51
“Use the Adobe Color Picker” on page 215

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Adjustment and fill layers
About adjustment and fill layers
Adjustment layers let you experiment with color and make tonal adjustments without permanently modifying the
pixels in an image. You can think of an adjustment layer as a veil coloring the underlying layers. By default, an
adjustment layer affects all layers below it, although you can change this behavior. When you create an adjustment
layer, the Layers panel displays a white box representing the adjustment for that layer.
Fill layers let you fill a layer with a solid color, gradient, or pattern. Unlike adjustment layers, fill layers do not affect
the layers below them. To paint on a fill layer, you must first convert it (simplify it) into a regular layer.
Adjustment and fill layers have the same opacity and blending mode options as image layers, and you can move and
reposition them just as you do image layers. By default, adjustment and fill layers are named for their type (for example,
Solid Color fill layer and Invert adjustment layer).

Create Adjustment Layer menu
A. Fill layers B. Adjustment layers

More Help topics
“Edit the layer masks” on page 67
“About opacity and blending options in layers” on page 61
“Apply the Smart Brush tools” on page 110
“Simplify a layer” on page 56

Create adjustment layers
1 In the Layers panel, select the topmost layer you want to affect.
2 To confine the effects of the adjustment layer to a selected area in that layer, make a selection.
3 Do one of the following:

• To affect all the layers below the adjustment layer, click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button

at the
bottom of the Layers panel. Then, choose one of the following adjustment types. (The first three options in the
menu are fill layers, not adjustment layers.)

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Original image, and image with Hue/Saturation adjustment applied. Only the layers under the adjustment layer are affected.

• To affect only one layer or several successive layers below the adjustment layer, choose Layer > New Adjustment
Layer > [adjustment type]. In the New Layer dialog box, select Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask, and
then click OK.
Levels Corrects tonal values in the image.
Brightness/Contrast Lightens or darkens the image.
Hue/Saturation Adjusts colors in the image.
Gradient Map Maps pixels to the color in the selected gradient.
Photo Filter Adjusts the color balance and color temperature of the image.
Invert Produces a photo negative effect by creating a negative based on the brightness values of the image.
Threshold Renders the image in monochrome with no gray, so that you can locate the lightest and darkest areas.
Posterize Gives a flat, poster-like appearance to a photo by reducing the number of brightness values (levels) in the
image, thus reducing the number of colors.

4 In the dialog box, specify options and click OK. (Invert has no options.)

Selecting Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask in step 3, groups the adjustment layer with the layer immediately
below it and the effect is confined to the group.
5 To add more layers to the group, press Alt and position the pointer over the line dividing the bottom most layer in

the group from the layer below it. Click when the pointer changes to two overlapping circles
Applying a correction using the Smart Brush tool
adjustment layer.

or the Detail Smart Brush tool

More Help topics
“Apply the Smart Brush tools” on page 110
“About histograms” on page 107

Create fill layers
1 In the Layers panel, select the layer above which the fill layer should be.

Last updated 7/26/2011

automatically creates an

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

2 To confine the effects of the fill layer to a selected area, make a selection.
3 Do one of the following:

• Click the New Fill or Adjustment Layer button

at the top of the Layers panel, and choose the fill type you want
to create. (The first three options listed in the panel are fill layers, the others are adjustment layers.)

• Choose Layer > New Fill Layer > [fill type]. In the New Layer dialog box that appears, click OK.
Solid Color Creates a layer filled with a solid color chosen from the Color Picker.
Gradient Creates a layer filled with a gradient. You can choose a predefined gradient from the Gradient menu. To edit
the gradient in the Gradient Editor, click the color gradient. You can drag within the image window to move the center
of the gradient.

You can also specify the shape of the gradient (Style) and the angle at which it is applied (Angle). Select Reverse to flip
its orientation, Dither to reduce banding, and Align With Layer to use the layer’s bounding box to calculate the
gradient fill.
Pattern Creates a layer filled with a pattern. Click the pattern, and choose a pattern from the pop-up panel. You can

scale the pattern and choose Snap To Origin to position the origin of the pattern with that of the document window.
To specify that the pattern moves with the Fill layer as it is relocated, select Link With Layer. When this option is
selected, you can drag within the image to position the pattern while the Pattern Fill dialog box is open. To create a
new preset pattern after editing pattern settings, click the New Preset button .

Edit an adjustment or fill layer
1 In the Editor, open the adjustment or fill options dialog box by doing one of the following:

• Double-click the adjustment or fill layer’s leftmost thumbnail in the Layers panel.
• Select the layer in the panel and choose Layer > Layer Content Options.
2 Make your changes, and click OK.

Merging adjustment layers
You can merge an adjustment or fill layer in several ways: with the layer below it, with other selected layers, with the
layers in its own group, with the layers it’s linked to, and with all other visible layers. You cannot, however, use an
adjustment layer or fill layer as the base or target layer for a merge.
When you merge an adjustment layer or fill layer with the layer below it, the adjustments are simplified and
permanently applied to the merged layer. The adjustment no longer affects other layers below the merged adjustment
layer. You can also convert (simplify) a fill layer into an image layer without merging it.
Adjustment layers and fill layers with masks (the layer’s rightmost thumbnail in the Layers panel) that contain only
white values do not add significantly to the file size, so you don’t need to merge these adjustment layers to conserve
file space.

More Help topics
“Merge layers” on page 60
“Simplify a layer” on page 56

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Edit the layer masks
A layer mask prevents sections of a layer, or an entire layer, from being visible. You use the mask to show or hide
sections of an image or an effect. When the layer mask (right thumbnail) attached to an adjustment layer is completely
white, the adjustment effect is applied to all underlying layers. If you don’t want to apply the effect to certain portions
of the underlying layers, paint the corresponding area of the mask with black. When attached to a fill layer, the mask
defines the filled-in area in the fill layer.

Painting a mask with black increases the area protected.

1 In the Editor, select the adjustment or fill layer in the Layers panel.
2 Select the Paintbrush tool, or any painting or editing tool.
3 Use the following methods to view the layer mask:

• To view only the mask, Alt-click the Layer Mask’s thumbnail (the rightmost thumbnail). Alt-click the thumbnail
again to redisplay the other layers.

• To view the mask in a red masking color, hold down Alt+Shift and click the Layer Mask’s thumbnail (the rightmost
thumbnail). Hold down Alt+Shift and click the thumbnail again to turn off the red display.

• To constrain editing to part of the mask, select the corresponding pixels.
4 Edit the layer mask:

• To remove areas of the adjustment effect or fill, paint the layer mask with black.
• To add areas to the adjustment effect or fill, paint the layer mask with white.
• To partially remove the adjustment effect or fill so that it shows in various levels of transparency, paint the layer
mask with gray. (Single-click the foreground color swatch in the toolbox to choose a gray shade from the Swatches
panel.) The extent to which the effect or fill is removed depends on the tones of gray you use to paint. Darker shades
result in more transparency; lighter shades in more opacity.
Shift-click the mask thumbnail (the layer’s rightmost thumbnail) in the Layers panel to turn off the mask; click the
thumbnail again to turn on the mask.

More Help topics
“About selections” on page 81

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Layer masks
About layer clipping masks
A clipping mask is a group of layers to which a mask is applied. The bottommost layer, or base layer, defines the visible
boundaries of the entire group. For example, suppose you have a shape in the base layer, a photograph in the layer
above it, and text in the topmost layer. If the photograph and text appear only through the shape outline in the base
layer, they also take on the opacity of the base layer.
You can group only successive layers. The name of the base layer in the group is underlined, and the thumbnails for
.
the overlying layers are indented. Additionally, the overlying layers display the clipping mask icon
You can link the layers in a clipping mask so that they move together.

The shape in the bottom layer of the clipping mask determines what area of the photo layer above shows through.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“Link and unlink layers” on page 59

Create a clipping mask
1 In the Editor, do one of the following:

• Hold down Alt, position the pointer over the line dividing two layers in the Layers panel (the pointer changes to
two overlapping circles

), and then click.

• In the Layers panel, select the top layer of a pair of layers you want to group, and choose Layer > Create Clipping Mask.
2 When making a clipping mask from an existing layer and one you are about to create, first select the existing layer

in the Layers panel. Then choose New Layer from the Layer menu or the Layers panel More menu. In the New Layer
dialog box, select Use Previous Layer To Create Clipping Mask, and click OK.
The layers in the clipping mask have the opacity and mode attributes of the bottommost base layer in the group.
To change the stacking order of the clipping mask relative to other layers in the image, select all layers in the group.
Then drag the group’s base layer up or down in the Layers panel. (Dragging a layer without selecting all the layers in
the group removes that layer from the group.)

More Help topics
“Link and unlink layers” on page 59

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Remove a layer from a clipping mask
Ungrouping the base layer from the layer above it ungroups all layers in the clipping mask.
❖ In the Editor, do one of the following:

• Hold down Alt, position the pointer over the line separating two grouped layers in the Layers panel (the pointer
changes to two overlapping circles

), and click.

• In the Layers panel, select a layer in the clipping mask, and choose Layer > Release Clipping Mask. This command
removes the selected layer and any layers above it from the clipping mask.

• In the Layers panel, select any layer in the group except the base layer. Either drag the layer below the base layer, or
drag it between two ungrouped layers in the image.

Release clipping mask
1 In the Layers panel, select any layer other than the base layer in the clipping mask.
2 Choose Layer > Release Clipping Mask.

Layer styles
About layer styles
Layer styles let you quickly apply effects to an entire layer. In the Effects panel, you can view a variety of predefined
layer styles and apply a style with just a click of the mouse.

Three different layer styles applied to text

The boundaries of the effect are automatically updated when you edit that layer. For example, if you apply a drop
shadow style to a text layer, the shadow changes automatically when you edit the text.
Layer styles are cumulative, which means that you can create a complex effect by applying multiple styles to a layer.
You can apply one style from each style library per layer. You can also change a layer’s style settings to adjust the final
result.
When you apply a style to a layer, a style icon
appears to the right of the layer’s name in the Layers panel. Layer
styles are linked to the layer contents. When you move or edit the contents of the layer, the effects are modified
correspondingly.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

Once you choose Layer > Layer Style > Style Settings, you can edit the settings of a layer’s style or apply other style
settings or attributes available in the dialog box.
Lighting Angle Specifies the lighting angle at which the effect is applied to the layer.
Drop Shadow Specifies the distance of a drop shadow from the layer’s content. You can also set the size and opacity
with the sliders.
Outer Glow Size Specifies the size of a glow that emanates from the outside edges of the layer’s content. You can also

set the opacity with the slider.
Inner Glow Size Specifies the size of a glow that emanates from the inside edges of the layer’s content. You can also set

the opacity with the slider.
Bevel Size Specifies the size of beveling along the inside edges of the layer’s content.
Bevel Direction Specifies the direction of the bevel, either up or down.
Stroke Size Specifies the size of the stroke.
Stroke Opacity Specifies the opacity of the stroke.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178

Work with layer styles
You can apply special effects to a layer, hide or show the styles in a layer, and even change the scale of a layer style (for
example, decrease or increase the size of a glow effect). It’s easy to copy a style from one layer to another.

Apply a layer style
1 Select a layer in the Layers panel.
2 In the Effects panel, choose Layer Styles from the category menu.
3 Do any of the following:

• Select a style, and click Apply.
• Double-click a style.
• Drag a style onto a layer.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

A style icon indicates a layer style is applied to the layer.

If you don’t like the result, press Ctrl+Z to remove the style, or choose Edit > Undo.
You can also drag the style to the image, where it is applied to the selected layer.

Hide or show all layer styles in an image
❖ Choose one of the following:

• Layer > Layer Style > Hide All Effects.
• Layer > Layer Style > Show All Effects.

Edit a layer’s style settings
You can edit a layer’s style settings to adjust the effect. You can also copy style settings between layers and remove a
style from a layer.
1 Do one of the following:

• Double-click the style icon

in the Layers panel.

• Choose Layer > Layer Style > Style Settings.
2 To preview the changes in your image, select Preview.
3 Adjust one or more of the layer style settings or add new ones, and click OK.

Change the scale of a layer style
1 In the Layers panel, select the layer containing style effects you want to scale.
2 Choose Layer > Layer Style > Scale Effect.
3 To preview the changes in your image, select Preview.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Using layers

4 Specify how much you want to scale the effects. For example, if you are increasing the size of an outer glow, 100%

is the current scale; 200% doubles the glow size. Then click OK.

Copy style settings between layers
1 In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the style settings you want to copy.
2 Choose Layer > Layer Style > Copy Layer Style.
3 Select the destination layer in the Layers panel, and choose Layer > Layer Style > Paste Layer Style.

Remove a layer style
1 In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the style you want to remove.
2 Choose Layer > Layer Style > Clear Layer Style.

Last updated 7/26/2011

Chapter 5: Camera raw files
You can process camera raw files with the help of preset camera profiles supported by Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8
and set certain values that are common to all image file formats (such as contrast, tonal range, and sharpness). After
you process the raw image files, you can open the file, edit it, and then save it in any format supported by
Photoshop Elements. By processing the raw files, which are like digital negatives, and then working on them in
Photoshop Elements, you can experiment with your images while keeping the original “raw” files.

Processing camera raw image files
About camera raw image files
A camera raw file contains unprocessed picture data from a camera’s image sensor. Think of camera raw files as photo
negatives. Many digital cameras can save raw format files. You can open a raw file in Photoshop Elements, process it,
and save it, rather than relying on the camera to process the file. Working with camera raw files lets you set the proper
white balance, tonal range, contrast, color saturation, and sharpness.
You can reprocess the file repeatedly to achieve the results you want. Photoshop Elements doesn’t save your changes
to the original raw file; it saves the last settings you specified before importing the file from your camera to your
computer.
After processing the raw image file using the features of the Camera Raw dialog box, you open the image in
Photoshop Elements, where you can edit it in the same way that you edit any photo, such as fixing red eye or making
color adjustments. Then, you can save the file in any format supported by Photoshop Elements. It’s best to use PSD.
To use raw files, you need to set your camera to save files in its own raw file format. When you download the files from
the camera, they have file extensions like NEF, CRW, and so on. Photoshop Elements can open raw files only from
supported cameras. Visit the Adobe website to view a list of supported cameras.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Camera raw files

G
H
I

J
K

Camera Raw dialog box
A. View options B. Click the Basic or Detail tab to access different controls C. RGB values D. Histogram E. Image settings F. More menu
G. Camera and some EXIF information H. Tools I. Rotate buttons J. Zoom levels K. Bit depth options

Open and process camera raw files
1 In the Editor, choose File > Open.
2 Browse to select one or more camera raw files, and click Open.

The histogram in the Camera Raw dialog box shows the tonal range of the image at the current settings. As you make
settings adjustments, the histogram automatically updates.
3 (Optional) Adjust the image view using the controls, such as the Zoom tool, and options, such as Shadows and

Highlights, which reveal clipping in the preview area. (See “Camera raw controls” on page 76.)
Note: Selecting Preview displays a preview of the image with the settings changes you make. Deselecting Preview displays
the camera raw image at the original settings of the current tab combined with the settings in the hidden tabs.
4 To rotate the image 90° counterclockwise or 90° clockwise, click the Rotate Image buttons

5 To apply the settings used in the previous camera raw image or the default settings for your camera, choose an

option from the Settings menu. Using the same options is useful, for example, if you want to quickly process images
with similar lighting conditions. (See “Set custom camera settings” on page 77.)
6 (Optional) Set options to adjust the white balance. (See “White balance controls for camera raw” on page 78.)

You can monitor the RGB values of pixels in your image as you adjust them in the Camera Raw dialog box. Position
the Zoom tool, Hand tool, White Balance tool, or Crop tool over the preview image to display the RGB values directly
beneath the pointer.
7 Make tonal adjustments using the Exposure, Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation sliders. (See “Tonal and image

adjustments in camera raw files” on page 79.)
To undo your manual adjustments and make the adjustments automatically, select Auto. To restore all options to their
initial settings, press Alt and click Reset.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Camera raw files

8 Do one of the following:

• To open a copy of the camera raw image file (with the camera raw settings applied) in Photoshop Elements, click
Open. You can edit the image and save it in a Photoshop Elements-supported format. The original camera raw file
remains unaltered.

• To save the adjustments to a DNG file, click Save Image. (See “Save changes to camera raw images” on page 76.)
• To cancel the adjustments and close the dialog box, click Cancel.
Note: The Digital Negative (DNG) format is Adobe’s proposed standard format for camera raw files. DNG files are useful
for archiving camera raw images because they contain the raw camera sensor data and data specifying how the image
should look. Camera raw image settings can be stored in DNG files instead of in sidecar XMP files or the camera raw
database.

Adjust sharpness in camera raw files
The Sharpness slider adjusts the image sharpness to provide the edge definition you want. The Sharpness adjustment
is a variation of the Adobe Photoshop Unsharp Mask filter, which locates pixels that differ from surrounding pixels
based on the threshold you specify and increases the pixels’ contrast by the amount you specify. When opening a
camera raw file, the Camera Raw plug-in calculates the threshold to use based on the camera model, ISO, and exposure
compensation. You can choose whether sharpening is applied to all images or just to previews.
1 Zoom the preview image to at least 100%.
2 Click the Detail tab.
3 Move the Sharpness slider to the right to increase sharpening and to the left to decrease it. A value of zero turns off

sharpening. In general, set the Sharpness slider to a lower value for cleaner images.
If you don’t plan to edit the image extensively in Photoshop Elements, use the camera raw Sharpness slider. If you do
plan to edit the image extensively in Photoshop Elements, turn off camera raw sharpening. Then use the sharpening
filters in Photoshop Elements as the last step after all other editing and resizing are complete.

Reducing noise in camera raw images
The Detail tab in the Camera Raw dialog box contains controls for reducing image noise—the extraneous visible
artifacts that degrade image quality. Image noise includes luminance (grayscale) noise, which makes an image look
grainy, and chroma (color) noise, which is usually visible as colored artifacts in the image. Photos taken at high ISO
speeds or with less sophisticated digital cameras can have noticeable noise.
Moving the Luminance Smoothing slider to the right reduces grayscale noise, and moving the Color Noise Reduction
slider to the right reduces chroma noise.
When making Luminance Smoothing or Color Noise Reduction adjustments, it’s a good idea to preview images at
100% for a better view.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Camera raw files

Moving the Luminance Smoothing slider to the right reduces grayscale noise.

Save changes to camera raw images
You can save changes you’ve made to a camera raw file. The Camera Raw dialog box saves the camera raw image with
your changes in a .dng file. Be aware that saving the file does not open it in Photoshop Elements. (To open a camera
raw file, just use the Open command, like you would with any other file. Then you can edit and save the file like any
other image.)
1 In the Camera Raw dialog box, apply adjustments to one or more camera raw images.
2 Click the Save Image button.
3 In the Save Options dialog box, specify where to save the file and how to name the file if you're saving more than

one camera raw file.
4 Click Save.

Open a camera raw image in the Editor
After you process a camera raw image in the Camera Raw dialog box, you can open the image and edit it using the
Editor.
1 In the Camera Raw dialog box, apply adjustments to one or more camera raw images.
2 Click the Open Image button. The Camera Raw dialog box closes, and the photo opens in the Editor.

Settings and controls
Camera raw controls
Sets the preview zoom to the next preset zoom value when you click within the preview image. Alt-click
to zoom out. Drag the Zoom tool in the preview image to zoom in on a selected area. To return to 100%, double-click
the Zoom tool.

Zoom tool

Hand tool
Moves the image in the preview window if the preview image is set at a zoom level higher than 100%.
Hold down the spacebar to access the Hand tool while using another tool. Double-click the Hand tool to fit the preview
image in the window.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Camera raw files

White Balance tool
Sets the area you click to a neutral gray tone to remove color casts and adjust the color of the
entire image. The Temperature and Tint values change to reflect the color adjustment.

Removes part of an image. Drag the tool within the preview image to select the portion you want to
keep, and then press Enter.

Crop tool

You can use the Straighten tool to realign an image vertically or horizontally. This tool also resizes
or crops the canvas to accommodate straightening the image.

Straighten tool

Red Eye Removal

Removes red eye in flash photos of people and green or white eye in pets.

Open Preferences Dialog
Rotate buttons

Opens the Camera Raw Preferences dialog.

Rotates the photo either counterclockwise or clockwise.

Set custom camera settings
When you open a camera raw file, Photoshop Elements reads information in the file to see which model of camera
created it, and then applies the appropriate camera settings to the image. If you are always making similar adjustments,
you can change the default settings of your camera. You can also change settings for each model of camera you own,
but not for multiple cameras of the same model.
1 In the Editor, open a camera raw file and adjust the image.
2 To save the current settings as the default for the camera that created the image, click the triangle next to the

Settings menu and choose Save New Camera Raw Default.
3 To use the Photoshop Elements default settings for your camera, click the triangle next to the Settings menu and

choose Reset Camera Raw Default.

Color and camera raw
Using the histogram and RGB values in camera raw
The Camera Raw histogram shows all three channels (red, green, and blue) of the image simultaneously. The
histogram changes automatically as you adjust the settings in the Camera Raw dialog box.
As you move the Zoom tool, Hand tool, or White Balance tool over the preview image, you see the RGB values in the
upper-right corner of the dialog box.

RGB values of an image

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Camera raw files

White balance controls for camera raw
A digital camera records the white balance at the time of exposure as metadata, which you can see when you open the
file in the Camera Raw dialog box. This setting usually yields the correct color temperature. You can adjust it if the
white balance is not quite right.
The Adjust tab in the Photoshop Camera Raw dialog box includes the following three controls for correcting a color
cast in your image:
White Balance Sets the color balance of the image to reflect the lighting conditions under which the photo was taken.

In some cases, choosing a white balance from the White Balance menu provides satisfactory results. In many cases,
you may want to customize the white balance using the Temperature and Tint adjustments.
Note: The Camera Raw plug-in can read the white balance settings of some cameras. Leave White Balance set to As Shot
to use the camera’s white balance settings. For cameras whose white balance settings are not recognized, selecting As Shot
is the same as choosing Auto: the Camera Raw plug-in reads the image data and automatically adjusts the white balance.
Temperature Fine-tunes the white balance to a custom color temperature. Set the color temperature using the Kelvin
color temperature scale. Move the slider to the left to correct a photo taken at a lower color temperature of light: the
plug-in makes the image colors cooler (bluish) to compensate for the lower color temperature (yellowish) of the
ambient light. Conversely, move the slider to the right to correct a photo taken at a higher color temperature of light:
the plug-in makes the image colors warmer (yellowish) to compensate for the higher color temperature (bluish) of the
ambient light.
A

Correcting the white balance
A. Moving the Temperature slider to the right corrects a photo taken at a higher color temperature of light. B. Moving the Temperature slider
to the left corrects a photo taken at a lower color temperature of light. C. Photo after the color temperature has been adjusted.

Tint Fine-tunes the white balance to compensate for a green or magenta tint. Move the slider to the left (negative

values) to add green to the photo; move it to the right (positive values) to add magenta.
To adjust the white balance quickly, select the White Balance tool, and then click an area in the preview image that
should be a neutral gray or white. The Temperature and Tint sliders automatically adjust to make the selected color
exactly neutral (if possible). If you’re clicking whites, choose a highlight area that contains significant white detail rather
than a specular highlight.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Camera raw files

Using White Balance to click a neutral white area, and resulting correction

Tonal and image adjustments in camera raw files
Exposure Adjusts the brightness or darkness of an image. Move the slider to the left to darken the image; move it to
the right to brighten the image. The values are in increments equivalent to f-stops. An adjustment of +1.50 is similar
to widening the aperture one and one-half stops. Likewise, an adjustment of -1.50 is similar to reducing the aperture
one and one-half stops.

Hold down Alt while moving the Exposure slider to preview where the highlights are clipped. (Clipping is the shifting
of pixel values to either the highest highlight value or the lowest shadow value. Clipped areas are either completely
white or completely black and have no image detail.) Move the slider until the highlights (not specular highlights) are
completely clipped, and then reverse the adjustment slightly. Black indicates unclipped areas, and color indicates areas
clipped in only one or two channels.

Hold down Alt while moving the Exposure slider to show clipped highlights.

Recovery Attempts to recover details from highlights. Camera Raw can reconstruct some details from areas in which

one or two color channels are clipped to white.
Fill Light Attempts to recover details from shadows, without brightening blacks. Camera Raw can reconstruct some

details from areas in which one or two color channels are clipped to black. Using Fill Light is similar to using the
shadows portion of the Photoshop Shadow/Highlight filter or the After Effects Shadow/Highlight effect.
Blacks Specifies which input levels are mapped to black in the final image. Increasing Blacks expands the areas that
are mapped to black. This sometimes creates the appearance of increased contrast in the image. The greatest change is
in the shadows, with less change in the midtones and highlights. Using the Blacks slider is similar to using the black
point slider for input levels when using the Photoshop Levels command or the After Effects Levels effect.
Brightness Adjusts the brightness of the image, much as the Exposure slider does. However, instead of clipping the

image in the highlights (areas that are completely white, with no detail) or shadows (areas that are completely black,

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Camera raw files

with no detail), Brightness compresses the highlights and expands the shadows when you move the slider to the right.
In general, use the Brightness slider to adjust the overall brightness after you set the white and black clipping points
with the Exposure and Shadow sliders.
Contrast Adjusts the midtones in an image. Higher values increase the midtone contrast, and lower values produce an

image with less contrast. Generally, use the Contrast slider to adjust the contrast of the midtones after setting the
Exposure, Shadow, and Brightness values.
Clarity Sharpens the clarity of edges in the image. This process helps restore detail and sharpness that tonal

adjustments may reduce.
Vibrance Adjusts the saturation so that clipping is minimized as colors approach full saturation, changing the

saturation of all lower-saturated colors with less impact on the higher-saturated colors. Vibrance also prevents skin
tones from becoming oversaturated.
Saturation Adjusts the color saturation of the image from –100 (pure monochrome) to +100 (double the saturation).
Sharpening Sharpening enhances the definition of edges in an image. Additional controls are available in the Detail

panel. The zoom level must be set to 100% or greater in order to view the effects of these controls.

• Amount: Adjusts edge definition. Increase the Amount value to increase sharpening. A value of zero turns off
sharpening. In general, set Amount to a lower value for cleaner images. The adjustment locates pixels that differ
from surrounding pixels based on the threshold you specify and increases the pixels’ contrast by the amount you
specify.

• Radius: Adjusts the size of the details that sharpening is applied to. Photos with very fine details may need a lower
radius setting. Photos with larger details may be able to use a larger radius. Using too large a radius generally results
in unnatural results.

• Detail: Adjusts how much high-frequency information is sharpened in the image and how much the sharpening
process emphasizes edges. Lower settings primarily sharpen edges to remove blur. Higher values are useful for
making the textures in the image more pronounced.

• Masking: Controls an edge mask. At a setting of zero, everything in the image receives the same amount of
sharpening. At a setting of 100, sharpening is mostly restricted to areas near the strongest edges.
Noise Reduction Adjusts the color saturation of the image from –100 (pure monochrome) to +100 (double the

saturation).

• Luminance: Adjusts grayscale noise.
• Color: Adjusts chroma noise.
Camera Profile Chooses the Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) profile. For each camera model it supports, Camera Raw uses
profiles to process raw images. To choose from the various camera profiles present in Camera Calibration tab, choose
either ACR 4.4, ACR 2.4,or Adobe Standard. The higher version number represents the newer and improved camera
profile for some cameras. You may want to choose the lower version number for consistent behavior with legacy
images.

Last updated 7/26/2011

Chapter 6: Selecting parts of an image
A selection defines the editable area in a photo (for example, you might want to lighten one part of a photo without
affecting the rest). You can make a selection with either a selection tool or a selection command. A selection border,
which you can hide, surrounds the selection. You can change, copy, or delete pixels inside the selection border, but you
can’t touch areas outside the selection border until you deselect the selection.

Making selections
About selections
For a videos about selection, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2322_pse8_en and www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2323_pse8_en.
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 contains several selection tools that suit different kinds of selections. For example, the
Elliptical Marquee tool selects circular and elliptical areas, and the Magic Wand tool can select an area of similar colors
with one click. More complex selections can be made with one of the Lasso tools. You can even smooth the edges of a
selection with feathering and anti-aliasing.
Note: Selections are limited to the active layer—to make changes to all layers at once, you first need to flatten the image.

Selection made with Elliptical Marquee tool, color adjusted in selected area

More Help topics
“Flatten an image” on page 61
“Define a feathered edge for a selection tool” on page 94
“Smooth the edges of a selection by anti-aliasing” on page 94

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

About the selection tools
The selection tools are located in the Tools panel, which is located, by default, on the left side of your screen.

Rectangular Marquee tool Draws
square or rectangular selection borders.

Elliptical Marquee tool Draws round or Lasso tool Draws freehand selection
borders. This tool is great for making very
elliptical selection borders.
precise selections.

Polygonal Lasso tool Draws multiple
straight-edged segments of a selection
border.

Magnetic Lasso tool Draws a selection Magic Wand tool Selects pixels of
border that automatically snaps to edges similar color with one click.
you drag over in the photo.

Quick Selection tool Quickly and
automatically makes selection based on
color and texture when you click or clickdrag an area.

Selection Brush tool Automatically
selects or deselects the area you paint,
depending on whether you’re in selection
or mask mode.

Smart Brush tool Applies color and
tonal adjustments and effects to a
selection. The tool automatically creates
an adjustment layer for non-destructive
editing.

Use the Rectangular and Elliptical Marquee tools
The Rectangular Marquee tool draws square or rectangular selection borders, and the Elliptical Marquee tool draws
round or elliptical selection borders.

C D E F

Rectangular and Elliptical Marquee tool options
A. Rectangular Marquee tool B. Elliptical Marquee tool C. New selection D. Add to selection E. Subtract from a selection F. Intersect with a
selection

1 In the Editor, select the Rectangular Marquee tool

or the Elliptical Marquee tool

in the toolbox.

2 (Optional) Set marquee tool options in the options bar located above your image:

• Specify whether to create a new selection, add to a selection, subtract from a selection, or select an area intersected
by other selections.

• To soften the selection border so that it blends into the area outside the selection, enter a Feather value.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

• To smooth the edges of your selection, select Anti-aliased (Elliptical Marquee tool only).
• From the Mode pop-up menu, choose Normal to visually set the size and proportions of the selection border; Fixed
Ratio to set a width-to-height ratio for the selection border; or Fixed Size to specify the marquee’s height and width.
3 Drag over the area you want to select. Hold down the Shift key as you drag to constrain the selection marquee to a

square or circle.
To reposition a marquee tool selection border, hold down the spacebar as you drag with the selection tool. Release the
spacebar once the selection border is in the correct area.

Use the Lasso tool
The Lasso tool draws freehand selection borders. This tool lets you make very precise selections.

D E F G

B C

Lasso tool options
A. Lasso tool B. Polygonal Lasso tool C. Magnetic Lasso tool D. New selection E. Add to selection F. Subtract from selection G. Intersect with
selection

1 In the Editor, select the Lasso tool

from the toolbox.

2 (Optional) Set Lasso tool options in the options bar located above your image:

• Specify whether to create a new selection, add to an existing selection, subtract from a selection, or select an area
intersected by other selections.

• To soften the selection border so that it blends into the area outside the selection, enter a Feather value.
• To smooth the edges of your selection, select Anti-aliased.
3 Drag to draw a freehand selection border:

• To add to the selection, release the mouse button; then press Shift and, when the pointer changes to

, drag.

• To subtract from the selection, release the mouse button; then press Alt and when the pointer changes to

, drag.

• To add straight-edge segments, press Alt (while pressing the mouse); then release the mouse button and, when the
pointer changes to

, click where you want to position the end of the segment.

4 To close the selection border, release the mouse button. A straight selection segment is drawn from where you

released the mouse button to the starting point of your selection.

Use the Polygonal Lasso tool
The Polygonal Lasso tool draws straight-edged segments of a selection border. You can create as many segments as
you need to draw a selection border.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

B C

D E F G

Polygonal Lasso tool options
A. Lasso tool B. Polygonal Lasso tool C. Magnetic Lasso tool D. New selection E. Add to selection F. Subtract from selection G. Intersect with
selection

1 In the Editor, select the Polygonal Lasso tool

from the toolbox.

2 (Optional) Set Polygonal Lasso tool options in the options bar located above your image:

• Specify whether to create a new selection, add to an existing selection, subtract from a selection, or select an area
intersected by other selections.

• To soften the selection border so that it blends into the area outside the selection, enter a Feather value.
• To smooth the edges of your selection, select Anti-aliased.
3 Click where you want the first straight segment to begin, and click a second time where you want the segment to

end and the next one to begin. Continue clicking to create segments.
If you make a mistake, press the Delete key to erase segments. You can switch from creating straight-edge segments to
drawing freehand by pressing Alt.
4 Close the selection border by doing one of the following:

• Position the pointer over the starting point and click. A closed circle appears next to the pointer when you are over
the starting point.

• If the pointer is not over the starting point, double-click, or Ctrl-click. A straight selection segment is drawn from
your pointer to the starting point of your selection.

Use the Magnetic Lasso tool
The Magnetic Lasso tool draws a selection border that automatically snaps to the edges of objects you drag over in the
is useful for quickly selecting
photo. This makes it easy to draw precise selection borders. The Magnetic Lasso tool
objects with complex edges set against high-contrast backgrounds.

B C

D E F G

Magnetic Lasso tool options
A. Lasso tool B. Polygonal Lasso tool C. Magnetic Lasso tool D. New selection E. Add to selection F. Subtract from selection G. Intersect with
selection

1 In the Editor, select the Magnetic Lasso tool from the toolbox.

To switch between the Magnetic Lasso and other lasso tools when the Magnetic Lasso tool is selected, do one of the
following:

• To activate the Lasso tool, Alt-drag.
• To activate the Polygonal Lasso tool, Alt-click.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

2 (Optional) Set Magnetic Lasso tool options in the options bar located above your image:

• Specify whether to create a new selection, add to an existing selection, subtract from a selection, or select an area
intersected by other selections.

• To soften the selection border so that it blends into the area outside the selection, enter a Feather value.
• To smooth the edges of your selection, select Anti-aliased.
• To specify the area of edge detection, enter a pixel value between 1 and 256 for Width. The tool detects edges only
within the specified distance from the pointer.
To change the Magnetic Lasso pointer so that it indicates the area of edge detection (the Width value), press the Caps
Lock key.

• To specify the Magnetic Lasso tool’s sensitivity to edges in the photo, enter a value between 1% and 100% for Edge
Contrast. A higher value detects only edges that contrast sharply with their surroundings; a lower value detects
lower-contrast edges.

• To specify the rate at which the Magnetic Lasso tool sets fastening points, enter a value between 0 and 100 for
Frequency. A higher value anchors the selection border in place more quickly.
3 Add segments of a selection border by doing one of the following:

• Click points along the edge.
• Drag along the edge while pressing the mouse button.
The selection border snaps to the edge in the photo. If the border doesn’t snap to the desired edge, click once to add a
point manually; then continue tracing the border and clicking points as needed. If you make a mistake, press the Delete
key to erase points along the border.
4 Close the selection border by doing one of the following:

• To close the border manually, drag back over the starting point and click. A closed circle appears next to the pointer
when you are over the starting point.

• To close the border with a freehand magnetic segment, double-click or press Enter.
• To close the border with a straight segment, double-click while pressing Alt.

Use the Magic Wand tool
The Magic Wand tool selects pixels within a similar color range with one click. You specify the color range, or
tolerance, for the Magic Wand tool’s selection. Use the Magic Wand tool when you have an area of similar colors, like
a blue sky.

B C D E

Magic Wand tool options
A. Magic Wand tool B. New selection C. Add to selection D. Subtract from selection E. Intersect with selection

1 In the Editor, select the Magic Wand tool

2 (Optional) Set Magic Wand tool options in the options bar located above your image:

• For Tolerance, enter a value between 0 to 255. Enter a low value to select colors very similar to the pixel you click,
or enter a higher value to select a broader range of colors.

• To define a smooth selection edge, select Anti-aliased.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

• To select only adjacent areas using the same colors, select Contiguous. When this option is deselected, pixels using
the same colors are selected throughout the entire photo.

• To select colors using data from all the visible layers, select Sample All Layers. When this option is deselected, the
Magic Wand tool selects colors from only the active layer.
3 In the photo, click the color you want to select.
4 To add to the selection, Shift+click unselected areas. To remove an area from the selection, Alt+click the area you

want to remove.

Use the Quick Selection tool
The Quick Selection tool makes a selection based on color and texture similarity when you click or click-drag the area
you want to select. The mark you make doesn’t need to be precise, because the Quick Selection tool automatically and
intuitively creates a border.
Note: The Smart Brush tool makes selections like the Quick Selection tool and simultaneously applies a color or tonal
adjustment. See “Apply the Smart Brush tools” on page 110.

D E

Quick Selection Brush tool and Selection Brush tool options
A. Quick Selection tool B. Selection Brush tool C. New selection D. Add to selection E. Subtract from selection

1 In the Editor, select the Quick Selection Brush tool

2 In the options bar, choose one of the following:
New Selection Lets you draw a new selection. This option is selected by default.
Add To Selection Lets you add to an existing selection.
Subtract From Selection Lets you subtract from an existing selection. This option is only available after you make a

selection.
3 Choose a brush from the Brush Picker in the options bar. If you want to select a large area, you can use a larger

brush. For more precise selections, choose a smaller brush size.
4 Click or click-drag over the area that covers the range of colors in the object you want to select, and then release the

mouse button.
The selection border appears.
5 Do any of the following to refine the selection:

• To add to the selection, click the Add To Selection button

in the options bar, and click or click-drag across the

area you want to add.

• To remove an area from the selection, click the Subtract From Selection button

in the options bar, and click or

click-drag across the area you want to subtract from the selection.

• To start a new selection, click the New Selection brush

in the options bar, and click or draw to specify the new

selection area.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Use the Selection Brush tool
The Selection Brush tool makes selections two ways: you can paint over the area you want to select in Selection mode,
or you can paint over areas you don’t want to select using a semiopaque overlay in Mask mode.
You can first make a rough selection with a marquee tool, Quick Selection tool, or other selection tool, and then finetune your selection with the Selection Brush tool. You can add to the selection using the Selection Brush tool in
Selection mode, or subtract from it in Mask mode.
A B

Selection Brush tool options
A. Add to selection B. Subtract from selection C. Brush pop-up panel D. Brush size E. Mode F. Hardness G. Selection Brush tool

1 In the Editor, select the Selection Brush tool

from the toolbox. You may need to click the Quick Selection tool
in the toolbox and select the Selection Brush from the list of hidden tools that appears.

2 By default, the tool is set to Add To Selection

. To subtract from the selection, click Subtract From Selection

in the options bar.
3 (Optional) Set Selection Brush tool options in the options bar located above your image:

• Choose a brush from the brush presets pop-up panel.
• Specify the brush size.
• Choose Selection (to add to the selection) or Mask (to subtract from the selection) from the Mode menu.
• Set the brush tip’s hardness to a value between 1% and 100%.
If you use a soft-edged brush with the Selection Brush tool, changing the Mode option to Mask can help you see the
soft edges of the selection.

• When using Mask mode, specify an Overlay Opacity between 1% and 100%.
• When using Mask mode, click the Overlay Color swatch and select a color in the Color Picker to set the mask color.
This is useful when the mask color (Overlay Color) is too similar to the colors in the photo.
4 Draw in your photo to select or deselect areas.

Adding to a selection while in Selection mode (left) and subtracting from a selection while in Mask mode (right)

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Use the Magic Extractor
Use the Magic Extractor to make accurate selections based on the appearance of foreground and background areas that
you specify. You can specify these areas by placing colored marks in the areas you want to select. After you mark the
areas and close the dialog box, only the foreground area appears in the photo in the Editor.
The Magic Extractor makes it easy to select people or objects so that you can superimpose them on other backgrounds.
For example, you can remove yourself from a photo of you on your bicycle at home, and superimpose it on a photo of
cyclists in the Tour de France. You can save the extracted image as a file that you can use again and again.

Using the Magic Extractor
A. Area you want to extract marked with red dots B. Background marked with blue dots C. Extracted image

1 In the Editor, open the photo containing the object you want to extract.
2 To limit what appears in the Magic Extractor dialog box, make a preliminary selection using the Oval or

Rectangular selection tool.
3 Choose Image > Magic Extractor.

The Magic Extractor dialog box opens with the Foreground Brush tool

selected by default.

4 Click multiple times or draw lines to mark the area you want to extract.
5 Click the Background Brush tool

and click multiple times or draw lines to mark the area that you do not want

included in your selection.
When selecting objects with varied colors and textures, drag across all the colors and textures to ensure a more
accurate selection.
6 To help mark your selection, use the Zoom tool

or the Hand tool

Press Alt as you use the Zoom tool to zoom out.

Last updated 7/26/2011

to magnify and navigate around the photo.

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

7 To specify a different brush size or color, do one of the following:

• Choose a new size from the Brush Size menu.
• Click the Foreground Color or Background Color swatch, choose a new color in the Color Picker, and then click OK.
8 Click Preview to see the current selection.
9 To specify preview settings, do one of the following:

• To change what is displayed in the preview area, choose either Selection Area or Original Photo from the Display
menu. Or press the X key on your keyboard to switch between the two views.

• To specify a different background, choose an option from the Background menu.
10 Do any of the following to fine-tune the selection, and then preview the results again:

• To add to or subtract from the selection, draw more dots or lines using either the Foreground or Background Brush
tool.
Note: When you change the foreground or background color, the related brush tool becomes active.

• To erase foreground or background dots, select the Point Eraser tool

and click or drag over the marks you want

to remove.

• To add areas to a selection, select the Add To Selection tool

, and click or drag over the area you want to add.

• To remove areas from the selection, select the Remove From Selection tool

and drag over the areas you want

to remove.

• To smooth the edges of your foreground selection, select the Smoothing Brush tool

and drag over the areas you

want to smooth.

• To soften the edges of your selection, specify a higher value in the Feather box.
• To fill remaining holes in the main selection, click Fill Holes.
• To separate and remove an area from the main selection, select the Remove From Selection Tool

and drag a

line between the main selection and the area you want to remove. Then click Fill Holes.

• To remove fringe colors left between the foreground and background, click Defringe. To increase or decrease the
amount of fringe removed, specify a value from the Defringe Width menu.
11 Click OK to extract the selected areas. If you want to start over, click Reset to remove all marks.

Delete a selected area
If you delete a selection on a Background layer or a layer that uses the Lock Transparency option, the selected area is
replaced with the background color or checkerboard background pattern.
❖ In the Editor, do any of the following:

• Choose Edit > Delete to remove the selection. (If you delete a selection by mistake, you can choose Edit > Undo to
get it back.)

• Press the Backspace or Delete key to remove the selection.
• Choose Edit > Cut to cut the selection to the Clipboard. You can then paste it elsewhere.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“Lock or unlock a layer” on page 55

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Select and deselect areas using commands
1 Do any of the following in the Editor window:

• To select all pixels in a layer, select the layer in the Layers panel and choose Select > All.
• To deselect selections, choose Select > Deselect. This is the safest way to deselect the area.
• To reselect the most recent selection, choose Select > Reselect.
2 To show or hide selection borders, choose View > Selection.

Note: You can also deselect by clicking anywhere in the photo outside the selected area. However, you might accidentally
make further selections if you’re using a selection tool that selects based on clicking, such as the Magic Wand tool.

Modifying selections
Move a selection border
Moving a selection border repositions just the border without altering the photo.
1 Using any selection tool in the Editor, click New Selection

in the options bar, and position the pointer inside an
existing selection border. The pointer changes to indicate that you can move the selection .

Note: The New Selection option appears in the options bar when any selection tool is selected—except the Selection Brush
tool. Switch to another selection tool temporarily, if necessary, to select this option.
2 Do one of the following:

• Drag the border to enclose a different area of the photo. You can drag a selection border beyond the canvas
boundaries; however, this makes it hard to get back. You can also drag the selection border to another image
window.

• To move the selection in 1-pixel increments, use an arrow key.
• To move the selection in 10-pixel increments, hold down Shift, and use an arrow key.
• To constrain the direction to multiples of 45°, begin dragging, and then hold down Shift as you continue to drag.

More Help topics
“Move a selection” on page 95

Invert a selection
Inverting a selection changes the unselected areas into selected areas, protecting the area you previously selected.
❖ In a photo with an existing selection border, choose Select > Inverse.

You can use this command to easily select an object that appears against a solid-colored area. Select the solid color
using the Magic Wand tool, and then choose Select > Inverse.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Add to or subtract from a selection
You can add to or subtract from an existing selection to fine-tune selection borders. For example, you could make a
donut-shaped selection by first making a circular selection and then subtracting a circular selection within it.
❖ In the Editor, select a selection tool, and do one of the following:

• Hold down Shift (a plus sign appears next to the pointer) to add to the selection, or hold down Alt to subtract (a
minus sign appears next to the pointer) from a selection. Then select the area to add or subtract and make another
selection.

• Click Add To Selection

or Subtract From Selection
in the options bar, and make another selection. (The Add
To Selection and Subtract From Selection options appear in the options bar when any selection tool is selected.)

Select an area that intersects an existing selection
You can limit the area a selection affects. For example, in a picture of snow-capped mountains, you can select white
clouds in the sky without selecting parts of the white mountain below them by selecting the entire sky, and then using
the Magic Wand tool with Intersect With Selection selected and Contiguous deselected to select only the white areas
included within the existing sky selection.

Selecting the sky and top of mountains with the Rectangular Marquee tool (top). Selecting the Intersect With Selection option and using the
Magic Wand tool to select the clouds (middle). Resulting image after increasing the brightness of the clouds (bottom).

❖ In the Editor, select a selection tool, and do one of the following:

• Select Intersect With Selection

in the options bar, and select an area that intersects the existing selection.

• Hold down Alt+Shift so that cross-hairs appear next to the pointer, and select an area that intersects the existing
selection.

Expand or contract a selection by a specific number of pixels
You can use commands in the Select menu to increase or decrease the size of an existing selection and to clean up stray
pixels left inside or outside a color-based selection.
1 In the Editor, use a selection tool to make a selection.
2 Choose Select > Modify > Expand or Contract.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

3 For Expand By or Contract By, enter a pixel value between 1 and 100, and click OK.

The selection border is moved outward or inward by the specified number of pixels. Any portion of the selection
border that runs along the canvas edge is unaffected.

Frame an existing selection with a new selection border
The Border command creates a soft-edged, anti-aliased selection border. When you add the new selection border, only
pixels between the two selection borders are selected.

Using the Border command to create a 4-pixel border selection (top). Copying the selection to a new layer and filling to make an outline of the
image (center). Filling the selection into the original image to create an outline around the image (bottom).

1 In the Editor, use a selection tool to make a selection.
2 Choose Select > Modify > Border.
3 Enter a value between 1 and 200 pixels in the Width text box, and click OK.

More Help topics
“Blur the edges of a selection by feathering” on page 94

Include areas of similar color in a selection
1 In the Editor, make a selection with a selection tool and do one of the following:

• Choose Select > Grow to include all adjacent pixels falling within the tolerance range specified in the options bar.
(You may have to switch to a selection tool that includes a tolerance range, such as the Magic Wand tool.) A higher
Tolerance value adds a broader range of colors.

• Choose Select > Similar to include pixels throughout the photo, not just adjacent ones, that fall within the tolerance
range.
2 To increase the selection incrementally, choose either command multiple times.

Note: You cannot use the Grow and Similar commands on photos in bitmap mode.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Remove stray pixels from a color-based selection
The Smooth command searches around each selected pixel for other pixels within the specified color range and selects them.
1 In the Editor, make a selection with a selection tool and choose Select > Modify > Smooth.
2 For Sample Radius, enter a pixel value between 1 and 100, and click OK.

Defringe a selection
When you move or paste a selection, some of the pixels surrounding the selection border are included with the
selection. These extra pixels can result in a fringe or halo around the edges of the selection. The Defringe Layer
command replaces the color of any fringe pixels with the colors of nearby pixels containing pure colors (those without
background color). For example, if you select a yellow object on a blue background and then move the selection, some
of the blue background is moved with the object. Defringe Layer replaces the blue pixels with yellow pixels.

Dog selected and copied to a new image where artifacts from the dark background are visible (top). Image after using the Defringe Layer
command (bottom).

1 Copy and paste a selection into a new or existing layer.
2 Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Defringe Layer.
3 In the Defringe dialog box, type the number of pixels you’d like to replace around the object. A value of 1 or 2 should

be sufficient.
4 Click OK.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Smoothing selection edges with anti-aliasing and
feathering
Smooth the edges of a selection by anti-aliasing
You can smooth the hard edges of a selection by anti-aliasing or feathering. Anti-aliasing smoothes the jagged edges
of a selection by softening the color transition between edge pixels and background pixels. Because only the edge pixels
change, no detail is lost. Anti-aliasing is useful when cutting, copying, and pasting selections to create composite
images.
You can select anti-aliasing with the Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Elliptical Marquee, and Magic Wand
tools. To anti-alias, you must select the Anti-Alias option before making the selection; you cannot add anti-aliasing to
an existing selection.
1 In the Editor, select the Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Elliptical Marquee, or Magic Wand tool.
2 Select Anti-aliased in the options bar.
3 Make a selection in the image window.

Blur the edges of a selection by feathering
❖ You can smooth the hard edges of a selection by feathering. Feathering blurs edges by building a transition between

the selection and surrounding pixels. This blurring can cause some loss of detail at the edge of the selection.
You can create a feathered selection with the Elliptical Marquee, Rectangular Marquee, Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, or
Magnetic Lasso tool. You can also add feathering to an existing selection by using the Select menu. Feathering effects
are apparent when you move, cut, copy, or fill the selection.

Original image (left), and after making a feathered selection, applying the Inverse command, and filling with white (right)

Define a feathered edge for a selection tool
1 In the Editor, do one of the following:

• Select any of the lasso or marquee tools from the toolbox, and enter a Feather value in the options bar to define the
width of the feathering. The feathering begins at the selection border.

• Select the Selection Brush tool, and select a soft-edged brush from the brushes pop-up panel in the options bar.
2 Make a selection in the image window.

Define a feathered edge for an existing selection
1 In the Editor, use a selection tool from the toolbox to make a selection.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

2 Choose Select > Feather.
3 Type a value between .2 and 250 in the Feather Radius text box, and click OK. The feather radius defines the width

of the feathered edge.

Moving and copying selections
Move a selection
The Move tool
lets you cut and drag a pixel selection to a new location in the photo. You can also use the tool to
move or copy selections between photos and between photos in other applications.

Moving a selection from one photo into another using the Move tool

To activate the Move tool when another tool is selected, hold down Ctrl. (This technique does not work with the Hand
tool.)
1 In the Editor, make a selection with a selection tool and select the Move tool

from the toolbox.

2 (Optional) Change Move tool settings in the options bar.
3 Move the pointer inside the selection border, and drag the selection to a new position. If you’ve selected multiple

areas, all pixel selections move as you drag.

Move tool options
When you select the Move tool

, you can change the following settings in the options bar:

Auto Select Layer Selects the topmost layer that has pixels under the Move tool, rather than the selected layer.
Show Bounding Box Displays the bounding box around the selected item. The boxes on the sides and corners of the

selection border allow you to resize the selection.
Show Highlight On Rollover Highlights individual layers as the mouse hovers over the image. Click on a highlighted
layer to select and move it. Layers that are already selected do not highlight on rollover.
Arrange menu Moves the selected layer in front, in between, or in back of other layers. Options include Bring To

Front, Bring Forward, Send Backward, and Send To Back. To arrange a layer, select the layer, and then choose an item
from the Arrange menu.
Align menu Aligns the selected layers. Options include Top Edges, Vertical Centers, Bottom Edges, Left Edges,

Horizontal Centers, and Right Edges. Multiple layers can be aligned simultaneously. To align layers, select a layer, hold
down Shift, select another layer, and then choose an item from the Align menu.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Distribute menu Spaces selected layers apart. Options include Top Edges, Vertical Centers, Bottom Edges, Left Edges,
Horizontal Centers, and Right Edges. Multiple layers can be spaced simultaneously. To space layers apart, select a
layer, hold down Shift, select another layer, and then choose an item from the Distribute menu.

Copying selections or layers
You can copy and paste selections using the Move tool or the Copy, Copy Merged, Cut, Paste, or Paste Into Selection
commands in the Edit menu.
Keep in mind that when a selection or layer is pasted between photos with different resolutions, the pasted data retains
its original pixel dimensions. This can make the pasted portion appear out of proportion to the new image. Use the
Image > Resize > Image Size command to make the source and destination photos the same resolution before copying
and pasting.
Selections that you cut or copy are stored in the Clipboard. Only one selection is stored in the Clipboard at a time.
When you exit Photoshop Elements, anything in the Clipboard is lost unless Export Clipboard is selected in the
General Preferences.

Copy selections with the Move tool
When copying between photos, drag the selection from the active image window into the other image window. A
border highlights the image window when you can drop the selection into it.
1 Select the part of the image you want to copy.
2 In the Editor, select the Move tool

from the toolbox.

3 Press the Alt key while dragging the selection you want to copy and move.
4 To make additional copies of the same selection, do one of the following:

• Hold down the Alt key while dragging the selection to each new location.
• To offset the duplicate by 1 pixel, hold down the Alt key, and press an arrow key. (This moves the pixels and copies
the pixels, creating a blur effect.)

• To offset the duplicate by 10 pixels, press Alt+Shift and press an arrow key. (This moves the pixels rather than
copying them.)

Copy a selection using commands
1 In the Editor, use a selection tool to select the area you want to copy.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose Edit > Copy to copy the selection to the Clipboard.
• Choose Edit > Copy Merged to copy all layers in the selected area to the Clipboard.
When you exit Photoshop Elements, anything in the Clipboard is lost unless Export Clipboard is selected in the
General Preferences.

Paste one selection into another
You can use the Paste Into Selection command to paste one selection into another. This command lets you take
advantage of elements within the selected area and prevent the pasted image from looking flat and unnatural. For
example, you can use a Hard Light blending mode at 85% opacity to retain the reflection in a pair of sunglasses. When
using blending modes this way, you need to create a new layer and paste the selection into that layer.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Copying a selection from one image to another
A. Part of the original photo selected B. Photo to copy and paste into original C. Resulting image

1 In the Editor, use the Copy command to copy the part of the photo you want to paste. (You can even copy from

photos in other applications.)
2 Make a selection in the photo into which you want to paste the copied photo.

Note: The copied photo appears only within the selection border. You can move the copied photo within the border, but
if you move it completely out of the border, it won’t be visible.
3 Choose Edit > Paste Into Selection.
4 With your pointer within the selection border, drag the pasted image to the proper location.
5 When you’re satisfied with the results, deselect the pasted image to commit the changes.

To activate the Move tool when another tool is selected, hold down Ctrl. (This technique does not work with the Hand
tool.)

Saving selections
Save, load, or delete a selection
Saving a selection allows you to edit a selected area of a photo at a later time. You can work on other parts of the photo
before loading the saved selection.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Saving selection (top), loading selection (center), and using the selection to fill with a solid color (bottom)

1 In the Editor, make a selection in your photo.
2 Choose Select > Save Selection.
3 In the Save Selection dialog box, choose New from the Selection pop-up menu.
4 Enter a name for the selection in the Name box, and then click OK.
5 To load the selection, choose Select > Load Selection, choose the saved selection from the Selection menu, and then

click OK.
6 To delete a selection, choose Select > Delete Selection, choose a saved selection from the Selection menu, and then

click OK.

Modify a saved selection
You can modify saved selections by replacing, adding to, or subtracting from them.
1 In the Editor, make a selection in your photo.
2 Choose Select > Save Selection.
3 In the Save Selection dialog box, choose the selection you want to modify from the Selection menu.
4 Select one of the following and click OK:
Replace Selection Replaces the saved selection with the current selection.
Add To Selection Adds the current selection to the saved selection.
Subtract From Selection Subtracts the current selection from the saved selection.

Last updated 7/26/2011

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Selecting parts of an image

Intersect With Selection Replaces the saved selection with the intersection between the current selection and the saved

selection.
You can also modify a saved selection by loading it and using selection tools to add to it (Shift-drag) or subtract from
it (Alt-drag). (See “Add to or subtract from a selection” on page 91.)

Modify a new selection with a saved selection
1 In the Editor, open a photo that contains a saved selection.
2 Make a new selection in your photo.
3 Choose Select > Load Selection.
4 Choose a saved selection from the Selection menu.
5 Select one of the following operations:
Add To Selection Adds the saved selection to the current selection.
Subtract From Selection Subtracts the saved selection from the current selection.
Intersect With Selection Replaces the current selection with the intersection between the current selection and the

saved selection.
6 To invert the selected area, select Invert and click OK.

Last updated 7/26/2011

100

Chapter 7: Color and tonal correction
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 has tools that let you adjust the tonal range, color, and sharpness of your photos. You
can also remove dust spots or other defects from your photos. You can accomplish these tasks in different modes,
depending on your experience and needs.

Color and tonal correction basics
Color correction overview
Photoshop Elements provides several tools and commands for fixing the tonal range, color, and sharpness in your
photos, and for removing dust spots or other defects. You can work in one of three workspaces, depending on your
experience and needs.
Guided Edit If you are new to digital imaging and Photoshop Elements, you can use Guided Edit to guide you through
the color correction task. This is also a good way to increase your understanding of the workflow.
Quick Fix If you have limited knowledge of digital imaging, Quick Fix is a good place to start fixing photos. It has many
of the basic tools for correcting color and lighting.
Full Edit If you’ve worked with images before, you’ll find that the Full Edit workspace provides the most flexible and

powerful image-correction environment. It has the lighting and color-correction commands, along with tools for
fixing image defects, making selections, adding text, and painting on your images.
When working with some of the adjustment commands in the Editor, you can make adjustments directly to the image
pixels. Or you can use adjustment layers to make nondestructive adjustments that you can easily tweak until your
and Detail Smart Brush tool
automatically create an
image is right. In Full Edit, the Smart Brush tool
adjustment layer for the correction you’re applying. See “Apply the Smart Brush tools” on page 110.
Camera Raw If you shoot digital images in your camera’s raw format, you can open and correct raw files in the Camera
Raw dialog box. Because your camera has not yet processed the raw files, you can adjust the color and exposure to
improve the images. Often you won’t have to make other adjustments in Photoshop Elements. To open camera raw
files in Photoshop Elements, first save them in a supported file format.

More Help topics
“About camera raw image files” on page 73

Correct color in Quick Fix
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2307_pse8_en.
Quick Fix conveniently assembles many of the basic photo-fixing tools in Photoshop Elements. As you work in Quick
Fix, limit the number of color and lighting controls that you apply to a photo. Generally, you use only one of the auto
controls on a photo. If that control doesn’t achieve what you want, click the Reset button and try another one. You can
also adjust your image using the slider controls, whether you’ve used an auto control or not. Perform the Sharpening
fix last on an image.

Last updated 7/26/2011

101

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Using the Auto Lighten Shadows adjustment in Quick Fix to instantly fix the photo

1 Do one of the following:

• Select one or more photos in Elements Organizer, click the arrow beside Fix, and click Edit Photos.
• With a photo open in the Editor, click the arrow beside Edit, and select Edit Quick.
Any photos that you have stored in the Photo Bin are accessible while you are in Quick Fix.
2 (Optional) Set preview options by making a selection from the View menu (located under the image preview). You

can set the preview to show how the photo looks before and after you make a fix, or to show both previews side by side.
3 (Optional) Use the Quick Fix tools to zoom, move, and crop the image. You can also make a selection, fix red eye,

whiten teeth, and make dull skies blue.
4 To rotate the image in 90° increments, click either the Rotate Left

or Rotate Right

button at the bottom of

the window.
5 Set any of the image fixing options on the right side of the window. Click the Reset button if you don’t get the result

you are looking for, and then try the other controls. If necessary, click the triangle to view the image fixing options
in a panel.

Quick Fix preview
Photoshop Elements enables you to preview how a photo looks after adjustments, before you apply the adjustment to
to preview how a photo looks after adjustments, before you apply the
the image. Use Quick Fix preview icon
adjustment to the image. For example, you can preview a color change in an image before you apply the change.
1 In the Quick Fix panel, make the necessary adjustment using the sliders, and click the Quick Fix preview icon beside

the slider.

Last updated 7/26/2011

102

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

You can view thumbnails of the variations available.
2 Hover the mouse over the thumbnails to preview the adjustment on the photo.
3 Click the thumbnail to apply the adjustment on the image temporarily.
4 Click the Commit button to save the adjustment, or Cancel to cancel the change.

To fine-tune a picture using a preview as the starting point, click and hold the mouse button, and then drag right or left.
The Quick Fix panel provides the following tools to refine your photos:
Smart Fix Adjusts lighting and color. Smart Fix corrects overall color balance and improves shadow and highlight

detail, if necessary. Click the Auto button to apply this command.

• Amount Drag the slider to vary the amount of the adjustment.
Lighting Adjusts the overall contrast of an image, and sometimes affects its color. If your image needs more contrast

and it has a color cast, you can use the following two options:

• Levels
• Contrast
These options work by individually mapping the lightest and darkest pixels in each color channel to monochrome. To
apply the settings, click the Auto button beside any of these options. (See “About Levels adjustments” on page 112 or
“The Adjust Levels Guided Edit” on page 47.)

• Lighten Shadows Drag the slider to lighten the darkest areas of your photo without affecting the highlights. Pure
black areas are not affected.
• Darken Highlights Drag the slider to darken the lightest areas of your photo without affecting the shadows. Pure
white areas are not affected.
• Midtone Contrast Adjusts the contrast within the middle tonal values (values that are about half way between pure
white and pure black). It does not affect the extreme highlights and shadows.
Color Adjusts the color by identifying shadows, midtones, and highlights in the image rather than in individual color

channels. It neutralizes the midtones, and clips the white and black pixels using a default set of values. Click the Auto
button to apply this command.

Last updated 7/26/2011

103

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Adjusting color values in Quick Fix

• Saturation Drag the slider to make colors more vivid or more muted.
• Hue Shifts all colors in an image. This control is best used in small amounts or with selected objects whose color
you want to change.
Balance Adjusts the color balance of an image without affecting its contrast.

• Temperature Drag the slider to make the colors warmer (red) or cooler (blue). Use this control to enhance sunsets
or skin tones, or when the color balance set by your camera is off.
• Tint Drag the slider to make the color more green or more magenta. Use this control to fine-tune the colors after
using the Temperature control.
Detail Adjusts the sharpness of your image. Click Auto to use the default amount of sharpening.

• Sharpen Drag the slider to vary the amount of sharpening. Zoom your preview at 100% to get a more accurate view
of the amount of sharpening you are trying to apply.

Fix photos with Touch Up buttons in the Quick Fix Tools panel
The Touch Up buttons in Quick Fix tools panel enable you to apply corrections and adjustments to selected parts of
an image. Except for Red Eye Removal, all Touch Up button adjustments are applied to an adjustment layer. As a
result, they do not discard, or permanently edit any information on the image layer. You can always change adjustment
settings without degrading the original image. The Whiten Teeth, Make Dull Skies Blue, and Black and White-High
Contrast Touch Up buttons apply adjustments found in the Smart Brush tool. See “Adjust color and tonality using the
Smart Brush tools” on page 109 and “About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64.
1 In the Quick Fix Tools panel, do any of the following:

• Click the Red Eye Removal button

to remove red eye from a photo. This tool removes red eye in flash photos
of people, and green or white eye in pets. Drag the tool in the image around an eye you want to fix, or click the Auto
button in the options bar. See “Precisely remove red eye” on page 139.

• Click the Whiten Teeth button

to apply a Pearly Whites adjustment. Drag in the image area with the teeth that

you want to brighten.

Last updated 7/26/2011

104

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

• Click the Make Dull Skies Blue button

to apply a Blue Skies adjustment. Drag in the image where you want to

add blueness to the sky.
For a video about making dull skies blue, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2304_pse8_en.

• Click the Black And White-High Contrast button

to apply a High Contrast Red Filter adjustment. Drag in the
image area that you want to convert to a high-contrast monochrome image. This adjustment simulates the image
effects that photographers produce by placing a red filter over the camera lens and using monochrome film.

2 (Optional) If you carried out Pearly Whites, Blue Skies, or a High Contrast Red Filter adjustment, you can do any

of the following:

• Add the adjustment to more parts of the photo, by clicking the Add To Selection button

, and dragging in the

image.

• Remove the adjustment from parts of the photo, by clicking the Subtract From Selection button

, and dragging

in the image.

Quick Fix and Editor options
These tools work the same way in Quick Fix and the Editor.
Sets the magnification of the preview image. Controls and options work like the Zoom tool in the
toolbox. (See “Zoom in or out” on page 36.)

Zoom tool

Hand tool
Moves the image around in the preview window if the entire image is not visible. Press the spacebar to
access the Hand tool when another tool is selected. (See “Viewing images in Full Edit or Quick Fix” on page 35.)

Selects portions of the image based on where you click or drag the tool. (See “Use the Quick
Selection tool” on page 86.)
Quick Selection tool

Removes part of an image. Drag the tool within the preview image to select the portion you want to keep,
and then press Enter. (See “Crop an image” on page 131.)

Crop tool

Correcting color in Full Edit
If you’ve worked with images before, you’ll find that the Editor workspace provides the most flexible and powerful
image-correction environment. It has lighting and color-correction commands, along with tools for fixing image
defects, making selections, adding text, and painting on your images. When working with some of the adjustment
commands in the Editor, you can make adjustments directly on the image pixels. Or you can use adjustment layers to
and
make nondestructive adjustments that you can easily tweak until your image is right. The Smart Brush tool
Detail Smart Brush tool
automatically create an adjustment layer as you apply a correction. See “Apply the Smart
Brush tools” on page 110 or “About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64.

Last updated 7/26/2011

105

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Full Edit
A. There are many tools for correcting problems and selecting portions of a photo. B. The Project Bin lets you see which photos are open in the
Editor. C. The Panel Bin holds panels that you use to transform and enhance photos.

As you work on your photos in the Editor, perform the following tasks that apply to your image. Not all tasks are
required for every image, but the following list is a recommended workflow:
1. Specify a color management option.

Specify color management options. (See “Set up color management” on page 176.)
2. View the image at 100% and crop, if necessary.

Before making any color corrections, view the image at a zoom percentage of 100%. At 100%, Photoshop Elements
displays the image most accurately. You can also check for image defects, such as dust spots and scratches. If you plan
to crop the file, do it now to reduce memory requirements and to ensure that the histogram uses only relevant
information. Using the Zoom tool to zoom out may optimize the view before cropping an image, so that you crop a
well-centered selection.
3. Check the scan quality and tonal range.

Look at the image’s histogram to evaluate whether the image has sufficient detail to produce high-quality output.

Last updated 7/26/2011

106

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

4. Resize your image, if necessary.

Resize your image to the size that you need if you are going to use it in another application or project. If you are going
to print it or use it in a Photoshop Elements project, you generally don’t need to resize it. (See “About image size and
resolution” on page 136.)
5. Adjust the highlights and shadows.

Begin corrections by adjusting the values of the extreme highlight and shadow pixels in the image (also known as the
tonal range). Setting an overall tonal range allows for the most detail possible throughout the image. This process is
known as setting the highlight and shadow or setting the white and black points. (See “About Levels adjustments” on
page 112 or “The Adjust Levels Guided Edit” on page 47.)
6. Adjust the color balance.

After correcting the tonal range, you can adjust the image’s color balance to remove unwanted color casts or to correct
oversaturated or undersaturated colors. With some Photoshop Elements auto commands, both the tonal range and
color are corrected in one step. (See “Adjust saturation and hue” on page 120.)
7. Make other special color adjustments.

Once you have corrected the overall color balance of your image, you can make optional adjustments to enhance
colors. For example, you can increase the vividness of color in your image by increasing its saturation.
8. Retouch the image.

Use the retouching tools, like the Spot Healing Brush, to remove any dust spots or defects in the image. (See “Remove
spots and small imperfections” on page 140.)
9. Sharpen the clarity of the image.

As a final step, sharpen the clarity of edges in the image. This process helps restore detail and sharpness that tonal
adjustments may reduce. (See “Sharpening overview” on page 152.)

More Help topics
“About camera raw image files” on page 73

Automatically correct lighting and color
Photoshop Elements provides several automatic lighting and color-correction commands in both Full Edit and Quick
Fix. The command you choose depends on the needs of your image.
You can experiment with each of the auto commands. If you don’t like the result of one, undo the command by
choosing Edit > Undo, and try another command. You will rarely need to use more than one auto command to fix an
image.
1 To adjust a specific image area, select it with one of the selection tools. If no selection is made, the adjustment

applies to the entire image.
2 Choose one of the following commands from the Enhance menu:
Auto Smart Fix Corrects overall color balance and improves shadow and highlight detail, if necessary.
Auto Levels Adjusts the overall contrast of an image and may affect its color. If your image needs more contrast, and
it has a color cast, try this command. Auto Levels works by individually mapping the lightest and darkest pixels in each
color channel to black and white.

Last updated 7/26/2011

107

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Auto Contrast Adjusts the overall contrast of an image without affecting its color. Use when your image needs more

contrast, but the colors look right. Auto Contrast maps the lightest and darkest pixels in the image to white and black,
which makes highlights appear lighter and shadows appear darker.
Auto Color Correction Adjusts the contrast and color by identifying shadows, midtones, and highlights in the image,

rather than in individual color channels. It neutralizes the midtones and sets the white and black points using a default
set of values.
Auto Sharpen Adjusts the sharpness of the image by clarifying the edges and adding detail that tonal adjustments may

reduce.
Auto Red Eye Fix Automatically detects and repairs red eye in an image.

More Help topics
“Precisely remove red eye” on page 139
“Replace colors in an image” on page 143
“Sharpen an image” on page 153

About histograms
You can use the histogram to analyze the image’s tonal distribution to see if you need to correct it. A histogram shows
the distribution of an image’s pixel values in a bar chart. The left side of the chart shows the values of the image shadow
(starting at level 0), and the right side shows the highlight (level 255). The vertical axis of the chart represents the total
number of pixels within a given level.
You can view an image’s histogram in the Histogram panel. Histograms are also available in the Levels dialog box and
the Camera Raw dialog box. You can update the histogram as you work so that you can see how your adjustments are
appears, click it to refresh the histogram’s data.
affecting the tonal range. When the Cached Data Warning icon
A

C
D

Histogram panel
A. Channel menu B. Panel menu C. Uncached Refresh button D. Cache Data Warning icon E. Statistics

If many pixels are bunched up at either the shadow or highlight ends of the chart, it may indicate that image detail in
the shadows or highlights may be clipped—blocked up as pure black or pure white. There is little you can do to recover
this type of image. If you are working with a scanned image, you can try rescanning to produce a better tonal range. If
your digital camera can display an image histogram, check it to see whether your exposure is correct and make
exposure adjustments if necessary. See your camera’s documentation for more information.

Last updated 7/26/2011

108

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

The histogram may show that an image is not using the full tonal range available if some pixels aren’t available in the
shadows and highlights. You can fix an image with limited tonal range by stretching the tonal range using either the
Levels command or one of the Enhance > Auto commands.

How to read a histogram
A. Overexposed photo with clipped highlights B. Properly exposed photo with full tonality C. Underexposed photo with clipped shadows

More Help topics
“About camera raw image files” on page 73
“Using the histogram and RGB values in camera raw” on page 77
“The Adjust Levels Guided Edit” on page 47

View a histogram
1 If the Histogram panel is not open in the Editor or the Panel Bin, choose Window > Histogram.
2 Choose the source of the histogram’s display from the Source menu:
Entire Image Displays a histogram of the entire image, including all layers in the multilayered document.
Selected Layer Displays a histogram of the selected layer in the Layers panel.
Adjustment Composite Displays a histogram of an adjustment layer selected in the Layers panel, including all the

layers below the adjustment layer.
3 To view the histogram for a portion of your image, make a selection in your image, and choose an option from the

Channel menu:
RGB Displays a histogram that is a composite of individual color channels placed on top of each other.
Red, Green, and Blue Displays the histograms for the individual color channels.
Luminosity Displays a histogram representing the luminance or intensity values of the composite channel.

Last updated 7/26/2011

109

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Colors Displays the composite RGB histogram individually by color. Red, green, and blue represent the pixels in those

channels. Cyan, magenta, and yellow represent where the histograms of two channels overlap. Gray represents areas
where all three color channel histograms overlap.
Grayscale images have a single channel option: Gray.
4 To view the following statistical information about a range of values, drag in the histogram and hold down the

mouse button to highlight the range. To view information about a specific area of the histogram, place the pointer
over the area:
Mean Represents the average intensity value.
Standard Deviation (Std Dev) Represents how widely intensity values vary.
Median Shows the middle value in the range of intensity values.
Pixels Represents the total number of pixels used to calculate the histogram.
Level Displays the intensity level of the area underneath the pointer.
Count Shows the total number of pixels at the intensity level underneath the pointer.
Percentile Displays the percentage of pixels at and below the level underneath the pointer. This value is expressed as
a percentage of all the pixels in the image, from 0% at the far left to 100% at the far right.
Cache Level Shows the setting for the image cache. If Use Cache For Histograms is selected in the Preferences dialog

box, Photoshop Elements displays histograms more quickly but less accurately. To display more accurate histograms,
deselect this option.

Adjusting shadows and light
Adjust color and tonality using the Smart Brush tools
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2324_pse8_en.
The Smart Brush tool
and the Detail Smart Brush tool
apply tonal and color adjustments to specific areas of a
photo. Certain effects can also be applied using these tools. You simply pick a preset adjustment and apply the
correction. Both tools automatically create adjustment layers. This feature offers you flexibility in working with your
photos because the original image layer is not altered. You can go back and tweak the adjustments and no image
information is discarded.
When you apply the Smart Brush tool, it makes a selection based on color and texture similarly. The adjustment is
simultaneously applied to the selected area.

Smart Brush tool applying an adjustment selection

Last updated 7/26/2011

110

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

The Detail Smart Brush tool enables you to paint the adjustment to specific areas of the photo. Use this tool to adjust
finer details.

Detail Smart Brush tool applying an adjustment stroke

Both brush tools enable you to add to or subtract from the areas being adjusted. You can also have more than one
adjustment preset applied to a photo. Each preset adjustment is applied to its own adjustment layer. You can tweak the
settings for each correction separately.
When a correction is made, a pin appears where you first applied the adjustment. The pin provides a reference for the
specific adjustment. A new pin appears when a different adjustment preset is applied. This feature makes it easier to
modify a specific correction, especially if you apply different adjustments.

Pins showing different adjustments in a photo

Apply the Smart Brush tools
1 In the Editor, select the Smart Brush tool or the Detail Smart Brush tool from the toolbox.

A pop-up panel opens displaying adjustment presets.
2 Choose an adjustment from the preset pop-up panel.

Choose an option from the pop-up panel menu to view different sets of adjustments. For more information on
configuring the pop-up panel, see “About presets” on page 234.
3 (Optional) Adjust the size and quality of the brush tool by doing one of the following:

• If you selected the Smart Brush tool, open the Brush Picker in the options bar and adjust the settings.
• If you selected the Detail Smart Brush tool, select a preset brush tip from the Brush presets pop-up panel. Then
adjust the brush size setting in the options bar.
4 Paint or drag the tool in the image.

Last updated 7/26/2011

111

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

The correction is applied on its own adjustment layer and a color pin appears where you first applied the brush tool.
5 (Optional) Do any of the following:

• To add the current adjustment to more areas of the photo, paint or drag in the image. If necessary, make sure Add
To Selection

is selected.

• To remove parts of the current adjustment, select Subtract From Selection
• To apply a different type of adjustment, select New Selection

and paint in the image.

, select a preset from the pop-up panel, and then

paint in the image.

• To smooth the edges of the selection, click Refine Edges in the options bar, adjust the settings in the dialog box, and
then click OK. For more information, see “Smoothing selection edges with anti-aliasing and feathering” on page 94.
Note: If you use a different tool from the toolbox and then return to the Smart Brush tool or Detail Smart Brush tool, the
last adjustment you applied is active.
6 (Optional) If you have multiple adjustments, do one of the following to select the adjustment you want to add to,

subtract from, or modify:

• Click a pin.
• Right-click in the photo and choose the adjustment listed in the bottom portion of the menu.

Modify Smart Brush tool correction settings
1 Do any of the following:

• In the image, right-click a pin or an active selection and choose Change Adjustment Settings.
• In the Layers panel, double-click the layer thumbnail for the specific adjustment layer.
• Double-click a pin.
2 Adjust the settings in the dialog box and then click OK.

Change the Smart Brush tool correction preset
1 Click a pin or active selection and then open the preset pop-up panel in the options bar.
2 Choose an adjustment preset from the pop-up panel.

Delete a Smart Brush tool correction
❖ Right-click a pin or an active selection and choose Delete Adjustment.

Note: In the Layers panel, you can also delete a Smart Brush tool correction by deleting the specific adjustment layer.

Smart Brush pop-up panel
Photoshop Elements lets you apply many different preset adjustments using the Smart Brush tool
and the Detail
Smart Brush tool
. You pick an adjustment from the preset pop-up panel in the options bar. Like all pop-up panels,
the Smart Brush preset pop-up panel can be configured. Use the panel menu to display the adjustments as thumbnails
or in a list. You can also drag the picker out of the options bar so it floats where you want it in the workspace.
Specific sets of adjustments or all adjustments can be viewed by choosing from a menu near the upper-left area of the
panel. The adjustments range from tonal and corrections.

Last updated 7/26/2011

112

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

About Levels adjustments
The Levels dialog box is a powerful tonal and color-adjustment tool. You can make levels adjustments in the entire
image or a selected portion. (To access the dialog box, choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels.)
A

Levels dialog box
A. Channels to adjust color B. Shadow values C. Middle tones D. Highlight values

You can do any of the following with the Levels dialog box:

• Set the shadow and highlight values to make sure that your image uses the full tonal range.
• Adjust the brightness of the image’s middle tones without affecting the shadow and highlight values.
• Fix a color cast by making grays neutral. You can also enhance an image by adding a slight color cast, for example,
by adding a warming effect on a sunset.

• Target shadow and highlight RGB values if you are preparing images for commercial printing.
When you work with Levels, you can work directly on the image pixels or through an adjustment layer. Adjustment
layers give you flexibility in the following ways:

• You can modify an adjustment at any time by double-clicking the adjustment layer to reopen the Levels dialog box.
• You can reduce the effect of an adjustment by lowering the adjustment layer’s opacity in the Layers panel.
• You can stack adjustment layers to make multiple adjustments without degrading the image because of too many
successive adjustments.

• You can use the adjustment layer’s layer mask to confine an adjustment to a portion of your image.

More Help topics
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64
“The Adjust Levels Guided Edit” on page 47

Improve shadow and highlight detail
1 In the Editor, choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Shadow/Highlights.
2 Drag any of the adjustment sliders or enter values in the text boxes, then click OK.
Lighten Shadows Brightens the dark areas of your photo and reveals more of the shadow detail that was captured in

your image.
Darken Highlights Darkens the light areas of your photo and reveals more of the highlight detail that was captured in
your image. Pure white areas of your photo don’t have any detail and aren’t affected by this adjustment.
Midtone Contrast Adds or reduces the contrast of the middle tones. Use this slider if the image contrast doesn’t look

right after you’ve adjusted shadows and highlights.

Last updated 7/26/2011

113

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

To reset the image to how it looked when you opened the dialog box, hold down Alt and click the Reset button.

Before adjusting shadows and highlights (top) and after (bottom). Adjusting softens the face and reveals more detail behind sunglasses.

More Help topics
“Remove a color cast automatically” on page 118

Adjust shadows and brightness using Levels
1 Do one of the following in the Editor:

• Choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels.
• Choose Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Levels, or open an existing Levels adjustment layer.
2 Choose RGB from the Channel menu. When set to RGB, your adjustment affects all three (red, green, and blue)

channels. If you are working on a grayscale image, it will only have the gray channel.
3 Set the shadow and highlight values by dragging the black and white Input Levels sliders (the left and right sliders

directly under the histogram) to the edge of the first group of pixels on either end of the histogram. You can also
enter values directly into the first and third Input Levels text boxes.

Last updated 7/26/2011

114

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Dragging the highlight slider to the left lightens the photo.

Alt-drag the Shadow slider to see which areas will be clipped to black (level 0). Alt-drag the Highlight slider to see
which areas will be clipped to white (level 255). Colored areas show clipping in individual channels.
4 To adjust the brightness of the middle tones without affecting the shadow and highlight values, drag the gray Input

Levels (middle) slider. You can also enter values directly in the middle Input Levels text box. (A value of 1.0
represents the current unadjusted midtone value.) Click OK.
You can see the adjustment reflected in the Histogram panel.
Note: You can click Auto to move the Highlight and Shadow sliders automatically to the brightest and darkest points in
each channel. This is the same as using the Auto Levels command and may cause a color shift in your image.

More Help topics
“The Adjust Levels Guided Edit” on page 47
“Adjust saturation and hue” on page 120
“Automatically correct lighting and color” on page 106

Adjust brightness and contrast in selected areas
The Brightness/Contrast command is best used on selected portions of an image. Use this command to adjust the
brightness of an entire image or to reduce contrast results in an image that doesn’t use the entire available tonal range.
The Levels and Shadow/Highlight commands are better choices for making tonal adjustments.
1 Do one of the following in the Editor:

• Choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Brightness/Contrast to make adjustments directly to image pixels.

Last updated 7/26/2011

115

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

• Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast to make adjustments to a layer.
2 Drag the sliders to adjust the brightness and contrast, then click OK.

Dragging to the left decreases the level; dragging to the right increases it. The number at the right of each slider displays
the brightness or contrast value.

Quickly lighten or darken isolated areas
The Dodge tool and the Burn tool lighten or darken areas of the image. You can use the Dodge tool to bring out details
in shadows and the Burn tool to bring out details in highlights.

Original image (left), after using the Burn tool (top center), and after using the Dodge tool (bottom right)

1 In the Editor, select the Dodge tool

tool

or the Burn tool

. If you do not see these tools, look for the Sponge

2 Set tool options in the options bar:
Brushes pop-up menu Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the
Brushes pop-up menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush, in pixels. Drag the Size slider or enter a size in the text box.
Range Sets the image tonal range that the tool adjusts. Select Midtones to change the middle range of grays, Shadows

to change the dark areas, and Highlights to change the light areas.
Exposure Sets the effect of the tool with each stroke. A higher percentage increases the effect.

To dodge or burn an area gradually, set the tool to a low exposure value and drag several times over the area you want
to correct.
3 Drag over the part of the image you want to modify.

More Help topics
“Adjust saturation and hue” on page 120

Last updated 7/26/2011

116

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Quickly saturate or desaturate isolated areas
The Sponge tool saturates or desaturates areas of the image. You can use the Sponge tool to bring out or mute the color
on an object or area.
1 In the Editor, select the Sponge tool

. If you do not see the Sponge tool, look for the Dodge

or Burn

tool.

2 Set the tool options in the options bar.
Brushes pop-up menu Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the
Brushes pop-up menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush, in pixels. Drag the Size slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Sets whether to saturate or desaturate.
Flow Sets the strength of the tool with each stroke. In Saturate mode, a higher percentage increases the saturation. In

Desaturate mode, a higher percentage increases the desaturation.

Correcting color casts
Correct color casts by comparing variations of an image
You can make color and tonal adjustments in the Color Variations dialog box by comparing and choosing different
thumbnail variations of the photo. Color Variations works best for average tone images that don’t require precise color
adjustments.
Note: You can’t use the Color Variations command with images in Indexed Color mode.

Last updated 7/26/2011

117

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Comparing color adjustments in the Color Variations dialog box

1 In the Editor, choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Color Variations.

The two preview images show the original image (Before) and the adjusted image after you’ve made changes (After).
2 Select an option to choose what you want to adjust in the image:
Midtones, Shadows, or Highlights Specify which part of the tonal range to adjust: dark, middle, or light areas.
Saturation Makes the image colors more vivid (more saturation) or muted (less saturation).

3 Set the amount, or intensity, of each adjustment by using the Adjust Color slider. Dragging the slider to the left

decreases the amount, and dragging to the right increases it.
4 If you are adjusting the color of midtones, shadows, or highlights, do either of the following:

• To add a color to the image, click the corresponding Increase color thumbnail.
• To subtract a color, click the corresponding Decrease color thumbnail.
Each time you click a thumbnail, all thumbnails are updated.
5 If you are adjusting color saturation, click either the Less Saturation or More Saturation button.
6 To undo or redo adjustments, do any of the following, then click OK to apply the adjustments to your image.

• Click Reset Image to start over and undo all adjustments.
• Click Undo once or multiple times for each successive adjustment you want to undo. You cannot undo the Reset
Image option.

• After undoing a new adjustment, click Redo once or multiple times for each adjustment you want to redo.

Last updated 7/26/2011

118

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

More Help topics
“Improve shadow and highlight detail” on page 112
“Adjust shadows and brightness using Levels” on page 113

Remove a color cast automatically
A color cast is an unpleasant color shift in a photo. For example, a photo taken indoors without a camera flash may
have too much yellow. The Remove Color Cast command changes the overall mixture of colors to remove color casts
from an image.

Original (left), and after removing the green color cast (right)

1 In the Editor, choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Remove Color Cast.
2 In your image, click an area that should be white, black, or neutral gray. The image changes based on the color you

selected.
3 To start over and undo the changes made to the image, click the Reset button.
4 Click OK to accept the color change.

More Help topics
“Automatically correct lighting and color” on page 106

Remove a color cast using Levels
This technique requires color correction experience and some knowledge of the RGB color wheel.
1 Do one of the following in the Editor:

• Choose Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels.
• Choose Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Levels, or open an existing Levels adjustment layer.
2 Choose a color channel to adjust from the Channel pop-up menu:

• Red to add red or cyan to the image.
• Green to add green or magenta to the image.
• Blue to add blue or yellow to the image.
3 Drag the middle input slider left or right to add or subtract color.
4 Click OK when you are satisfied with the overall color.

You can use the gray eyedropper in the Levels dialog box to quickly remove a color cast. Double-click the eyedropper
and make sure that the RGB values are equal. After you close the Color Picker, click an area in your image that should
be a neutral gray.

Last updated 7/26/2011

119

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

More Help topics
“Color wheel” on page 169
“Adjust shadows and brightness using Levels” on page 113
“The Adjust Levels Guided Edit” on page 47
“Remove a color cast automatically” on page 118

Adjust color curves
The Adjust Color Curves command improves color tones in a photo by adjusting highlights, midtones, and shadows
in each color channel. For example, this command can fix photos with silhouetted images resulting from strong
backlighting, or slightly washed-out objects that were too close to the camera’s flash.
In the Adjust Color Curves dialog box, you can compare and choose different tonal presets by selecting from the list
of styles in the Select A Style box. To fine-tune the adjustment, adjust the highlights, midtone brightness and contrast,
and shadows.

Adjusting color curves in an image
A. Select a Style (choose from presets) B. Adjust Sliders (custom options)

1 In the Editor, open an image.
2 To adjust a specific image area or layer, select it with one of the selection tools. (If no selection is made, the

adjustment applies to the entire image.)
To preserve the original photo while experimenting with tonal adjustments, adjust the color curves in a duplicate
layer.
3 Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Color Curves.
4 Select a style (for example, Backlight or Solarize).
5 Adjust the sliders for Highlights, Midtone Brightness, Midtone Contrast, and Shadows.
6 To apply the adjustment to your image, click OK. To cancel the adjustment and start over, click Reset. To close the

Adjust Color Curves dialog box, click Cancel.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Last updated 7/26/2011

120

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Adjusting color saturation and hue
Adjust saturation and hue
The Hue/Saturation command adjusts the hue (color), saturation (purity), and lightness of the entire image or of
individual color components in an image.
Use the Hue slider to add special effects, to color a black and white image (like a sepia effect), or to change the range
of colors in a portion of an image.

Changing colors in an image using the Hue/Saturation command
A. Original B. Entire image changed to sepia using the Colorize option C. Magenta colors targeted in the Edit menu and changed using the
Hue slider

Use the Saturation slider to make colors more vivid or more muted. A good use of this adjustment would be to add a
color punch to a landscape by adding saturation to all the colors, or to tone down a distracting color, like a vivid red
sweater in a portrait.

Before and after adjusting color saturation

Use the Lightness slider in conjunction with the other adjustments to lighten or darken a portion of an image. Take
care not to use it on an entire image—this adjustment reduces the overall tonal range.

More Help topics
“Color wheel” on page 169

Change color saturation or hue
1 Do one of the following in the Editor:

• Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation.

Last updated 7/26/2011

121

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

• Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation, or open an existing Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
The two color bars in the dialog box represent the colors in their order on the color wheel. The upper bar shows the
color before the adjustment; the lower bar shows how the adjustment affects all hues at full saturation.
2 In the Edit drop-down menu, choose which colors to adjust:

• Choose Master to adjust all colors at once.
• Choose one of the other preset color ranges listed for the color you want to adjust. An adjustment slider appears
between the color bars, which you can use to edit any range of hues.
3 For Hue, enter a value or drag the slider until the colors appear as you want.

The values displayed in the text box reflect the number of degrees of rotation around the color wheel from the pixel’s
original color. A positive value indicates clockwise rotation, a negative value counterclockwise rotation. Values range
from -180 to +180.
4 For Saturation, enter a value or drag the slider to the right to increase the saturation or to the left to decrease it.

Values range from -100 to +100.
5 For Lightness, enter a value or drag the slider to the right to increase the lightness or to the left to decrease it. Values

range from -100 to +100. Be careful when using this slider on an entire image. It will reduce the tonal range of the
overall image.
6 Click OK. Or, to cancel your changes and start over, hold down Alt, and click Reset.

Modify the range of Hue/Saturation sliders
1 Do one of the following in the Editor:

• Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation.
• Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation, or open an existing Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
2 Choose an individual color from the Edit menu.
3 Do any of the following to the adjustment slider:

• Drag one of the triangles to adjust the amount of color fall-off without affecting the range.
• Drag one of the gray bars to adjust the range without affecting the amount of color fall-off.
• Drag the gray center part to move the entire adjustment slider, selecting a different color area.
• Drag one of the vertical white bars next to the dark gray center part to adjust the range of the color component.
Increasing the range decreases the color fall-off, and vice versa.
To move the color bar and the adjustment slider bar together, Ctrl-drag the color bar.

Adjustment slider
A. Adjusts color fall-off without affecting range B. Adjusts range without affecting color fall-off C. Adjusts the range of color component
D. Moves entire slider

Last updated 7/26/2011

122

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

If you modify the adjustment slider so that it falls into a different color range, the name changes to reflect this. For
example, if you choose Yellow and alter its range so that it falls in the red part of the color bar, the name changes to
Red 2. You can convert up to six of the individual color ranges to varieties of the same color range (for example, Red
1 through Red 6).
Note: By default, the color range selected when you choose a color component is 30° wide, with 30° color fall-off on either
side. Setting the fall-off too low can produce banding in the image.
4 To edit the range by choosing colors from the image, select the eyedropper, and click the image. Use the eyedropper

+ tool to add to the range; use the eyedropper - tool to subtract from the range.
While the eyedropper tool is selected, you can also press Shift to add to the range or press Alt to subtract from it.

Adjust the color of skin tone
The Adjust Color For Skin Tone command adjusts the overall color in a photo to bring out more natural skin tones.
When you click an area of skin in the photo, Photoshop Elements adjusts the skin tone—as well as all other colors in
the photo. You can manually adjust the brown and red colors separately to achieve the final color you want.

Original (top), and after adjusting skin tone (bottom)

1 Open the photo in the Editor, and select the layer that needs correction.
2 Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Color For Skin Tone.
3 Click an area of skin.

Photoshop Elements automatically adjusts the colors in the image. Changes might be subtle.
Note: Make sure Preview is selected so that you can see the color changes as they occur.

Last updated 7/26/2011

123

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

4 (Optional) Drag any of the following sliders to fine-tune the correction:
Tan Increases or decreases the level of brown in skin tones.
Blush Increases or decreases the level of red in skin tones.
Temperature Changes the overall color of skin tones.

5 When you’re finished, click OK. Or, to cancel your changes and start over, click Reset.

Adjust saturation in isolated areas
The Sponge tool changes the color saturation or vividness of an area.

Increasing saturation by scrubbing with the Sponge tool

1 In the Editor, select the Sponge tool

2 Set tool options in the options bar:
Brushes pop-up menu Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the
Brushes pop-up menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush, in pixels. Drag the Size slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Increases or decreases color saturation. Choose Saturate to intensify the color’s saturation. In grayscale, Saturate

increases contrast. Choose Desaturate to dilute the color’s saturation. In grayscale, Desaturate decreases contrast.
Flow Sets the rate of saturation change. Drag the Flow pop-up slider or enter a value in the text box.

3 Drag over the part of the image you want to modify.

Change the color of an object
The Replace Color command replaces a specific color in an image. You can set the hue, saturation, and lightness of the
color.
1 In the Editor, choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Replace Color.
2 Select a display option under the image thumbnail:
Selection Displays the mask, which looks like a black and white version of the image, in the preview box.
Image Displays the image in the preview box. This option is useful when you are working with a magnified image or

have limited screen space.
3 Click the Eyedropper button, and then click the color you want to change in the image or in the preview box. Use

the eyedropper + tool to add colors, or use the eyedropper - tool to remove colors to keep them from changing.
4 Drag the Fuzziness slider to control the degree to which related colors are included in the selection.

Last updated 7/26/2011

124

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

5 Do one of the following to specify a new color:

• Drag the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness sliders (or enter values in the text boxes).
• Click the Results box and specify a new color in the Color Picker, then click OK.
6 To cancel your changes and start over, hold down Alt, and click Reset.

Precisely convert to black and white
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2325_pse8_en.
The Convert To Black And White command lets you choose a specific conversion result, unlike the Remove Color
command, which automatically converts to black and white for you.
In the Convert To Black And White dialog box, you compare and choose different conversion presets represented by
image styles. Select a style and then use the available sliders to fine-tune the conversion.

Convert to black and white
A. Displays Before and After views B. Select a style C. Adjust intensity

1 In the Editor, open an image.
2 Select an area or layer to convert. If you do not select an area or layer, the entire image is converted.

To experiment with black and white conversion while preserving the original photo, convert a duplicate layer.
3 Choose Enhance > Convert To Black And White.
4 Select a style option that reflects the content of your image (for example, Portraits or Scenic Landscape).
5 Drag the Adjustment Intensity sliders to adjust red, green, blue, or contrast.

Last updated 7/26/2011

125

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Note: The Adjustment Intensity sliders for red, green, and blue don’t colorize your image; they simply include more or
less data from the original color channels in the new black and white image.
6 To convert your image, click OK. Or, to cancel your changes and start over, click Reset. To close the Convert To

Black And White dialog box, click Cancel.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Automatically convert to black and white
The Remove Color command converts to black and white by assigning equal red, green, and blue values to each pixel
in an RGB image. The overall brightness of each pixel remains constant. This command has the same effect as setting
Saturation to -100 in the Hue/Saturation dialog box.
1 To adjust a specific image area, select it with one of the selection tools. If no selection is made, the adjustment

applies to the entire image.
2 Choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Remove Color.

Add custom presets for black and white conversion
You can manually add custom presets to the black and white converter by editing a specific text file.
Note: This is a task for advanced users.
1 Close the Editor.
2 Navigate to the folder ~ \Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 8.0\Required.
3 Open the bwconvert.txt file in a plain text editor (such as Notepad).
4 Following the same naming convention as the presets already in the file, add your new preset and give it a unique

name.
5 Save the file (keeping the original filename).
6 Start the Editor and choose Enhance > Convert To Black And White to view the presets.

Add color to a grayscale image
You can colorize an entire grayscale image, or select areas to colorize with different colors. For example, you can select
a person’s hair and color it brown, and then add pink to the person’s cheeks after making another selection.
Note: If the image you are coloring is in grayscale mode, convert it into RGB by choosing Image > Mode > RGB Color in
the Editor.
1 In the Editor, choose Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation, or Layer > New Adjustment Layer >

Hue/Saturation to work on an adjustment layer.
2 Select Colorize. If the foreground color isn’t black or white, Photoshop Elements converts the image into the hue

of the current foreground color. The lightness value of each pixel does not change.
3 Use the Hue slider to select a new color if desired. Use the Saturation slider to adjust the saturation. Then click OK.

Last updated 7/26/2011

126

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Adjustment filters
Apply the Equalize filter
The Equalize filter redistributes the brightness values of the pixels in an image so that they more evenly represent the
entire range of brightness levels. When you apply this command, Photoshop Elements finds the brightest and darkest
values in the composite image and remaps them so that the brightest value represents white and the darkest value
represents black. Photoshop Elements then equalizes the brightness—that is, distributes the intermediate pixel
values—evenly throughout the grayscale.
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Filter > Adjustments > Equalize.
3 If you selected an area of the image, select what to equalize in the dialog box, and click OK:

• Equalize Selected Area Only to evenly distribute only the selection’s pixels.
• Equalize Entire Image Based On Selected Area to evenly distribute all image pixels based on those in the selection.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182
“Apply a filter” on page 184

Apply the Gradient Map filter
The Gradient Map filter maps the grayscale range of an image to the colors of a specified gradient fill.

Using the Gradient Map filter to simulate a sepia tone

1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose Filter > Adjustments > Gradient Map.
• Using the Layers panel or Layer menu, create a new Gradient Map adjustment layer, or open an existing Gradient
Map adjustment layer.
3 Specify the gradient fill you want to use:

• To choose from a list of gradient fills, click the triangle to the right of the gradient fill displayed in the Gradient Map
dialog box. Click to select the desired gradient fill, and then click in a blank area of the dialog box to dismiss the list.

• To edit the gradient fill currently displayed in the Gradient Map dialog box, click the gradient fill. Then modify the
existing gradient fill or create a new gradient fill.

Last updated 7/26/2011

127

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

By default, the shadows, midtones, and highlights of the image are mapped respectively to the starting (left) color,
midpoint, and ending (right) color of the gradient fill.
4 Select neither, one, or both of the Gradient Options:

• Dither adds random noise to smooth the appearance of the gradient fill and reduce banding effects.
• Reverse switches the direction of the gradient fill, reversing the gradient map.
5 Click OK.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182
“Apply a filter” on page 184
“About gradients” on page 230
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64

Apply the Invert filter
The Invert filter inverts the colors in an image. You might use this command to make a positive black-and-white image
negative or to make a positive from a scanned black-and-white negative.
Note: Because color print film contains an orange mask in its base, the Invert command cannot make accurate positive
images from scanned color negatives. Be sure to use the proper settings for color negatives when scanning film on slide
scanners.
When you invert an image, the brightness value of each pixel is converted into the inverse value on the 256-step colorvalues scale. For example, a pixel in a positive image with a value of 255 is changed to 0.
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Filter > Adjustments > Invert.

More Help topics
“Apply a filter” on page 184
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64

Apply the Posterize filter
The Posterize filter lets you specify the number of tonal levels (or brightness values) for each channel in an image and
then maps pixels to the closest matching level. For example, choosing two tonal levels in an RGB image gives six colors,
two for red, two for green, and two for blue.
This command is useful for creating special effects, such as large, flat areas in a photograph. Its effects are most evident
when you reduce the number of gray levels in a grayscale image. But it also produces interesting effects in color images.
If you want a specific number of colors in your image, convert the image to grayscale and specify the number of levels
you want. Then convert the image back to the previous color mode, and replace the various gray tones with the colors
you want.
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose Filter > Adjustments > Posterize.
Last updated 7/26/2011

128

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

• From the Layers panel or Layer menu, create a new Posterize adjustment layer, or open an existing Posterize
adjustment layer.
3 Enter the number of tonal levels you want, and click OK.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182
“Apply a filter” on page 184
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64

Apply the Threshold filter
The Threshold filter converts grayscale or color images into high-contrast, black-and-white images. You can specify a
certain level as a threshold. All pixels lighter than the threshold are converted to white; and all pixels darker are
converted to black. The Threshold command is useful for determining the lightest and darkest areas of an image.
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Do one of the following:

• Choose Filter > Adjustments > Threshold.
• From the Layers panel or Layer menu, create a new Threshold adjustment layer, or open an existing Threshold
adjustment layer.
The Threshold dialog box displays a histogram of the luminance levels of the pixels in the current selection.
3 Select Preview and do any of the following:

• To change the image to black and white, drag the slider below the histogram until the threshold level you want
appears at the top of the dialog box, and click OK. As you drag, the image changes to reflect the new threshold
setting.

• To identify a representative highlight, drag the slider to the right until the image is pure black. Then drag the slider
back until some solid white areas appear in the image.

• To identify a representative shadow, drag the slider to the left until the image is pure white. Then drag the slider
back until some solid black areas appear in the image.
4 (Optional) To return to default settings, hold down Alt and click Reset.
5 (Optional) Click Cancel to close the Threshold dialog box without applying changes to the image.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182
“Apply a filter” on page 184
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64

Last updated 7/26/2011

129

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

Apply the Photo filter
The Photo Filter command mimics the technique of putting a colored filter in front of the camera lens to adjust the
color balance and color temperature of the light transmitted through the lens and exposing the film. The Photo Filter
command also lets you choose a color preset to apply a hue adjustment to an image. If you want to apply a custom
color adjustment, the Photo Filter command lets you specify a color using the Adobe Color Picker.

Original image (left), and Warming Filter (81) with 60% Density applied (right)

1 Do one of the following:

• Choose Filter > Adjustments > Photo Filter.
• Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter. Click OK in the New Layer dialog box.
2 To choose the filter color, do one of the following in the Photo Filter dialog box:
Warming Filter (85) and Cooling Filter (80) Color conversion filters that tune the white balance in an image. If an

image was photographed at a lower color temperature of light (yellowish), the Cooling Filter (80) makes the image
colors bluer to compensate for the lower color temperature of the ambient light. Conversely, if the photo was taken at
a higher color temperature of light (bluish), the Warming Filter (85) makes the image colors warmer to compensate
for the higher color temperature of the ambient light.
Warming Filter (81) and Cooling Filter (82) Light balancing filters for minor adjustments in the color quality of an

image. The Warming Filter (81) makes the image warmer (yellower) and the Cooling Filter (82) makes the image
cooler (bluer).
Individual Colors Apply a hue adjustment to the image depending on the color preset you choose. Your choice of color
depends on how you're using the Photo Filter command. If your photo has a color cast, you can choose a complement
color to neutralize the color cast. You can also apply colors for special color effects or enhancements. For example, the
Underwater color simulates the greenish-blue color cast caused when photographing underwater.

• Select the Filter option, and choose a preset from the Filter menu.
• Select the Color option, click the color square, and use the Adobe Color Picker to specify the color of a custom color
filter.
Make sure Preview is selected to view the results of using a color filter.
If you don’t want the image darkened by adding the color filter, be sure that the Preserve Luminosity option is selected.

Last updated 7/26/2011

130

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Color and tonal correction

3 To adjust the amount of color applied to the image, use the Density slider or enter a percentage in the Density text

box. A higher Density applies a stronger color adjustment.
4 Click OK.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182
“Apply a filter” on page 184
“Adjust the color of skin tone” on page 122
“About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64

Last updated 7/26/2011

131

Chapter 8: Cropping, resizing, retouching,
and transforming photos
To create a customized image composition, you can crop and resize images. Cropping a photo can create a focal point
for a picture, or remove distracting background images. Resizing a photo lets you include more pictures on a page, or
fit photos better into a layout. You can retouch certain areas of a photo to fix red eye, replace colors, and soften, blur,
or sharpen an image. You can also rotate, resize, distort or apply perspective to a photo, layer, or selection, and even
manipulate a flat, two-dimensional image as if it were a solid, three-dimensional object.

Cropping
Crop an image
The Crop tool removes the part of an image surrounding the crop marquee, or selection. Cropping is useful for
removing distracting background elements and creating a focus for your photo. By default, when you crop a photo,
the resolution remains the same as the original photo. Using the Photo Ratio option allows you to view and modify the
size and resolution when cropping a photo. If you use a preset size, the resolution changes to fit the preset.

Crop a photo to remove some of the distracting background.

1 In the Editor, select the Crop tool

, or in the Elements Organizer, select the Fix tab and click

Crop.

2 If you want to use a resolution other than that of the original photo, select one of the following options from the

Aspect Ratio menu or specify new custom values in the Width and Height boxes in the options bar:
No Restriction Lets you resize the image to any dimension.
Use Photo Ratio Displays the original aspect ratio of the photo when you crop. The Width and Height boxes show the

values that are used for the cropped image. The Resolution box allows you to change the image resolution.
Preset Size Specifies a preset size for the cropped photo. If you want your final output to be a specific size, such as 4 x
6 inches to fit a picture frame, choose that preset size.

Last updated 7/26/2011

132

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Note: When you specify values for the Width and Height boxes, the Aspect Ratio menu changes to Custom.
3 (Editor) Drag over the part of the image you want to keep. When you release the mouse button, the crop marquee

appears as a bounding box with handles at the corners and sides.
4 (Optional) Adjust the crop marquee by doing any of the following:

• To change the preset size or aspect ratio, choose new values from the Aspect Ratio menu in the options bar.
• To move the marquee to another position, place the pointer inside the bounding box and click-drag, or hold down
Alt and use the arrow keys to move the marquee.

• To resize the marquee, drag a handle. (If you choose No Restriction from the Aspect Ratio menu, you can constrain
the proportions while scaling by holding down Shift as you drag a corner handle.)

• (Editor) To swap Width and Height values, click the Swap icon

in the options bar.

• (Editor) To rotate the marquee, position the pointer outside the bounding box (the pointer turns into a curved
arrow

), and drag. (You can’t rotate the crop marquee for an image in Bitmap mode.)

Note: You can change the color and opacity of the crop shield (the cropped area surrounding the image) by changing the
Crop tool preferences. Choose Edit > Preferences > Display & Cursors and specify a new Color and Opacity value in the
Crop Tool area of the Preferences dialog box. If you don’t want to see a colored shield while cropping, deselect Use Shield.
5 Click the green Commit button

located in the lower-right corner of the marquee, or press Enter to finish the
cropping. If you want to cancel the cropping operation, click the red Cancel button
or press Esc.

Click the Commit button to accept a crop.

More Help topics
“Resample an image” on page 138

Crop to a selection boundary
Using the Crop command, you can remove the areas that fall outside of the current selection. When you crop to a
selection boundary, Photoshop Elements trims the image to the bounding box that contains the selection. (Irregularly
shaped selections, such as those made by using the Lasso tool, are cropped to a rectangular bounding box that contains
the selection.) If you use the Crop command without first making a selection, Photoshop Elements trims the image by
50 pixels from each visible edge.
1 In the Editor, use any selection tool, such as the Rectangular Marquee tool

want to keep.
2 Choose Image > Crop.

Last updated 7/26/2011

, to select the part of the image you

133

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Use the Cookie Cutter tool
The Cookie Cutter tool crops a photo into a shape that you choose. After you drag the shape in your photo, you can
move and resize the bounding box until you have just the area you want.

Use the Cookie Cutter tool to clip a photo into a fun shape.

1 In the Editor, select the Cookie Cutter tool

2 Click the Shapes menu in the options bar to view a library of shapes from which to choose. To view other libraries,

click the triangle on the right side of the currently open library and choose a new library from the list that appears.
3 Double-click a shape to select it.
4 Set Shape Options:
Unconstrained Draws the shape to any size or dimension.
Defined Proportions Keeps the height and width of the cropped shape in proportion.
Defined Size Crops the photo to the exact size of the shape you chose.
Fixed Size Specifies the exact measurements of the finished shape.
From Center Draws the shape from the center.

5 Enter a value for Feather to soften the edges of the finished shape.

Note: Feathering softens the edges of the cropped image so that the edges fade out and blend into the background.
6 Drag within the image to create the shape boundary and move it to the desired location in the image.
7 Click the Commit button

click the Cancel button

, or press Enter to finish the cropping. If you want to cancel the cropping operation,
or press Esc.

Change the size of the canvas
You can add space to one or all sides of an image. Added canvas appears in the currently selected background color on
the Background layer; in other layers, the added canvas is transparent. In the new canvas space, you can add text or
resize your photo to fit the space.

Last updated 7/26/2011

134

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Increasing the size of the canvas makes room for a colored border.

1 In the Editor, choose Image > Resize > Canvas Size.
2 Do one of the following:

• In the Width and Height boxes, enter the full dimensions of the new canvas. Choose the units of measurement you
want from the adjacent menus. The Columns option measures width in terms of the columns specified in the Units
& Rulers preferences, and only applies to size reductions, not size increases.

• Select Relative, and enter the amount by which you want to increase or decrease the size of the canvas. Enter a
negative number to decrease the size of the canvas. Use this option if you want to increase the canvas by a specified
amount, such as 2 inches on each side.
3 For Anchor, click an arrow to indicate where to position the existing image on the new canvas.
4 To change the color of the added canvas, choose an option from the Canvas Extension Color menu and click OK.

Straighten an image
You can use the Straighten tool to realign an image vertically or horizontally. This tool also resizes or crops the canvas
to accommodate straightening the image.

Manually straighten an image
1 In the Editor, select the Straighten tool

2 To straighten all of the layers in the image, select Rotate All Layers, and then choose an option from the Canvas

Options menu (this menu is available only if you select Rotate All Layers):
Grow Or Shrink Canvas To Fit Resizes the canvas to fit the rotated image. Straightening causes corners of the image to

fall outside of the current canvas. The straightened image will contain areas of blank background, but no pixels are
clipped.

Last updated 7/26/2011

135

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Crop To Remove Background Crops the image to remove any blank background area that becomes visible after

straightening. Some pixels will be clipped.
Crop To Original Size Keeps the canvas the same size as the original image. The straightened image will include areas

of blank background and some pixels will be clipped.

Straightening and cropping to remove the background

3 To straighten the image, do one of the following:

• To align horizontally, draw a line in the image to represent the new straight horizontal edge.
• To align vertically, click the starting point, hold down Ctrl, and drag to represent the new straight vertical line.

Automatically straighten an image
• To automatically straighten the image and leave the canvas around the image, choose Image > Rotate > Straighten
Image. The straightened image will contain areas of blank background, but no pixels are clipped.

• To automatically straighten and crop the image, choose Image > Rotate > Straighten And Crop Image. The
straightened image will not contain areas of blank background, but some pixels will be clipped.

Divide a scanned image containing multiple photos
If you scanned several pictures at once on a flatbed scanner, you can automatically divide and straighten the scanned
image into its component photos. The photos must have a clear separation between them.

Separating images scanned from one page into three separate images

❖ In the Editor, choose Image > Divide Scanned Photos. Photoshop Elements automatically divides the image and

places each photo in a separate file.
For images with white around the border (images of light skies, snow, and so on), this command works best if you
cover the image on the scanner with a piece of dark paper.

Last updated 7/26/2011

136

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Image size and resolution
About image size and resolution
The image size (or pixel dimensions) of an image is a measure of the number of pixels along an image’s width and
height. For example, your digital camera may take a photo that is 3000 pixels wide and 2000 pixels high. These two
measurements have a direct correlation to the image’s file size, and both are an indication of the amount of image data
in a photo.
Resolution is the fineness of detail you can see in an image. It is measured in pixels per inch (ppi). The more pixels per
inch, the greater the resolution. Generally, the higher the resolution of your image, the better the printed image quality.
Although a digital image contains a specific amount of image data, it doesn’t have a specific physical output size or
resolution. As you change the resolution of a file, its physical dimensions change, and as you change the width or
height of an image, its resolution changes.
You can see the relationship between image size and resolution in the image size dialog box (choose Image > Resize >
Image Size). Deselect Resample Image, because you don’t want to change the amount of image data in your photo.
Then change the width, height, or resolution. As you change one value, the other two values change accordingly.

The same image printed at 72 ppi and 300 ppi; inset zoom at 200%

If you need to print at a specific resolution, or if you want to print an image significantly smaller or larger than the
image’s pixel dimensions allow, you can resample the image. Resampling involves either removing or adding pixels to
the image to achieve the desired dimensions or resolution.

About printer resolution
Printer resolution is measured in ink dots per inch (dpi). Generally, the more dots per inch, the finer the printed output
you’ll get. Most inkjet printers have a resolution of 720 to 5760 dpi, the latter being the smallest dot size a printer can use.
Printer resolution is different from, but related to, image resolution. To print a high-quality photo on an inkjet printer,
an image resolution of about 220 ppi should provide good results. Using a lower resolution, you can print a slightly
larger photo—if you are willing to accept some image degradation. You’ll see a warning if you chose a print size that
causes the photo to print at less than 220 ppi from the Editor or 150 ppi from the Elements Organizer.

Last updated 7/26/2011

137

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

About monitor resolution
Your monitor’s resolution is described in pixel dimensions. For example, if your monitor resolution is set to 1600 x
1200 and your photo’s pixel dimensions are the same size, at 100%, the photo will fill the screen. The size an image
appears on-screen depends on a combination of factors: the pixel dimensions of the image, the monitor size, and the
monitor resolution setting. In Photoshop Elements, you can change the image magnification on-screen, so you can
easily work with images of any pixel dimensions.
20"
15"

832 x 624 / 640 x 480

1024 x 768 / 640 x 480

A 620 x 400-pixel image displayed on monitors of different sizes and resolutions

When preparing images for on-screen viewing, you should consider the lowest monitor resolution that your photo is
likely to be viewed on.

Display the image size of an open file
❖ In the Editor, click-hold the file information box at the bottom of the document. The box displays the width and

height of the image (in the unit of measurement currently selected for the rulers), dimensions in total image pixels,
the number of color channels, and the image resolution (ppi).

View the print size on-screen
❖ In the Editor, do one of the following:

• Choose View > Print Size.
• Select the Hand tool or Zoom tool, and click Print Size in the options bar.
The magnification of the image is adjusted to display its approximate printed size, as specified in the Document Size
section of the Image Size dialog box. Keep in mind that the size and resolution of your monitor affect the on-screen
print size.

Change print dimensions and resolution without resampling
You might need to change the print dimensions and resolution if you are sending the image to a print shop that
requires files to be at a specific resolution.
If you are printing directly from Photoshop Elements, you don’t have to perform this procedure. Instead, you can
choose a size in the Print dialog box and Photoshop Elements applies the appropriate image resolution.
Note: To change only the print dimensions or the resolution, and adjust the total number of pixels in the image
proportionately, you must resample the image.
1 In the Editor, choose Image > Resize > Image Size.

Last updated 7/26/2011

138

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

2 Make sure that Resample Image is deselected. If deselected, you can change the print dimensions and resolution

without changing the total number of pixels in the image, but the image may not keep its current proportions.
Note: Resample Image must be selected in order to use the Constrain Proportions and Scale Style functions.
3 To maintain the current aspect ratio, select Constrain Proportions. This option automatically updates the width as

you change the height, and vice versa.
4 Under Document Size, enter new values for the height and width. If desired, choose a new unit of measurement.

For Width, the Columns option uses the width and gutter sizes specified in the Units & Rulers preferences.
5 For Resolution, enter a new value. If desired, choose a new unit of measurement, and then click OK.

To return to the original values displayed in the Image Size dialog box, use Alt + click Reset.

Resample an image
Changing the pixel dimensions of an image is called resampling. Resampling affects not only the size of an image
on-screen, but also its image quality and its printed output—either its printed dimensions or its image resolution.
Resampling can degrade image quality. When you downsample, meaning that you decrease the number of pixels in
your image, information is removed from the image. When you upsample, or increase the number of pixels in your
image, new pixels are added based on the color values of existing pixels, and the image loses some detail and sharpness.

Resampling an image
A. Image downsampled B. Original image C. Image upsampled

Last updated 7/26/2011

139

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

To avoid the need for upsampling, scan or create the image at the resolution required for your printer or output device.
If you want to preview the effects of changing pixel dimensions on-screen or print proofs at different resolutions,
resample a duplicate of your file.
If you’re preparing images for the web, it’s useful to specify image size in terms of the pixel dimensions.
1 In the Editor, choose Image > Resize > Image Size.
2 Select Resample Image, and choose an interpolation method:
Nearest Neighbor Fast, but less precise. This method is recommended for use with illustrations containing edges that
are not anti-aliased, to preserve hard edges and produce a smaller file. However, this method can create jagged edges,
which become apparent when distorting or scaling an image or performing multiple manipulations on a selection.
Bilinear Medium-quality.
Bicubic Slow, but more precise, resulting in the smoothest tonal gradations.
Bicubic Smoother Use when you're enlarging images.
Bicubic Sharper Use when you’re reducing the size of an image. This method maintains the detail in a resampled
image. It may, however, oversharpen some areas of an image. In this case, try using Bicubic.

3 To maintain the current aspect ratio, select Constrain Proportions. This option automatically updates the width as

you change the height, and vice versa.
4 In Pixel Dimensions, enter values for Width and Height. To enter values as percentages of the current dimensions,

choose Percent as the unit of measurement.
The new file size of the image appears next to Pixel Dimensions, with the old file size in parentheses.
5 Click OK to change the pixel dimensions and resample the image.

For best results in producing a smaller image, downsample and apply the Unsharp Mask filter. To produce a larger
image, rescan the image at a higher resolution.

Retouching
Precisely remove red eye
The Red Eye Removal tool removes red eye in flash photos of people. Red eye is caused by the illumination of the
subject’s retina by the camera’s flash. You’ll see it more often when taking pictures in a darkened room because the
subject’s iris is wide open. To avoid red eye, use the camera’s red-eye reduction feature, if available.
To automatically fix red eye when you import photos into the Elements Organizer, select Automatically Fix Red Eyes
in the Get Photos dialog box. You can also remove red eye from selected photos in the Photo Browser.

Last updated 7/26/2011

140

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Correct red eye by selecting an eye (top) or clicking an eye (center).

1 To manually fix red eye, select the Red Eye Removal tool

in the Full Edit toolbox or in the Touchup panel of

Quick Fix.
2 In the options bar, set the Pupil Size and Darken Amount.
3 In the image, do one of the following:

• Click a red area of an eye.
• Draw a selection over the eye area.
When you release the mouse button, the red is removed from the eyes.
Note: You can also automatically fix red eye by clicking Auto in the Red Eye Removal tool options bar.

More Help topics
“Automatically correct lighting and color” on page 106
“Adjust the color of skin tone” on page 122
“Fix photos with Touch Up buttons in the Quick Fix Tools panel” on page 103

Remove spots and small imperfections
The Spot Healing Brush quickly removes blemishes and other imperfections from your photos. You can either click
once on a blemish, or click and drag to smooth away imperfections in an area.

Easily remove spots or imperfections using the Spot Healing Brush tool.

1 In the Editor, select the Spot Healing Brush tool

2 Choose a brush size. A brush that is slightly larger than the area you want to fix works best so that you can cover

the entire area with one click.

Last updated 7/26/2011

141

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

3 Choose a Type option in the options bar.
Proximity Match Uses the pixels around the edge of the selection to find an image area to use as a patch for the selected
area. If this option doesn’t provide a satisfactory fix, choose Edit > Undo, and try the Create Texture option.
Create Texture Uses all the pixels in the selection to create a texture with which to fix the area. If the texture doesn’t
work, try dragging through the area a second time.

Note: Click Sample All Layers to apply your change to all layers of the image.
4 Click the area you want to fix in the image, or click and drag over a larger area.

More Help topics
“Adjust the color of skin tone” on page 122

Fix large imperfections
The Healing Brush fixes large areas of imperfections when you drag over them. You can remove objects from a
uniform background, such as an object in a field of grass.

Before and after using Healing Brush.

1 In the Editor, select the Healing Brush tool

2 Choose a brush size from the options bar and set healing brush options:
Mode Determines how the source or pattern blends with existing pixels. Normal mode lays new pixels over the

original pixels. Replace mode preserves film grain and texture at the edges of the brush stroke.
Source Sets the source to use for repairing pixels. Sampled uses pixels from the current image. Pattern uses pixels from

the pattern you specify in the Pattern panel.
Aligned Samples pixels continuously without losing the current sampling point, even if you release the mouse button.

Deselect Aligned to continue using the sampled pixels from the initial sampling point each time you stop and resume
painting.
Sample All Layers Choose Sample All Layers to sample data from the current layer, the current layer and below, or all

visible layers.
3 Position the pointer in any open image and Alt-click to sample data.

Note: If you are sampling from one image and applying to another, both images must be in the same color mode unless
one of the images is in Grayscale mode.
4 Drag the image over the flaw to meld existing data with sampled data. The sampled pixels meld with the existing

pixels each time you release the mouse button.

Last updated 7/26/2011

142

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

If there is a strong contrast at the edges of the area you want to heal, make a selection before you use the Healing Brush
tool. The selection should be bigger than the area you want to heal but should precisely follow the boundary of
contrasting pixels. When you paint with the Healing Brush tool, the selection prevents colors from bleeding in from the
outside.

More Help topics
“Adjust the color of skin tone” on page 122
“About blending modes” on page 209
“About patterns” on page 228

Clone images or areas in an image
The Clone Stamp tool paints with an image sample, which you can use to duplicate objects, remove image
imperfections, or paint over objects in your photo.

Original photo (top), after adding two starfish with the Clone Stamp tool (center), and after removing a person with the Clone Stamp tool
(bottom).

1 In the Editor, select the Clone Stamp tool

2 (Optional) Set options in the options bar:
Brushes Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up
menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Determines how the source or pattern blends with existing pixels. Normal mode lays new pixels over the

original pixels.

Last updated 7/26/2011

143

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Opacity Sets the opacity of the paint you apply. A low opacity setting allows pixels under a paint stroke to show
through. Drag the pop-up slider or enter an opacity value.
Aligned Moves the sampled area with the cursor as you begin to paint, regardless of how many times you stop and

resume painting. Selecting this option is useful when you want to eliminate unwanted areas, such as a telephone line
across the skyline or a rip in a scanned photo. If Aligned is deselected, the Clone Stamp tool applies the sampled area
from the initial sampling point each time you stop and resume painting. Deselecting this option is useful for applying
multiple copies of the same part of an image to different areas within the same image or to another image.
Sample All Layers To sample (copy) data from all visible layers, select Sample All Layers. To sample data from only the

active layer, deselect this option.
3 Position the pointer on the part of any open image you want to sample, and Alt-click. The tool duplicates the pixels

at this sample point in your image as you paint.
4 Drag or click to paint with the tool.

More Help topics
“About blending modes” on page 209

Replace colors in an image
The Color Replacement tool simplifies replacing specific colors in your image. You can paint over a targeted color—
for example, a yellow flower in an image—with a different color, like red. You can also use the Color Replacement tool
to correct colors.

Replacing colors

1 Select the Color Replacement tool

. (The Color Replacement tool is nested under the Brush tool

2 Choose a brush tip from the Brush menu in the options bar. For Mode, generally, you’ll want to keep the blending

mode set to Color.
3 For Limits, choose one of the following:
Discontiguous Replaces the sampled color wherever it occurs under the pointer.
Contiguous Replaces colors that are contiguous with the color immediately under the pointer.

Last updated 7/26/2011

144

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

4 For Tolerance, specify a low percentage to replace colors very similar to the pixel you click, or raise the percentage

to replace a broader range of colors.
5 To give a smooth edge to the areas you correct, select Anti-alias.
6 Choose a foreground color to use to replace the unwanted color.
7 Click the color you want to replace in the image.
8 Drag within the image to replace the targeted color.

More Help topics
“Adjust the color of skin tone” on page 122

Blur or soften edges
The Blur tool softens hard edges or areas in an image by reducing detail. Blurring a busy background can bring your
target images more into focus. You can also use Blur filters for this purpose.

Original photo (left), and photo after blurring the background (right).

1 Select the Blur tool

2 Set options in the options bar:
Brushes pop-up menu Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the
Brushes pop-up menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush, in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Specifies how the pixels you blur blend into other pixels in the image.
Strength Specifies the amount of blur that occurs with each stroke.
Sample All Layers Blurs all visible layers. If this is deselected, the tool blurs only the active layer.

3 Drag over the part of the image you want to blur.

More Help topics
“Blur and Blur More” on page 189
“Gaussian Blur” on page 190
“About blending modes” on page 209

Correct camera distortion
The Correct Camera Distortion dialog box enables you to fix common lens distortion problems, like darkened edges
caused by lens faults or improper lens shading. For example, in a picture of the sky taken in low light, the corners of
the image may be darker than the center. Changing the vignette amount and midtone settings fixes the distortion.

Last updated 7/26/2011

145

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

You can also use the perspective controls to rotate an image or fix image perspective caused by vertical or horizontal
camera tilt. The Correct Camera Distortion filter’s image grid allows you to make these adjustments easily and
accurately.

Correct camera distortion

1 Select Filter > Correct Camera Distortion.
2 Select Preview check box.
3 Set any of the following options to correct your image, and then click OK:
Remove Distortion Corrects lens barrel or pincushion distortion. Type a number in the box, or move the slider to
straighten horizontal and vertical lines that bend either away from or toward the center of the image.
Vignette Amount Sets the amount of lightening or darkening along the edges of an image. Type a number in the box,
or move the slider to gradually shade the image.
Vignette Midpoint Specifies the width of area affected by the Amount slider. Move the slider, or type a lower number
to affect more of the image. Type a higher number to restrict the effect to the edges of the image.
Vertical Perspective Corrects image perspective caused by tilting the camera up or down. Type a number in the box
or use the slider to make vertical lines in an image parallel.
Horizontal Perspective Detects the edges and detail in an image, provides finer detail, and reduces halos. Type a

number or use the slider to reduce the blur caused by camera or subject movement. Set the Angle control if you choose
Motion Blur.
Angle Rotates the image to correct for camera tilt or to make adjustments after correcting perspective. Type a number

in the box or drag the angle dial to rotate the image to the left (counterclockwise) or right (clockwise).
Scale Adjusts the image scale up or down. The image pixel dimensions aren’t changed. Type a number in the box or
use the slider to remove blank areas of the image caused by pincushion, rotation, or perspective corrections. Scaling
up effectively results in cropping the image and interpolating up to the original pixel dimensions.
Show Grid Shows the grid when selected. Hides the grid when deselected.

Last updated 7/26/2011

146

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Zoom Shows a closer view when you zoom in, and shows a more distant view when you zoom out.
Color Specifies the grid color.

More Help topics
“The Fix Keystone Distortion Guided Edit” on page 48
“Adjust color curves” on page 119
“Improve shadow and highlight detail” on page 112

Use Photomerge Group Shot
For a video about photomerge features, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2342_pse8_en.
Use Photomerge Group Shot to create the perfect group photo from multiple photos.
Note: For best results, pick the multiple images used to create a Photomerge Group Shot from the same photo session.
1 Do one of the following to select the group photos you want to use as source images for the Photomerge Group Shot:

• In Elements Organizer, select the photos.
• In the Editor, open the photos.
2 Choose File > New > Photomerge Group Shot.
3 Select the best group photo, and drag it from the Project Bin to the Final window.
4 Click other photos in the Project Bin (color coded to help you keep track). Use the Pencil tool to mark over the areas

that you want to merge into the final photo. To fine-tune the final image, use the Pencil tool to add additional
content, or the Eraser tool to remove content.
5 Set any of the following:
Show Strokes Click this option to show the Pencil strokes you marked in the source image.
Show Regions Click this option to reveal the selected regions in the final image.
Advanced Options Expand or collapse this arrow for Advanced Options.
Alignment Tool To correct the alignment of multiple photos, click the Alignment Tool, place three markers in the
source image and three markers in the final image, then click Align Photos.

Note: Photomerge Group Shot uses auto alignment. Use the Alignment Tool only if the automatic alignment didn’t
produce the expected result.
Pixel Blending Click this option to blend pixels.

6 Click Reset to start the process over, Done to complete the Photomerge Group Shot, or Cancel to close Photomerge

Group Shot.

Last updated 7/26/2011

147

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Photomerge Group Shot window

Note: Photomerge Group Shot does not support the PSE file format. If you try to create a photomerge group shot with a
PSE file, you get an error message. This is a known issue.

Use Photomerge Faces
For a video about photomerge features, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2342_pse8_en.
Use Photomerge Faces to combine multiple facial features to create one composite face.
1 Do one of the following to select the face images you want to use as source images for Photomerge Faces:

• In Elements Organizer, select the face image photos.
• In the Editor, open the face image photos.
2 Choose File > New > Photomerge Faces.
3 Pick a face photo as your base image, and drag it from the Project Bin to the Final window.

Last updated 7/26/2011

148

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

4 Click another image in the Project Bin, and click the Alignment tool. Place the three alignment markers on the eyes

and mouth on the source image and the final image, and click Align Photos.
5 Click other photos in the Project Bin (color coded to help you keep track). Use the Pencil tool to mark the areas that

you would like to merge into the final photo. To fine-tune the final image, use the Pencil tool to add additional
content, or the Eraser tool to remove content.
6 Set the following:
Show Strokes Click this option to show the Pencil strokes you marked in the source image.
Show Regions Click this option to reveal the selected regions in the final image.

7 Click Reset to start the process over, Done to complete the Photomerge Faces, or Cancel to close Photomerge Faces.

Photomerge Faces window

Use Photomerge Scene Cleaner
Use Photomerge Scene Cleaner to create the perfect scenic photo from multiple photos. You can eliminate unwanted
elements like tourists that inadvertently wandered into the scenery.

Last updated 7/26/2011

149

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Note: For best results, the multiple images used with Photomerge Scene Cleaner should be of the same scene taken from
the same angle.
1 Do one of the following to select 2 - 10 photos you want to use for the Photomerge Scene Cleaner:

• In the Elements Organizer, select the photos.
• In the Editor, open the photos.
2 Choose File > New > Photomerge Scene Cleaner.

The Editor is now in Guided Edit mode with the Photomerge Scene Cleaner Guided Edit panel containing tools and
directions.
3 Select the best photo and then drag it from the Project Bin to the Final window.

This photo becomes the base image for the final photo.
4 Click a photo in the Project Bin (color-coded to help you keep track).

It appears in the Source window.
5 Do any of the following to add or remove areas from the Final window:

• To remove an area, use the Pencil tool to mark the area in the Final window.
• To add an area to the Final window, use the Pencil tool to mark the area in the Source window.
• To fine-tune the final image, use the Pencil tool to add additional content or the Eraser tool to remove content.
6 (Optional) Select one of the following:
Show Strokes Shows your Pencil strokes in the source image.
Show Regions Reveals the selected regions in the final image.

7 (Optional) If there’s a problem with the photos aligning properly, click the Advanced Options arrow to access the

following:
Alignment Tool
Corrects the alignment of the multiple photos. Click the Alignment Tool to place three markers
in the source image and three markers in the final image. Drag markers to similar areas in each photo and then click
Align Photos.

Note: Photomerge Scene Cleaner uses auto alignment. The Alignment Tool should only be used if the automatic
alignment didn’t produce the result you want.
Pixel Blending Blends pixels using different options. Experiment to see whether this option improves the photo or not.

8 (Optional) Select other photos in the Project Bin for use in the Source window and repeat step 5.
9 Click Reset to start the process over, Done to complete the Photomerge Scene Cleaner, or Cancel to close

Photomerge Scene Cleaner.

Last updated 7/26/2011

150

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Photomerge Scene Cleaner
A. Dragging a photo to the Final window B. Using the Pencil tool to the mark area to be replaced in the Final window C. Result in the Final
window

Photomerge Exposure
For a video about photomerge features, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2342_pse8_en.
Use Photomerge Exposure to efficiently handle scenes in photos with exposure challenges. You can blend two photos
together to get a perfectly exposed photo. For example, if you have a photo with a window in the background and you
want a perfect photo with the following properties:

• A good exposure of the scenery outside the window.
• A good exposure of the darker objects inside the room.
In such a scenario, you often end up with either overexposed scenery outside the window or underexposed objects
inside the room.
To ensure that you get a perfect photo, do the following:

• Take two or more photos of the same scene with different exposures. For best results, take the photos at different
exposure value, with minimum shakes. For example:

• You can take two or more photos with the flash turned on to properly expose the subject (the objects inside the
room).

• You can then take one photo with the flash turned off to properly expose the background (the scenery outside
the window).
You can use Exposure Bracketing in your camera to capture the same subject with a number of shots with
different exposure settings.

• Blend the photos to create a perfectly exposed photo.
Photomerge Exposure facilitates blending the two photos together to get a perfectly exposed photo.
Photomerge Exposure can be done in the following modes:

• Automatic mode
• Manual mode
To obtain best results while using the Automatic mode, use photos that are shot at different exposure values, using
Exposure Bracketing. To obtain best results while using the manual mode, use photos shot with flash turned on and
flash turned off.

Last updated 7/26/2011

151

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Photomerge Exposure

Automatic Photomerge Exposure
You can select the required photos from Elements Organizer, and select and deselect the photos through the Project Bin.
1 Do one of the following:

• In Elements Organizer, select a minimum of two and a maximum of ten photos, and select File > New >
Photomerge Exposure.

• In the Photoshop Elements Editor, open the required files using File > Open.
a Select Show Open Files In The Project Bin to view all the opened files.
b Select a minimum of two and a maximum of ten photos from the Project Bin.
c Select File > New > Photomerge Exposure.

Photoshop Elements Editor displays the selected photos.
2 In the Photomerge panel, select Automatic.

You can view the selected photos in the Editor.
3 Select one of the following options:
Simple Blending This option does not allow you to change the Photomerge Exposure settings. Selecting this option

displays the merged photo in the Editor.
Smart Blending Selecting this option enables you to adjust the settings using the sliders. You can view the final photo
based on the settings you provide. You can adjust the following settings:

• Highlight Details Enables you to increase or decrease the details that are in the highlight.
• Shadows Enables you to lighten or darken the shadows.
• Saturation Enables you to change the intensity of the color.
4 After you get the desired result, click Done to complete Photomerge Exposure.

Last updated 7/26/2011

152

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Manual Photomerge Exposure
Note: For Photomerge Exposure, if you are using photos that have been taken with your flash on, then manual
Photomerge Exposure is the default mode.
1 Do one of the following:

• In Elements Organizer, select a minimum of two and a maximum of ten photos and select File > New > Photomerge
Exposure.

Photoshop Elements Editor displays the selected photos.
2 In the Photomerge panel, select Manual.

The first image in the Project Bin is displayed as the source photo. You can select an image from the Project Bin as the
background photo.
3 Set the following:
Show Strokes Click to show your Pencil strokes in the source image.
Show Regions Click to reveal the selected regions in the final image.

4 Select exposed regions from the current source image by using the selection tool. Change the foreground photo,

and select regions from this photo if necessary.
You can now view a final image with different regions copied from different source photos above the initially selected
background photo.
5 Change the transparency of these selected regions to blend them properly with the background by using the

Transparency Slider. Select Edge Blending to smoothen the blended edges.
Note: Transparency Slider affects only those regions that are selected from the currently displayed source image. Change
to a different source image if you want to change the transparency of the regions selected from the other images. It
remembers the value used for a particular image. If the slider is not changed, the default is set to 0.
6 To correct the alignment of multiple photos, select Advanced Option, and click the Alignment tool. Place three

markers in the source image and three markers in the final image, then click Align Photos. Click Done.

Sharpening
Sharpening overview
Sharpening enhances the definition of edges in an image. Whether your images come from a digital camera or a
scanner, most images can benefit from sharpening. When sharpening images, keep the following in mind:

• Sharpening cannot correct a severely blurred image.
• Sharpen your image on a separate layer so that you can resharpen it later if you need to change the adjustment. Set
the layer’s blending mode to Luminosity to avoid color shifts along edges. If you find that highlights or shadows are
lessened after you sharpen, use the layer blending controls to prevent sharpening in highlights and shadows.

• If you need to reduce image noise, do so before sharpening so that you don’t intensify the noise.

Last updated 7/26/2011

153

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

• Sharpen your image multiple times in small amounts. Sharpen the first time to correct blur captured by a scanner
or digital camera. After you’ve color corrected and resized your image, sharpen it again.

• If possible, judge your sharpening by outputting your image. The amount of sharpening needed varies depending
on whether the image is printed or displayed on a web page.

Sharpen an image
The Auto Sharpen command increases clarity or focus without the risk of oversharpening an image.
The Sharpen tool focuses soft edges in a photo to increase clarity or focus. Oversharpening a photo gives it a grainy look.
You can avoid oversharpening by setting a lower Strength value in the options bar. It’s best to make the sharpening
subtle and increase it as necessary by dragging over the area several times, building up the sharpness each time.
The Adjust Sharpness dialog box has sharpening controls not available with the Sharpen tool or with Auto Sharpen.
You can set the sharpening algorithm or control the amount of sharpening that occurs in shadow and highlight areas.

Adjust sharpening

Automatically sharpen an image
❖ Select Enhance > Auto Sharpen.

Last updated 7/26/2011

154

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Sharpen areas of an image

Original image (top), two faces sharpened correctly (bottom left), and two faces oversharpened (bottom right)

1 Select the Sharpen tool

2 Set options in the options bar:
Brushes menu Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes
menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush, in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Determines how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image.
Strength Specifies the amount of sharpening that occurs with each stroke.
Sample All Layers Sharpens all visible layers. If this is deselected, the tool sharpens only the active layer.

3 Drag over the part of the image you want to sharpen.

Precisely sharpen an image
1 Select Enhance > Adjust Sharpness.
2 Select Preview check box.
3 Set any of the following options to sharpen your image, and then click OK.
Amount Sets the amount of sharpening. Type a number in the box or drag the slider to increase or decrease the

contrast between edge pixels, giving the appearance of greater sharpness.
Radius Determines the number of pixels surrounding the edge pixels affected by the sharpening. Type a number in

the box or drag the slider to change the radius value. As you increase the radius, sharpening becomes more obvious.
Remove Sets the sharpening algorithm used to sharpen the image. Gaussian Blur is the method used by the Unsharp

Mask filter. Lens Blur detects the edges and detail in an image, and provides finer sharpening of detail and reduced
sharpening halos. Motion Blur attempts to reduce the effects of blur due to camera or subject movement. Select a blur
option from the pop-up menu.
Angle Sets the direction of motion for the Motion Blur option of the Remove control. Type a number in the box or

drag the angle dial to change the angle percentage to the left (counterclockwise) or right (clockwise).
More Refined Processes the file more slowly for more accurate blur removal.

Last updated 7/26/2011

155

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Use the Unsharp Mask filter
The Unsharp Mask filter reproduces a traditional film technique used to sharpen edges in an image. The Unsharp
Mask filter corrects blur introduced during photographing, scanning, resampling, or printing. It is useful for images
intended for both print and online viewing.
Unsharp Mask locates pixels that differ from surrounding pixels by the threshold you specify and increases the pixels’
contrast by the amount you specify. For neighboring pixels within the specified radius, the lighter pixels get lighter,
and the darker pixels get darker.
The effects of the Unsharp Mask filter are far more pronounced on-screen than in high-resolution printed output. If
your final destination is printed output, experiment to determine what settings work best for your image.

The Unsharp Mask filter adds contrast to reduce fuzziness.

1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Enhance > Unsharp Mask.
3 Select the Preview option.
4 Set any of these options and click OK:
Amount Determines how much to increase the contrast of pixels. For high-resolution printed images, an amount

between 150% and 200% is usually best.
Radius Specifies the number of pixels to sharpen around edges. For high-resolution images, a radius between 1 and 2

is usually recommended. A lower value sharpens only the edge pixels, whereas a higher value sharpens a wider band
of pixels. This effect is much less noticeable in print than on-screen, because a 2-pixel radius represents a smaller area
in a high-resolution printed image.
Threshold Determines how far different pixels must be from the surrounding area before they are considered edge

pixels and sharpened. To avoid introducing noise (in images with flesh tones, for example), experiment with
Threshold values between 2 and 20. The default Threshold value (0) sharpens all pixels in the image.

Transforming
Rotate or flip an item
You can rotate or flip a selection, a layer, or an entire image. Make sure to choose the correction command depending
on the item you want to rotate or flip.
1 In the Editor, select the photo, layer, selection, or shape you want to rotate or flip.
2 Choose Image > Rotate, and choose one of the following commands from the submenu:
90° Left, Layer 90° Left, or Selection 90° Left Rotates the photo, layer, or selection a quarter-turn counterclockwise.
(Rotate Selection is only available when you have an active selection in an image.)

Last updated 7/26/2011

156

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

90° Right, Layer 90° Right, or Selection 90° Right Rotates the photo, layer, or selection a quarter-turn clockwise.
180°, Layer 180°, or Selection 180° Rotates the photo, layer, or selection a half-turn.
Custom Rotates the item by the amount you specify. If you select this option, enter the number of degrees you want
to rotate the item by, and the direction in which you want to rotate the item.

Note: A positive number rotates the object clockwise, and a negative number rotates the object counterclockwise.
When you are finished, click OK.
Flip Horizontal, Flip Layer Horizontal, or Flip Selection Horizontal Flips the photo, layer, or selection horizontally.
Flip Vertical, Flip Layer Vertical, or Flip Selection Vertical Flips the photo, layer, or selection vertically.

Rotating an image
A. Rotate 90° left B. Flip Horizontal C. Rotate 90° right D. Rotate 180° E. Original image F. Free rotate G. Flip Vertical

Freely rotate an item
With the Free Rotate Layer and Free Rotate Selection commands, you can rotate an item by any amount.

Last updated 7/26/2011

157

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Use the Free Rotate Layer command to straighten the image, and click the Commit button to apply the rotation.

1 In the Editor, select the layer or selection you want to rotate.
2 Choose Image > Rotate > Free Rotate Layer or Selection. A bounding box appears in the image.

Note: If you select an image that is a Background layer (such as a photo imported from a camera or scanner), you are
given the option of turning it into a regular layer so that you can transform it.
3 (Optional) To change the point around which the item rotates, click a square on the reference point locator

the options bar.
4 Do one of the following to specify the rotation amount:

• Click and drag the rotate handle at the bottom of the bounding box. The cursor will change to concentric arrows
when it’s hovering over the handle. To constrain the rotation to 15° increments, hold down Shift as you drag.

• Type an angle of rotation between -180 (maximum counterclockwise rotation) and 180 (maximum clockwise
rotation) in the Set Rotation text box

of the options bar.

5 Do one of the following:

• To apply the transformation, double-click inside the bounding box, click the Commit button
• To cancel the transformation, click the Cancel button

, or press Enter.

, or press Esc.

Scale an item
1 In the Editor, select the photo, layer, selection, or shape you want to scale.
2 Choose Image > Resize > Scale.

Note: If you select a photo that is a Background layer (such as a photo imported from a camera or scanner), you are given
the option of turning it into a regular layer so that you can transform it.
3 Do any of the following to specify the scale amount:

• To maintain the relative proportions (avoiding image distortion) as you scale, select Constrain Proportions, and
then drag a corner handle. Alternatively, press Alt as you drag a corner handle.

• To scale only the height or the width, drag a side handle.

Last updated 7/26/2011

158

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

• Enter a percentage for the Width, Height, or both in the options bar.
4 Do one of the following:

• To apply the transformation, double-click inside the bounding box, click the Commit button
• To cancel the transformation, click the Cancel button

or press Enter.

or press Esc.

Scaling proportionally by dragging the corner with the scaling icon.

Skew or distort an item
Skewing applies a vertical or horizontal slant to an item. Distorting stretches or squishes an item.
1 In the Editor, select the photo, layer, selection, or shape you want to transform.
2 Choose Image > Transform > Skew or Image > Transform > Distort. If you are transforming a shape with the Shape

tool selected, choose Image > Transform Shape > Skew or Image > Transform Shape > Distort.
Note: If you select a photo that is a Background layer (such as a photo imported from a camera or scanner), you are given
the option of turning it into a regular layer so that you can transform it.
3 Drag a handle to skew or distort the bounding box.
4 Do one of the following:

• To apply the transformation, double-click inside the bounding box, click the Commit button
• To cancel the transformation, click the Cancel button

, or press Esc.

Apply perspective to an item
Applying perspective creates the appearance of objects existing in three dimensions.

Last updated 7/26/2011

, or press Enter.

159

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Original image (left) and image after perspective applied (right).

1 In the Editor, select the item you want to transform.
2 Choose Image > Transform > Perspective. If you are transforming a shape with the Shape tool selected, choose

Image > Transform Shape > Perspective.
Note: If you select a photo that is a background layer (such as a photo imported from a camera or scanner), you are given
the option of turning it into a regular layer so that you can transform it.
3 Drag a corner handle on the bounding box to apply perspective.
4 Do one of the following:

• To commit the transformation, double-click inside the bounding box, click the Commit button
• To cancel the transformation, click the Cancel button

, or press Enter.

, or press Esc.

Freely transform an item
The Free Transform command lets you apply transformations (rotating, scaling, skewing, distorting, and perspective)
in one step. Instead of choosing different commands, you simply hold down a key on your keyboard to switch between
transformation types.
1 In the Editor, select the item you want to transform.
2 Choose Image > Transform > Free Transform. If you are transforming a shape, choose Image > Transform Shape >

Free Transform Shape.
Note: If you select a photo that is a Background layer (such as a photo imported from a camera or scanner), you are given
the option of turning it into a regular layer so that you can transform it.
3 (Optional) To change the point around which the item rotates, click a square on the reference point locator

the options bar.
4 Do one or more of the following to transform the object:

• To scale, drag any handle of the bounding box. To scale the width and height proportionally, either press Shift as
you drag a corner handle, or select Constrain Proportions in the options bar, and then drag a corner handle.

• To rotate, move the pointer outside of the bounding box and drag. When positioned outside the bounding box, the
pointer becomes a curved, two-sided arrow

. Press Shift and drag to constrain the rotation to 15° increments.

• To distort, press Ctrl, and drag any handle. When positioned over a handle, the pointer becomes a gray
arrowhead

• To skew, press Ctrl+Shift and drag a handle in the middle of any side of the bounding box. When positioned over
a side handle, the pointer becomes a gray arrowhead with a small double arrow

Last updated 7/26/2011

160

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

• To apply perspective, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift, and drag a corner handle. When positioned over a corner handle, the
pointer becomes a gray arrowhead

5 Do one of the following:

• To commit the transformation, double-click inside the bounding box, and then click the Commit button

, or

press Enter.

• To cancel the transformation, click the Cancel button

, or press Esc.

Apply a transformation to a Background layer
Before you can apply transformations to the Background layer, you need to convert it into a regular layer.
1 In the Editor, select the Background layer in the Layers panel.
2 Convert the background.
3 Apply the transformation.

More Help topics
“Convert the Background layer into a regular layer” on page 53

Recomposing
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2341_pse8_en.
The Recompose tool facilitates intelligent resizing of photos without changing important visual content such as people,
building, animals, and so on. Normal scaling affects all pixels uniformly when resizing an image. Recompose affects
pixels in areas that don’t have important visual content. Recompose enables you to upscale or downscale images to
improve a composition, fit a layout, or change the orientation.
Note: Recompose can also be performed without using the protect areas option. For example, to recompose a photo
.
without marking any areas for protection or removal, drag the image handles

Before Recompose (left) and after Recompose

Last updated 7/26/2011

161

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

If you want to preserve or remove specific areas when scaling an image, Recompose enables you to protect content
intelligently during resizing.

A. Photo selected for Recompose B. Areas marked for protection (green) and for removal (red) C. Photo after Recompose

Recompose a photo in Guided Edit
1 Open a photo in the project bin that you want to resize, and select Edit Guided.
2 In the Guided Edit panel, Expand Basic Photo Edits, and select Recompose Photo.
3 Mark the areas you want to protect using the Protect brush

. Right-click the photo, and select one of the

following modes:
Use Normal Highlight This mode is similar to painting. Mark all the regions that require protection. For example,
protecting a circle using Normal Highlight requires marking or painting the entire circle.
Use Quick Highlight You can quickly highlight the required regions for protection. Encircle the subject to highlight

the required regions. For example, to highlight the area within a circle, trace the boundary of the circle. Quick
Highlight ensures that the area within the circle is marked for protection.
You can specify the size of the brush and the photo.
Green indicates the areas marked for protection.
4 Do one of the following to erase portions of unwanted marked areas (green):

• Erase using the green Eraser tool

• Right-click the photo, and select Clear Protect Highlights.
5 Mark the areas you want to remove (areas that are unimportant) using the Remove brush tool

Red indicates the areas marked for removal.
Right-click the photo, and select Clear All Highlights to erase protected and unprotected marked areas.
6 Do one of the following to erase portions of unwanted marked areas (red):

• Erase using the red Eraser tool

• Right-click the photo, and select Clear Remove Highlights.
7 Drag the image handles to Recompose your photo.

Recompose a photo in Full Edit
1 Open a photo in the project bin that you want to resize, and select Image > Recompose, or click the Recompose tool

Note: To view the Recompose tool, press C, or right-click the Crop tool in the toolbar, and select the Recompose tool.

Last updated 7/26/2011

162

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

A dialog box with a brief overview of the Recompose tool opens. If you do not want to view this dialog again, select
Don’t Show Again. If you want to view this Help dialog again while working with the Recompose tool, right-click the
photo and select Show Recompose Help. Click View An Online Video Tutorial to view a demo on Recompose.
2 Mark the areas you want to protect using the Protect brush

. Right-click the photo, and select one of the

following modes:

• Use Normal Highlight
• Use Quick Highlight
You can specify the size of the brush and the photo.
Green indicates the areas marked for protection.
Note: Recompose can also be performed without using the protect areas option. For example, to recompose a photo
.
without marking any areas for protection or removal, drag the image handles
3 Do one of the following to erase portions of unwanted marked areas (green):

• Erase using the green Eraser tool

• Right-click the photo, and select Clear Protect Highlights.
4 Mark the areas you want to remove (areas that are unimportant) using the Remove brush tool

Red indicates the areas marked for removal.
Right-click the photo, and select Clear All Highlights to erase protected and unprotected marked areas.
5 Do one of the following to erase portions of unwanted marked areas (red):

• Erase using the red Eraser tool

• Right-click the photo, and select Clear Remove Highlights.
You can specify the size of the brush and the photo.
6 Drag the handles of the image

Operation icon

to Recompose your photo. On completion, click the Commit Current

Recompose a photo in a photo project
You can use the Recompose tool to Recompose photos in the following photo projects:

• Photo Book
• Greeting Card
• Photo Collage
1 Create a photo book, greeting card, or a photo collage.
2 Right-click the photo in the photo project, and select Recompose Photo.
3 (Optional) Mark the areas you want to protect using the Protect brush

Green indicates the protected areas. You can use the green Eraser tool
regions.

.
to erase portions of unwanted marked

Note: Recompose can also be performed without using the Protect Areas option. For example, to recompose a photo
.
without marking any areas for protection or removal, drag the image handles

Last updated 7/26/2011

163

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

4 (Optional) Mark the areas you want to remove using the Remove brush tool

Red indicates the areas marked for removal. You can use the red Eraser tool
marked for removal.

.
to erase portions of unwanted areas

You can specify the size of the brush and the photo.
5 Drag the image handles

to Recompose your photo. On completion, click the Commit current operation icon

More Help topics
“Creating projects in the Editor” on page 251

Recompose options
You can use the following options while using the Recompose tool.
Size Enables you to define the brush size.
Preset Used to specify the ratio that you want to use for resizing. Preset works on the photo ratio and not the

dimensions of the photo. For example, if you use a preset ratio 3x5, the image is resized using this ratio. If you want to
scale the photo using the same ratio, hold the Shift key and drag the corner handles.
Note: If you don’t hold down the Shift key, the image is resized in any ratio.
Amount Used to set the Recompose threshold. Setting the threshold to 100% indicates a 100% Recompose. If it is set

to 0%, then the behavior of Recompose tool is similar to the Transform tool.
Highlight Skin Tones Identifies and highlights skin tones for protection. You can preserve regions that contain skin

to view the suggested skin tones region. To erase the identified regions
tones. Click the Highlight Skin Tones icon
that contain skin tones, use the Protect Eraser tool, or right-click the image and select Clear Protect Highlights.
Swap Width And Height Used to swap the values specified for height and width. For example, you have specified the
to interchange these values. The new
following values: H: 10 and W: 15. Click the Swap Height and Width icon
values are: H: 15 and W: 10.

Stitching together panoramas
Creating photomerge panoramas
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2331_pse8_en.
The Photomerge Panorama command combines several photographs into one continuous image. For example, you
can take five overlapping photographs of a city skyline, and assemble them into a panorama. The Photomerge
Panorama command can tile photos horizontally as well as vertically.
When you set up a Photomerge Panorama composition, you identify the files you want to merge (called your source
files), and then Photoshop Elements automatically assembles them into a single panorama. After the panorama is
complete, you can still make changes to the placement of the individual photos, if necessary.

Last updated 7/26/2011

164

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Creating a Photomerge Panorama

Your source photographs play a large role in panoramic compositions. To avoid problems, follow these guidelines
when taking pictures for use with Photomerge Panorama:
Overlap images sufficiently Images should overlap approximately 15% to 40%. If the overlap is less, Photomerge

Panorama may not be able to automatically assemble the panorama. If images overlap by 50% or more, it can be
difficult to work with them, and blending may not be as effective.
Use a consistent focal length Avoid using the zoom feature of your camera while taking your pictures.
Keep the camera level Although Photomerge Panorama can process slight rotations between pictures, a tilt of more
than a few degrees can result in errors when automatically assembling the panorama. Using a tripod with a rotating
head helps maintain camera alignment and viewpoint.

When photographing a panoramic scene from a high place, the natural inclination is to keep the horizon level in the
viewfinder. However, this actually produces a noticeable rotation between images. Try using a tripod to keep the
camera level when taking photographs in this situation.
Stay in the same position Try not to change your location as you take a series of photographs, so that the pictures are
from the same viewpoint. Using the optical viewfinder with the camera held close to the eye helps keep the viewpoint
consistent. Or try using a tripod to keep the camera in the same place.
Avoid using distortion lenses Lenses, such as fish-eye lenses, that noticeably distort the image can interfere with

Photomerge Panorama.
Maintain the same exposure Avoid using the flash in some pictures and not in others. The advanced blending feature

in Photomerge Panorama helps smooth out different exposures, but extreme differences make alignment difficult.
Some digital cameras change exposure settings automatically as you take pictures, so you may need to check your
camera settings to be sure that all the images have the same exposure.

Create a Photomerge panorama composition
1 Do one of the following:

• In the Editor, choose File > New > Photomerge Panorama.
• In the Elements Organizer, choose File > New > Photomerge Panorama.
2 In the Photomerge dialog box, choose an option from the Use pop-up menu:
Files Generates the Photomerge composition using individual image files.
Folders Uses all the images stored in a folder to create the Photomerge composition. The files in the folder appear in

the dialog box.
Or, click Add Open Files to use the images you have open in the Editor.
3 Do one of the following to select photos you want to use:

• Click Add Open Files to use images you have open in the Editor.

Last updated 7/26/2011

165

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

• Click the Browse button to navigate to the source files or folder.
You can add more files by clicking the Browser button again and navigating to the source files. You can always remove
a file from the Source Files list by selecting the file and clicking the Remove button.
4 Choose a layout option:
Auto Analyzes the source images and applies either a Perspective or Cylindrical layout, depending on which produces

a better photomerge.
Perspective Creates a consistent composition by designating one of the source images (by default, the middle image)

as the reference image. The other images are then transformed (repositioned, stretched, or skewed as necessary) so that
overlapping content layer is matched.
Cylindrical Reduces the “bow-tie” distortion that can occur with the Perspective layout by displaying individual
images as on an unfolded cylinder. Overlapping content is still matched. The reference image is placed at the center.
This is best suited for creating wide panoramas.
Reposition Only Aligns the layers and matches overlapping content, but does not transform (stretch or skew) any of
the source images.
Interactive Layout Choose this option to open the source images in a dialog box and position them manually.

5 Click OK to generate the panorama as a new file.

Create a Photomerge panorama interactively
Generally, the automatic options in the Photomerge dialog box create satisfactory panoramas. If these options don’t
produce the results you want, select the Interactive Layout option. The Photomerge dialog box for interactive layouts
lets you manually rearrange your source images.
1 Choose the Interactive Layout option in the main Photomerge dialog box to open the Photomerge interactive

dialog box.
2 Do any of the following:

• Select Reposition Only and Snap To Image to preserve the alignment at overlapping image areas.
Photoshop Elements applies blending to even out differences of exposure between the source images.

• Select Perspective and Photoshop Elements selects one of the source images to supply a vanishing point. It also
stretches or skews the other images to create a wraparound effect. Use the Vanishing Point tool to change the
vanishing point and reorient the perspective.
3 Drag the images to the work area and manually arrange them.
4 After arrange the composition, click OK to generate the panorama as a new file. The composition then opens in

Photoshop Elements.

The Photomerge dialog box for interactive layouts
The Photomerge dialog box contains tools for manipulating the composition, a lightbox for storing source images that
are not in use, a work area for assembling the composition, and options for viewing and editing the composition. You
can also zoom in and out to better see the alignment of each file.

Last updated 7/26/2011

166

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

Photomerge interactive layout dialog box.
A. Lightbox B. Tools C. Work area D. Selected image E. Status bar

• To navigate, select the Move View tool

and drag within the work area. Or, drag the view area (the red box) or

the scroll bar of the navigator.

• To zoom, click the Zoom In icon

and Zoom Out icon

, or use the Zoom tool

. Hold down Alt to zoom

out with the Zoom tool.

• To rotate images, select the Select Image tool

, click the image you want to rotate, select the Rotate tool
then drag in a circular motion around the image.

, and

• To reorder images in the lightbox, select the Select Image tool and drag an image in the lightbox.
• To add an image to the composition, select the Select Image tool, and then drag the image from the lightbox to the
work area.

• To remove an image from the composition, select the Select Image tool, and then drag the image from the work
area to the lightbox.
Make sure Snap To Image is selected to automatically snap overlapping images into place when a commonality is
detected.

Change the vanishing point in a Photomerge panorama
The Vanishing Point tool selects the vanishing point image, which changes the perspective of the Photomerge
panorama composition.
1 Select Perspective in the Settings area of the Photomerge dialog box. The middle image is the default vanishing

point image (it has a blue border around it when selected).
2 Select the Vanishing Point tool

, and click on an image in the work area to make it the vanishing point image.
There can only be one vanishing point image in a composition.

Note: Hold down the Alt key when you move the pointer over an image to show the selection border of the photo.

Last updated 7/26/2011

167

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Cropping, resizing, retouching, and transforming photos

3 If necessary, use the Select Image tool

to adjust the position of the non-vanishing point images. A non-vanishing
point image has a red border around it when selected.

When you apply perspective correction to a composition, the non-vanishing point images are linked to the vanishing
point image. You can break this link by clicking the Reposition Only button, by separating the images in the work area,
or by dragging the vanishing point image back to the lightbox. After the link is broken, images return to their original
shapes.
The perspective correction only works up to an approximately 120° angle of view. If your composition has a wider
angle of view, deselect the Perspective option.

Last updated 7/26/2011

168

Chapter 9: Understanding color
In Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8, you use two color models to manipulate color. One model is based on the way the
human eye sees color—hue, saturation, and brightness (HSB), while the other model is based on the way computer
monitors display color (in amounts of red, green, and blue or RGB). The color wheel is another tool that helps you
understand the relationships between colors. Photoshop Elements provides four image modes that determine the
number of colors displayed in an image: RGB, bitmap, grayscale, and indexed color.

Understanding color
About color
The human eye perceives color in terms of three characteristics—hue, saturation, and brightness (HSB)—whereas
computer monitors display colors by generating varying amounts of red, green, and blue (RGB) light. In
Photoshop Elements, you use the HSB and RGB color models to select and manipulate color. The color wheel can help
you understand the relationships between colors.

HSB model
Based on the human perception of color, the HSB model describes three fundamental characteristics of color:
Hue The color reflected from or transmitted through an object. It is measured as a location on the standard color
wheel, expressed as a degree between 0 and 360. In common use, hue is identified by the name of the color, such as
red, orange, or green.
Saturation The strength or purity of the color. Saturation, which is sometimes called chroma, represents the amount

of gray in proportion to the hue, measured as a percentage from 0 (gray) to 100 (fully saturated). On the standard color
wheel, saturation increases from the center to the edge.
Brightness The relative lightness or darkness of the color, usually measured as a percentage from 0 (black) to 100

(white).
Although you can use the HSB model in Photoshop Elements to define a color in the Color Picker dialog box, you
cannot use the HSB mode to create or edit images.
0

360

100

HSB view in the Adobe Color Picker
A. Saturation B. Hue C. Brightness

Last updated 7/26/2011

169

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

RGB model
A large percentage of the visible spectrum can be represented by mixing red, green, and blue (RGB) light in various
proportions and intensities. These three colors are called the additive primaries. Added together, red, green, and blue
light make white light. Where two colors overlap, they create cyan, magenta, or yellow.
The additive primary colors are used for lighting, video, and monitors. Your monitor, for example, creates color by
emitting light through red, green, and blue phosphors.
B

Additive colors (RGB).
A. Red B. Green C. Blue D. Yellow E. Magenta F. Cyan

Color wheel
The color wheel is a convenient way to understand and remember the relationship between colors. Red, green, and
blue are the additive primaries. Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the subtractive primaries. Directly across from each
additive primary is its complement: red-cyan, green-magenta, and blue-yellow.
Each subtractive primary is made up of two additive primaries, but not its complement. So, if you increase the amount
of a primary color in your image, you reduce the amount of its complement. For example, yellow is composed of green
and red light, but there is no blue light in yellow. When adjusting yellow in Photoshop Elements, you change the color
values in the blue color channel. By adding blue to your image, you subtract yellow from it.
0/360
B

270

90
F

180
Color wheel.
A. Magenta B. Red C. Yellow D. Green E. Cyan F. Blue

Last updated 7/26/2011

170

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

Using image modes and color tables
About image modes
An image mode determines the number of colors that can be displayed in an image and can also affect the file size of
the image. Photoshop Elements provides four image modes: RGB, bitmap, grayscale, and indexed color.

Image modes
A. Bitmap mode B. Grayscale mode C. Indexed-color mode D. RGB mode

Bitmap mode Uses one of two color values (black or white) to represent the pixels in an image. Images in bitmap mode

are called 1-bit images because they have a bit depth of 1.
Grayscale mode Uses up to 256 shades of gray. Grayscale images are 8-bit images. Every pixel in a grayscale image has

a brightness value ranging from 0 (black) to 255 (white). Grayscale values can also be measured as percentages of black
ink coverage (0% is equal to white, 100% to black).
Indexed Color mode Uses up to 256 colors. Indexed-color images are 8-bit images. When converting into indexed
color, Photoshop Elements builds a color lookup table (CLUT), which stores and indexes the colors in the image. If a
color in the original image does not appear in the table, the program chooses the closest one or simulates the color
using available colors. By limiting the panel of colors, indexed color can reduce file size while maintaining visual
quality—for example, for a web page. Limited editing is available in this mode. For extensive editing, you should
convert temporarily into RGB mode.

When you choose a different color mode for an image in the Editor (Image > Mode > [image mode]), you permanently
change the color values in the image. You might want to convert into a different mode for several reasons. For example,
you may have an old scanned photo in grayscale mode in which you want to add color, so you would need to convert
it into RGB mode. Before converting images, it’s best to do the following:

• Edit as much as possible in RGB mode.
• Save a backup copy before converting. Be sure to save a copy of your image that includes all layers in order to edit
the original version of the image after the conversion.

• Flatten the file before converting it. The interaction of colors between layer blending modes will change when the
mode changes.

Last updated 7/26/2011

171

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

Note: Hidden layers are discarded and images are flattened automatically when you convert them into bitmap or
indexed-color mode, because these modes do not support layers.
RGB Color mode The default mode of new Photoshop Elements images and images from your digital camera. In RGB

mode, the red, green, and blue components are each assigned an intensity value for every pixel—ranging from 0 (black)
to 255 (white). For example, a bright red color might have an R value of 246, a G value of 20, and a B value of 50. When
the values of all three components are equal, the result is a shade of neutral gray. When the value of all components is
255, the result is pure white; when the value is 0, the result is pure black.

Convert an image to bitmap mode
To convert an image to bitmap mode, you must first convert it to grayscale mode, simplifying the color information
in the image and reducing its file size. Converting to grayscale removes the hue and saturation information from the
pixels and leaves just the brightness values. However, because few editing options are available for bitmap-mode
images, it’s usually best to edit the image in grayscale mode and then convert it.
1 Choose Image > Mode > Bitmap.
2 If the image is RGB, click OK to convert it to grayscale.
3 For Output, enter a value for the output resolution of the bitmap-mode image, and choose a unit of measurement.

By default, the current image resolution appears as both the input and the output resolutions.
4 Select one of the following bitmap conversion methods, and click OK:
50% Threshold Converts pixels with gray values above the middle gray level (128) to white, and those below to black.

The result is a very high-contrast, black-and-white representation of the image.

Original grayscale image (left) and 50% Threshold conversion method applied (right).

Pattern Dither Converts an image by organizing the gray levels into geometric configurations of black and white dots.
Diffusion Dither Converts an image by using an error-diffusion process, starting at the pixel in the upper-left corner

of the image. If the pixel’s value is above middle gray (128), the pixel is changed to white—if it’s below middle gray, it’s
changed to black. Because the original pixel is rarely pure white or pure black, error is inevitably introduced. This error
is transferred to surrounding pixels and diffused throughout the image, resulting in a grainy, film-like texture. This
option is useful for viewing images on a black-and-white screen.

Pattern Dither and Diffusion Dither conversion methods

Last updated 7/26/2011

172

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

Convert a bitmap-mode image to grayscale
Before converting, keep in mind that a bitmap-mode image edited in grayscale mode may not look the same when
converted back to bitmap mode. For example, consider a pixel that is black in bitmap mode and then edited to a shade
of gray in grayscale mode. If the gray value of the pixel is light enough, it will become white when converted back to
bitmap mode.
1 In the Editor, choose Image > Mode > Grayscale.
2 Enter a value from 1 to 16 for the size ratio.

The size ratio is the factor for scaling down the image. For example, to reduce a grayscale image by 50%, enter 2 for the
size ratio. If you enter a number greater than 1, the program averages multiple pixels in the bitmap-mode image to
produce a single pixel in the grayscale image. This process lets you generate multiple shades of gray from an image
scanned on a 1-bit scanner.

Convert an image to indexed color
Converting to indexed color reduces the number of colors in the image to a maximum of 256—the standard number
of colors supported by the GIF and PNG-8 formats and many web browsers. This conversion reduces file size by
deleting color information from the image.
Note: To convert to indexed color, you must start with either a grayscale or an RGB image.
1 In the Editor, choose Image > Mode > Indexed Color.
2 Click OK to flatten layers.

Note: This will flatten all visible layers and discard hidden layers.
For grayscale images, the conversion happens automatically. For RGB images, the Indexed Color dialog box appears.
3 Select Preview in the Indexed Color dialog box to display a preview of the changes.
4 Specify any of the following conversion options and click OK.
Palette Specifies the color palette to apply to the indexed-color image. There are 10 color palettes available:

• Exact Creates a panel using the exact colors that appear in the RGB image—an option available only if the image
uses 256 or fewer colors. Because the image’s panel contains all of the colors in the image, there is no dithering.
• System (Mac OS) Uses the Mac OS default 8-bit panel, which is based on a uniform sampling of RGB colors.
• System (Windows) Uses the Windows system’s default 8-bit panel, which is based on a uniform sampling of RGB
colors.

• Web Uses the 216 colors that web browsers, regardless of platform, use to display images on a monitor limited to
256 colors. Use this option to avoid browser dither when images are viewed on a monitor display limited to 256 colors.

• Uniform Creates a panel by uniformly sampling colors from the RGB color cube. For example, if
Photoshop Elements takes 6 evenly spaced color levels, each of red, green, and blue, the combination produces a
uniform panel of 216 colors (6 cubed = 6 x 6 x 6 = 216). The total number of colors displayed in an image corresponds
to the nearest perfect cube (8, 27, 64, 125, or 216) that is less than the value in the Colors text box.
• Local or Master Perceptual Creates a custom panel by giving priority to colors to which the human eye has greater
sensitivity. Local Perceptual applies the panel to individual images; Master Perceptual applies the selected panel to
multiple images (for example, for multimedia production).
• Local or Master Selective Creates a color table similar to the Perceptual color table, but favoring broad areas of
color and the preservation of web colors. This option usually produces images with the greatest color integrity. Local

Last updated 7/26/2011

173

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

Selective applies the panel to individual images; Master Selective applies the selected panel to multiple images (for
example, for multimedia production).

• Local or Master Adaptive Creates a panel by sampling the colors from the spectrum appearing most often in the
image. For example, an RGB image with only the colors green and blue produces a panel made primarily of greens and
blues. Most images concentrate colors in particular areas of the spectrum. To control a panel more precisely, first select
a part of the image that contains the colors you want to emphasize. Photoshop Elements weights the conversion
toward these colors. Local Adaptive applies the panel to individual images; Master Adaptive applies the selected panel
to multiple images (for example, for multimedia production).
• Custom Creates a custom panel by using the Color Table dialog box. Either edit the color table and save it for later
use, or click Load to load a previously created color table. This option also displays the current Adaptive panel, which
is useful for previewing the colors most often used in the image.
• Previous Uses the custom panel from the previous conversion, making it easy to convert several images with the
same custom panel.
Colors Specifies the number of colors to include in the color table (up to 256) for Uniform, Perceptual, Selective, or

Adaptive panels.
Forced Provides options to force the inclusion of certain colors in the color table. Black And White adds a pure black

and a pure white to the color table; Primaries adds red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and white; Web adds
the 216 web-safe colors; and Custom lets you define custom colors to add.
Transparency Specifies whether to preserve transparent areas of the image during conversion. Selecting this option

adds a special index entry in the color table for a transparent color. Deselecting this option fills transparent areas with
the matte color, or with white if no matte color is chosen.
Matte Specifies the background color used to fill anti-aliased edges that lie adjacent to transparent areas of the image.
With Transparency selected, the matte is applied to edge areas to help blend the edges into a web background of the
same color. With Transparency deselected, the matte is applied to transparent areas. Choosing None for the matte
creates hard-edged transparency, if Transparency is selected; otherwise, all transparent areas are filled with 100%
white.
Dither Specifies whether to use a dither pattern or not. Unless you’re using the Exact color table option, the color table

may not contain all the colors used in the image. To simulate colors not in the color table, you can dither the colors.
Dithering mixes the pixels of the available colors to simulate the missing colors.

• None Does not dither colors but, instead, uses the color closest to the missing color. This tends to result in sharp
transitions between shades of color in the image, creating a posterized effect.
• Diffusion Uses an error-diffusion method that produces a less structured dither than the Pattern option. To protect
colors in the image that contain entries in the color table from being dithered, select Preserve Exact Colors. This is
useful for preserving fine lines and text for web images.

• Pattern Uses a halftone-like square pattern to simulate any colors not in the color table.
• Noise Helps to reduce seam patterns along the edges.
Amount Specifies the percentage of image colors to dither. A higher amount dithers more colors, but may increase file

size.
Preserve Exact Colors Prevents colors in the image that are in the color table from being dithered.

Last updated 7/26/2011

174

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

Edit colors in an indexed-color table
You can edit colors in the color table to produce special effects, or assign transparency in the image to a single color in
the table.
1 Open the indexed-color image in the Editor.
2 Choose Image > Mode > Color Table.
3 Click or drag within the table to choose the color or range of colors you want to change.
4 Choose a color from the Color Picker or sample a color from the image.

If you are changing a range of colors, Photoshop Elements creates a gradient in the color table between the starting
and ending colors. The first color you choose in the Color Picker is the beginning color in the range. When you click
OK, the Color Picker reappears, so that you can choose the last color in the range.
The colors you selected in the Color Picker are placed in the range you selected in the Color Table dialog box.
5 Click Preview to view the results of the changes you have made to the image.
6 Click OK in the Color Table dialog box to apply the new colors to the indexed-color image.

Assign transparency to a single color in an indexed-color table
1 In the Editor, choose Image > Mode > Color Table.
2 Select the eyedropper, and click the desired color in the table or in the image. The sampled color is replaced with

transparency in the image. Click OK.

Use a predefined indexed-color table
1 In the Editor, choose Image > Mode > Color Table.
2 Select an option from the Table menu:
Black Body Displays a panel based on the different colors a black body radiator emits as it is heated—from black to
red, orange, yellow, and white.
Grayscale Displays a panel based on 256 levels of gray—from black to white.
Spectrum Displays a panel based on the colors produced as white light passes through a prism—from violet, blue, and
green to yellow, orange, and red.
System Displays the standard 256-color system panel for Mac OS or Windows.

Save or load an indexed-color table
• To save a table, click the Save button in the Color Table dialog box.
• To load a table, click the Load button in the Color Table dialog box. After you load a color table into an image, the
colors in the image change to reflect the color positions they reference in the new color table.
Note: You can also load saved color tables into the Color Swatches panel.

More Help topics
“Use the Color Swatches panel” on page 214

Last updated 7/26/2011

175

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

Setting up color management
About color management
Color management helps you to achieve consistent color among digital cameras, scanners, computer monitors, and
printers. Each of these devices reproduces a different range of colors, called a color gamut. As you move an image from
your digital camera to your monitor, and finally to a printer, the image colors shift. This shift occurs because every
device has a different color gamut and thus reproduces the colors differently.
RGB
CMYK
A

Photoshop Elements

The color gamuts of different devices and documents
A. Lab color space (entire visible spectrum) B. Documents (working space) C. Devices

Color management translates the image colors so that each device can reproduce them in the same way and the colors
you see on your monitor will be close to the colors in your printed image. All colors may not match exactly because
the printer may not reproduce the same range of colors as the monitor.

B
C
D

Managing color with profiles
A. Profiles describe the color spaces of the input device and the document. B. Using the profiles’ descriptions, the color management system
identifies the document’s actual colors. C. The monitor’s profile tells the color management system how to translate the numeric values into the
monitor’s color space. D. Using the output device’s profile, the color management system translates the document’s numeric values into the color
values of the output device, so the actual colors are printed.

Last updated 7/26/2011

176

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

Profiling devices
For color management to work, you must profile your devices or use an ICC profile created by the device’s
manufacturer.
Capture devices Profiling is not critical for capture devices such as digital cameras or scanners. You may want to

profile a scanner, however, if you want to accurately reproduce the colors in scanned transparencies, and reduce your
color correction workload in Photoshop Elements.
Monitors Calibrating and profiling your monitor is important. If you are using a laptop or other LCD monitor, you
can use the profile provided by the manufacturer. If you own a colorimeter and corresponding software to create
profiles, you can use those profiles in Photoshop Elements.
Printers Profiling your inkjet printer will generally give you better results, though you can make excellent prints
without a printer profile by using the controls in your printer driver. Many printer manufacturers provide ICC printer
profiles on their websites. You need a separate profile for each printer, ink, and type of paper. You can also have
profiles made for your favorite combination of ink and paper.

When you work on a photo and save it, Photoshop Elements can embed (tag) an ICC profile that reflects the colors on
your computer monitor or the device that produced it. Embedding profiles with an image makes its color portable, so
that different devices can translate its color values. For example, if you send the photo to your inkjet printer, the color
management system reads the embedded profile and translates the color data using the printer’s profile. Your printer
can then use the translated color data to accurately translate its color into the selected media.

Color management tasks
If you want to use color management, you need to perform the following tasks:

• Set up color management by embedding a color profile and using device profiles when scanning or printing. (See
“Set up color management” on page 176.)

• Calibrate and profile your computer monitor. If you use an LCD monitor, use the profile that came with your
monitor. See your LCD monitor documentation for instructions.

• When you print an image from Photoshop Elements, make sure that the correct color profile is specified in the
Color Management area of the Print dialog box. Or, if you don’t have a printer profile, specify colors using the color
controls in the printer driver. In addition, choose a color setting that’s appropriate for your workflow, such as
Optimize For Printing.

Set up color management
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Color Settings.
2 Select one of the following color management options, then click OK.
No Color Management Leaves your image untagged. This option uses your monitor profile as the working space. It
removes any embedded profiles when opening images, and does not tag when saving.
Always Optimize Colors For Computer Screens Uses sRGB as the RGB working space; the Grayscale working space is
Gray Gamma 2.2. This option preserves embedded profiles, and assigns sRGB when opening untagged files.
Always Optimize For Printing Uses Adobe RGB as the RGB working space; the Grayscale working space is Dot Gain

20%. This option preserves embedded profiles and assigns Adobe RGB when opening untagged files.
Allow Me To Choose Lets you choose sRGB (the default) or Adobe RGB when opening untagged files.

3 When you save a file, select ICC Profile in the Save As dialog box.

Last updated 7/26/2011

177

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Understanding color

Convert color profile
You don’t often change the color profile of a document. Photoshop Elements automatically assigns the color profile
based on the setting you select in the Color Settings dialog box. However, one reason to manually change a color profile
is when preparing a document for a different output destination. The other time to change a color profile is for
correcting a policy behavior that you no longer want implemented in the document. Changing the color profile is
recommended for advanced users only.
❖ In the Editor, choose Image > Convert Color Profile and then choose one of the following:
Remove Profile Removes the profile so that the document is no longer color-managed.
Convert To sRGB Profile Embeds an sRGB profile in the document.
Convert To Adobe RGB Profile Embeds an Adobe RGB profile in the document.

Last updated 7/26/2011

178

Chapter 10: Filters, effects, styles, and
artwork
You can enhance images by using a variety of filters, effects, styles, and artwork. Using the deinterlace and NTSC color
filters, you can smooth lines in a video or prepare it for television reproduction. You can also install and use third-party
plug-in filters or create custom filters.

Effects
Using the Effects panel
The Effects panel provides a single location from which you can apply effects. By default, the Effects panel is located
on the top of the Panel Bin.
C
A

Effects panel
A. Category B. Sample thumbnails C. More menu D. Subcategory E. Apply (save)

Filters

Apply filters to your image.

Layer Styles
Photo Effects

Apply layer styles to your image.
Apply photo effects to your image.

Each section displays thumbnail examples of the artwork or effects that you can add or apply to an image. Most
sections offer a menu of category options and corresponding subcategories.

Using the Content panel
The Content panel provides a single location from which you can apply artwork, theme decorations, and text styles to
your images. To show the Content panel, choose Window > Content.

Last updated 7/26/2011

179

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

B
A

Content panel
A. Category B. More menu C. Sample thumbnails

In the Content panel, the following sections provide various items that can enhance your images:
Choose from a selection of decorative backgrounds.

Filter For Backgrounds
Filter For Frames
Filter For Graphics
Filter For Shapes
Filter For Text Effects
Filter For Themes

Choose from preset frames to enhance your image or project.
Apply graphics to your image or project.
Apply shapes to your image or project.
Apply text to your image or project.
Choose from a selection of themes to apply to your project.

Each section displays thumbnail examples of the artwork or effects that you can add or apply to an image. Most
sections offer a menu of category options and corresponding subcategories.
Note: Clicking these buttons activates or deactivates the display of the thumbnails related to these buttons.

Add stylized shapes or graphics to an image
When you add a shape or graphic to an image, the shape or graphic is a new layer and does not affect the original image.
1 In the Content panel, do one of the following:

• Click the Filter For Graphics

or Filter For Shapes

icon.

• Choose from the category menu (for example, By Event or By Activity), and choose a subcategory (for example,
Baby or Cooking).
2 Then, in the toolbox, choose a color for the shape.
3 Do one of the following:

• Select a thumbnail and click Apply.
• Double-click a thumbnail.
• Drag the thumbnail to the image.
4 Use the Move tool

to relocate or resize the shape or graphic.

More Help topics
“About shapes” on page 246
“Select or move a shape” on page 249

Last updated 7/26/2011

180

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Add an artistic background to an image
When you add an artistic background to an image, you replace the existing background layer. For example, you could
use the selection tools to create a layer separating your family members from a kitchen background, and then replace
the kitchen with a nature background.
1 If your image has only a background layer, select it, and choose Layer > Duplicate Layer. Name the layer and click OK.
2 Select the Background layer in the Layers panel.
3 In the Content panel, click the Background icon

4 Do one of the following:

• Select a thumbnail, and click Apply.
• Double-click a thumbnail.
• Drag the thumbnail to the image.

Add a frame or theme to an image
When you add a frame or theme to a photo project, frames appear with a blank (gray) area for the image. Click and
drag an image from the Project Bin to the blank area.
1 In the Content panel, do one of the following:

• Click the Filter For Themes

or Filter For Frames

icon.

• Choose from the category menu (for example, By Event or By Activity, and choose a subcategory (for example,
Baby or Cooking).
2 Do one of the following:

• Select a thumbnail and click Apply.
• Double-click a thumbnail.
• Drag the thumbnail to the blank background.
3 Drag the desired image from the Project Bin to the frame.
4 Use the slider to resize the image in the frame or theme border, then click the Commit icon

or click the Cancel icon

5 Use the Move tool to center the image, then click the Commit icon

icon

to apply the change,

.
to apply the change, or click the Cancel

About photo effects
Photo effects let you quickly create different looks for your images. In the Effects panel, click Photo Effects
and
choose one of the subcategories, such as Faded Photo, Frame, Misc. Effects, Monotone Color, Old Photo or Vintage
Photo.
Frame Apply a variety of effects to the edges of a selected layer, or to a portion of a layer. A frame also creates a drop

zone where you can add or change the contents easily.
Image Effects Apply effects to a copy of a selected layer. Adding the Blizzard effect to an image makes it look like it’s
snowing. The Neon Glow effect turns the image into a dramatic neon picture. You can use Image effects, such as Oil
Pastel or Soft Focus, to soften colors or blur an image. You can also combine Image effects, but you may be prompted
to flatten layers first.

Last updated 7/26/2011

181

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Textures Apply texture layers to an image. You can add texture to a new, blank image as a background, or add a texture

to an existing image. By arranging layers, and working with opacity and other layer tools, you can create interesting
and attractive images.
Many photo effects apply filters with modified values.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178
“Improve performance with filters and effects” on page 187
“Flatten an image” on page 61

Apply an effect
If you want to experiment with an effect, modify a duplicate layer and preserve the original image.
1 Do one of the following:

• To apply an effect to an entire layer, deselect any selected areas in the image, and then select the layer in the Layers
panel.

• To apply an effect to a portion of a layer, use any selection tool to select the area.
• To apply an effect to text, select or create text, and use any text effect from the Content panel.
2 In the Effects panel, choose Photo Effects

and do one of the following:

• Double-click an effect.
• Drag an effect to the image.
• Select an effect, and click Apply.
Note: In some cases, when applying an effect to an image with multiple layers, you are prompted to flatten the image first.

Dragging an image effect to a photo

Last updated 7/26/2011

182

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

More Help topics
“About photo effects” on page 180
“Improve performance with filters and effects” on page 187
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Add stylized text to an image
When you add text to an image, a text layer is added, so you can modify the text without affecting the original image.
1 In the Content panel, click the Text icon

, and then do one of the following:

• Select a thumbnail, and click Apply.
• Double-click a thumbnail.
• Drag a thumbnail to the image.
2 A text frame appears over the image and the Text tool becomes active. Type in the new text.
3 When you are finished changing the text, either click the Commit icon

icon

to apply the change, or click the Cancel

4 Use the Move tool to relocate or resize the text frame.
5 (Optional) Add color to the text using the pop-up Color panel in the options bar.
6 When you finish adjusting the text, either click the Commit icon

icon

to apply the change, or click the Cancel

7 (Optional) To experiment with different text effects, drag a different thumbnail over the text frame.

More Help topics
“About text” on page 238
“Edit type in a type layer” on page 240
“Change the orientation of a type layer” on page 244

Add artwork or effects to Favorites
When you see artwork or effects that you would like to quickly access in the future, add it to the Favorites section of
the Effects panel.
❖ In the Effects or Content panel, right-click on the thumbnail and choose Add To Favorites.

Filters
About filters
You can use filters to clean up or retouch photos. You can also use filters to apply special art effects or create unique
transformations using distortion effects. In addition to the filters provided by Adobe, some filters provided by thirdparty developers are available as plug-ins. Once installed, these plug-in filters appear at the bottom of the Filter lists.

Last updated 7/26/2011

183

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Filters can radically change the mood of a photo or image.

You can apply filters in any of three ways:
Filter menu Contains all of the available filters and lets you apply filters individually.
Filter Gallery Displays thumbnail examples of what each filter does, like the panel. The Filter Gallery lets you apply

filters cumulatively and apply individual filters more than once. You can also rearrange filters and change the settings
of each filter you’ve applied to achieve the effect you want. Because it is so flexible, the Filter Gallery is often the best
choice for applying filters. However, not all filters listed in the Filter menu are available in the Filter Gallery.
Effects panel Displays thumbnail examples of what each filter listed in the Filter menu does. However, you can also

use it to apply effects and layer styles.
Tips for applying filters
The following information can help you understand the process of applying filters to your images.

• Preview the filter’s result. Applying filters to a large image can be time-consuming. It’s quicker to preview what the
filter does in the Filter Gallery. Most filters also let you preview their result in the Filter Options dialog box and the
document window. You can then choose to apply the filter or cancel the operation without losing time.

• Filters apply only to the active part of an image. Filters affect only the active, visible layer or a selected area of the
layer.

• Filters don’t work on all images. You can’t use some filters on images in grayscale mode, or any filters on images in
bitmap or indexed-color mode. Many filters don’t work on 16-bit images.

• You can reapply the previous filter. The last filter you applied appears at the top of the Filter menu. You can reapply
it with the same settings you last used to further enhance the image.
Tips for creating visual effects with filters
Use the following techniques to achieve special visual results with filters:

• Feature the filter edges. If you’re applying a filter to a selected area, you can soften the edges of the filter effect by
feathering the selection before you apply the filter.

Last updated 7/26/2011

184

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

• Apply filters in succession to build up effects. You can apply filters to individual layers or to several layers in
succession to build up an effect. Choosing different blending modes in the Layers panel blends the effect. For a filter
to affect a layer, the layer must be visible and must contain pixels.

• Create textures and backgrounds. By applying filters to solid-color or grayscale images, you can generate a variety
of backgrounds and textures. You can then blur these textures. Although some filters (for example, the Glass filter)
have little or no visible effect when applied to solid colors, others produce interesting effects. For such colors, you
can use Add Noise, Chalk & Charcoal, Clouds, Conté Crayon, Difference Clouds, Glass, Graphic Pen, Halftone
Pattern, Mezzotint, Note Paper, Pointillize, Reticulation, Rough Pastels, Sponge, or Underpainting. You can also
use any of the filters in the Texture submenu.

• Improve image quality and consistency. You can disguise faults, alter or enhance images, or make a series of images
look similar by applying the same filter to each.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178
“Improve performance with filters and effects” on page 187

Apply a filter
1 Choose the area you want to apply the filter to:

• To apply a filter to an entire layer, deselect any selected areas, and then select the layer in the Layers panel.
• To apply a filter to a portion of a layer, use any selection tool to select an area.
2 Choose how to apply the filter:

• To use the Filter gallery, choose Filter > Filter Gallery, select a category, and click the filter you want to apply.
• To use the Effects panel, choose Window > Effects, select a category, and double-click the filter you want to apply.
You can also drag a filter to the image.

• To use the Filter menu, choose Filter, then choose a submenu followed by the filter you want to apply. If a filter
name is followed by ellipses (…), a Filter Options dialog box appears.
3 If a dialog box appears, enter values or select options.
4 If available, select the Preview option to preview the filter in the document window. Depending on the filter and

how you are applying it, use one of the following methods to preview the filter:

• Use the + button or - button under the preview window to zoom in or zoom out.
• Click the zoom bar (where the zoom percentage appears) to choose a zoom percentage.
• Click-drag within the preview window to center a specific area of the image in the window.
• Click the Show/Hide button

at the top of the dialog box to hide the filter thumbnails. Hiding the thumbnails

expands the preview area.

• Click the eye icon

next to a filter to hide the effect in the preview image.

5 If the dialog box contains sliders, hold down Alt while dragging a slider to see a real-time preview (real-time

rendering).
6 Click in the image window to center a specific area of the image in the preview window. (This may not work with

all preview windows.)
Note: A blinking line beneath the preview size indicates that the preview is being rendered.

Last updated 7/26/2011

185

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

7 If you are using the Filter Gallery, or the filter opens in the Filter Gallery, do any of the following and click OK:

• Click the New Effect Layer button

at the bottom of the dialog box and choose an additional filter to apply. You
can add multiple effect layers to apply multiple filters.

• Rearrange applied filters by dragging a filter name to another position in the list of applied filters at the bottom of
the dialog box. Rearranging the order of filters can dramatically change the way your image looks.

• Remove applied filters by selecting the filter and clicking the Delete Effect Layer button

8 If you are using a Filter command or the Effects panel, do one of the following and click OK:

• Double-click the filter.
• Drag the filter onto the image.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178

Filter categories
You can apply the following categories of filters:
Correct Camera Distortion Fixes common lens flaws such as barrel and pincushion distortion, and vignetting. The
filter also rotates an image and fixes image perspective caused by vertical or horizontal camera tilt.
Adjustment filters Change the brightness values, color, grayscale range, and tonal levels of pixels in an image. Convert

color pixels into black and white.
Artistic filters Simulate a painterly appearance on traditional media and create a unique look.
Blur filters Soften a selection or an image. Useful for retouching.
Brush Stroke filters Give a painterly or fine-arts look using different brush and ink stroke effects.
Distort filters Geometrically distort an image, creating three-dimensional and other reshaping effects.
Noise filters Blend a selection into the surrounding pixels and remove problem areas, such as dust and scratches.
Pixelate filters Sharply define an image or selection by clumping pixels of similar color values.
Render filters Create cloud patterns, lens flare, fibers, and lightning effects in an image.
Sketch filters Add texture for depth or to give a hand-drawn look.
Stylize filters Produce a painted or impressionistic effect by displacing pixels and heightening contrast.
Texture filters Give the appearance of depth or substance, or add an organic look.
Video filters Restrict the gamut of colors to those acceptable for television reproduction and smooth moving images
captured from video.
Other filters Let you create your own filter effects, modify masks, offset a selection within an image, and make quick

color adjustments.
Digimarc filter Lets you read a Digimarc watermark.

Last updated 7/26/2011

186

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Filter Gallery
The Filter Gallery (Filter > Filter Gallery) lets you apply filters cumulatively, and apply individual filters more than
once. You can also rearrange filters and change the settings of each filter you’ve applied to achieve the effect you want.
Because you can apply more than one filter to an image when you use the Filter Gallery dialog box, you have a lot of
control over the way your image is affected by each filter. The Filter Gallery is often the best choice for applying filters
because it’s flexible and easy to use.

Applying filters through the Filter Gallery
A. Original photo B. Photos each with a single filter applied C. Three filters applied cumulatively

However, not all filters are available from the Filter Gallery. Some are available only as individual commands from the
Filter menu. Also, you cannot apply effects and layer styles from the Filter Gallery, as you can from the Effects panel.
A

F
G
H
I

Filter Gallery dialog box
A. Filter category B. Thumbnail of selected filter C. Show/Hide filter thumbnails D. Filter menu E. Options for selected filter F. List of filter
effects to apply or arrange G. Hidden filter H. Filters applied cumulatively but not selected I. Filter selected but not applied

Last updated 7/26/2011

187

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178

Texture and glass surface options
The Conté Crayon, Glass, Rough Pastels, Texturizer, and Underpainting filters have texturizing options. These options
make images appear as if they were painted onto textures, such as canvas or brick, or viewed through glass blocks.
Texture Specifies the type of texture to apply. You can also click Load Texture

to specify a Photoshop file.

Scaling Increases or decreases the effect on the image surface.
Relief (if available) Adjusts the depth of the texture’s surface.
Light (if available) Sets the direction of the light source on the image.
Invert Reverses the surface’s light and dark colors.

Improve performance with filters and effects
Some filters and effects are memory intensive, especially when applied to high-resolution images. You can use these
techniques to improve performance:

• Try filters and settings on a small selected area of the image.
• Try filters and settings on a smaller, resized copy of your image. When you’re satisfied with the results, apply the
filter with the same settings to your original image.

• Free up memory before running the filter or effect by clearing the clipboard, the undo history, or both. Choose
Edit > Clear > [command].

• Exit from other applications to make more memory available.
• Adjust filter settings to make memory-intensive filters less complex. Memory-intensive filters include Lighting
Effects, Cutout, Stained Glass, Chrome, Ripple, Spatter, Sprayed Strokes, and Glass. (For example, to reduce the
complexity of the Stained Glass filter, increase cell size. To reduce the complexity of the Cutout filter, increase Edge
Simplicity, decrease Edge Fidelity, or both.)

More Help topics
“About photo effects” on page 180

Artistic filters
Colored Pencil
The Colored Pencil filter redraws an image using colored pencils on a solid background. This filter retains important
edges and gives them a rough crosshatch appearance; the solid background color shows through the smoother areas.
You can set the pencil width, stroke pressure, and paper brightness.
Note: For a parchment effect, change the background color before applying the Colored Pencil filter to a selected area.

Last updated 7/26/2011

188

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Cutout
The Cutout filter portrays an image as though it were made from roughly cut-out pieces of colored paper. Highcontrast images appear as if in silhouette, while colored images are built up from several layers of colored paper. You
can set the number of levels, edge simplicity, and edge fidelity.

Dry Brush
The Dry Brush filter paints an image using a dry brush technique (between oil and watercolor). The filter simplifies an
image by reducing its range of colors to areas of common color. You can set the brush size, brush detail, and texture.

Film Grain
The Film Grain filter applies an even, grainy pattern to an image. It adds a smoother, more saturated pattern to the
image’s lighter areas. This filter is useful for eliminating banding in blends and visually unifying elements from various
sources. You can set the grain, highlight area, and intensity.

Fresco
The Fresco filter paints a layer in a coarse style using short, rounded, and hastily applied dabs. You can set the brush
size, brush detail, and texture.

Neon Glow
The Neon Glow filter uses the foreground color, background color, and glow color to colorize an image while softening
its look. You can set the glow size, glow brightness, and glow color. Lower glow size values restrict the glow color to
the shadow areas, and higher values move the glow color to the midtones and highlight areas of a layer. To select a glow
color, click the Glow Color box, and select a color in the Color Picker.

Paint Daubs
The Paint Daubs filter makes an image appear painted. You can set the brush size, sharpness, and brush types.

Palette Knife
The Palette Knife filter reduces detail in an image to give the effect of a thinly painted canvas that reveals the texture
underneath. You can set the stroke size, stroke detail, and softness.

Plastic Wrap
The Plastic Wrap filter renders a layer as if it were coated in shiny plastic, accentuating the surface detail. You can set
the highlight strength, detail, and smoothness.

Poster Edges
The Poster Edges filter reduces the number of colors in an image according to the posterization option you set, finds
the edges of the image, and draws black lines on them. Large broad areas of the image receive simple shading, while
fine dark details are distributed throughout the image. You can set the edge thickness, edge intensity, and
posterization.

Last updated 7/26/2011

189

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Rough Pastels
The Rough Pastels filter makes an image appear as if it were made with rough strokes of pastel chalk on a textured
background. In areas of bright color, the chalk appears thick with little texture; in darker areas, the chalk appears
scraped off to reveal the texture. You can set the stroke length, stroke detail, and texture. Texture options make images
appear as if they were painted onto textures, such as canvas, brick, burlap, or sandstone.

Smudge Stick
The Smudge Stick filter softens an image using short diagonal strokes to smudge or smear the darker areas of the
images. Lighter areas become brighter and lose detail. You can set the stroke length, highlight area, and intensity.

Sponge
The Sponge filter paints a layer with highly textured areas of contrasting color. You can set the brush size, definition,
and smoothness.

Underpainting
The Underpainting filter paints a layer as if it were on a textured background. You can set the brush size, texture
coverage area, and texture options. Texture options make images appear as if they were painted onto textures, such as
canvas, brick, burlap, or standstone.

Watercolor
The Watercolor filter paints an image in a watercolor style, simplifying details in an image by using a medium brush
loaded with water and color. Where significant tonal changes occur at edges, the filter saturates colors. You can set the
brush detail, shadow intensity, and texture.

Blur filters
Average
The Average filter finds the average color of an image or selection, and then fills the image or selection with the color
to create a smooth look. For example, if you select an area of grass, the filter changes the area into a homogeneous patch
of green.

Blur and Blur More
The Blur filters soften a selection or an image and are useful for retouching. They smooth transitions by averaging the
color values of pixels next to the hard edges of defined lines and shaded areas.
Blur Eliminates noise where significant color transitions occur in an image. Blur filters smooth transitions by
averaging the color values of pixels next to the hard edges of defined lines and shaded areas.
Blur More Produces an effect several times stronger than that of the Blur filter.

Note: Before applying a Blur filter, deselect the Lock transparent pixels option in the Layers panel.

Last updated 7/26/2011

190

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Blurring the background of a photo

Gaussian Blur
The Gaussian Blur filter quickly blurs a selection by an adjustable amount. Gaussian refers to the bell-shaped curve
that Photoshop Elements generates when it applies a weighted average to the pixels. The Gaussian Blur filter adds lowfrequency detail and can produce a hazy effect. You can set the blur radius in the filter options to determine how far
the filter searches for dissimilar pixels to blur.

Motion Blur
The Motion Blur filter blurs in a particular direction (from -360º to +360º) and at a specific distance (from 1 to 999).
The filter’s effect is analogous to taking a picture of a moving object with a fixed exposure time. You can set the blur
angle and distance.

Radial Blur
The Radial Blur filter simulates the blur of a zooming or rotating camera to produce a soft blur. The Amount option
controls the blur amount. Spin blurs along concentric circular lines and lets you specify a degree of rotation. Zoom
blurs along radial lines, as if zooming in on or out of the image and lets you specify an amount from 1 to 100. Blur
quality ranges from Draft for fast but grainy, results to Good and Best for smoother results, which are indistinguishable
except on a large selection. You can specify the origin of the blur by dragging the pattern in the Blur Center box.

Smart Blur
The Smart Blur filter precisely blurs an image. You can specify a radius to determine how far the filter searches for
dissimilar pixels to blur, a threshold to determine how different the pixels’ values must be before they are eliminated,
and a blur quality. You can also set a mode for the entire selection (Normal) or for the edges of color transitions (Edge
Only and Overlay Edge). Where significant contrast occurs, Edge Only applies black-and-white edges and Overlay
Edge applies white.

Surface Blur
The Surface Blur filter blurs an image while preserving edges. This filter is useful for creating special effects and for
removing noise and graininess. The Radius option specifies the size of the area sampled for the blur. The Threshold
option controls how much the tonal values of neighboring pixels must diverge from the center pixel value before
becoming a part of the blur. Pixels with tonal value differences less than the Threshold value are excluded from the blur.

Last updated 7/26/2011

191

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Brush Stroke filters
Accented Edges
The Accented Edges filter accentuates the edges of an image. When the edge brightness control is set to a high value,
the accents resemble white chalk; when set to a low value, the accents resemble black ink. You can set the edge width,
edge brightness, and smoothness.

Angled Strokes
The Angled Strokes filter repaints an image using diagonal strokes. The strokes in the lighter areas of the image go in
the opposite direction of the strokes in the darker areas. You can set the stroke direction balance, stroke length, and
sharpness.

Crosshatch
The Crosshatch filter preserves the details and features of the original image while adding texture and roughening the
edges of the colored areas in the image with simulated pencil hatching. You can set the stroke length, sharpness, and
strength (the number of hatching passes).

Dark Strokes
The Dark Strokes filter paints dark areas of an image closer to black with short, tight strokes, and paints lighter areas
of the layer with long, white strokes. You can set the stroke balance and black and white intensity levels.

Ink Outlines
The Ink Outlines filter redraws an image with fine narrow lines over the original details, in pen-and-ink style. You can
set the stroke length and dark and light intensity levels.

Spatter
The Spatter filter replicates the effect of a spatter airbrush. You can set the spray radius and smoothness.

Sprayed Strokes
The Sprayed Strokes filter repaints a layer using its dominant colors with angled, sprayed strokes of color. You can set
the stroke length, spray radius, and stroke direction.

Sumi-e
The Sumi-e filter redraws a layer in a Japanese style, as if with a wet brush full of black ink on rice paper. The effect is
soft blurry edges with rich blacks. You can set stroke width, stroke pressure, and contrast.

Last updated 7/26/2011

192

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Distort filters
Diffuse Glow
The Diffuse Glow filter renders an image as though it were viewed through a soft diffusion filter. This filter adds seethrough white noise to an image, with the glow fading from the center of a selection.

Displace
The Displace filter uses an image, called a displacement map, to determine how to distort a selection. For example,
using a parabola-shaped displacement map, you can create an image that appears to be printed on a cloth held at its
corners.
This filter requires a displacement map file composed of either a flattened image saved in Photoshop format or an
image in bitmap mode. You can use your own files or the files included in the Photoshop Elements
8/Plug-Ins/Displacement Maps folder or the Photoshop Elements 8/Presets/Textures folder.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182
“Flatten an image” on page 61

Apply the Displace filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Distort > Displace from the Filter menu.
3 To define the magnitude of the displacement, enter a value between -999 and 999 in the Horizontal and Vertical

Scale text boxes.
When the horizontal and vertical scales are 100%, the greatest displacement is 128 pixels (because middle gray
produces no displacement).
4 If the displacement map is not the same size as the selection, select how you want the map to fit the image:
Stretch To Fit Resizes the map.
Tile Fills the selection by repeating the map in a pattern.

5 Select how to fill voids that are created by the filter in the image, and click OK.
Wrap Around Fills voids with content from the opposite edge of the image.
Repeat Edge Pixels Extends the colors of pixels along the image’s edge in the direction you specify.

6 Select and open the displacement map. Photoshop Elements applies the map to the image.

Glass
The Glass filter makes an image appear as if it were being viewed through different types of glass. You can choose a
glass effect or create your own glass surface as a Photoshop file and apply it. You can adjust scaling, distortion, and
smoothness settings. When using surface controls with a file, follow the instructions for the Displace filter.

Last updated 7/26/2011

193

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Liquify
The Liquify filter makes it easy to manipulate areas of an image as if those areas had been melted. You work with a
preview image of the current layer, using special tools to warp, twirl, expand, contract, shift, or reflect areas of the
image. You can make subtle changes to retouch an image or drastic distortions to create an artistic effect.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

Apply the Liquify filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Filter > Distort > Liquify.
3 To zoom in on or out of the image preview, do one of the following:

• Choose a zoom level from the pop-up menu in the lower-left area of the dialog box.
• Select the Zoom tool from the toolbox in the dialog box, and click in the image to zoom in, or Alt-click to zoom
out. You can also use the Zoom tool to drag over an area of the preview you want to magnify.

• Select a tool from the toolbox.
4 Select one of the following tools from the toolbox:
Warp

Pushes pixels forward as you drag.

Smoothly scrambles pixels and creates fire, clouds, waves, and similar effects. To adjust the
smoothness, drag the Turbulent Jitter pop-up slider in the Tool Options section, or enter a value between 1 and 100 in
the text box. Higher values increase smoothness.

Turbulence

Twirl Clockwise

Rotates pixels clockwise as you hold down the mouse button or drag.

Twirl Counter Clockwise

Moves pixels toward the center of the brush area as you hold down the mouse button or drag.

Pucker
Bloat

Rotates pixels counterclockwise as you hold down the mouse button or drag.

Moves pixels away from the center of the brush area as you hold down the mouse button or drag.

Shift Pixels
Moves pixels perpendicularly to the stroke direction. Drag to move pixels to the left, and Alt-drag to
move pixels to the right.

Copies pixels to the brush area. Drag to reflect the area perpendicular to the direction of the stroke (to
the left of or below the stroke). Alt-drag to reflect the area in the direction opposite the stroke (for example, the area
above a downward stroke). Use overlapping strokes to create an effect similar to a reflection in water.
Reflection

Reconstruct

Fully or partially reverses the changes you’ve made.

5 In the Tool Options section, adjust the brush size and pressure of the tool, as needed:

• To change the brush size, drag the pop-up slider, or enter a brush size value from 1 to 600 pixels.
• To change the brush pressure, drag the pop-up slider, or enter a brush pressure value from 1 to 100.
A low brush pressure makes more gradual changes.

• If you’re using a stylus tablet, select Stylus Pressure.
To create the effect of dragging in a straight line between the current point and the previous point that you clicked,
Shift-click with the Warp, Shift Pixels, or Reflection tool.
6 To apply the changes in the preview image to the actual image, click OK.

Last updated 7/26/2011

194

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

7 (Optional) To revert to a previous state, do one of the following:

• Select the Reconstruct tool

, and hold down the mouse button or drag over the distorted areas. The restoration
occurs more quickly at the brush center. Shift-click to reconstruct in a straight line between the current point and
the previous point that you clicked.

• To restore the entire preview image to its state when you opened the dialog box, press Alt and click Reset.
Alternatively, click Revert to restore the original image and reset the tools to their previous settings.

Ocean Ripple
The Ocean Ripple filter adds randomly spaced ripples to the image's surface, making the image look as if it were under
water.

Pinch
The Pinch filter squeezes a selection or layer inward or outward.

Apply the Pinch filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Distort > Pinch from the Filter menu.
3 Drag the slider to the right, into positive values, to pinch a selection inward toward its center; or to the left, into

negative values, to shift a selection outward. Then click OK.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

Polar Coordinates
The Polar Coordinates filter converts a selection from its rectangular to polar coordinates, and vice versa, according
to a selected option. You can use this filter to create a cylinder anamorphosis—art popular in the 18th century—in
which the distorted image appears normal when viewed in a mirrored cylinder.

Ripple
The Ripple filter creates an undulating pattern on a selection, like ripples on the surface of a pond. For greater control,
use the Wave filter. Options include the amount and size of ripples.

Shear
The Shear filter distorts an image along a curve.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

Apply the Shear filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Distort > Shear from the Filter menu.

Last updated 7/26/2011

195

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

3 To define a distortion curve, do one of the following in the Shear dialog box:

• Click anywhere on either side of the vertical line.
• Click on the vertical line, and then drag the new curve point.
You can drag any point along the curve to adjust the distortion, and you can add additional curve points.
4 Select one of the following in the Undefined Areas options and click OK:
Wrap Around Fills new voids in the image with content from the opposite side of the image.
Repeat Edge Pixels Extends the colors of pixels. Banding may result if the edge pixels are different colors.

You can click Defaults to start over and return the curve to a straight line.

Spherize
The Spherize filter gives objects a 3D effect by wrapping a selection around or inside a spherical shape, distorting and
stretching the image.

Apply the Spherize filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Distort > Spherize from the Filter menu.
3 For Amount, enter a positive value to stretch the image outward as though it were wrapped around a sphere. Enter

a negative amount to compress the image inward as though it were wrapped inside a sphere.
4 For Mode, choose normal, horizontal, or vertical, and then click OK.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

Twirl
The Twirl filter rotates an image or selection more sharply in the center than at the edges. Specifying an angle produces
a twirl pattern. You can drag the slider to the right into positive values to twirl the image clockwise, drag the slider to
the left into negative values to twirl counterclockwise, or enter a value between -999 and 999.

Wave
The Wave filter creates an undulating pattern on a layer or selection.

Apply the Wave filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Distort > Wave from the Filter menu.
3 Select a wave type in the Type section: Sine (creates a rolling wave pattern), Triangle, or Square.
4 To set the number of wave generators, drag the slider or enter a number between 1 and 999.
5 Drag the minimum and maximum Wavelength sliders to set the distance from one wave crest to the next. Set both

sliders to the same value to create a consistent pattern of wave crests.
6 Drag the minimum and maximum Amplitude sliders to set the wave strength.
7 Drag the horizontal and vertical Scale sliders to set the height and width of the wave effect.

Last updated 7/26/2011

196

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

8 To apply random results based on the set of values in the dialog box, click Randomize. You can click Randomize

multiple times to get more results.
9 Select one of the following and click OK:
Wrap Around Fills the voids in the image with content from the opposite edge of the image.
Repeat Edge Pixels Extends the colors of pixels along the image’s edge in the direction specified.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

ZigZag
The ZigZag filter distorts a selection radially, depending on the radius of the pixels in your selection.

Apply the ZigZag filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Distort > ZigZag from the Filter menu.
3 Drag the Amount slider to set the level and direction of distortion.
4 Drag the Ridges slider to set the number of direction reversals for the zigzag from the center to the edge of the

selection.
5 Choose a displacement option from the Style menu and click OK:
Around Center Rotates the pixels around the center of the selection.
Out From Center Produces a rippling effect toward or away from the center of the selection.
Pond Ripples Produces a rippling effect that distorts the selection to the upper left or lower right.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

Noise filters
Add Noise
The Add Noise filter applies random pixels to an image, simulating the result of shooting pictures on high-speed film.
This filter can also be used to reduce banding in feathered selections or graduated fills, to give a more realistic look to
heavily retouched areas, or to create a textured layer. You can set the amount of noise, the type of noise distribution,
and color mode. The Uniform option creates a subtle distribution appearance and Gaussian creates a speckled
distribution look. Monochromatic applies the filter using the existing tones of the image without changing the colors.

Despeckle
The Despeckle filter detects the edges in a layer (areas where significant color changes occur) and blurs all of the
selection except those edges. This blurring removes noise while preserving detail. You can use this filter to remove
banding or visual noise that often appears in scans of magazines or other printed materials.

Last updated 7/26/2011

197

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Dust & Scratches
The Dust & Scratches filter reduces visual noise by changing dissimilar pixels.

Median
The Median filter reduces noise in a layer by blending the brightness of pixels within a selection. The filter searches for
pixels of similar brightness, discarding pixels that differ too much from adjacent pixels, and replaces the center pixel
with the median brightness value of the searched pixels. This filter is useful for eliminating or reducing the appearance
of motion in an image, or undesirable patterns that may appear in a scanned image.

Reduce Noise
The Reduce Noise filter reduces luminous noise and color noise, such as the noise introduced by photographing with
insufficient light. Select the Remove JPEG Artifacts option to remove the blocky artifacts and halos that are caused by
saving an image at a low JPEG quality setting.

In this photo, taken with a mobile phone, there’s noise in the boy’s face (left). The Reduce Noise filter smoothes away the stray pixels (right).

Pixelate filters
Color Halftone
The Color Halftone filter simulates the result of using an enlarged halftone screen on the layer. The filter divides the
image into rectangles and replaces each rectangle with a circle. The circle size is proportional to the brightness of the
rectangle.

Apply the Color Halftone filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Pixelate > Color Halftone from the Filter menu.
3 Enter a value for the maximum radius of a halftone dot, from 4 to 127 pixels.
4 Enter a screen-angle value between -360 and 360 (the angle of the dot from the true horizontal) for one or more

channels:

• For grayscale images, enter a value in channel 1. Values in the other channel text boxes do not affect the filter.
• For color images, use channels 1, 2, 3, and 4, which correspond to CMYK channels (cyan, magenta, yellow, and
black).

Last updated 7/26/2011

198

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

5 Click Defaults to return all the screen angles to their default values, and then click OK.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

Crystalize
The Crystalize filter redraws a layer as polygon-shaped clumps of color. You can set the cell size of the crystals.

Facet
The Facet filter redraws a layer as blocks of solid color. You can use this filter to make a scanned image look handpainted or to make a realistic image resemble an abstract painting.

Fragment
The Fragment filter redraws a layer so that it appears offset and blurred.

Mezzotint
The Mezzotint filter redraws a layer as a random pattern of black-and-white areas in a grayscale image, or fully
saturated colors in a color image. You can choose a dot, line, or stroke pattern.

Mosaic
The Mosaic filter redraws a layer as square blocks of color. You can set the mosaic cell size.

Pointillize
The Pointillize filter redraws a layer as randomly placed dots, as in a pointillist painting, and uses the background color
in the toolbox as a canvas area between the dots. You can set the cell size.

Render filters
Clouds
The Clouds filter generates a soft cloud pattern using random values that vary between the foreground and the
background color in the toolbar.
To generate a starker cloud pattern, hold down Alt as you choose Filter > Render > Clouds.

Difference Clouds
The Difference Clouds filter uses randomly generated values that vary between the foreground and background color
in the toolbox to produce a cloud pattern. The first time you choose this filter, portions of the image are inverted in a
cloud pattern. Applying the filter several times creates rib and vein patterns that resemble a marble texture.

Last updated 7/26/2011

199

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Fibers
The Fibers filter creates the look of woven fibers using the foreground and background colors. You can control how
the colors vary with the Variance option (a low value creates longer streaks of color, while a high value makes very
short fibers with more varied distribution of color). The Strength option controls how each fiber looks. A low setting
creates spread out fibers, while a high setting produces short, stringy fibers. Randomize changes how the pattern looks;
you can select this option until you find a pattern you like. When you apply the Fibers filter, the image data on the
active layer is replaced with fibers.
Add a gradient map adjustment layer to colorize the fibers. (See “About adjustment and fill layers” on page 64.)

Lens Flare
The Lens Flare filter simulates the light refraction caused by shining a bright light into a camera lens. You can set the
flare brightness, flare location, and flare shape (the lens type). Click in the preview window in the dialog box to set the
flare location.

Lighting Effects
The Lighting Effects filter lets you produce sophisticated lighting effects in RGB images. You can create multiple lights,
set individual light properties, and easily drag lights around in the preview window to test different lighting setups.
You can also use textures from grayscale files called texture maps to produce 3D-like effects, and save your own styles
for use in other images.

Apply the Lighting Effects filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Render > Lighting Effects from the Filter menu.
3 Specify options, as desired, and click OK.
Preview area Displays a preview of the lighting effect so you can adjust each light (see “Adjust a light” on page 200).

You can also create a new light by dragging the light icon
into the preview area (you can create up to 16 lights). To
delete a light, select the light in the preview window and drag the light (by its center circle) to the Trash or press Delete.
To copy an existing light, select a light in the preview window, press Alt, and drag to a new location in the window.
Save Lets you name and save the style. Saved styles include all of the settings for each light and appear in the Style

menu whenever you open an image in Photoshop Elements.
Delete Removes the selected style. You can’t delete default styles.
Style menu Lets you choose from the following default light styles, plus any custom styles you have saved:

Note: If you choose a style that has multiple lights, you must set options for each light individually.

• 2 O’ Clock Spotlight Adds one yellow spotlight with medium intensity and wide focus.
• Blue Omni Adds a blue overhead omni light with full intensity and no focus.
• Circle Of Light Adds four spotlights. White has full intensity and a concentrated focus. Yellow has strong intensity
and a concentrated focus. Red has medium intensity and a concentrated focus. Blue has full intensity and medium
focus.

• Crossing Adds one white spotlight with medium intensity and a wide focus.

Last updated 7/26/2011

200

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

• Crossing Down Adds two white spotlights with medium intensity and a wide focus.
• Default Adds a white spotlight with a medium intensity and a wide focus.
• Five Lights Down/Five Lights Up Add five white spotlights down or up with full intensity and wide focus.
• Flashlight Adds an omni yellow light with medium intensity.
• Flood Light Produces a medium intensity and wide focus white spotlight.
• Parallel Directional Is a blue light with full intensity and no focus, or a white directional light with medium
intensity and no focus.

• RGB Lights Are red, green, and blue lights producing a light of medium intensity and wide focus.
• Soft Direct Lights Adds two unfocused white (soft intensity) and blue (medium intensity) directional lights.
• Soft Omni Is a soft omni light of medium intensity.
• Soft Spotlight Is a white spotlight with full intensity and wide (100) focus.
• Three Down Adds three white spotlights with medium intensity and wide focus.
• Triple Spotlight Adds three spotlights with medium intensity and wide focus.
Light Type Contains these options for each light in the selected style:

• On Turns the selected light on or off in the preview window. This is useful if your lighting effects style uses multiple
lights and you want to look at a particular light.
• Intensity Specifies the light’s brightness.
• Focus Specifies the width of the beam of light.
• Color box Displays the Color Picker so you can change the color of the light. Click this white box to use it.
Properties Contains these options for the image you’re shining the light on:

• Gloss Determines how much the surface reflects light, from Matte (low reflectance) to Shiny (high reflectance).
• Material Determines whether the light or the object on which the light is cast reflects more light. Plastic reflects the
light’s color; Metallic reflects the object’s color.
• Exposure Increases the light (positive values) or decreases the light (negative values). A value of 0 has no effect.
• Ambience Diffuses the light as if it were combined with other light in a room, such as sunlight or fluorescent light.
Choose a value of 100 to use only the light source, or a value of -100 to completely diffuse the light source.
• Color box Displays the Color Picker so you can change the color of the ambient light. Click this white box to use it.
Texture Channel Contains these options for creating a texture for the image you’re shining the light on:

• Texture Channel menu Lets you select the red, green, and blue color channels in your image so you can manipulate
how light reflects off of each channel, creating a texture effect. You can also choose to use the layer transparency of the
active layer to create a texture effect.
• White Is High Raises the light parts of the channel from the surface. Deselect this option to raise the dark parts.
• Height Varies the depth of the texture from Flat (0) to Mountainous (100).

Adjust a light
Do any of the following in the Lighting Effects preview, depending on the type of light:

• (Directional, Omni, and Spotlights) To move the light, drag the center circle.

Last updated 7/26/2011

201

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

• (Directional lights) To change the direction of the light, drag the handle at the end of the line at an angle from the
line. Ctrl-drag to keep the light’s height constant.

• (Directional lights) To change the height of the light, drag the handle at the end of the line in the direction of the
line. Shift-drag to keep the angle constant and change the light’s height (line length).

• (Omni lights) To increase or decrease the size of the light, drag one of the handles defining the edges of the light.
• (Spotlights) To change the light angle, drag the handle at the end of the line.
• (Spotlights) To stretch the ellipse or rotate the light, drag one of the handles. Shift-drag to keep the angle constant
and change only the size of the ellipse. Ctrl-drag to keep the size constant and change the angle or direction of the
spotlight.

More Help topics
“Apply the Lighting Effects filter” on page 199
“Lighting Effects” on page 199

Texture Fill
The Texture Fill filter uses a grayscale Photoshop image as a texture for an image.

Sketch filters
Bas Relief
The Bas Relief filter transforms an image to appear carved in low relief and lit to accent the surface variations. Dark
areas of the image take on the foreground color, light areas use the background color. You can set relief detail and
smoothness.

Chalk & Charcoal
The Chalk & Charcoal filter redraws an image’s highlights and midtones with a solid midtone gray background drawn
in coarse chalk. Shadow areas are replaced with black diagonal charcoal lines. The charcoal is drawn in the foreground
color, the chalk in the background color. You can set stroke pressure, and the charcoal and chalk areas.

Charcoal
The Charcoal filter redraws an image to create a smudged effect. Major edges are boldly drawn, and midtones are
sketched using a diagonal stroke. Charcoal is the foreground color, and the paper is the background color. You can set
the charcoal thickness, level of image detail, and light/dark balance.

Chrome
The Chrome filter gives the image a polished chrome surface using highlights as high points and shadows as low points
in the reflecting surface. You can set the level of chrome surface detail and smoothness.
After applying the Chrome filter, use the Levels dialog box to add more contrast to the image.

Last updated 7/26/2011

202

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Conté Crayon
The Conté Crayon filter replicates the texture of dense dark and pure white Conté crayons on an image. The Conté
Crayon filter uses the foreground color for dark areas and the background color for light areas. You can set the level
of foreground and background emphasis, and texture options. Texture options make images appear as if they were
painted onto textures, such as canvas and brick, or viewed through glass blocks, for example.
For a more realistic effect, change the foreground color to one of the common Conté Crayon colors (black, sepia, or
sanguine) before applying this filter. For a muted effect, change the background color to white with some foreground
color added to it.

Graphic Pen
The Graphic Pen filter uses fine, linear ink strokes to capture the details in the original image and is especially striking
with scanned images. The filter replaces color in the original image, using the foreground color for ink and background
color for paper. You can set the stroke length and direction, and the light/dark balance.

Halftone Pattern
The Halftone Pattern filter simulates the effect of a halftone screen while maintaining the continuous range of tones.
You can set the halftone size, contrast, and pattern type.

Note Paper
The Note Paper filter simulates the texture of handmade paper by combining the effects of the Emboss and Grain
filters. Dark areas in the image appear as holes in the top layer of paper, revealing the background color. You can set
the image balance, graininess, and relief.

Photocopy
The Photocopy filter simulates the effect of photocopying an image. Large areas of darkness tend to copy only around
their edges, and midtones fall away to either solid black or white. You can set the level of detail and darkness.

Plaster
The Plaster filter molds the layer into a 3D plaster effect, and then colorizes the result using the foreground and
background color. Dark areas are raised, light areas are sunken. You can set the image balance, smoothness, and light
direction.

Reticulation
The Reticulation filter simulates the controlled shrinking and distorting of film emulsion to create an image that
appears clumped in the shadow areas and lightly grained in the highlights. You can set the density, foreground, and
background levels.

Stamp
The Stamp filter simplifies the image so that it seems made with a rubber or wood stamp. You can set the smoothness,
and the balance between light and dark. This filter works best with black-and-white images.

Last updated 7/26/2011

203

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Torn Edges
The Torn Edges filter reconstructs the image as ragged, torn pieces of paper, and then colorizes the image using the
foreground and background color. You can set the image balance, smoothness, and contrast. This filter is particularly
useful for images consisting of text or high-contrast objects.

Water Paper
The Water Paper filter uses blotchy daubs that appear to be painted onto fibrous, damp paper, causing the colors to
flow and blend. You can set the paper’s fiber length, brightness, and contrast.

Stylize filters
Diffuse
The Diffuse filter shuffles pixels in a selection to make the selection look less focused according to the option you select:
Normal moves pixels randomly, ignoring color values; Darken Only replaces light pixels with darker pixels; Lighten
Only replaces dark pixels with lighter pixels; and Anisotropic softens all pixels.

Emboss
The Emboss filter makes a selection appear raised or stamped by converting its fill color to gray and tracing the edges
with the original fill color. You can set the embossing angle, height, and a percentage for the amount of color within
the selection.

Extrude
The Extrude filter gives a three-dimensional texture to a selection or layer.

Apply the Extrude filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Stylize > Extrude from the Filter menu.
3 Set the following options and click OK:
Blocks Creates objects with a square front face and four side faces.
Pyramids Creates objects with four triangular sides that meet at a point.
Size Determines the length of the object’s base, from 2 to 255 pixels.
Depth Indicates how far the tallest object appears to protrude from the screen, from 1 to 255.
Random Gives each block or pyramid an arbitrary depth.
Level-based Makes each object’s depth correspond to its brightness—bright objects protrude more than dark.
Solid Front Faces Fills the front face of each block with an averaged color of the block. Deselect Solid Front Faces to

fill the front face of each block with the image. This option is not available for Pyramids.
Mask Incomplete Blocks Hides any object extending beyond the selection.

Last updated 7/26/2011

204

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

Find Edges
The Find Edges filter identifies areas of the image with significant transitions and emphasizes edges. Like the Trace
Contour filter, Find Edges outlines the edges of an image with dark lines against a white background and is useful for
creating a border around an image.
Note: After using filters like Find Edges and Trace Contour that highlight edges, you can apply the Invert filter to outline
the edges of a color image with colored lines or a grayscale image with white lines.

Glowing Edges
The Glowing Edges filter identifies the edges of color and adds a neon-like glow to them. You can set the edge width,
brightness, and smoothness.

Solarize
The Solarize filter blends a negative and a positive image, for a result similar to exposing a photographic print briefly
to light during development.

Tiles
The Tiles filter breaks up an image into a series of tiles, offsetting the selection from its original position. You can set
the number of tiles and the offset percentage. You can also choose one of the following to fill the empty area between
the tiles: Background Color, Foreground Color, Inverse Image, or Unaltered Image, which puts the tiled version on
top of the original and reveals part of the original image underneath the tiled edges.

Trace Contour
The Trace Contour filter finds the transitions between major areas of brightness and thinly outlines them for an effect
similar to the lines in a contour map. You can set the level for evaluating color values, and specify whether to outline
pixels that are below (Lower) or above (Upper) that level.
Use the Info panel in grayscale mode to identify a color value that you want traced. Then enter the value in the Level
text box.

Wind
The Wind filter creates tiny horizontal lines in the image to simulate a wind effect. You can set the wind strength and
direction.

Texture filters
Craquelure
The Craquelure filter paints an image onto a high-relief plaster surface, producing a fine network of cracks that follow
the contours of the image. Use this filter to create an embossing effect with images that contain a broad range of color
or grayscale values. You can set the crack spacing, depth, and brightness.

Last updated 7/26/2011

205

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Grain
The Grain filter adds texture to an image by simulating different kinds of grain. The sprinkles and stippled grain types
use the background color. You can set the grain intensity, contrast, and type.

Mosaic Tiles
The Mosaic Tiles filter draws the image as if it were made up of small chips or tiles and adds grout between the tiles.
(In contrast, the Pixelate > Mosaic filter breaks up an image into blocks of different-colored pixels.) You can set the
tile size, grout width, and lighten grout.

Patchwork
The Patchwork filter breaks up an image into squares filled with the predominant color in different areas of the image.
The filter randomly reduces or increases the tile depth to replicate the highlights and shadows. You can set the square
size and relief.

Stained Glass
The Stained Glass filter repaints an image as single-colored adjacent cells outlined in the foreground color. You can
set the cell size, border thickness, and light intensity.

Texturizer
The Texturizer filter allows you to simulate different texture types or select a file to use as a texture. Texture options
make images appear as if they were painted onto textures, such as canvas and brick, or viewed through glass blocks.

Video filters
De-Interlace
The De-Interlace filter smoothes moving images captured on video by removing either the odd or even interlaced lines
in a video image. You can choose to replace the discarded lines by duplication or interpolation.

NTSC Colors
The NTSC Colors filter restricts the gamut of colors to those acceptable for television reproduction to prevent
oversaturated colors from bleeding across television scan lines.

Other filters
Custom filters
Custom filters let you design your own filter effect. With the Custom filter, you can change the brightness values of
each pixel in the image according to a predefined mathematical operation known as convolution. Each pixel is
reassigned a value based on the values of surrounding pixels. You can save the custom filters you create and use them
with other Photoshop images.

Last updated 7/26/2011

206

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Use the Save and Load buttons to save and reuse custom filters.

Apply a Custom filter
1 In the Editor, select an image, layer, or area.
2 Choose Other > Custom from the Filter menu.
3 Select the center text box, which represents the pixel being evaluated. Enter the value by which you want to multiply

that pixel’s brightness value, from -999 to +999.
4 Select a text box representing an adjacent pixel. Enter the value by which you want the pixel in this position

multiplied.
For example, to multiply the brightness value of the pixel to the immediate right of the current pixel by 2, enter 2 in
the text box to the immediate right of the center text box.
Note: To avoid turning the image completely white or black, the sum of the values in the matrix should equal 1.
5 Repeat steps 3 and 4 for all pixels you want to include in the operation. You don’t have to enter values in all the text

boxes.
6 For Scale, enter the value by which to divide the sum of the brightness values of the pixels included in the

calculation.
7 For Offset, enter the value to be added to the result of the scale calculation.
8 Click OK. The custom filter is applied to each pixel in the image, one at a time.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182

High Pass
The High Pass filter retains edge details in the specified radius where sharp color transitions occur and suppresses the
rest of the image. (A radius of 0.1 pixel keeps only edge pixels.) The filter removes low-frequency detail in an image
and has an effect opposite to that of the Gaussian Blur filter.
You can use the High Pass filter to extract line art and large black-and-white areas from scanned images. To do so,
apply the filter before using the Filter > Adjustments > Threshold command or converting the image to bitmap mode.

Maximum and Minimum
The Maximum and Minimum filters look at individual pixels in a selection, like the Median filter. Within a specified
radius, the Maximum and Minimum filters replace the current pixel’s brightness value with the highest or lowest
brightness value of the surrounding pixels. The Maximum filter has the effect of applying a choke—spreading out
white areas and choking in black areas. The Minimum filter has the effect of applying a spread—spreading out black
areas and shrinking white areas.

Offset
The Offset filter moves a selection a specified amount to the right horizontally or down vertically, leaving an empty
space at the selection’s original location. Depending on the size of the selection, you can fill the empty area with a
transparent background, with the edge pixels, or with pixels from the right or bottom edges of an image.

Last updated 7/26/2011

207

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Filters, effects, styles, and artwork

Plug-in filters
You can install plug-in filters developed by non-Adobe software developers. Once installed, the plug-in filters appear
at the bottom of the Filter menu unless the developer has specified another location.
If you are interested in creating plug-in modules, contact Adobe Systems Developer Support.
Important: If you have problems or questions about a third-party plug-in, contact the plug-in’s manufacturer for support.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182
“Apply a filter” on page 184
“About plug-in modules” on page 26

Digimarc filter
Photoshop Elements automatically scans opened images for Digimarc® watermarks. If a watermark is detected, the
application displays a copyright symbol in the image window’s title bar and includes the information in the Copyright
Status, Copyright Notice, and Owner URL sections of the File Info dialog box.

More Help topics
“About filters” on page 182
“Filter categories” on page 185
“Apply a filter” on page 184

Detect the Digimarc filter
1 Choose Filter > Digimarc > Read Watermark. If the filter finds a watermark, a dialog box displays the Digimarc ID,

copyright year (if present), and image attributes.
2 Click OK. If you have a web browser installed, click Web Lookup to get more information about the owner of the

image. This option opens the browser and displays the Digimarc website, where contact details appear for the given
Digimarc ID.

Last updated 7/26/2011

208

Chapter 11: Painting
The painting tools change the color of pixels in an image. The Brush tool and the Pencil tool work like traditional
drawing tools by applying color with brush strokes. The Gradient tool, Fill command, and Paint Bucket tool apply
color to large areas. Tools like the Eraser tool, Blur tool, and Smudge tool modify the existing colors in an image.
The power of painting in Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 is in the options that you can set to specify how a tool applies
or modifies color. You can apply color gradually, with soft edges, with large brush strokes, with various brush
dynamics, with different blending properties, and with brushes of different shapes. You can simulate spraying paint
with an airbrush.

Painting overview
About painting tools
The Editor workspace in Photoshop Elements provides a variety of tools for applying and editing color. When you
select a painting tool, the option bar displays a variety of preset brush tips and settings for brush size, paint blending,
opacity, and airbrush effects. You can create new brush presets and save them in brush libraries. You can customize
the brush and settings for any of the painting and editing tools and manage them using the Preset Manager.
A

Brush options in the options bar
A. Brush pop-up panel and brush thumbnail B. Brush size pop-up slider and text box C. More menu

The Brush tool paints smooth, anti-aliased lines. Other painting tools include the Pencil tool for making hard-edged
lines and the Eraser tool for erasing color pixels from layers. The Paint Bucket tool and Fill command fill areas of your
image with color or patterns. The pattern Stamp tool paints with one of the predefined patterns or a pattern that you
design.
The Impressionist Brush tool affects existing color by applying stylized brush strokes. The Smudge tool also affects
existing image colors by simulating the action of dragging a finger through wet paint.
The Detail Smart Brush tool automatically creates an adjustment layer as you paint. It doesn’t alter the original image
layer. You can paint and change the adjustments as many times as you want without degrading your original photo.
See “Adjust color and tonality using the Smart Brush tools” on page 109.

Last updated 7/26/2011

209

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

About foreground and background colors
You apply the foreground color when you paint with the Brush or Pencil tools, and when you fill selections with the
Paint Bucket tool. The color you apply to the Background layer with the Eraser tool is called the background
color. You can see and change the foreground and background colors in the two overlapping boxes at the bottom of
the toolbox. The top box is the foreground color, and the bottom box is the background color. The foreground and
background colors are also used together by the Gradient tool and some special effects filters.
C
A
D
B

Foreground and background color boxes in toolbox
A. Foreground color box B. Click to use default colors (black and white) C. Click to switch the foreground and background colors
D. Background color box

You can change the foreground or background color in the toolbox by using the Eyedropper tool, the Color Swatches
panel, or the Color Picker.

More Help topics
“Choosing colors” on page 212

About blending modes
Blending modes control how pixels in an image are affected by a painting or editing tool. It’s helpful to think in terms
of the following colors when visualizing a blending mode’s effect:

• The base color is the original color in the image.
• The blend color is the color applied by the painting or editing tool.
• The result color is the color resulting from the blend.

Last updated 7/26/2011

210

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

The Multiply blending mode (top), Screen blending mode (center), and Luminosity blending mode (bottom) applied to the starfish layer.

You can choose any of the following blending modes from the Mode menu in the options bar:
Normal Edits or paints each pixel to make it the result color. This is the default mode. (Normal mode is called

Threshold when you’re working with an image in bitmap or indexed-color mode.)
Dissolve Edits or paints each pixel to make it the result color. However, the result color is a random replacement of
the pixels with the base color or the blend color, depending on the opacity at any pixel location. This mode works best
with the brush tool and a large brush.
Behind Edits or paints only on the transparent part of a layer. This mode works only on layers with Lock Transparency

deselected, and is analogous to painting on the back of transparent areas on a sheet of glass.
Clear Edits or paints each pixel and makes it transparent. You must be on a layer with Lock Transparency deselected

in the Layers panel to use this mode.
Darken Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or blend color—whichever is darker—as

the result color. Pixels lighter than the blend color are replaced, and pixels darker than the blend color do not change.
Darker Color Compares the total of all channel values for the blend and base color and displays the lower value color.

Darker Color does not produce a third color, which can result from the Darken blend, because it chooses the lowest
channel values from both the base and the blend color to create the result color.
Multiply Looks at the color information in each channel and multiplies the base color by the blend color. The result

color is always a darker color. Multiplying any color by black produces black. Multiplying any color by white leaves
the color unchanged. When you’re painting with a color other than black or white, successive strokes with a painting
tool produce progressively darker colors. The effect is similar to drawing on the image with multiple felt-tipped pens.
Color Burn Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color.
Blending with white produces no change.
Linear Burn Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the base color to reflect the blend color by

decreasing the brightness. Blending with white produces no change.

Last updated 7/26/2011

211

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Lighten Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the base or blend color—whichever is lighter—as

the result color. Pixels darker than the blend color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the blend color do not change.
Screen Looks at each channel’s color information and multiplies the inverse of the blend and base colors. The result
color is always a lighter color. Screening with black leaves the color unchanged. Screening with white produces white.
The effect is similar to projecting multiple photographic slides on top of each other.
Color Dodge Looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the base color to reflect the blend color.
Blending with black produces no change.
Linear Dodge (Add) Looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the base color to reflect the blend
color by increasing the brightness. Blending with black produces no change.
Lighter Color Compares the total of all channel values for the blend and base color and displays the higher value color.
Does not produce a third color, which can result from the Lighten blend, because it chooses the highest channel values
from both the base and blend color to create the result color.
Overlay Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the base color. Patterns or colors overlay the existing pixels

while preserving the highlights and shadows of the base color. The base color is mixed with the blend color to reflect
the lightness or darkness of the original color.
Soft Light Darkens or lightens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a diffused

spotlight on the image. If the blend color is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened. If the blend color is darker
than 50% gray, the image is darkened. Painting with pure black or white produces a distinctly darker or lighter area
but does not result in pure black or white.
Hard Light Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a harsh

spotlight on the image. If the blend color is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened. This is useful for adding
highlights to an image. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the image is darkened. This is useful for adding
shadows to an image. Painting with pure black or white results in pure black or white.
Vivid Light Burns or dodges the colors by increasing or decreasing the contrast, depending on the blend color. If the

blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened by decreasing the contrast. If the blend color
is darker than 50% gray, the image is darkened by increasing the contrast.
Linear Light Burns or dodges the colors by decreasing or increasing the brightness, depending on the blend color. If
the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened by increasing the brightness. If the blend
color is darker than 50% gray, the image is darkened by decreasing the brightness.
Pin Light Replaces the colors, depending on the underblend color. If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50%
gray, pixels darker than the blend color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the blend color do not change. If the blend
color is darker than 50% gray, pixels lighter than the blend color are replaced, and pixels darker than the blend color
do not change. This mode is useful for adding special effects to an image.
Hard Mix Reduces colors to white, black, red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, and magenta—depending on the base color

and the blend color.
Difference Looks at the color information in each channel and subtracts either the blend color from the base color or

the base color from the blend color, depending on which has the greater brightness value. Blending with white inverts
the base color values; blending with black produces no change.
Exclusion Creates an effect similar to, but lower in contrast, than the Difference mode. Blending with white inverts the

base color values. Blending with black produces no change.
Hue Creates a result color with the luminance and saturation of the base color and the hue of the blend color.
Saturation Creates a result color with the luminance and hue of the base color and the saturation of the blend color.

Painting with this mode in an area with zero saturation (a neutral gray area) causes no change.

Last updated 7/26/2011

212

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Color Creates a result color with the luminance of the base color and the hue and saturation of the blend color. This
preserves the gray levels in the image and is useful for coloring monochrome images and for tinting color images.

Using the Color blending mode to change the color of a shirt

Luminosity Creates a result color with the hue and saturation of the base color and the luminance of the blend color.
This mode creates an inverse effect from that of the Color mode.

Web-safe colors
Web-safe colors are the 216 colors used by browsers on both the Windows and Mac OS platforms. By working only
with these colors, you ensure that colors in art you prepare for the web display accurately in a web browser.
You can identify web-safe colors in the Adobe Color Picker by using either of the following methods:

• Select Only Web Colors in the lower-left corner of the Color Picker, and then choose any color in the Color Picker.
When this option is selected, any color you pick is web-safe.

• Choose a color in the Color Picker. If you choose a color that isn’t web-safe, an alert cube

appears next to the
color rectangle in the upper-right area of the Color Picker. Click the alert cube to select the closest web-safe color.
(If no alert cube appears, the color you chose is web-safe.)

More Help topics
“Use the Color Swatches panel” on page 214
“Use the Adobe Color Picker” on page 215
“About dithering” on page 276

Choosing colors
Choose a color with the Eyedropper tool
The Eyedropper tool makes it easy to copy a color without having to select a swatch. It copies, or samples, the color of
an area in your photo to set a new foreground or background color. You can sample from the active image, from
another open image, or from your computer’s desktop.

Last updated 7/26/2011

213

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

If you want the color always to be available, you can add the sampled color to the Color Swatches panel. You can also
specify the size of the area that the Eyedropper tool samples. For example, you can set the eyedropper to sample the
average color values of a 5-by-5- or 3-by-3-pixel area under the pointer.

Selecting a foreground color with the eyedropper.
A. Point sample B. 5 by 5 Average sample

1 In the Editor, select the Eyedropper tool

in the toolbox.

2 (Optional) To change the sample size of the eyedropper, choose an option from the Sample Size menu in the

options bar:

• Point Sample to get the precise value of the pixel you click.
• 3 By 3 Average or 5 By 5 Average to get the average value of the specified number of pixels within the area you click.
3 Do one of the following to choose a color:

• To select a new foreground color from an image, click the desired color in your image. To select a color that appears
elsewhere on your computer screen, click inside your image and drag away from it.

• To select a new background color from an image, Alt-click the color you want.
As you click and drag the Eyedropper tool, the foreground color box changes.
4 Release the mouse button to pick the new color.

Note: You can temporarily switch to the Eyedropper tool while using most painting tools, which allows you to change colors
quickly without selecting another tool. Simply hold down the Alt key. Once you’ve chosen your color, release the Alt key.

More Help topics
“About foreground and background colors” on page 209

Choose a color from the toolbox
❖ Do one of the following:

• To set the foreground and background boxes to black and white, click the Default Colors icon
• To switch the colors in the two boxes, click the Switch Colors icon

• To change the foreground color, click the topmost color box in the toolbox, and then choose a color from the Color
Picker.

• To change the background color, click the bottom color box in the toolbox, and then choose a color from the Color
Picker.

More Help topics
“About foreground and background colors” on page 209

Last updated 7/26/2011

214

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Use the Color Swatches panel
The Color Swatches panel (Window > Color Swatches) is a good place to store the colors that you use often in your
images. You can select a foreground or background color by clicking a color swatch in the Color Swatches panel. You
can add or delete colors to create a custom swatch library, save a library of swatches, and reload them for use in another
image. You can change the way thumbnails are displayed in the Color Swatches panel by choosing an option from the
More menu.
Although you can add many colors to the Color Swatches panel, you should manage its size and organization to
improve performance. Creating libraries can help you group related or special swatches and manage panel size.
The Photoshop Elements\8.0\Presets\Color Swatches folder contains the various swatch libraries. When you create
custom libraries, saving them to the Color Swatches folder makes them automatically appear in the panel libraries
pop-up menu.

More Help topics
“Use the Preset Manager” on page 236

Choose a color using the Color Swatches panel
1 If the Color Swatches panel is not already open in the Editor, choose Window > Color Swatches.
2 (Optional) Choose a swatch library name from the Swatches menu in the upper-left corner of the panel.
3 Do one of the following:

• To choose a foreground color, click a color in the panel.
• To choose a background color, Ctrl-click a color in the panel.

Add a color to the Color Swatches panel
If there is a color you’d like to use often, you can save the color as a swatch in the Color Swatches panel. Saved swatches
are added to the library of colors in the panel. To permanently save your custom swatches, you must save the entire
library.
1 Set the foreground color in the toolbox to the color you want to add.
2 Do one of the following in the Color Swatches panel:

• Click the New Swatch button

at the bottom of the panel. The color swatch is added and automatically named

Color Swatch 1.

• Choose New Swatch from the More menu.
• Position the pointer over an empty space in the bottom row of the Color Swatches panel (the pointer turns into the
Paint Bucket tool), and click to add the color.

Selecting a color with the eyedropper and adding it as a new swatch

3 Enter a name for the new color and click OK.

Last updated 7/26/2011

215

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

4 If prompted to save the swatch library, enter a new name in the Save dialog box and click Save.

Save and use custom swatch libraries
❖ Do any of the following in the Color Swatches panel:

• To save a library of swatches, choose Save Swatches from the More menu. To make the set appear in the panel’s
swatch libraries pop-up menu, save the file to the Photoshop Elements\8.0\Presets\Color Swatches folder.
Note: To see the new swatch set in the menu, you must restart Photoshop Elements.

• To select and load a swatch library, choose Load Swatches from the More menu in the panel.
• To replace the current swatch library with a different library, choose Replace Swatches from the More menu in the
panel and select a library.

Reset a swatch library to its default color swatches
1 In the Editor, choose a swatch library from the pop-up menu in the Color Swatches panel.
2 From the More menu in the Color Swatches panel, choose Preset Manager.
3 In the Preset Manager dialog box, choose Swatches from the Preset Type menu.
4 Choose Reset Swatches from the More menu, and click Done.

Delete a color from the Color Swatches panel
1 Do one of the following:

• Drag the color swatch to the Trash button in the panel, and click OK to confirm the deletion.
• Press Alt to change the pointer to a scissors icon, and click a color in the Color Swatches panel.
2 If prompted to save the library, enter a name in the Save dialog box and click Save.

Note: To permanently remove swatches you delete, you must resave the library that contained them.

Use the Adobe Color Picker
You can use the Adobe Color Picker to select the foreground or background color by choosing from a color spectrum
or by defining colors numerically. In addition, you can select colors based on HSB or RGB color models, or choose to
select only web-safe colors.

Last updated 7/26/2011

216

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

B
C

Adobe Color Picker.
A. Adjusted color B. Original color C. HSB color values D. RGB color values E. Displays only web colors F. Color field G. Color slider
H. Hexadecimal color value

1 Click the foreground or background color boxes in the toolbox to display the Color Picker.
2 Click inside the color field. When you click in the color field, a circular marker indicates the color’s position in the

field, and the numerical values change to reflect the new color.
3 Drag the white triangles along the slider to move to another color.
4 Alternately, to specify a number visually, do any of the following:

• Enter the hexadecimal value for your color in the text box under the RGB values. (Hexadecimal color values are
often used by web designers.)

• For RGB color, select a radio button and specify component values from 0 to 255 (0 is no light and 255 is the
brightest light).

• For HSB color, select a radio button and specify saturation and brightness as percentages; specify hue as an angle
from 0° to 360° that corresponds to a location on the color wheel.
5 The color rectangle to the right of the color slider displays the new color in the top section of the rectangle. The

original color appears at the bottom of the rectangle.
6 Click OK to begin painting with the new color.

Note: You can select colors using your system’s built-in color picker or a plug-in color picker. Choose Edit > Preferences >
General and choose the color picker.

Painting tools
Use the Brush tool
The Brush tool
creates soft or hard strokes of color. You can use it to simulate airbrush techniques. (If you don’t
see it in the toolbox, select either the Impressionist Brush
or the Color Replacement tool
, and then click the
Brush tool icon in the options bar.)
1 In the Editor, select a color to paint by setting the foreground color.

Last updated 7/26/2011

217

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

2 Select the Brush tool in the toolbox.
3 Specify Brush tool options in the options bar as desired, and then drag within the image to paint.

To draw a straight line, click a starting point in the image. Then hold down Shift and click an ending point.
You can specify any of the following Brush tool options:
Brushes Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up
menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Specifies how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image.
Opacity Sets the opacity of the paint you apply. A low opacity setting allows pixels under a paint stroke to show

through. Drag the pop-up slider or enter an opacity value.
Enables airbrush capabilities. This option applies gradual tones to an image, simulating traditional
airbrush techniques.

Airbrush

Brush Tablet Options

Sets the options to control with your stylus if you are using a pressure sensitive drawing

tablet instead of a mouse.
More Options

Sets additional brush options.

More Help topics
“About blending modes” on page 209
“About foreground and background colors” on page 209
“About brush options” on page 223
“Add a new brush to the brush library” on page 225
“Set up pressure-sensitive tablet support” on page 226

Use the Pencil tool
The Pencil tool

creates hard-edged freehand lines.

1 In the Editor, select a color to paint by setting the foreground color.
2 Select the Pencil tool in the toolbox. (The Pencil tool is nested with the Brush tool

3 Set Pencil tool options in the options bar, as desired, and then drag within the image to paint.

To draw a straight line, click a starting point in the image. Then hold down Shift and click an ending point.
You can specify any of the following Pencil tool options:
Brushes Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up
menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Specifies how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image.
Opacity Sets the opacity of the paint you apply. A low opacity setting allows pixels under a paint stroke to show
through. Drag the pop-up slider or enter an opacity value.

Last updated 7/26/2011

218

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Auto Erase Paints with the background color over areas containing the foreground color. If you begin dragging from
an area that doesn’t contain the foreground color, the tool paints with the foreground color.

More Help topics
“About blending modes” on page 209
“About foreground and background colors” on page 209
“About painting tools” on page 208
“About brush options” on page 223

Use the Impressionist Brush tool
The Impressionist Brush tool changes the existing colors and details in your image so your photo looks like it was
painted using stylized brush strokes. By experimenting with different style, area size, and tolerance options, you can
simulate the textures associated with painting in different artistic styles.
1 In the Editor, select the Impressionist Brush tool

either the Brush tool
toolbox.)

from the toolbox. (If you don’t see it in the toolbox, right-click
or the Color Replacement tool
, and then select Impressionist Brush tool in the

2 Set options in the options bar as desired, and then drag within the image to paint.

Original photo (left), and after using the Impressionist Brush tool (right)

You can specify any of the following options:
Brushes Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up
menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Specifies how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image. See “About blending modes”

on page 209 for more information.
Opacity Sets the opacity of the paint you apply. A low opacity setting allows pixels under a paint stroke to show
through. Drag the pop-up slider or enter an opacity value.
More Options Style affects the shape of the brush stroke. Area controls the size of the brush stroke. A larger area value

also increases the number of strokes. Tolerance controls how similar in color value adjacent pixels must be before they
are affected by the brush stroke.

Last updated 7/26/2011

219

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

More Help topics
“About brush options” on page 223

Use the Smudge tool
The Smudge tool simulates the actions of dragging a finger through wet paint. The tool picks up color where the stroke
begins and pushes it in the direction you drag. You can smudge existing colors in your image, or smear foreground
color on the image.

Original image (left), and after smudging parts of the photo (right)

1 In the Editor, select the Smudge tool

tool

or the Sharpen tool

in the toolbox. (If you don’t see it in the toolbox, select either the Blur
, and then click the Smudge tool icon in the options bar.)

2 Set options in the options bar, and then drag within the image to smudge color.

To temporarily use the Finger Painting option as you drag with the smudge tool, press the Alt key.
You can specify any of the following Smudge tool options:
Brushes Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up
menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Specifies how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image. See “About blending modes”

on page 209 for more information.
Strength Sets the amount of the smudge effect.
Sample All Layers Smudges using color from all visible layers. If this option is deselected, the smudge tool uses colors

from only the active layer.
Finger Painting Smears the foreground color at the beginning of each stroke. If this option is deselected, the smudge
tool uses the color under the pointer at the beginning of each stroke.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“About brush options” on page 223

Last updated 7/26/2011

220

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Use the Eraser tool
The Eraser tool changes pixels in the image as you drag through them. If you’re working in the Background layer or
in a layer with locked transparency, erased pixels change to the background color; otherwise, erased pixels become
transparent. Transparent pixels are indicated by the transparency grid.
1 Select the Eraser tool

tool

from the toolbox. (If you don’t see it in the toolbox, select either the Background Eraser
or the Magic Eraser tool
, and then click the Eraser tool icon in the options bar.)

2 Set options in the options bar as desired, and then drag through the area you want to erase.

You can specify any of the following Eraser tool options:
Brushes Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up
menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Brush mode erases by using characteristics of the brush tool, so you can make soft-edged erasures. Pencil mode

makes hard-edge erasures like a pencil. Block mode uses a hard-edged 16-pixel square as an eraser.
Opacity Defines the strength of the erasure. An opacity of 100% erases pixels to complete transparency on a layer and
to the background color on the Background layer. A lower opacity erases pixels to partial transparency on a layer and
paints partially with the background color on the Background layer. (If Block mode is selected in the options bar, the
Opacity option isn’t available.)

More Help topics
“About blending modes” on page 209
“About brush options” on page 223

Use the Magic Eraser tool
The Magic Eraser tool changes all similar pixels when you drag within a photo. If you’re working in a layer with locked
transparency, the pixels change to the background color; otherwise, the pixels are erased to transparency. You can
choose to erase contiguous pixels only, or all similar pixels on the current layer.

Last updated 7/26/2011

221

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Original image (left), and after erasing the clouds (right)

1 In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the areas you want to erase.

Note: If you select the Background, it automatically becomes a layer when you use the Magic Eraser.
2 Select the Magic Eraser tool

or the Background Eraser tool

in the toolbox. (If you don’t see it in the toolbox, select either the Eraser tool
, and then click the Magic Eraser tool icon in the options bar.)

3 Set options in the options bar, as desired, and then click the area of the layer you want to erase.

You can set any of the following Magic Eraser tool options:
Tolerance Defines the range of colors that will be erased. A low tolerance erases pixels within a range of color values

very similar to the pixel you click. A high tolerance erases pixels within a broader range.
Anti-alias Smoothes the edges of the area you erase, making the edge look more natural.
Contiguous Erases only pixels that are adjacent to the one you click. Deselect this option to erase all similar pixels in

the image.
Sample All Layers Samples the erased color using combined data from all visible layers. Deselect the option if you want

to erase only the pixels on the active layer.
Opacity Defines the strength of the erasure. An opacity of 100% erases pixels to complete transparency on a layer and
to the background color on a locked layer. A lower opacity erases pixels to partial transparency on a layer and paints
partially with the background color on a locked layer.

More Help topics
“About blending modes” on page 209
“About brush options” on page 223
“About the Layers panel” on page 51
“Smooth the edges of a selection by anti-aliasing” on page 94

Last updated 7/26/2011

222

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Use the Background Eraser tool
The Background Eraser tool turns color pixels to transparent pixels so that you can easily remove an object from its
background. With careful use, you can maintain the edges of the foreground object while eliminating background
fringe pixels.
The tool pointer is a circle with a cross hair indicating the tool’s hotspot . As you drag the pointer, pixels within the
circle and of a similar color value as the pixel under the hotspot are erased. If the circle overlaps your foreground object,
and it doesn’t contain pixels similar to the hotspot pixel, the foreground object won’t be erased.

Erasing the distracting background. You can replace the background with another background by using the Clone Stamp tool or by adding
another layer.

1 In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the areas you want to erase.

Note: If you select Background, it automatically becomes a layer when you use the Background Eraser.
2 Select the Background Eraser tool

Magic Eraser tool

. (If you don’t see it in the toolbox, select either the Eraser tool
, and then click the Background Eraser tool icon in the options bar.)

or the

3 Set options in the options bar as desired, and then drag through the area you want to erase. Keep the tool’s hotspot

off of areas that you don’t want to erase.
You can specify any of the following Background Eraser tool options:
Brush Preset Picker Sets the presets of the brush, such as size, diameter, hardness, and spacing. Drag the Size pop-up

sliders or enter numbers in text boxes.
Limits Choose Contiguous to erase areas that contain the hotspot color and are connected to one another.
Discontiguous erases any pixels within the circle that are similar to the hotspot color.
Tolerance Defines how similar in color to the hotspot a pixel must be to be affected by the tool. A low tolerance limits

erasure to areas that are very similar to the hotspot color. A high tolerance erases a broader range of colors.

More Help topics
“About brush options” on page 223

Last updated 7/26/2011

223

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Setting up brushes
About brush options
You can simulate actual brush strokes by setting the rates at which the brush tool strokes fade out. You can specify
which options dynamically change over the course of a brush stroke, including scattering, size, and color. The brush
thumbnail in the options bar reflects the brush changes as you adjust the brush dynamics options.
You set brush dynamics options by selecting the brush tool and then selecting from the following controls from the
More Options menu in the options bar.
Spacing Controls the distance between the brush marks in a stroke. To change the spacing, type a number, or use the

slider to enter a value that is a percentage of the brush diameter. (The brush thumbnail in the options bar dynamically
changes to reflect your spacing adjustments.)

Increasing the spacing makes the brush skip.

Fade Sets the number of steps until the paint flow fades to nothing. A low value makes the paint stroke fade away very

quickly, while a value of zero has no fading effect. Each step is equal to one mark of the brush tip. Possible values range
from 0 to 9999. For example, entering 10 for Fade produces a fade in 10 increments. For smaller brushes, you may want
to set a value of 25 or larger. If strokes fade too quickly, increase the values.

Fade showing setting of 40, 60, and 80 steps

Hue Jitter Sets the rate at which the stroke color switches between the foreground and background colors. Higher
values cause more frequent switches between the two colors than lower values. (To set the colors used by the color jitter
option, see “About foreground and background colors” on page 209.)

Paint stroke without and with color jitter

Last updated 7/26/2011

224

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Hardness Controls the size of the brush’s hard center. Type a number, or use the slider to enter a value that’s a
percentage of the brush diameter.

Brush strokes with different hardness values

Scatter Brush scattering determines how brush marks are distributed in a stroke. A low value produces a denser stroke

with less paint scattering, and higher values increase the scattering area.

Brush stroke with low and high scatter values

Angle Specifies the angle by which an elliptical brush’s long axis is offset from horizontal. Type a value in degrees, or

drag the arrowhead of the angle icon to mark the desired angle.

Angled brushes create a chiseled stroke

Roundness Specifies the ratio between the brush’s short and long axes. Enter a percentage value, or drag a dot in the

angle icon away from or toward the arrow. A value of 100% indicates a circular brush, a value of 0% indicates a linear
brush, and intermediate values indicate elliptical brushes.

Adjusting roundness affects the shape of a brush tip.

Last updated 7/26/2011

225

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

More Help topics
“About blending modes” on page 209

Add a new brush to the brush library
1 Select the Brush tool

2 Click the arrow next to the brush sample to display the pop-up panel in the options bar; choose a category from the

Brushes pop-up menu, and then select a brush to modify in the brush list.
3 Use the options bar to modify the original brush.
4 Click the arrow next to the brush sample to display the panel menu, and then choose Save Brush.
5 Enter a name in the Brush Name dialog box and click OK.

The new brush is selected in the options bar, and is added to the bottom of the brushes pop-up panel.

Delete a brush
1 Select the Brush tool

2 Click the arrow next to the brush sample to display the brushes pop-up panel in the options bar.
3 Do one of the following:

• Press the Alt key to change the pointer to scissors, and then click the brush you want to delete.
• Select the brush in the pop-up panel, and choose Delete Brush from the panel menu.
• Choose Preset Manager from the panel menu, select Brushes from the Preset Type list, select the brush from the list
in the dialog box, and click Delete.

Create a custom brush shape from an image
You can create a custom brush by selecting an area in a photo. The brush uses a grayscale version of that selection to
apply the foreground color to your image. For example, you could select a leaf and then paint using a fall color. You
can also draw a new brush shape using the Brush tool. You can create a custom brush shape either from an entire layer
or from a selection. A custom brush shape can be up to 2500 pixels by 2500 pixels in size.

Last updated 7/26/2011

226

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Creating a custom brush of a dog. When you paint with this brush, you paint on dogs.

1 Do one of the following:

• To use part of the image as a custom brush, select part of an image.
• To use the entire layer as a custom brush, deselect everything.
Use the painting tools to draw the brush shape and select it. You can use hard-edged or soft-edged strokes, or vary the
opacity of strokes to achieve soft-edge effects.
2 Choose Edit > Define Brush or Edit > Define Brush From Selection.
3 Name the brush and click OK.

More Help topics
“Use the Preset Manager” on page 236

Set up pressure-sensitive tablet support
Photoshop Elements is compatible with most pressure-sensitive digitizing tablets, such as Wacom® tablets. With the
software control panel for your tablet installed, you can vary brush tool properties based on the chosen tablet options
and the amount of pressure you apply with your stylus.
❖ In the Editor, select the Brush tool in the toolbox and then set the tablet options in the options bar that you want to

control with pen pressure.

Last updated 7/26/2011

227

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Fills and strokes
Use the Paint Bucket tool
The Paint Bucket tool
fills an area that is similar in color value to the pixels you click. You can fill an area with the
foreground color or a pattern.
1 In the Editor, choose a foreground color.
2 Select the Paint Bucket tool in the toolbox.
3 Set options in the options bar, as desired, and then click the part of the image you want to fill.

If you don’t want to fill transparent areas in a layer, you can lock the layer’s transparency in the Layers panel.
You can specify any of the following Paint Bucket tool options:
Pattern Sets a pattern to use as the fill.
Mode Specifies how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image.
Opacity Sets the opacity of the paint you apply. A low opacity setting allows pixels under a paint stroke to show
through. Drag the pop-up slider or enter an opacity value.
Tolerance Defines how similar in color filled pixels must be. A low tolerance fills pixels with color values very similar

to the pixel you click. A high tolerance fills pixels that have a broader range of colors.
Anti-alias Smoothes the edges of the filled selection.
Contiguous Fills similarly colored pixels that are next to each other. Deselect this option to fill all similar pixels in the
image, including those that aren’t touching. The Tolerance option defines how similar the colors must be.
All Layers Fills similar pixels on any visible layer that are within the levels set by the Tolerance and Contiguous

options.

More Help topics
“About foreground and background colors” on page 209
“About blending modes” on page 209
“Smooth the edges of a selection by anti-aliasing” on page 94
“Create fill layers” on page 65

Fill a layer with a color or pattern
You can use a Fill Layer to apply a fill or a pattern to your image, instead of using one of the brush tools. The fill layer
gives you the added flexibility of changing the fill and pattern properties and editing the fill layer’s mask to limit the
gradient to a portion of your image.
1 In the Editor, specify a foreground or background color.
2 Select the area you want to fill. To fill an entire layer, select the layer in the Layers panel.
3 Choose Edit > Fill Layer.
4 Set options in the Fill dialog box, and then click OK.
Contents Choose a color from the Use menu. To select a different color, choose Color, and then select a color from

the Color Picker. Choose Pattern to fill with a pattern.

Last updated 7/26/2011

228

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Custom Pattern Specifies the pattern to use if you choose Pattern from the Use menu. You can use patterns from the
pattern libraries or create your own patterns.
Mode Specifies how the color pattern that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image.
Opacity Sets the opacity of the color pattern to apply.
Preserve Transparency Fills only opaque pixels.

More Help topics
“About patterns” on page 228
“About blending modes” on page 209
“About foreground and background colors” on page 209
“Create fill layers” on page 65

Stroke (outline) objects on a layer
You can use the Stroke command to automatically trace a colored outline around a selection or the content of a layer.
Note: To add an outline to the background, you must first convert it to a regular layer. The background contains no
transparent pixels, so the entire layer is outlined.
1 In the Editor, select the area in the image or a layer in the Layers panel.
2 Choose Edit > Stroke (Outline) Selection.
3 In the Stroke dialog box, set any of the following options, and then click OK to add the outline:
Width Specifies the width of the hard-edged outline. Values can range from 1 to 250 pixels.
Color Sets the color of the outline. Click the color swatch to select a color in the Color Picker.
Location Specifies whether to place the outline inside, outside, or centered over the selection or layer boundaries.
Mode Specifies how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image.
Opacity Sets the opacity of the paint you apply. Enter an opacity value or click on the arrow and drag the pop-up slider.
Preserve Transparency Strokes only areas containing opaque pixels on a layer. If your image has no transparency, this

option isn’t available.

More Help topics
“About blending modes” on page 209

Patterns
About patterns
You can paint a pattern with the Pattern stamp tool or fill a selection or layer with a pattern that you choose from the
pattern libraries. Photoshop Elements has several patterns you can choose from.

Last updated 7/26/2011

229

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

To customize your images, or to make one-of-a-kind scrapbook pages, you can create your own patterns. You can save
patterns that you create in a library, and then load libraries of patterns using the Preset Manager or the Pattern pop-up
panel, which appears in the options bar of the Pattern Stamp tool and the Paint Bucket tool. Saving patterns allows you
to easily use a pattern in multiple images.

Creating a custom pattern
A. Rectangular selection used to define a pattern B. Custom pattern in pattern picker C. New image filled with custom pattern

More Help topics
“Fill a layer with a color or pattern” on page 227
“Use the Preset Manager” on page 236

Use the Pattern Stamp tool
The Pattern Stamp tool

paints with a pattern defined from your image, another image, or a preset pattern.

1 In the Editor, select the Pattern Stamp tool from the toolbox. (If you don’t see it in the toolbox, select the Clone

Stamp tool

, and then click the Pattern Stamp tool icon in the options bar.)

2 Choose a pattern from the Pattern pop-up panel in the options bar. To load additional pattern libraries, select a

library name from the panel menu, or choose Load Patterns and navigate to the folder where the library is stored.
You can also define your own pattern.
3 Set Pattern Stamp tool options in the options bar, as desired, and then drag within the image to paint.

You can specify any of the following Pattern Stamp tool options:
Brushes Sets the brush tip. Click the arrow next to the brush sample, choose a brush category from the Brushes pop-up
menu, and then select a brush thumbnail.
Size Sets the size of the brush in pixels. Drag the Size pop-up slider or enter a size in the text box.
Mode Specifies how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image. (See “About blending modes”

on page 209.)
Opacity Sets the opacity of the pattern you apply. A low opacity setting allows pixels under a pattern stroke to show
through. Drag the pop-up slider or enter an opacity value.
Aligned Repeats the pattern as a contiguous, uniform design. The pattern is aligned from one paint stroke to the next.

If Aligned is deselected, the pattern is centered on the pointer each time you stop and resume painting.
Impressionist Paints the pattern using paint daubs to create an impressionist effect.

More Help topics
“Fill a layer with a color or pattern” on page 227

Last updated 7/26/2011

230

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Add a custom pattern to the pattern picker
1 Do one of the following:

• To create a pattern from part of the image, make a rectangular selection with Feather set to 0 pixels.
• To create a pattern from the entire image, deselect everything.
2 Choose Edit > Define Pattern From Selection.
3 Enter a name for the pattern in the Pattern Name dialog box.
4 To deselect the original selection, choose Select > Deselect.

More Help topics
“About selections” on page 81

Use a preset pattern from the PostScript Patterns folder
Each preset file in the PostScript Patterns folder contains a single pattern in the Adobe Illustrator format. You can scale
these patterns at any resolution.
1 Choose File > Open.
2 Navigate to Photoshop Elements 8.0/Presets/Patterns/PostScript Patterns.
3 Select the pattern file you want to use, and click Open.
4 When the Rasterize Generic EPS Format dialog opens, click OK to proceed.
5 Choose Select > All, or make a rectangular selection around the pattern with Feather set to 0 pixels in the options bar.
6 Choose Edit > Define Pattern From Selection. The pattern is defined as an Adobe Photoshop Elements pattern.
7 Enter a name for the pattern in the Pattern Name dialog box, and click OK.

More Help topics
“Use the Preset Manager” on page 236

Gradients
About gradients
You fill an area with a gradient by dragging within the image or by selecting with the Gradient tool. The distance
between the starting point (where you first press the mouse button) and ending point (where you release the mouse
button) affects the gradient appearance, as does the gradient type.

Last updated 7/26/2011

231

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Using the Gradient tool and Gradient Editor, you can create a custom mix of colors in your photos.

You can choose any of the following gradient types in the options bar.
Linear gradient

Shades from the starting point to the ending point in a straight line.

Radial gradient

Shades from the starting point to the ending point in a circular pattern.

Angle gradient

Shades in a counterclockwise sweep around the starting point.

Reflected gradient

Shades using symmetric linear gradients on either side of the starting point.

Shades from the starting point outward in a diamond pattern. The ending point defines one
corner of the diamond.

Diamond gradient

You can also use a Fill Layer to apply a gradient to your image. The fill layer gives you the added flexibility of changing
the gradient properties and editing the fill layer’s mask to limit the gradient to a portion of your image.
Gradients are stored in libraries. You can choose a different library of gradients to display in the Gradient Picker menu
by clicking the small triangle in the menu and selecting a library at the bottom of the list. You can also save and load
your own libraries of gradients in this menu. You can also manage gradients by using the Preset Manager.

More Help topics
“Create fill layers” on page 65

Apply a gradient
1 To fill part of the image, select the area with one of the selection tools. Otherwise, the gradient fill is applied to the

entire active layer.
2 Select the Gradient tool

3 In the options bar, click the desired gradient type.
4 Choose a gradient fill from the Gradient Picker panel in the options bar.
5 (Optional) Set gradient options in the options bar.
Mode Specifies how the gradient blends with the existing pixels in the image.

Last updated 7/26/2011

232

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Opacity Sets the opacity of the gradient. A low opacity setting allows pixels under the gradient to show through. Drag
the pop-up slider or enter an opacity value.
Reverse Switches the order of the colors in the gradient fill.
Dither Creates a smoother blend with less obvious bands of color.
Transparency Uses the gradient’s transparency (instead of any transparent areas in the image) if the gradient has
transparent areas.

6 In the image, position the pointer where you want to set the starting point of the gradient, and drag to define the

ending point. To constrain the gradient angle to a multiple of 45°, hold down Shift as you drag.

Apply gradient fill to text
1 Select the text you want to fill.
2 Choose Layer > Simplify Layer to convert the vector text to a bitmap image. You won’t be able to edit the text after

you simplify the layer.
3 Control-click the thumbnail for the text layer in the Layers panel to select the text.
4 Select the Gradient tool.
5 In the options bar, click the desired gradient type.
6 Choose a gradient fill from the Gradient Picker panel.
7 Position the pointer on the text where you want to set the starting point of the gradient, and drag to define the

ending point.

More Help topics
“Simplify a layer” on page 56

Define a gradient
You can define your own gradients in the Gradient Editor dialog box. A gradient can include two or more colors, or
one or more colors that fade to transparency.

Gradient Editor dialog box.
A. Color Stop B. Color Midpoint C. Opacity Stop

To define a gradient, you add a color stop to add a color to the gradient, drag the color stop and the midpoint icon to
define the range between two colors, and adjust the Opacity stops to specify the transparency that you want in the
gradient.
1 In the Editor, select the Gradient tool

2 To display the Gradient Editor dialog box, click the Edit button next to the gradient sample.
3 In the Presets section of the Gradient Editor dialog box, select a gradient on which to base your new gradient.
4 To choose colors for your gradient, do one of the following:

• Double-click the color stop , or click the Color swatch to display the Color Picker. Choose a color, and click OK.

Last updated 7/26/2011

233

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

• Choose Foreground from the Color pop-up menu to use the current foreground color.
• Choose Background from the Color pop-up menu to use the current background color.
• Choose User Color from the Color pop-up menu to always use the color you chose for the gradient, other than the
current foreground or background.
5 To adjust the color stop location of a color, drag the stop left or right.
6 To add a color to the gradient, click below the gradient bar to define another color stop.
7 To adjust the location of the transition midpoint between colors, drag the diamond below the gradient bar to the

left or right.
8 To delete the color stop you are editing, click Delete.
9 To set the color transition’s smoothness, enter a percentage in the Smoothness text box, or drag the pop-up slider.
10 If desired, set transparency values for the gradient by dragging the Opacity stops.
11 To save the gradient in the gradient presets, enter a name for the new gradient, and then click New.
12 Click OK. The newly created gradient is selected and ready to use.

More Help topics
“Use the Adobe Color Picker” on page 215

Specify gradient transparency
Each gradient fill contains settings (opacity stops) that control the opacity of the fill at different locations in the
gradient. The checkerboard pattern indicates the amount of transparency in the gradient preview. Gradients need at
least two opacity stops.
1 Create a gradient.
2 To adjust the starting opacity in the Gradient Editor, click the left opacity stop above the gradient bar. The triangle

below the stop turns black, indicating that you’re editing the starting transparency.
3 Set the Opacity by doing one of the following:

• Enter a value between 0 (fully transparent) and 100% (fully opaque).
• Drag the arrow on the Opacity pop-up slider.
4 To adjust the opacity of the endpoint, click the right transparency stop above the gradient bar. Then set the opacity

as described in step 3.
5 To adjust the location of the starting or ending opacity, do one of the following:

• Drag the corresponding opacity stop to the left or right.
• Select the corresponding opacity stop, and enter a value for Location.
6 To adjust the location of the midpoint opacity (the point midway between the starting and ending opacities), do

one of the following:

• Drag the diamond above the gradient bar to the left or right.
• Select the diamond, and enter a value for Location.
7 To delete the opacity stop you are editing, click Delete, or drag the stop away from the gradient bar.
8 To add an intermediate opacity, click above the gradient bar to define a new opacity stop. You can then adjust and

move this opacity as you would a starting or ending opacity.

Last updated 7/26/2011

234

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

To remove an intermediate opacity, drag its transparency stop up and off the gradient bar, or select the stop and click
the Delete button.
9 To save the gradient to the gradient presets, enter a new name in the Name text box, and then click New. This

creates a new gradient preset with the transparency setting you specified.
10 Click OK to exit the dialog box and select the newly created gradient. Make sure that Transparency is selected in

the options bar.

Create a noise gradient
A noise gradient is a gradient that contains randomly distributed colors within a range of colors that you specify.
A
B
C

Noise gradients with different noise values.
A. 10% noise B. 50% noise C. 90% noise

1 In the Editor, select the Gradient tool

2 To display the Gradient Editor dialog box, click the Edit button in the options bar.
3 Choose Noise from the Gradient Type menu.
4 Set options for the gradient.
Roughness Sets the amount of softness in the transition between colors in the pattern.
Color Model Specifies the color model to use to set the color range to include in the gradient. To define the range of

colors, drag the sliders for each color component.
Restrict Colors Prevents oversaturated colors.
Add Transparency Adds transparency to random colors.

5 To randomly mix the colors, click the Randomize button until you find a gradient you like.
6 Enter a name for the new gradient.
7 To add your gradient preset, click New.
8 Click OK to exit the dialog box, and then select the newly created gradient.

Presets and libraries
About presets
In the Full Edit workspace, pop-up panels appear in the options bar and provide access to predefined libraries of
brushes, color swatches, gradients, patterns, layer styles, and custom shapes. The items in each library are called presets.
When closed, pop-up panels display a thumbnail image of the currently selected preset.

Last updated 7/26/2011

235

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Viewing the Cookie Cutter pop-up panel in the options bar
A. Click to show the pop-up panel. B. Click to view the pop-up panel menu, which contains preset libraries.

You can change the display of a pop-up panel to view presets by their names, as thumbnail icons, or with both names
and icons.
You can use the Presets Manager to load different preset libraries. Presets are stored in separate library files that can
be found in the Presets folder in the Photoshop Elements application folder.

Use preset tool options
1 Select the tool you want to use.
2 In the options bar, open the pop-up panel. (Only certain tools have pop-up panels.)
3 Do any of the following:

• To view and select currently loaded preset libraries, click the triangle in the upper-right corner of the pop-up panel.
• To select a preset, click an item in the library.
• To save a brush, open the pop-up panel menu, choose the Save Brush command, then enter a name in the dialog
box provided and click OK.

• To save a gradient or pattern, open the panel menu, choose the New Gradient or New Pattern command, then enter
a name in the dialog box provided and click OK.

• To rename a brush, gradient, or pattern in a panel, open the pop-up panel menu, choose the Rename command,
then enter a new name and click OK.

• To delete a brush, gradient, or pattern from a panel, select an item, open the pop-up panel menu and choose the
Delete command. You can also hold down Alt and click a brush or gradient.

• To save a library of brushes, gradients, or patterns, open the pop-up panel menu. From the menu, choose the Save
Brushes, Save Gradients, or Save Patterns command, then enter a name for the library file, and click Save.

• To load a library of brushes, gradients, or patterns, open the pop-up panel menu, choose the Load command, then
select the library file you want to add and click Load.
Note: Using the Load command adds the brush library to the brushes you have available. If you choose a preset library
of brushes, the preset library replaces your current set of brushes.

• To replace the current set of gradients in a panel, open the pop-up panel menu, choose a library file from the bottom
section of the menu, and click OK. You can also choose the Replace command, browse to select a library file, and
click Load.

• To replace the current set of brushes or patterns in a panel, choose a library from the Brushes menu.
Note: To replace the current set of brushes, gradients, or patterns, you can also choose Preset Manager from the pop-up
panel menu and use the Preset Manager to load a different library of brushes, gradients, or patterns.

Last updated 7/26/2011

236

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

• To load the default set of brushes, gradients, or patterns, open the pop-up panel menu and choose the Reset
command.

Change the display of items in a pop-up panel menu
1 Do one of the following:

• To change the display of one panel, open the pop-up panel menu by clicking the triangle

in the upper-right

corner of the pop-up panel.

• To change the display for all panels, choose Edit > Preset Manager to open the Preset Manager, and then click the
More button.
2 Select a view option:
Text Only Displays the name of each item.
Small Thumbnail or Large Thumbnail Displays a thumbnail of each item.
Small List or Large List Displays the name and thumbnail of each item.
Stroke Thumbnail Displays a sample brush stroke and brush thumbnail. (This option is available for brushes only.)

Note: Not all of the above options are available for all pop-up panels.

Use the Preset Manager
In the Full Edit workspace, the Preset Manager (Edit > Preset Manager) lets you manage the libraries of preset brushes,
color swatches, gradients, and patterns included in Photoshop Elements. For example, you can create a set of favorite
brushes, or you can restore the default presets.
Each type of library is a file with its own file extension and default folder. Preset files are installed on your computer
inside the Presets folder in the Photoshop Elements program folder.
Note: You can delete a preset in the Preset Manager by selecting the preset and clicking Delete. You can always use the
Reset command to restore the default items to a library.

Dragging a preset to a new position in the Preset Manager

Load a library
1 In the Preset Manager, choose Brushes, Color Swatches, Gradients, or Patterns from the Preset Type menu.
2 Do one of the following:

• Click Load, select a library from the list, and then click Load. If you want to load a library located in another folder,
navigate to that folder, then select the library. By default, preset files are installed on your computer inside the
Presets folder in the Photoshop Elements program folder.

• Click the More button and choose a library from the bottom section of the menu.
3 Click the Done button when you’re finished.

Restore the default library or replace the currently displayed library
❖ In the Preset Manager, click the More button and choose a command from the menu:
Reset Restores the default library for that type.

Last updated 7/26/2011

237

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Painting

Replace Replaces the current library with the contents of another library.

Save a subset of a library
1 In the Preset Manager, Shift-click to select multiple contiguous presets or Ctrl-click to select multiple

noncontiguous presets. Only the selected presets are saved in the new library.
2 Click Save Set, then enter a name for the library. If you want to save the library in a folder other than the default,

navigate to the new folder before saving.

Rename a preset
1 In the Preset Manager, do one of the following:

• Select a preset in the list, and click Rename.
• Double-click a preset in the list.
2 Enter a new name for the preset. If you selected multiple presets, you are prompted to enter multiple names.

Last updated 7/26/2011

238

Chapter 12: Adding text and shapes
You can add text and shapes of different color, styles, and effects to an image. In the Editor, use the Horizontal Type
and Vertical Type tools to create and edit text. You can create single-line text or paragraph text.
In Photoshop Elements, shapes are resolution-independent vector graphics (lines and curves defined by their
geometric characteristics instead of pixels) that can be moved, resized, or changed without losing detail, clarity, or
quality. Both text and shapes are created in separate layers.

Add and edit text
About text
In the Editor, use the Horizontal Type and Vertical Type tools to create and edit text. The new text you type is entered
in a new text layer. You can create single-line text or paragraph text. Each line of single line text you enter is
independent—the length of a line grows or shrinks as you edit it, but it doesn’t wrap to the next line. To create a new
line of text, press Enter. Paragraph text wraps within the paragraph boundaries you specify.

Single-line text (top of image) and paragraph text (bottom of image).

You can use the type mask tools (Right-click the Type tool) to create a selection in the shape of text. You can then create
different effects and cutouts with the text.
Clicking in an image with a type tool puts the tool in edit mode so you can enter and edit text. You must commit
changes to the type before you can perform other operations, like selecting menu commands. The Type tool is in edit
and Cancel button
in the options bar.
mode when you see the Commit button
Note: When you add text to an image that’s in indexed color mode, Photoshop Elements does not create a new text layer.
The text you type appears as masked text.

Add text
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2326_pse8_en.
1 In the Editor, select the Horizontal Type tool

or the Vertical Type tool

2 Do one of the following:

• To create a single line of text, click in the image to set an insertion point for the type.

Last updated 7/26/2011

239

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

• To create paragraph text, drag a rectangle to create a textbox for the type.
The small line through the I-beam marks the position of the type baseline. For horizontal type, the baseline marks the
line on which the type rests; for vertical type, the baseline marks the center axis of the type characters.
3 (Optional) Select type options, such as font, style, size, and color, in the options bar.
4 Type the characters you want. If you did not create a textbox, press Enter to create a new line.

The text appears in its own layer, which is called a text layer.
5 Commit the text layer by doing one of the following:

• Click the Commit button

in the options bar.

• Press the Enter key on the numeric keypad.
• Click in the image, outside the textbox.
• Select a different tool in the toolbox.
Note: To discard the text layer before you commit it, click the Cancel button

More Help topics
“Add stylized text to an image” on page 182

Type tool options
In the options bar, set the following Type tool options:
Font Family Applies a font family to new or existing text.
Font Style Applies font styles, such as bold, to new or existing text.
Font Size Applies a font size to new or existing text.
Anti-aliased

Applies anti-aliasing to make text appear smoother.

Applying anti-aliasing
A. Anti-aliasing off B. Anti-aliasing on

Applies a bold style to new or existing text. Use this option if your font doesn’t have a true bold style
that you can select from the Font Style menu.

Faux Bold

Last updated 7/26/2011

240

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

Applies an italic style to new or existing text. Use this option if your font doesn’t have a true italic or
oblique style that you can select from the Font Style menu.

Faux Italic

Applies an underline to new text or selected existing text.

Underline
Strikethrough

Applies a line through new text or selected existing text.

Leading menu

Sets the space between lines of new or selected text.

Text Color menu Applies a color to new text or selected text.
Warp text

Warps text on the selected layer.

Text Orientation

Changes vertical text to horizontal and horizontal text to vertical.

Edit type in a type layer
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2327_pse8_en.
After you create a text layer, you can edit the text and apply layer commands to it. You can insert new text, change
existing text, and delete text in text layers. If any styles are applied to a text layer, all text inherits the attributes of those
styles.
You can also change the orientation (either horizontal or vertical) of a text layer. When a text layer is vertical, the type
lines flow from top to bottom. When a text layer is horizontal, the type lines flow from left to right.
1 Select the Horizontal Type tool

or the Vertical Type tool

(or select the Move tool

and double-click the

text).
When you click in an existing text layer, the Type tool changes at the insertion point to match the orientation of the
layer.
2 Select the text layer in the Layers panel, or click the text flow to automatically select a text layer.
3 Position the insertion point in the text, and do one of the following:

• Click to set the insertion point.
• Select one or more characters you want to edit.
• Enter text as desired.
4 Commit the text layer by doing one of the following:

• Click the Commit button

in the options bar.

• Click in the image.
• Select a different tool in the toolbox.

Align text
❖ Using a type tool, click the Align pop-up menu and select any of the following:
Left Align
Center
Right Align

Aligns the left edge of each text line in the layer to the initial cursor position.
Aligns the center of each text line in the layer to the initial cursor position.
Aligns the right edge of each text line in the layer to the initial cursor position.

Last updated 7/26/2011

241

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

Select characters
1 In the Editor, select a type tool.
2 Select the text layer in the Layers panel, or click in the text flow to automatically select a text layer.
3 Position the insertion point in the text, and do one of the following:

• Drag to select one or more characters.
• Double-click to select a single word.
• Triple-click to select an entire line of text.
• Click a point in the text and then Shift-click to select a range of characters.
• Choose Select > All to select all the characters in the layer.
• To use the arrow keys to select characters, hold down Shift and press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key.

Choose a font family and style
A font is a set of characters—letters, numbers, or symbols—that share a common weight, width, and style. When you
select a font, you can select the font family (for example, Arial) and its type style independently. A type style is a variant
version of an individual font in the font family (for example, regular, bold, or italic). The range of available type styles
varies with each font.
If a font doesn’t include the style you want, you can apply faux (fake) versions of bold and italic. A faux font is a
computer-generated version of a font that approximates an alternative typeface design, used only if there is no
corresponding style for a given font.
1 If you’re changing the existing text, select one or more characters whose font you want to change. To change the

font of all characters in a layer, select the text layer in the Layers panel, and then use the buttons and menus in the
options bar to change the font type, style, size, alignment, and color.
2 In the options bar, choose a font family from the Font Family pop-up menu.
3 Do one of the following:

• Choose a font style from the Font Style pop-up menu in the options bar.
• If the font family you chose does not include a bold or italic style, click the Faux Bold button
button

, Faux Italic

, or both; then click OK.

Note: The type you enter gets its color from the current foreground color; however, you can change the type color before
or after you enter text. When editing existing text layers, you can change the color of individual characters or all type in
a layer.

Choose a font size
The type size determines how large the type appears in the image. The physical size of the font depends on the
resolution of the image. A capital letter in 72-point text is approximately 1-inch high in an image that is 72 ppi. Higher
resolutions reduce a given text point size because the pixels are packed more tightly in higher resolution images.
1 If you’re changing existing text, select one or more characters whose size you want to change. To change the size of

all the characters in a layer, select the text layer in the Layers panel.
2 Select the Horizontal Type tool

or the Vertical Type tool

3 In the options bar, enter or select a new value for Size. You can enter a size larger than 72 points. The value you

enter is converted into the default unit of measurement. To use an alternate unit of measurement, enter the unit
(in, cm, pt, px, or pica) after the value in the Size text box.

Last updated 7/26/2011

242

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

The default unit of measurement for type is points. However, you can change the unit of measurement in the Units &
Rulers section of the Preferences dialog box. In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > Units & Rulers, and then select
a unit of measurement for Type.

Change text color
You can change the type color before or after you enter text. When editing existing text layers, you can change the color
of individual characters or all type in a layer. You can also apply a gradient to text in a text layer.

The Color menu in the options bar displays many preset color swatches from which you can choose.

1 Do one of the following:

• To change the color of text before you type it, select a type tool.
• To change the color of existing text, select a type tool and then drag to select the text.
2 Do one of the following:

• To choose a color from the Color Picker, click the colored area of the Color menu in the options bar.
• To choose a color from a list of color swatches, click the triangle on the Color menu in the options bar.

More Help topics
“Use the Color Swatches panel” on page 214
“Use the Adobe Color Picker” on page 215

Create and use masked type
The Horizontal Type Mask tool and Vertical Type Mask tool create a selection in the shape of text. You can have fun
with text selection borders by cutting text out of an image to show the background, or pasting the selected text into a
new image. Experiment with different options to personalize your images and compositions.

Last updated 7/26/2011

243

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

Horizontal type mask used to create a filled selection.

1 In the Editor, select the layer on which you want the selection to appear. For best results, don’t create the type

selection border on a text layer.
2 Select the Horizontal Type Mask tool

or the Vertical Type Mask tool

3 Select additional type options (See “Type tool options” on page 239), and enter your text.

The type selection border appears in the image on the active layer.

Warp type
Warping allows you to distort type to conform to a variety of shapes; for example, you can warp type in the shape of
an arc or a wave. Warping applies to all characters in a text layer—you cannot warp individual characters. Also, you
can’t warp faux bold text.

Text layer with warp applied

1 In the Editor, select a text layer.
2 Do one of the following:

• Select a type tool, and click the Warp button

in the options bar.

• Choose Layer > Type > Warp Text.
3 Choose a warp style from the Style pop-up menu. The style determines the basic shape of the warped text.
4 Select an orientation for the warp effect—Horizontal or Vertical.
5 (Optional) Specify values for additional warping options to control the orientation and perspective of the warp

effect:

• Bend to specify the amount of warp.
• Horizontal Distortion and Vertical Distortion to apply perspective to the warp.
6 Click OK.

Last updated 7/26/2011

244

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

Unwarp type
1 Select a text layer that has warping applied to it.
2 Select a type tool, and click the Warp button

in the options bar; or choose Layer > Type > Warp Text.

3 Choose None from the Style pop-up menu, and click OK.

Change the orientation of a type layer
1 In the Editor, select the text layer in the Layers panel.
2 Do one of the following:

• Select a type tool, and click the Flip Orientation button

in the options bar.

• Choose Layer > Type > Horizontal, or choose Layer > Type > Vertical.

Work with Asian type
Display Asian type options
Photoshop Elements provides several options for working with Asian type. Asian fonts are often referred to as doublebyte fonts or CJK fonts, meaning Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fonts.
1 In the Editor, choose Edit > Preferences > Type.
2 Set text options:

• Show Asian Text Options to display Asian type options.
• Show Font Names in English to display Asian font names in English.
3 Click OK. The Asian type options button

is added to the type tool options bar.

Reduce spacing between Asian characters
Tsume reduces the space around a character (but not the character itself) by a specified percentage value. When tsume
is added to a character, spacing around both sides of the character is reduced by an equal percentage.
1 If you’re working with an existing layer, select the text layer in the Layers panel and then select a type tool.
2 Select the characters you want to adjust.
3 Click the Show Asian Text Options button

in the options bar. If you don’t see the button, make sure that
preferences are set to show Asian type options.

4 Select a percentage for Tsume

from the pop-up menu, and press the Enter or Return key. The greater the
percentage, the tighter the compression between characters. At 100% (the maximum value), there is no space
between the character’s bounding box and its em box.

Note: An em box is a space whose height and width roughly correspond to the width of the letter “M” (also called a
mutton).

Turn on or turn off tate-chuu-yoko
Tate-chuu-yoko (also called kumimoji and renmoji) is a block of horizontal type laid out within a vertical type line.

Last updated 7/26/2011

245

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

Before and after tate-chuu-yoko is applied

1 If you’re working with an existing layer, select the text layer in the Layers panel and then select a type tool.
2 Select the characters that you want to rotate.
3 Click the Asian Text Options button

in the options bar.

4 Select Tate-Chuu-Yoko.

Turn on or turn off mojikumi
Mojikumi determines spacing between punctuation, symbols, numbers, and other character classes in Japanese type.
When mojikumi is turned off, full-width spacing is applied to these characters. When mojikumi is on, half-width
spacing is applied to these characters.

Mojikumi on (top), and mojikumi off (bottom)

1 If you’re working with an existing layer, select the text layer in the Layers panel and then select a type tool.
2 Click the Asian Text Options button

in the options bar.

3 Select Mojikumi.

Last updated 7/26/2011

246

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

Creating shapes
About shapes
In Photoshop Elements, shapes are vector graphics, which means they are made up of lines and curves defined by their
geometric characteristics instead of pixels. Vector graphics are resolution-independent—that is, they can be scaled to
any size and printed at any resolution without losing detail or clarity. You can move, resize, or change them without
losing the quality of the graphic. Because computer monitors display images on a pixel grid, vector data is displayed
on-screen as pixels.
Shapes are created in shape layers. A shape layer can contain a single shape or multiple shapes, depending on the shape
area option you select. You can choose to have more than one shape in a layer.
You can change the color of a shape by editing its fill layer and applying layer styles to it. Shape tools provide an easy
way to create buttons, navigation bars, and other items used on web pages.

Vector objects created with the shape tools in Photoshop Elements

More Help topics
“Select or move a shape” on page 249
“Transform a shape” on page 249
“Apply a layer style to a shape” on page 250

Draw a rectangle, square, or rounded rectangle
1 In the Editor, select the Rectangle tool

or Rounded Rectangle tool
. If necessary, press and hold another
shape tool in the toolbox, and then choose a tool from the list that appears.

2 (Optional) In the options bar, click the Geometry options triangle to access the following options:
Unconstrained Lets you set the width and height of a rectangle by dragging.
Square Constrains a rectangle to a square.
Fixed Size Draws a rectangle at the exact size you specified in the Width and Height text boxes.
Proportional Draws a rectangle based on the numbers you type in the Width and Height text boxes.
From Center Draws a rectangle from the center of where you begin drawing (usually a rectangle is drawn from the

upper-left corner).

Last updated 7/26/2011

247

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

Snap to Pixels Snaps edges of a rectangle to the pixel boundaries.

3 Drag within your image to draw the shape.

Draw a circle or ellipse
1 In the Editor, select the Ellipse tool

. If necessary, press and hold another shape tool in the toolbox, and then
choose this tool from the list that appears.

2 (Optional) In the options bar, click the Geometry options triangle to use the following options:
Unconstrained Lets you set the width and height of an ellipse by dragging.
Circle Draws a perfect circle instead of an ellipse.
Fixed Size Draws an ellipse at the exact size you specified in the Width and Height text boxes.
Proportional Draws a proportional ellipse based on the numbers you type in the Width and Height text boxes.
From Center Draws an ellipse from the center of where you begin drawing (usually an ellipse is drawn from the upper-

left corner).
3 Drag in your image to draw the ellipse.

Draw a multisided shape
1 In the Editor, select the Polygon tool

. If necessary, press and hold another shape tool in the toolbox, and then
choose this tool from the list that appears.

2 (Optional) In the options bar, select the Geometry options triangle to use the following options:
Radius Specifies the distance from the center of a polygon to the outer points.
Smooth Corners Renders a polygon with smooth corners.
Star Turns a polygon into a star.
Indent Sides By Specifies the depth of the star’s indentations.
Smooth Indents Renders a star-shaped polygon with smooth indents.

3 In the Sides box, specify the number of sides for the polygon.
4 Drag within your image to draw the polygon.

Draw a line or arrow
1 In the Editor, select the Line tool

. If necessary, press and hold another shape tool in the toolbox, and then choose

this tool from the list that appears.
2 (Optional) In the options bar, select the Geometry options triangle to use the following options:
Arrowheads Start and End Renders a line with arrowheads. Select Start, End, or both to specify on which end of the
line arrows are rendered. The shape options appear in the pop-up dialog box.

Last updated 7/26/2011

248

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

Choosing options for an arrowhead

Arrowheads Width and Length Specify the proportions of the arrowhead as a percentage of the line width (10% to
1000% for Width, and 10% to 5000% for Length). Enter a value for the concavity of the arrowhead (from -50% to
+50%).
Concavity Defines the amount of curvature on the widest part of the arrowhead, where the arrowhead meets the line.

3 In the Weight box, specify the width of the line in pixels.
4 Drag within your image to draw the line.

Draw a custom shape
The Custom Shape tool provides many different shape options for you to draw. When you select the custom shape
tool, you can access these shapes in the options bar.
1 In the Editor, select the Custom Shape tool

. If necessary, press and hold another shape tool in the toolbox, and
then choose this tool from the list that appears.

2 In the options bar, select a shape from the Shape pop-up panel. Click the arrow at the top right of the panel to list

the shapes you can choose from and how to display them.
3 (Optional) In the options bar, select the Geometry options triangle to use the following options:
Unconstrained Lets you set the width and height of a rectangle, rounded rectangle, ellipse, or custom shape by

dragging.
Defined Proportions Draws a custom shape based on the proportions with which it was created.
Defined Size Draws a custom shape based on the size at which it was created.
Fixed Size Draws a custom shape as a fixed shape based on the values you enter in the Width and Height text boxes.
From Center Draws a custom shape from the center.

4 Drag within your image to draw the shape.

Last updated 7/26/2011

249

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

The Custom Shape tool has ready-made frames that you can drag around a photo.

Create multiple shapes in the same layer
1 In the Editor, select a shape layer in the Layers panel or create a new shape layer.
2 If you want to create a different type of shape, select a different shape tool.
3 Select a shape area option to determine how shapes should overlap, and then drag within the image to draw new

shapes:
Adds an additional shape to the existing shape. The combined shape will cover the entire area of the shapes
you drew using the Add option.

Add

Subtract

Removes the area where shapes overlap. The rest of the shapes’ areas are preserved.

Intersect

Shows only the area where shapes intersect. The other areas will be removed.

Exclude

Removes the overlapping areas in the new and existing shapes.

Editing shapes
Select or move a shape
Use the Shape Selection tool to select shapes with one click. If you convert a shape into a bitmap element by
simplifying the shape layer, the Shape Selection tool will no longer select the shape (use the Move tool instead).
If a layer contains multiple shapes, you can reposition all the shapes together using the Move tool. However, if you
want to reposition a specific shape in a layer, you must use the Shape Selection tool.
1 In the Editor, do one of the following:

• Select the Shape Selection tool

in the toolbox.

• If another shape tool is active, click the Shape Selection tool in the options bar.
2 To select the shape, click it.
3 To move the shape, drag it to a new location.

Transform a shape
1 Select the Shape Selection tool

Last updated 7/26/2011

250

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Adding text and shapes

2 Do one of the following:

• Select the shape you want to transform, choose Image > Transform Shape, and then choose a transformation
command.

• Double-click the shape you want to transform, and then drag an anchor to transform the shape.

Change the color of all shapes in a layer
1 In the Editor, double-click the thumbnail of the shape layer in the Layers panel.
2 Use the Color Picker tool

to select a new color.

Note: If the color of a shape doesn’t change when you pick a new color, check to see if the layer has a layer style
(represented by a style icon in the Layers panel). Some layer styles override the base color of a shape.

More Help topics
“Use the Adobe Color Picker” on page 215
“Use the Paint Bucket tool” on page 227

Apply a layer style to a shape
You can apply effects—such as drop shadows and bevels—to shapes quickly and easily using layer styles. Keep in mind
that a layer style is applied to all shapes in a layer. For example, if you apply a drop shadow style to a layer that contains
multiple shapes, all of the shapes will display a drop shadow.

Before (left) and after (right) applying a layer style to a custom shape.

1 In the Layers panel, click the New Layer button

2 In the Content panel, select a shape and insert it into the new layer.
3 In the Effects panel, click the Layer Styles button

and double-click the thumbnail you want to apply to the shape.

Last updated 7/26/2011

251

Chapter 13: Creating projects in the Editor
You can use your photos in creative projects, such as slideshows and photobooks, and share them with family and
friends.

Editor projects overview
About projects
The Elements Organizer and the Photoshop Elements Editor provide quick and easy ways to be creative with your
photos. You can complete some projects in the Elements Organizer. For other projects, you select the photos you want
to use in the Elements Organizer and then complete the project in the Photoshop Elements Editor.
The projects under the Create tab guide you through the process of using professionally designed templates to create
your own unique project. When you complete a project, you can either share it online, or print it on your home
computer or through a professional printing service.
Your projects are displayed in the Elements Organizer. The project file and related subfolders that contain the
document or web page files for each project are created on your local hard drive. To maintain the link between these
project files, subfolders, and page files, avoid moving them using Windows Explorer. Instead use the Move command
in Elements Organizer.
You can share projects in a variety of ways. For example, you can burn a slide show onto a VCD. You can also have
your projects professionally printed through Adobe Photoshop Services.
Note: Projects from previous versions of Photoshop Elements might not open in the current version. You may have to use
a previous version to open some projects.

Making photo projects
About photo projects
Photo projects include Photo Books, photo calendars, photo collages, greeting cards, and jackets and labels for CDs
and DVDs.
Note: Photo Books are photo projects. However, they have their own workspace mode, with a limited toolbox and limited
access to the Content panel. Photo Books are designed specifically for online printing. You can print them locally, but each
side of a spread is treated as a separate page.
If a project has a single page, it’s saved in Photoshop format (PSD) by default. If a project has multiple pages, however,
it’s saved in the more versatile Photo Projects Format (PSE). Unlike conventional image formats, which require you
to open and edit each image separately, PSE lets you create and print up to 30 pages at one time.
Note: Because multipage files can be quite large, a computer with least one gigabyte of RAM is recommended for optimum
performance.
When you start a photo project, a panel in the Panel Bin opens for that project type.

Last updated 7/26/2011

252

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

Each Photo Project panel lets you specify a size, layout, and theme that’s unique or common to each project type. For
example, the CD Jacket template has different size options than the Photo Collage template, but both offer layout and
theme options that are common to most projects. At this time, you also specify whether to use the Auto-Fill With
Project Bin Photos, Include Captions, and Number Of Pages options (when applicable).
After you specify these primary options, the photo project opens in the Editor, in which you can apply designs and
styles to images using the Effects panel. The Editor also lets you add or modify frames, backgrounds, and layer styles.
For example, you can apply a unique background to every page of a photo album using the Content panel instead of
having all pages with the same background, which occurs by default.
After you finish a project, you can share it in a variety of ways. For example, you can print or e-mail greeting cards or
photo collages, or burn photo albums onto a CD or DVD. You can also have your projects professionally printed using
Adobe Photoshop Services.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178

Using the photo projects panel
The Projects panel in the Panel Bin is the starting point for making new photo projects. To add images to a photo
project, select Auto-Fill With Project Bin Photos, or manually add them in the Editor later.

Setting photo project options

Last updated 7/26/2011

253

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

For example, if you click Photo Collage in Create tab, the photo projects dialog box provides the following options:
Page Size Provides preset page sizes for each project. The size chosen becomes the default for all pages in the project,
but it can be later modified in the Editor. Each project type offers different size options. For example, the greeting card
template sizes are smaller than the photo album template sizes.
Choose A Layout Provides preset single and multiple photo collages on a page. The layout chosen becomes the default

for all pages in the project, but it can be later modified in the Editor. For example, if the original layout is structured
for landscape-oriented photos, you can rotate the image frame for portrait-oriented photos, or choose Fit Frame To
Photo from the context menu.
Choose A Theme Provides a variety of preset designs to complement your images with preset frames and backgrounds.
The theme and frame chosen becomes the default for all pages in the project, but they can be modified later in the
Editor. For example, you may want to apply a different background to each page of a scrapbook.
Auto-Fill With Project Bin Photos Places selected images in the project automatically in the same order they are
arranged in the Project Bin. You can select open files, albums, or files selected in the Elements Organizer to auto-fill
the project. To arrange images in a particular order, rearrange them in the Project Bin before starting a project. You
can also rearrange the images later in the photo project using the Editor.
Include Captions Adds a caption on or below the image (depending on layout) in a separate layer. If an image already

has a caption, it will be placed in the project with the image. Caption text can be modified in a variety of ways,
depending on how the text is selected. For example, highlighting the text with the Text tool lets you apply font types,
styles, and color to the text. Selecting the text frame with the Move tool pointer lets you rotate, resize, and move the
text. Double-clicking the text allows you to edit it as well.
Number Of Pages Specifies the number of pages for the project. If you selected Auto-Fill With Project Bin Photos in
the Projects panel, the required number of pages are identified for a chosen layout. You can change this setting. For
example, if you know that a project will continue to grow, and the selected photos require only four pages, you can
specify 10 pages to accommodate images added later.

Note: Photoshop Elements supports photo projects of up to 30 pages. If your project exceeds 30 pages, create a second file
that can be appended to the original when you send them to Adobe Photoshop Services.

Types of photo projects
About photo collages
Photo collages let you create large picture projects, such as photo collages or unique photo prints. Photo collages can
be printed with your home printer, ordered online, saved to your hard drive, and sent by e-mail.

Sample photo collages

Last updated 7/26/2011

254

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

More Help topics
“Make a photo collage, label, CD, and DVD Jacket” on page 255

About greeting cards
Greeting cards let you add a variety of layouts and designs to your images, and allows adding up to 22 photos on a page.
Greeting cards can be printed with your home printer, saved to your hard drive, and sent by e-mail. Greetings cards
can be ordered online from Adobe Photoshop Services from some locales.

Sample photo greeting cards

More Help topics
“Make a photo collage, label, CD, and DVD Jacket” on page 255

About CD and DVD jackets
Photoshop Elements lets you create disc jackets (covers) for a CD and DVD case. They can be printed with your home
printer, saved to your hard drive, and sent by e-mail in PDF format.

Sample CD and DVD jackets

More Help topics
“Make a photo collage, label, CD, and DVD Jacket” on page 255

Last updated 7/26/2011

255

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

About CD and DVD labels
Photoshop Elements lets you create adhesive disc labels for CDs and DVDs, or labels for printable CDs and DVDs,
using an inkjet printer. Labels can be printed with your home printer, or saved to your hard drive and sent by e-mail
in PDF format.

Sample CD and DVD labels

More Help topics
“Make a photo collage, label, CD, and DVD Jacket” on page 255

About slide shows
Slide shows are a fun way to share media files. With Photoshop Elements, you can customize slide shows with music
clips, clip art, text, and even voice narration. Images in PDF do not display in slide shows.
After you complete a slide show, you can choose several ways to share it.

Make a photo collage, label, CD, and DVD Jacket
For a video about photo collages, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2329_pse8_en.
1 In Elements Organizer, select the photos you want to use in your project. Or, if you want to add photos after

creating it, open the Editor.
2 Select the Create tab

. You can see the project types. Do one of the following:

• Click Photo Collage
• Click More Options, and select CD Jackets (U.S. users only), or click CD Jackets (all users except U.S.).
• Click More Options, and select DVD Jackets.
• Click More Options, and select CD/DVD Label.
3 Select a size, theme, and layout, or, in the case of CD and DVD disc jackets and labels, a theme, and a layout. If you

plan to print your project, choose a standard size that your printer supports.
Note: If you plan to order prints from Adobe Photoshop Services, you can choose a standard size or a nonstandard size.
4 Select any additional options, such as Auto-Fill With Project Bin Photos, Include Captions, and Number Of Pages.
5 Click Done.

The project opens in the Editor. You can modify the design using the Content, Effects, or Favorites panels.
6 Add photos (if you have not yet added) or new pages to the photo project.

Last updated 7/26/2011

256

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

7 View and customize your photos by doing any of the following:

• To see each page, click the forward arrow

or backward arrow

in the lower-left corner of the image window.

Or select a page in the Project Bin.

• Reposition or resize a photo.
• Rotate a photo.
• Add or edit text.
• Replace or remove a photo.
8 Choose File > Save. By default, projects are saved in your My Pictures folder, although you can save projects to

another location.
9 By default, Include In The Elements Organizer is selected, which places the project in Elements Organizer. Deselect

this option if you do not want the project placed in Elements Organizer.
10 Type a filename, and click Save.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178
“Editing photo projects” on page 262

Create a photo book
For a video about this process, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2328_pse8_en.
Photo Books let you add various layouts and designs to your images. Photo books can be printed on your home printer,
ordered online from Adobe® Photoshop® Services, saved to your hard drive, and sent by e-mail. Photo books are
designed to be ordered online using Adobe Photoshop Services.

Last updated 7/26/2011

257

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

Photo Book window

Create a photo book and print on a local printer
1 From the Editor, click Create, and select Photo Book (or from Elements Organizer, select the Create tab, and select

Photo Book).
2 Select Print With Local Printer to open the Photo Book panel. The panel may open directly, depending on the

printing services available in your locale.
3 Select one of the following options:

• Random Photo Layout
• Choose Photo Layout
If you select a Random Photo Layout, specify the following options:

• Page Size
• Theme
If you select Choose Photo Layout, do the following:
a Specify the page size, select the left and right page layouts, and click Next.
b Select a theme.
4 Set the additional options, and click Create:
Auto-Fill With Project Bin Photos Adds all the photos already open in the Project Bin.
Include Captions Inserts a caption under the photo, if the photo has a caption.
Number Of Pages Sets the number of pages in the photo book.

Note: Sometimes, minimum and maximum number of pages allowed vary based on locale.
5 Use the Content panel to add creative designs to your photo book.
6 Use the Photo Book Editing Toolbar to fine-tune your photo book.

Last updated 7/26/2011

258

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

Photo Book toolbar

Create photo books using Shutterfly
You can upload your photos, create photo books, and print using Shutterfly. You can also order a digital scrapbook
using Shutterfly.

Photo Book window

1 From the Editor, click Create, and select Photo Book (or from the Elements Organizer, select the Create tab, and

select Photo Book).
2 Select one of the following methods to use the services of Shutterfly:

• Create Photo Books At Shutterfly
• Create Digital Scrapbooks At Shutterfly
3 Follow the onscreen instructions to create and order Photo Books.

Note: Sign up for Shutterfly membership to use their services.

Create photo books using Kodak Gallery
1 From the Editor, click Create, and select Photo Book (or from Elements Organizer, select the Create tab, and select

Photo Book).
2 Select Create A Photo Book Kodak Gallery.

Note: Sign up for Kodak Gallery membership to use their services.
3 Choose a title page photo. The title page photo is automatically the first photo open in the Project Bin. If you want

to change the title page photo, rearrange the photos in the Project Bin. Click Next.

Last updated 7/26/2011

259

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

4 Select one of the following options:

• Random Photo Layout
• Choose Photo Layout
If you select a Random Photo Layout, specify the following options:

• Page Size
• Choose A Theme
If you select Choose Photo Layout, do the following:
a Specify the page size, select the left and right page layouts, and click Next.
b Select a theme.
5 Set the additional options, and click Create:
Auto-Fill With Project Bin Photos Adds all the photos already open in the Project Bin.
Include Captions Inserts a caption under the photo, if the photo has a caption.
Number Of Pages Sets the number of pages in the photo book.

Note: Sometimes, minimum and maximum number of pages allowed vary based on locale.
6 Use the Content panel to add creative designs to your photo book.
7 Use the Photo Book Editing Toolbar to fine-tune your photo book.

Photo Book toolbar

Create a greeting card
Greeting cards let you add various layouts and designs to your images, and enables you to add up to 22 photos on a
page. Greeting cards can be printed with your home printer, saved to your hard drive, and sent by e-mail.
You can also upload photos and order greeting cards from Shutterfly and Kodak Gallery.
Greetings cards can be ordered online from Adobe Photoshop Services from some locales.

Sample photo greeting cards

Last updated 7/26/2011

260

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

Create a greeting card and print on a local printer
1 From the Editor, click Create, and select Greeting Card (or from the Elements Organizer, select the Create tab, and

select Greeting Card).
2 Select Print With Local Printer to open the Greeting Card panel. The panel may open directly, depending on the

printing services available in your locale.
3 Specify the page size, layout, and theme.
4 Set the additional options, and click Done:
Auto-Fill With Project Bin Photos Adds all the photos already open in the Project Bin.
Include Captions Inserts a caption under the photo, if the photo has a caption.

5 Use the Content panel to add creative designs to your greeting card.

Order greeting cards using Shutterfly
You can upload your photos, create greeting cards, and order copies using Shutterfly.

Photo Book window

1 From the Editor, click Create, and select Greeting Card (or from the Elements Organizer, select the Create tab, and

select Greeting Card).
2 Select Create Cards And Stationary At Shutterfly to order greeting cards:
3 Follow the onscreen instructions to create and order greeting cards.

Note: Sign up for Shutterfly membership to use their services.

Last updated 7/26/2011

261

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

Order greeting cards using Kodak Gallery
You can upload your photos, create greeting cards, and order using Kodak Gallery.
1 From the Editor, click Create, and select Greeting Card (or from the Elements Organizer, select the Create tab, and

select Greeting Card).
2 Select Create A Print Card Kodak Gallery to order greeting cards.
3 Follow the onscreen instructions to create and order greeting cards.

Note: Sign up for Kodak Gallery membership to use their services.

Create photo calendars
Create photo calendars and order using Shutterfly
You can upload your photos, create photo calendars, and order copies using Shutterfly.
1 From the Editor, click Create, and select Photo Calendar (or from Elements Organizer, select the Create tab, and

select Photo Calendar).
2 Select Create Photo Calendars At Shutterfly to create and order photo calendars.
3 Follow the onscreen instructions to create and order photo calendars.

Note: Sign up for Shutterfly membership to use their services.

Create photo calendars and order using Kodak Gallery
You can upload your photos, create photo calendars, and order using Kodak Gallery.
1 From the Editor, click Create, and select Photo Calendar (or from the Elements Organizer, select the Create tab,

and select Photo Calendar).
2 Select Create A Calendar Kodak Gallery to create and order photo calendars.
3 Follow the onscreen instructions to create and order Photo Calendars.

Note: Sign up for Kodak Gallery membership to use their services.

Create a DVD with a menu of slide shows
You can burn a DVD of your slide shows to share with friends and family. To create a DVD, you must have a DVDRW drive. You can view a DVD on your television using a DVD player. You can also view it on your computer using
a CD/DVD drive and software that can play DVD-format files.
1 Insert a writable DVD in your DVD-RW drive.
2 In Elements Organizer, select one or more slide show projects or WMV files. To select multiple slide shows or

WMV files, press Ctrl and click each slide show or WMV to include.
3 Click Create

> DVD With Menu.

The Create A DVD With Menu dialog box opens.

Last updated 7/26/2011

262

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

4 To organize your slide shows, do any of the following:

• To add a slide show or video, click Add Slide Shows And Videos, select the slide shows or videos to add, and click OK.
• To move a slide show or video, drag it to a new location.
• To remove a slide show or video, select it, and click Remove Slide Show Or Video.
5 Click Next.

Adobe Premiere Elements launches and enables you to complete the process of creating a DVD with a menu of slide
shows.

Editing photo projects
About photo projects edits
In the Editor, you can modify photo collages, greeting cards, and CD/DVD disc jackets and labels. The Content panel
lets you add a variety of frames, textures, backgrounds, and graphics to your projects, as well as apply text effects. The
Editor also lets you resize, rotate, and move images and captions.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178

Add images to a photo project
You can add images to a photo project in the Editor. After you add images, you can rearrange, modify, or replace them.
1 If the photo project is not already open in the Editor, select the photo project in the Elements Organizer and click

the triangle beside Fix > Full Photo Edit, or drag the photo project to the Editor. Images can only be added to a
photo project in the Editor.
2 Choose File > Open. Choose the photos you want to add. If you do not see the images, navigate to where they are

located, and then click Open, which places them in the Project Bin.
3 Select a photo from the Project Bin, and drag it into a frame, which is the gray area inside a layout. To replace an

existing photo in a photo project, right-click the photo and select Replace Photo, and then select an image file and
click Place. You can also double-click an image in the photo project and click the Get New Photo button, or select
another photo from the Project Bin, and drag it into a frame.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178

Add new pages to a photo project
1 In the Project Bin, select the page that will precede the new page.

Moving pages in a photo project

Last updated 7/26/2011

263

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

2 Do any of the following:

• To add a blank page, choose Edit > Add Blank Page, or right-click a page in the Project Bin, and then select this
option from the context menu. You can also drag a blank page to a different location in the photo project. For
example, you might drag it to the beginning of your photo project if you want to use it as your title page.

• To add a new page that uses the current layout, click Edit > Add Page Using Current Layout, or right-click a page
in the Project Bin, and then select this option from the context menu. You can also drag a new page to a different
location in the project. For example, you might want to move the new page somewhere else in the project.

• To remove a page, click Edit > Delete Current Page, or right-click the page, and then select this option from the
context menu.

More Help topics
“Using the Effects panel” on page 178

Reposition or resize photos in a photo project
1 To adjust a photo and frame together, click the photo once. To adjust a photo within a frame, double-click the

photo.
A bounding box appears showing the edges of the photo, even if the edges are masked by the frame.
2 Do any of the following:

• To reposition the photo, click anywhere within the bounding box and drag the photo.
• To resize the photo, drag the slider. Or, position the Move tool over a corner, top, bottom, or side; when the
appears, drag it.

diagonal double-headed arrow

3 After repositioning or resizing the photo within the frame, click the Commit button

when you’re finished.
A

Resizing a photo in the Editor
A. Drag a corner of the photo to resize it B. Move the resize slider C. Areas outside the photo frame are hidden

Replace or remove photos in a photo project
❖ Do any of the following:

• Double-click the photo, then click Get New Photo
• Drag a new photo from the Project Bin onto a photo.

Last updated 7/26/2011

or the Cancel button

264

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

• To replace a photo on a page, right-click and select Replace Photo.
• To remove (clear) a photo from a page, right-click and select Clear Photo.

Rotate photos in a photo project
1 To rotate a photo and frame together, click the photo once. To rotate a photo within a frame, double-click the

photo.
2 Do any of the following:

• Click anywhere within the bounding box and a circle appears below the selection. Position the cursor over the
circle. When the curved four-headed arrow

appears, drag the track ball handle to rotate the image.

Rotating an image in a photo project

• Position the Move tool over a corner. When the curved double-headed arrow

appears, drag it to rotate the
photo. The further away the cursor is from the corner, the more control you have to make more accurate changes.

• Double-click the photo, and then click the rotate button next to the slider (only rotates in 90° increments).
3 When you are finished, click the Commit button

or the Cancel button

Edit photo project pages in Photoshop CS4
If you have Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 and Photoshop Elements installed on the same computer, you can send JPEG, GIF,
and other single-page photo files to Photoshop by using the Edit >Edit with Photoshop command. Photoshop does not
support the multipage PSE file format, so it cannot edit entire photo projects. However, Photoshop can edit individual
pages of a photo project, which are in the single-page PSD format.
Photoshop offers direct control over many aspects of photo project pages, including direct editing of photo layers
(called Smart Objects in Photoshop) and frames. These features are limited in Photoshop Elements to preserve its easy,
automatic image-editing workflow.
1 In the Photo Browser, select the Photo Projects document.
2 Click Show Properties, and then click General.
3 Click the folder icon next to the path of the PSE file, which displays the PSE document in Windows Explorer.
4 Locate and open the folder with the same name as the PSE document.
5 Right-click the PSD file for the page you want to edit, and choose Open With > Photoshop CS4.

Last updated 7/26/2011

265

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Creating projects in the Editor

6 In Photoshop, make your changes, and then choose File > Save. When Photoshop asks if you want to replace the

existing file, click Yes.
Important: Do not reorder or rename layers in the PSD file. Doing so could prevent the automatic editing features in
Photoshop Elements from working as expected.

Flip books
Flip Book enables you to create a stop motion video of your photos. You can start from Photoshop Elements and
complete the task of creating a flip book in Elements Organizer. Click Create > More Options > Flip Book to start the
creation of a flip book.

Last updated 7/26/2011

266

Chapter 14: Optimizing for the web
Optimization for the web is the process of compressing images and setting display options for optimal use on the
Internet. When you put images on the Internet, file size becomes important; you want to achieve a file size that is small
enough to allow a reasonable download time, but large enough to preserve colors and details to your satisfaction. There
are three major graphic file formats that are used on the web: GIF, JPEG, and PNG.

Optimizing images
About optimizing
When you put images on the web, you need to think about file size. The goal is a file size that is small enough to allow
reasonable download times but that preserves colors and details to your satisfaction.
Three major graphic file formats are used on the web: GIF, JPEG, and PNG. You can optimize images in these formats
using one of the following methods:

• To precisely optimize an image for use in web authoring applications, such as Adobe® Dreamweaver®, you can use
the Save For Web command. The Save For Web dialog box lets you preview your image in different file formats and
with different optimization settings. You can also set transparency and animation settings.

• For basic optimization, you can use the Save As command. Depending on the file format, you can specify image
quality, background transparency or matting, color display, and downloading method.

Using the Save For Web dialog box
Use the Save For Web dialog box to preview the effects of different optimization options on a photo you want to share
on the web. The process is simple. Open a photo in the Editor, and choose File > Save For Web. Then choose a format
from the file format menu (GIF, JPEG, PNG-8, or PNG-24) and set options as desired. (The file format menu is directly
beneath the Preset menu.) This saves a copy of your file, without overwriting the original image.

Last updated 7/26/2011

267

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

A
B

Save For Web dialog box
A. Toolbox B. Eyedropper color C. Optimization settings D. Image Size E. Animation options F. Zoom level menu G. Original image
H. Optimized image I. Browser preview menu

Optimization options appear on the right side of the Save For Web dialog box. In addition to selecting a web file
format, you can choose compression and color options, preserve background transparency or set background matting,
and change the size of the image. You can use predefined settings (by choosing a format from the Preset menu), or
select format-specific options to fine-tune the optimization.
The image windows show your original image (on the left) and a preview of the optimized image (on the right). Under
each window is optimization information—the current settings, the size of the optimized file, and the estimated
download time. As you make adjustments, the information under the optimized image changes to reflect your new
settings.
A small toolbox is located in the upper-left corner of the dialog box. To view different areas of an image, select the
and drag to bring those areas into view. To zoom in on an image, select the Zoom tool
and click in
Hand tool
a view; then hold down Alt, and click again to zoom out. (Alternatively, you can use the Zoom box at the bottom of
the dialog box.) To create matte colors, use the Eyedropper Color tool.

More Help topics
“Preview an optimized image in a web browser” on page 278
“Preview variations in color display” on page 279
“View estimated download time” on page 278

Optimized file formats for the web
You can choose between four formats for the web. Use the following guidelines when choosing the format for your
web image:
JPEG In most cases, this is the best format in which to save photographs.

Last updated 7/26/2011

268

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

PNG-24 Like JPEG, this is a good format for photographs. Choose PNG-24 rather than JPEG only when your image
contains transparency. (JPEG does not support transparency; you must fill it with a matte color.) PNG-24 files are
often much larger than JPEG files of the same image.
GIF GIF is the format to use for line art, illustrations with large areas of solid color and crisp detail, and text. Also, if

you want to export an animated image, you must use GIF.
PNG-8 PNG-8 is a lesser-known alternative to GIF. Use it for the same purposes (except animation).

Images in GIF and PNG-8 formats, sometimes called indexed-color images, can display up to 256 colors. To convert
an image to indexed-color format, Photoshop Elements builds a color lookup table. If a color in the original image does
not appear in the color lookup table, the application either chooses the closest color in the table or simulates the color
using a combination of available colors.
JPEG and PNG-24 files support 24-bit color, so they can display up to 16 million colors. Depending on the format, you
can specify image quality, background transparency or matting, color display, and the method a browser should use
to display the image while downloading.
The appearance of an image on the web also depends on the colors displayed by the computer platform, operating
system, monitor, and browser. You may want to preview images in different browsers and on different platforms to
see how they will appear on the web.

About the JPEG format
The JPEG format supports 24-bit color, so it preserves the subtle variations in brightness and hue found in
photographs. A progressive JPEG file displays a low-resolution version of the image in the web browser while the full
image is downloading.
JPEG image compression is called lossy because it selectively discards image data. A higher quality setting results in
less data being discarded, but the JPEG compression method may still degrade sharp detail in an image, particularly
in images containing type or vector art.
Note: Artifacts, such as wavelike patterns or blocky areas of banding, are created each time you save an image in JPEG
format. Therefore, you should always save JPEG files from the original image, not from a previously saved JPEG.

Original image (left), and optimized JPEG with Low quality setting (right)

The JPEG format does not support transparency. When you save an image as a JPEG file, transparent pixels are filled
with the matte color specified in the Save For Web dialog box. To simulate the effect of background transparency, you
can match the matte color to the web page background color. If your image contains transparency and you do not
know the web page background color, or if the background is a pattern, you should use a format that supports
transparency (GIF, PNG-8, or PNG-24).

More Help topics
“Create a matted GIF or PNG image” on page 275

Last updated 7/26/2011

269

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

About the GIF format
The GIF format uses 8-bit color and efficiently compresses solid areas of color while preserving sharp details like those
in line art, logos, or type. You also use the GIF format to create an animated image and preserve transparency in an
image. GIF is supported by most browsers.
The GIF format uses LZW compression, which is a lossless compression method. However, because GIF files are
limited to 256 colors, optimizing an original 24-bit image as an 8-bit GIF can subtract colors from an image.

GIF image with selective color (left), and GIF image with web color (right)

You can choose the number of colors in a GIF image and control how colors dither in a browser. GIF supports
background transparency or background matting, by which you blend the edges of the image with a web page
background color.

More Help topics
“Preserve background transparency in a GIF or PNG image” on page 275

About the PNG-8 format
The PNG-8 format uses 8-bit color. Like the GIF format, PNG-8 efficiently compresses areas of solid color while
preserving sharp detail like those in line art, logos, or type.
Because PNG-8 is not supported by all browsers, you may want to avoid this format when you are distributing the
image to a wide audience.
The PNG-8 format uses more advanced compression schemes than GIF does, and a PNG-8 file can be 10% to 30%
smaller than a GIF file of the same image, depending on the image’s color patterns. Although PNG-8 compression is
lossless, optimizing an original 24-bit image as an 8-bit PNG file can subtract colors from the image.
Note: With certain images, especially those with simple patterns and few colors, GIF compression can create a smaller file
than PNG-8 compression. View optimized images in GIF and PNG-8 format to compare file size.
As with the GIF format, you can choose the number of colors in an image and control how colors dither in a browser.
The PNG-8 format supports background transparency and background matting, by which you blend the edges of the
image with a web page background color.

Last updated 7/26/2011

270

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

PNG-8 with 256 colors and no dither (left), and PNG-8 with 16 colors and dithering (right)

More Help topics
“Preserve background transparency in a GIF or PNG image” on page 275

About the PNG-24 format
The PNG-24 format supports 24-bit color. Like the JPEG format, PNG-24 preserves the subtle variations in brightness
and hue found in photographs. Like the GIF and PNG-8 formats, PNG-24 preserves sharp details like those in line art,
logos, or type.
The PNG-24 format uses the same lossless compression method as the PNG-8 format. For that reason, PNG-24 files
are usually larger than JPEG files of the same image. You may want to avoid PNG-24 format when you are distributing
your image to a wide audience.
In addition to supporting background transparency and background matting, the PNG-24 format supports multilevel
transparency. You can have up to 256 degrees of transparency from opaque to completely transparent, so you can
blend the edges of an image smoothly with any background color. However, not all browsers support multilevel
transparency.

More Help topics
“Preserve background transparency in a GIF or PNG image” on page 275

About animated GIFs
Animated GIFs create the illusion of movement by displaying a sequence of images, or frames, over time. Photoshop
Elements provides a powerful, easy way to create animated GIFs from a multiple-layer image.
To create an animated GIF file, you work with layers. Each layer becomes a frame when Photoshop Elements generates
an optimized animation. The animated GIFs are compiled into a RGB color document in the Editor.
You can open an existing animated GIF file using the Open command from the Editor. For each frame in the file,
Photoshop Elements creates a layer. To view a specific frame in the document window, make the layer for that frame
visible in the Layers panel, and hide other layers.

Last updated 7/26/2011

271

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

Images in separate layers can be sequenced together to create an animation.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50
“Preview an animation” on page 279

Apply a preset optimization setting
You can quickly and easily optimize an image for the web by choosing a predefined optimization setting, called a preset,
from the Preset menu near the upper-right corner of the Save For Web dialog box. Presets are tailored to meet the
optimization needs of different types of images.
The name of each preset reflects its file format and quality level. For example, choose JPEG High to optimize an image
in JPEG format with high image quality and low compression. Choose GIF 32 Dithered to optimize an image in GIF
format, reduce the number of colors to 32, and apply dithering.
1 In the Save For Web dialog box, choose a setting name from the Preset menu, and then click OK.
2 In the Save Optimized As dialog box, type a filename and click Save.

Note: If you change the options in a preset, the Preset menu displays the word “Custom.” You cannot save a custom
setting; however, the current settings appear in the Save For Web dialog box the next time you display it.

Optimize as JPEG
JPEG is the standard format for compressing photographs.
1 In the Editor, open an image and choose File > Save For Web.
2 Choose JPEG from the optimization format menu.
3 To optimize to a specific file size, click the arrow

to the right of the Preset menu, and then click Optimize To
File Size. Enter a number in the Desired File Size text box, and select either Current Settings, which optimizes for
the current settings, or Auto Select GIF/JPEG, which automatically determines whether JPEG or GIF is the better
format.

4 Do one of the following to specify the compression level:

• Choose a quality option (Low, Medium, High, and so on) from the pop-up menu under the optimization format menu.
• Click the arrow in the Quality menu and drag the Quality pop-up slider.
• Enter a value between 0 and 100 in the Quality box.
The higher the Quality setting, the more detail is preserved in the optimized image, but the larger the file size. View
the optimized image at several quality settings to determine the best balance between quality and file size.

Last updated 7/26/2011

272

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

5 Select Progressive to display the image progressively in a web browser; that is, to display it first at a low resolution,

and then at progressively higher resolutions as downloading proceeds.
Note: Some browsers do not support progressive JPEGs.
6 To preserve the ICC profile of the original image in the optimized file, select ICC Profile.

Some browsers use ICC profiles for color correction. The ICC profile of the image depends on your current color
setting.
7 If the original image contains transparency, select a Matte color that matches the background of your web page.

Transparent areas in your original image are filled with the Matte color.
8 To save your optimized image, click OK. In the Save Optimized As dialog box, type a filename, and click Save.

More Help topics
“About the JPEG format” on page 268
“About color management” on page 175

Optimize as GIF or PNG-8 format
GIF is the standard format for compressing images with large areas of solid colors and crisp details like those in line
art, logos, or type. Like the GIF format, PNG-8 supports transparency and efficiently compresses areas of solid color
while preserving sharp detail; however, not all web browsers can display PNG-8 files.
1 In the Editor, open an image and choose File > Save For Web.
2 Choose GIF or PNG-8 from the optimization format menu.
3 To display an image at low resolution while the full-resolution image is downloading, select Interlaced. Interlacing

can make downloading time seem shorter and gives viewers feedback that downloading is in progress.
4 Under the optimization format menu, choose a color-reduction algorithm for generating the color lookup table:
Perceptual Creates a custom color table by giving priority to colors for which the human eye has greater sensitivity.
Selective Creates a color table similar to the Perceptual color table, but favoring broad areas of color and the
preservation of web colors. This color table usually produces images with the greatest color integrity. (Selective is the
default choice.)
Adaptive Creates a custom color table by sampling colors from the spectrum appearing most commonly in the image.

For example, an image with only shades of green and blue produces a color table made primarily of greens and blues.
Most images concentrate colors in particular areas of the spectrum.
Restrictive (Web) Uses the standard, 216-color, web-safe color table common to the 8-bit (256-color) panels of

Windows and Mac OS. This option ensures that no browser dither is applied to colors when the image is displayed
using 8-bit color. If your image has fewer than 216 colors, unused colors are removed from the table.
5 To specify the maximum number of colors in the color panel, select a number from the Colors menu, enter a value

in the text box, or click the arrows to change the number of colors. If the image contains fewer colors than the panel,
the color table reflects the smaller number of colors in the image.
6 If you chose Restrictive (Web) for the color-reduction algorithm, you can choose Auto from the Colors menu.

Choose Auto if you want Photoshop Elements to determine the optimal number of colors in the color table based
on the frequency of colors in the image.
7 Choose a dithering percentage, either by entering a percentage in the Dither text box or by clicking the Dither menu

arrow and dragging the slider that appears.

Last updated 7/26/2011

273

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

8 If the image contains transparency, select Transparency to preserve transparent pixels; deselect Transparency to fill

fully and partially transparent pixels with the matte color.
9 To create an animated GIF, select Animate.
10 To save your optimized image, click OK. In the Save Optimized As dialog box, type a filename, and click Save.

More Help topics
“About dithering” on page 276
“About transparent and matted web images” on page 274

Optimize as PNG-24
PNG-24 format is suitable for compressing photographs. However, PNG-24 files are often much larger than JPEG files
of the same image. PNG-24 format is recommended only when you work with an image that includes multiple levels
of partial transparency.
1 In the Editor, open an image and choose File > Save For Web.
2 Choose PNG-24 for the optimization format.
3 Select Interlaced to create an image that is displayed at low-resolution in a browser while the full-resolution image

is downloading. Interlacing can make downloading time seem shorter and gives viewers feedback that downloading
is in progress.
4 If the image contains transparency, select Transparency to preserve transparent pixels; deselect Transparency to fill

fully and partially transparent pixels with the Matte color.
5 To save your optimized image, click OK. In the Save Optimized As dialog box, type a filename, and click Save.

More Help topics
“Preserve background transparency in a GIF or PNG image” on page 275

Create an animated GIF
1 In the Editor, place the images you want to appear in each frame of the animation on separate layers of the Layers

panel. For example, to create an animation of an eye blinking, you would place an image of the open eye on one
layer, and an image of the closed eye on another layer.
2 Choose File > Save for Web.

Note: If your image has multiple layers, you can also open the Save For Web dialog box from the Save As dialog box by
choosing CompuServe GIF Format and selecting Layers As Frames.
3 Optimize the image in GIF format.
4 Select Animate.
5 Set additional options in the Animation section of the dialog box:
Loop Continuously repeats the animation in a web browser.
Frame Delay Specifies the number of seconds that each frame is displayed in a web browser. Use a decimal value to

specify fractions of a second. For example, use .5 to specify half a second.

Last updated 7/26/2011

274

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

More Help topics
“Preview an animation” on page 279
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Using transparency and mattes
About transparent and matted web images
Transparency makes it possible to create nonrectangular images for the web. Background transparency, supported by
the GIF and PNG formats, preserves transparent pixels in the image and allows the background of the web page to
show through the transparent areas of your image. (Although the JPEG format does not support transparency, you can
specify a matte color to simulate the appearance of transparency in the original image.)

Web button without transparency (left), and with transparency (right)

Background matting, supported by the GIF, PNG, and JPEG formats, simulates transparency by filling or blending
transparent pixels with a matte color that matches the web page background. Background matting works best if the
web page background is a solid color and if you know what that color is.
To create background transparency or background matting in the optimized image, you must start with an image that
contains transparency. You can create transparency when you create a new layer or use the Background Eraser, Magic
Eraser, or Magic Extractor tools.
When working with GIF or PNG-8 files, you can create hard-edged transparency: all pixels that are more than 50%
transparent in the original image are fully transparent in the optimized image, and all pixels that are more than 50%
opaque in the original image are fully opaque in the optimized image. Use hard-edged transparency when you don’t
know the background color of a web page, or when the web page background contains a texture or pattern. However,
keep in mind that hard-edged transparency can cause jagged edges in the image.

GIF without hard-edges transparency (left), and with hard-edged transparency (right)

Last updated 7/26/2011

275

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

More Help topics
“Adding layers” on page 52
“Optimized file formats for the web” on page 267

Preserve background transparency in a GIF or PNG image
GIF and PNG-8 formats support one level of transparency—pixels can be fully transparent or fully opaque, but not
partially transparent. (By contrast, PNG-24 format supports multilevel transparency; that is, you can have up to 256
degrees of transparency in an image, ranging from opaque to completely transparent.)
1 In the Editor, open or create an image that contains transparency, and choose File > Save For Web.
2 In the Save For Web dialog box, select GIF, PNG-8, or PNG-24 as the optimization format.
3 Select Transparency.
4 For the GIF and PNG-8 formats, specify how to treat partially transparent pixels in the original image. You can

blend these pixels with a matte color, or you can create hard-edged transparency.

More Help topics
“About the GIF format” on page 269
“About the PNG-8 format” on page 269
“About the PNG-24 format” on page 270

Create a matted GIF or PNG image
When you know the background color of the web page on which an image will be displayed, you can use the matting
feature to fill or blend transparent pixels with a matte color that matches the web page background.
1 In the Editor, open or create an image that contains transparency, and choose File > Save For Web.
2 In the Save For Web dialog box, select GIF, PNG-8, or PNG-24 as the optimization format.
3 For GIF and PNG-8 format, do one of the following:

• To keep fully transparent pixels transparent, and blend partially transparent pixels with the matte color, select
Transparency. This option prevents the halo effect you see when you place an anti-aliased image on a web page
background that differs from the image background. This option also prevents the jagged edges of hard-edged
transparency.

• To fill transparent pixels with the matte color and blend partially transparent pixels with the matte color, deselect
Transparency.
4 Select a color from the Matte menu:

• Eyedropper Color (to use the color in the eyedropper sample box)
• White, Black, or Other (to select a color using the Color Picker)

More Help topics
“About the GIF format” on page 269
“About the PNG-8 format” on page 269
“About the PNG-24 format” on page 270

Last updated 7/26/2011

276

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

Create hard-edged transparency in a GIF or PNG-8 file
Use hard-edged transparency when you don’t know the background color of a web page, or when the web page
background contains a texture or pattern. However, keep in mind that hard-edged transparency can cause jagged
edges in the image.
1 In the Editor, open or create an image that contains transparency, and choose File > Save For Web.
2 In the Save For Web dialog box, select GIF or PNG-8 as the optimization format.
3 Select Transparency.
4 Select None from the Matte menu.

More Help topics
“About the GIF format” on page 269
“About the PNG-8 format” on page 269

Create a matted JPEG image
Although the JPEG format does not support transparency, you can specify a matte color to simulate the appearance of
transparency in the original image. The matte color fills fully transparent pixels and blends with partially transparent
pixels. When you place the JPEG on a web page with a background that matches the matte color, the image appears to
blend with the background.
1 In the Editor, open or create an image that contains transparency, and choose File > Save For Web.
2 In the Save For Web dialog box, select JPEG as the optimization format.
3 Select a color from the Matte menu: None, Eyedropper Color (to use the color in the eyedropper sample box),

White, Black, or Other (to select a color using the Color Picker).
When you select None, white is used as the matte color.

More Help topics
“About the JPEG format” on page 268

Dithering in web images
About dithering
Most web images are created by designers using 24-bit color displays (which display over 16 million colors), although
some users view web pages on computers with 8-bit color displays (which display only 256 colors). As a result, web
images often contain colors not available on some computers. Computers use a technique called dithering to simulate
colors they can’t display. Dithering uses adjacent pixels of different colors to give the appearance of a third color. For
example, a red color and a yellow color may dither in a mosaic pattern to produce the illusion of an orange color that
the 8-bit color panel doesn’t contain.

Last updated 7/26/2011

277

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

Dithering simulates continuous tones

Use colors in the Web panel to ensure that colors won’t dither when displayed in Windows or Mac OS systems capable
of displaying 256 colors. When creating an original image, you can use the Color Picker to choose web-safe colors.
When optimizing images, keep in mind that two kinds of dithering can occur:
Application dither Occurs in GIF and PNG-8 images when Photoshop Elements attempts to simulate colors that
aren’t in the current color table. You can control application dither by choosing a dithering pattern, or you can try to
avoid application dither by adding more colors to the table.
Browser dither Occurs when a web browser using an 8-bit color display (256-color mode) attempts to simulate colors
that aren’t in the 8-bit color panel. Browser dither can occur with GIF, PNG, or JPEG images. In Photoshop Elements,
you can control the amount of browser dither by shifting selected colors in the image to web-safe colors. You can also
specify web-safe colors when choosing a color in the Color Picker.

You can preview application dither in GIF and PNG-8 images. Images with primarily solid colors may work well
without dithering. Conversely, images with continuous-tone color (especially color gradients) may require dithering
to prevent color banding.

More Help topics
“Optimized file formats for the web” on page 267
“Use the Adobe Color Picker” on page 215
“Optimize as GIF or PNG-8 format” on page 272

Control dither in web images
1 In the Editor, open an image and choose File > Save For Web.
2 Choose your optimization settings.
3 Enter a value in the Dither text box, or click the Dither menu arrow and drag the slider that appears.
4 The Dither percentage controls the amount of dithering that is applied to the image. A higher dithering percentage

creates the appearance of more colors and more detail in an image but can also increase the file size. For optimal
compression and display quality, use the lowest percentage of application dither that provides the color detail you
require.

Preview dither
You can preview browser dither directly in Photoshop Elements or in a browser that uses an 8-bit color display
(256-color mode).
1 In the Editor, open an image and choose File > Save For Web.
2 Choose your optimization settings.

Last updated 7/26/2011

278

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

3 To preview dither in Photoshop Elements, choose Browser Dither from the document panel menu in the Save For

Web dialog box. (To view the menu, click the triangle

in the upper-right corner of the optimized image.)

4 To preview dither in a browser, follow these steps:

• Set your computer’s color display to 8-bit color (256 colors). See your operating system’s documentation for
information on changing the color display.

• Select a browser from the Preview In menu in the Save For Web dialog box.

More Help topics
“Add a browser to the Preview In menu” on page 278

Previewing web images
Preview an optimized image in a web browser
You can preview an optimized image in any web browser installed on your system. The browser preview displays the
image with a caption listing the image’s file type, pixel dimensions, file size, compression specifications, and other
HTML information.
1 In the Editor, open the image you want to preview.
2 Select File > Save For Web, and apply your optimization settings.
3 Choose a browser from the Preview In menu in the lower-right corner of the optimized image, or click the browser

icon

to launch your default web browser.

More Help topics
“Using the Save For Web dialog box” on page 266

Add a browser to the Preview In menu
1 In the Editor, choose File > Save For Web.
2 Click the down arrow in the Preview In menu, and choose Edit List.
3 In the Browsers dialog box, click Find All. The dialog box displays all installed browsers.
4 Select a browser, click Add, and then click OK.

View estimated download time
1 In the Editor, open an image and choose File > Save For Web.
2 Choose your optimization settings.
3 Click the triangle

to the upper right of the optimized image to view the document panel menu.

4 Choose an Internet access speed, including modem, ISDN, cable, or DSL Internet access.
5 When you change the Internet access speed, the estimated download time displayed under the optimized image is

updated. If the download time seems too long, try different optimization settings, or change the image size in the
Save For Web dialog box.

Last updated 7/26/2011

279

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Optimizing for the web

More Help topics
“About optimizing” on page 266

Preview variations in color display
When optimizing an image for the web, consider how the image will appear on different monitors. In general, an image
appears darker in Windows systems than on Mac OS systems. You can simulate cross-platform display differences in
the Save For Web dialog box.
1 In the Editor, open an image and choose File > Save For Web.
2 Choose your optimization settings.
3 Click the triangle

to the right of the optimized image to view the document panel menu.

4 Choose a display option:
Uncompensated Color Shows the image with no color adjustment (the default option).
Standard Windows Color Adjusts the color to simulate a standard Windows monitor.
Standard Macintosh Color Adjusts the color to simulate a standard Macintosh® monitor.
Use Document Color Profile Shows image with its color profile, if one exists.

Note: These preview options adjust color only in the Save For Web dialog box; they don’t change colors in the original or
optimized image.

More Help topics
“About optimizing” on page 266

Preview an animation
You can preview an animation in the Save For Web dialog box or in a web browser. The Save For Web dialog box
shows the animation as still frames. You must preview the animation in a browser to view the frames in timed
sequence.
1 In the Editor, set up an animated image and choose File > Save For Web.
2 To preview an animation from the Save For Web dialog box, do one of the following:

• To view the next frame in the animation, click the Next Frame button

• To view the previous frame in the animation, click the Previous Frame button
• To view the last frame in the animation, click the Last Frame button
• To view the first frame in the animation, click the First Frame button

.
.

3 To preview an animation in a web browser, do the following:

• Choose a browser from the Preview In menu below the lower-right corner of the optimized image, or click the
browser icon

to launch your default web browser.

• Use your browser’s Stop, Refresh, or Reload commands to stop or replay the animation.

Last updated 7/26/2011

280

Chapter 15: Printing and sharing photos
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 provides several options for printing and sharing your photos. You can have photos
professionally printed by online providers through Adobe Photoshop Services, or you can print your photos with your
home printer. You can print individual photos, contact sheets (thumbnails of each selected photo), picture packages
(a page of one or more photos printed at various sizes), and even T-shirt transfers. Photoshop Elements also lets you
share images and order prints over the Internet.
Important: U.S. Photoshop Elements users can back up and share photos with their Elements Membership account.
Photoshop Elements free online benefits and Photoshop Elements Plus are available in the United States only. Internet
access required. See “Sign up with your Adobe ID” on page 1.

Printing photos
Printing overview
For a video overview, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2333_pse8_en.
Photoshop Elements provides several options for printing your photos. You can have photos professionally printed by
online providers through Adobe Photoshop Services, or you can print your photos with your home printer. (In the
Elements Organizer, you can also select a video clip for printing, but only the first frame is printed.) You can print
individual photos, contact sheets (thumbnails of each selected photo), and picture packages (a page of one or more
photos printed at various sizes). You can even horizontally flip the image to print T-shirt transfers.
Note: To print a PDF file, you must have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer.
Finally, you can print projects you’ve made in Photoshop Elements, such as photo albums, cards, and calendars. Some
projects can be ordered from online print services.

Last updated 7/26/2011

281

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Printing and sharing photos

Different printing options
A. Individual photos B. Contact sheet C. Picture package

Before you print your photos, ensure that you provide Photoshop Elements some basic information about your print
job, such as the paper size you are using and the page orientation. Set these options in the Page Setup dialog box. You
might also need to specify measurement units in the Preferences dialog box.

More Help topics
“Set page and printer options” on page 285

Print photos in the Editor
1 Do one of the following:

• Open the photos in the Editor.
• Select photos in the Project Bin and use Ctrl+Click to select multiple photos from the Project Bin.
Note: You can select the photos in Elements Organizer, and select the option Show Files From Organizer. The photos are
displayed in the Project Bin.
2 Select File > Print.
3 Select a printer from the Select Printer menu. You can also click the Page Setup button to specify page printing

options.
4 Click the Change Settings button to modify the printer settings.
5 Select the size of the paper from the Paper Size menu.
6 Select one of the options from the Select Type Of Print menu.
7 Select a print size from the Select Print Size menu.

Last updated 7/26/2011

282

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Printing and sharing photos

8 Select or enter a number in the Print copies of each page text box.
9 To fit the individual image to the specified print layout, select Crop To Fit. The image is scaled and, if necessary,

cropped to match the aspect ratio of the print layout. Deselect this option if you don’t want your photos cropped.
10 (Optional) Click More Options to change additional settings.
11 Click Print.

If your photos are not printing at a particular size, try resizing the photo to the specific dimensions you want before
you print.

More Help topics
“Set page and printer options” on page 285
“Change print dimensions and resolution without resampling” on page 137

More options for printing from the Editor
When you click More Options in the Print dialog box, the following options are displayed:

• Printing Choices
• Custom Print Size
• Color Management
Printing Choices Enables you to specify the following settings:

• Photo Details You can print the date, caption, and filename by selecting the following options:
• Show Date
• Show Caption
• Show File Name
• Border You can specify the following details for the border:
• Thickness in inches, mm, or points.
• Color of the border
• Background color
• Iron-on Transfer Select Flip Image to use image for T-shirt transfers.
Note: Some printers have the inverting images option. If so, ensure that you use either your printer driver settings or the
Invert image option to invert images. Selecting both the options horizontally flips the image twice.

• Trim Guidelines Select Print Crop Marks (guide lines on all four edges of the photo) to make it easier to trim a
photo.
Custom print Size Enables you to specify the following settings:

• Print Size You can specify the width and height in inches, centimeters, and millimeters. Select Scale To Fit Media
to scale the image to fit on the page.
Color Management Displays the color profile of the image. Image Space shows the color space embedded in your

photo file. (The print preview in the Print dialog box is not color managed and doesn’t update as you choose a profile.)
You can change the profile for printing from the following options:

• Color Handling You can choose to have either your printer or Photoshop Elements manage colors, or you can
choose no color management.

Last updated 7/26/2011

283

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Printing and sharing photos

• Printer Profile Sets a custom printer profile to convert image colors to the printer’s color space, or turns off color
conversion. If you have an ICC profile for your printer and paper combination, choose it from the menu. Make sure
that you turn off the printer driver’s color management.
• Rendering Intent Specifies how colors are translated from the image’s source color space when certain colors are
not available in the print space.

Scale an image in the Print dialog box
Scaling an image in the Print dialog box changes the size and resolution of the printed image (the file size of the image
doesn’t change).
❖ In the Editor, select File > Print. Click More Options in the Print dialog box. Select Custom Print Size option and

do one of the following:

• Select Scale To Fit Media to scale the image to fit on the page.
• Specify the units of measurement from the Units menu and enter values for Height and Width to rescale the image
numerically. The dimensions are constrained, meaning that changing one dimension proportionately changes the
other dimension.

Print multilayer images in the Editor
If your image (PSD or TIFF) is multi-layered, use the Layers panel to temporarily hide the layers from view and prevent
them from printing.
1 In Full Edit, open a multilayer image.
2 In the Layers panel, click the Eye icon

to make a layer invisible.

3 When only the layers you want to print are visible, select File > Print. The Print dialog box opens with only the

visible layers showing in the thumbnail preview.
4 Set your printing options and click Print.

More Help topics
“Understanding layers” on page 50

Use Photo Prints
You can print photos using the Photo Prints option.
1 Do one of the following:

• Open the photos in the Editor.
• Use Ctrl+Click to select multiple photos from the Project Bin.
Note: You can select the photos in Elements Organizer and select the option Show Files From Organizer. The photos are
displayed in the Project Bin.
2 Select Create > Photo Prints.
3 Do one of the following:

• Select Print With Local Printer to print the photos using a printer that is configured on your machine. The Print
dialog box launches. For more information, see “Print photos in the Editor” on page 281.

• Select Print Picture Package. Selecting this option launches the Print dialog box through Elements Organizer. For
more information, see “Print a picture package” on page 284.

Last updated 7/26/2011

284

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Printing and sharing photos

• Select Upload Your Pictures And Order Prints Shutterfly.
Note: Sign up for Shutterfly membership to use their services.

• Select Order Prints Kodak Gallery.
Note: Sign up to Kodak Gallery to use their services.
4 Follow the onscreen instructions to print your photos.

Print a contact sheet
Contact sheets enable you to easily preview groups of images by displaying a series of thumbnail images on a single
page. You can print a contact sheet from Elements Organizer. However, you can initiate the process from the
Photoshop Elements Editor. Select contact sheet from the Print dialog box. Elements Organizer opens and enables you
to print the required contact sheet. For more information about printing a contact sheet from Elements Organizer, see
Print a contact sheet in the Elements Organizer guide.

Sample contact sheet

Print a picture package
Picture Package enables you to place multiple copies of one or more photos on a single page, much as traditional
portrait studios do. You can select from various size and placement options to customize your package layout. You can
print picture packages from Elements Organizer. However, you can initiate the process from the Photoshop Elements
Editor. Select Picture Package from the Print dialog box. Elements Organizer opens and enables you to print the
required picture package. For more information about printing a picture package from Elements Organizer, see Print
a picture package in the Elements Organizer guide.

Picture packages come in various sizes

Last updated 7/26/2011

285

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Printing and sharing photos

Print options
Set page and printer options
1 Choose File > Print and then select Page Setup in the Print dialog box. In Full Edit, Quick Fix, or Guided Edit, a

photo must be open for the Print command to be available.
2 In the Page Setup dialog box, click the Printer button and choose a printer from the Name menu. If necessary, click

the Properties button to specify layout and paper options. You can click the Advanced button in the printer driver
dialog box (if it’s available) to set other printer options. The availability of the Advanced button and printer options
depends on your printer, print drivers, and Windows. Click OK to close the dialog boxes.
Note: If you plan to scale the printed image, use the scaling options in the Print Preview dialog box rather than the
printer’s advanced options. The Print dialog box is more helpful because it shows you a preview of the scaled image. Also,
you don’t want to set the scaling options in both the printer’s advanced options and the Print Preview dialog box. This
setting applies scaling twice, and the resulting image may not be the size you intended.
3 In the Page Setup dialog box, specify options, such as paper size and orientation, and then click OK.

Send photos to online sharing services
1 In the Editor, click the Share tab

2 Click More Options, and choose one of the photo sharing services from the pop-up menu.
3 Follow the onscreen directions to share your photos online.

Sharing photos
Photoshop Elements enables you to share photos by e-mail. You can either attach photos to an e-mail or embed a
photo in an e-mail using Photo Mail. You can also share online albums and share photos by burning them to a
CD/DVD. Since Elements Organizer enables efficient organization and management of media files, you can start the
share operation in Photoshop Elements and complete it in Elements Organizer. Elements Organizer enables you to
select the required media files for sharing. The Share tab in the Photoshop Elements provides the following options to
share photos:
Online Album Enables you to share the albums.
E-mail Attachments Enables you to share photos as e-mail attachments.
Photo Mail Enables you to use a wizard to embed your photos in the body of an e-mail message, with colorful custom
layouts (stationery).
CD/DVD Enables you to burn photos to a CD/DVD.
PDF Slide Show Combines image and media files into a single PDF file. Your recipients can view the PDF file as a slide
show by using the free Adobe Reader software.

You can also share images using online services.

Last updated 7/26/2011

286

Chapter 16: Photoshop Elements Editor
keyboard shortcuts
You can use keyboard shortcuts to navigate through the Elements Organizer, and to find, view, and edit photos there.
In the Editor, shortcuts help you view, select, edit, and use many of the other tools that are available in Full Edit mode.

Keys for viewing images (Full Edit)
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Cycle forward through open documents

Control + Tab

Cycle backward through open documents

Control + Shift + Tab

Fit image in window

Ctrl + 0 (or double-click Hand tool)

Magnify 100%

Ctrl + Alt + 0 (or double-click Zoom tool)

Switch to Hand tool (when not in text-edit mode)

Spacebar

Switch to Zoom In tool

Control + Spacebar

Switch to Zoom Out tool

Spacebar + Alt

Reposition zoom marquee while dragging

Spacebar-drag

Zoom in on specified area of an image

Control-drag over preview in Navigator panel

Scroll image with Hand tool

Drag, or drag view area box in Navigator panel

Scroll up or down 1 screen

Page Up or Page Down

Scroll up or down 10 units

Shift + Page Up or Page Down

Scroll left or right 1 screen

Ctrl + Page Up or Page Down

Scroll left or right 10 units

Ctrl + Shift + Page Up or Page Down

Move view to upper-left corner or lower-right corner

Home or End

Keys for selecting tools
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Cycle through tools that have the same keyboard shortcut

Shift-press keyboard shortcut (preference setting, Use Shift Key for
Tool Switch, must be enabled)

Cycle through nested tools

Alt-click tool

Move tool

Last updated 7/26/2011

287

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Result

Shortcut

Zoom tool

Hand tool

Eyedropper tool

Rectangular Marquee tool

Elliptical Marquee tool
Lasso tool

Magnetic Lasso tool
Polygonal Lasso tool
Magic Wand tool

Selection Brush tool (or Quick Selection tool)

Horizontal Type tool

Vertical Type tool
Horizontal Type Mask tool
Vertical Type Mask tool
Crop tool

Recompose tool
Cookie Cutter tool

Straighten tool

Red Eye Removal tool

Spot Healing Brush tool

Healing Brush tool
Clone Stamp tool

Pattern Stamp tool
Pencil tool

Eraser tool

Background Eraser tool
Magic Eraser tool
Brush tool

Impressionist Brush
Color Replacement tool
Smart Brush tool

Detail Smart Brush tool
Paint Bucket tool

Gradient tool

Last updated 7/26/2011

288

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Result

Shortcut

Rectangle tool

Rounded Rectangle tool
Ellipse tool
Polygon tool
Line tool
Custom Shape tool
Shape Selection tool
Blur tool

Sharpen tool
Smudge tool
Sponge tool

Dodge tool
Burn tool
Show/Hide all panels (not including Content and Layers panel)

Tab

Default foreground and background colors

Switch foreground and background colors

Keys for selecting and moving objects
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Deselect a selection

Control + D

Reposition marquee while selecting

Spacebar-drag

Add to or subtract from a selection

Any selection tool + Shift or Alt-drag

Intersect a selection

Any selection tool + Shift + Alt-drag

Constrain marquee to square or circle (if no other selections are
active)

Shift-drag

Draw marquee from center (if no other selections are active)

Alt-drag

Constrain shape and draw marquee from center

Shift + Alt-drag

Switch to Move tool

Control (except when Hand or any shape tool is selected)

Switch from Magnetic Lasso tool to Polygonal Lasso tool

Alt-click and drag

Delete last anchor point for Magnetic or Polygonal Lasso tool

Delete

Apply/cancel an operation of the Magnetic Lasso tool

Enter/Esc

Move copy of selection

Move tool + Alt-drag selection

Move selection area 1 pixel

Any selection + Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow

Last updated 7/26/2011

289

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Result

Shortcut

Move selection 1 pixel

Move tool + Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow

Move layer 1 pixel when nothing selected on layer

Control + Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow

Increase/decrease detection width

Magnetic Lasso tool + [ or ]

Accept cropping or exit cropping

Crop tool + Enter or Esc

Toggle crop shield off and on

/ (forward slash)

Keys for the Magic Extractor dialog box
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Foreground brush

Straighten tool

Point Eraser

Add To Selection tool

Remove From Selection tool

Healing Brush tool

Zoom tool

Hand tool

Keys for transforming selections
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Transform from center or reflect

Alt

Constrain

Shift

Distort

Control

Skew

Control + Shift

Change perspective

Control + Shift + Alt

Apply

Enter

Cancel

Esc or Control + . (period)

Last updated 7/26/2011

290

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Keys for painting and brushes
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Switch to Eyedropper tool

Any painting tool or shape tool + Alt (except Impressionist Brush)

Select background color

Eyedropper tool + Alt-click

Set opacity, tolerance, or exposure for painting

Any painting or editing tool + number keys (for example, 0 = 100%,
1 = 10%, 4 and 5 in quick succession = 45%).

Cycle through blending modes

Shift + + (plus) or - (minus)

Fill selection/layer with foreground or background color

Alt + Backspace, or Control + Backspace

Display Fill dialog box

Shift + Backspace

Lock transparent pixels on/off

/ (forward slash)

Connect points with a straight line (draw a straight line)

Any painting tool + Shift-click

Delete brush

Alt-click brush

Decrease/increase brush size

[ or ]

Decrease/increase brush softness/hardness in 25% increments

Shift + [ or ]

Select previous/next brush size

, (comma) or . (period)

Select first/last brush

Shift + , (comma) or . (period)

Display precise cross hair for brushes

Caps Lock

Keys for using text
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Move type in image

Control-drag type when Type layer is selected

Select 1 character left/right or 1 line down/up, or 1 word left/right

Shift + Left Arrow/Right Arrow or Down Arrow/Up Arrow, or
Control + Shift + Left Arrow/Right Arrow

Select characters from insertion point to mouse click point

Shift-click

Move 1 character left/right, 1 line down/up, or 1 word left/right

Left Arrow/Right Arrow, Down Arrow/Up Arrow, or Control + Left
Arrow/Right Arrow

Select word, line, or paragraph

Double-click, triple-click, or quadruple-click

Scale and skew text within a bounding box when resizing the
bounding box

Control-drag a bounding box handle

Align left, center, or right

Horizontal Type tool or Horizontal Type Mask tool + Control + Shift
+ L, C, or R

Align top, center, or bottom

Vertical Type tool or Vertical Type Mask tool + Control + Shift + L, C,
or R

Return to default font style

Control + Shift + Y

Last updated 7/26/2011

291

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Result

Shortcut

Turn Underlining on/off

Control + Shift + U

Turn Strikethrough on/off

Control + Shift + / (forward slash)

Decrease or increase type size of selected text 2 pts/px

Control + Shift + < or >

Keys for the Layers panel
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Set layer options

Alt-click New button

Delete without confirmation

Alt-click Trash button

Apply value and keep text box active

Shift + Enter

Load layer transparency as a selection

Control-click layer thumbnail

Add to current selection

Control + Shift-click layer

Subtract from current selection

Control + Alt-click layer thumbnail

Intersect with current selection

Control + Shift + Alt-click layer thumbnail

Merge visible layers

Control + Shift + E

Create new empty layer with dialog

Alt-click New Layer button

Create new layer below target layer

Control-click New Layer button

Activate bottom/top layer

Shift + Alt + [ or ]

Select next layer down/up

Alt + [ or ]

Move target layer down/up

Control + [ or ]

Merge a copy of all visible layers into target layer

Control + Shift + Alt + E

Merge down

Control + E

Copy current layer to layer below

Alt + Merge Down command from the panel pop-up menu

Copy all visible layers to active layer

Alt + Merge Visible command from the panel pop-up menu

Show/hide all other currently visible layers

Alt-click the eye icon

Toggle lock transparency for target layer, or last applied lock

/ (forward slash)

Edit layer properties

Double-click layer thumbnail

Select all text; temporarily select Type tool

Double-click text layer thumbnail

Create a clipping mask

Alt-click the line dividing two layers

Rename layer

Double-click the layer name

Last updated 7/26/2011

292

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Keys for using blending modes
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Cycle through blending modes

Shift + + (plus) or - (minus)

Normal

Shift + Alt + N

Dissolve

Shift + Alt + I

Behind

Shift + Alt + Q

Clear

Shift + Alt + R

Darken

Shift + Alt + K

Multiply

Shift + Alt + M

Color Burn

Shift + Alt + B

Linear Burn

Shift + Alt + A

Lighten

Shift + Alt + G

Screen

Shift + Alt + S

Color Dodge

Shift + Alt + D

Linear Dodge

Shift + Alt + W

Overlay

Shift + Alt + O

Soft Light

Shift + Alt + F

Hard Light

Shift + Alt + H

Vivid Light

Shift + Alt + V

Linear Light

Shift + Alt + J

Pin Light

Shift + Alt + Z

Hard Mix

Shift + Alt + L

Difference

Shift + Alt + E

Exclusion

Shift + Alt + X

Hue

Shift + Alt + U

Saturation

Shift + Alt + T

Color

Shift + Alt + C

Luminosity

Shift + Alt + Y

Keys for the Info panel
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.

Last updated 7/26/2011

293

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Result

Shortcut

Change color readout modes

Click eyedropper icon

Change measurement units

Click cross-hair icon

Keys for the Color Swatches panel
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Create new swatch from foreground color

Click in empty area of panel

Select background color

Control-click swatch

Delete color

Alt-click swatch

Keys for showing or hiding panels (Full Edit)
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Open Help

Show/Hide Content panel

Show/Hide Info panel

Show/Hide Histogram panel

Show/Hide Undo History panel

F10

Show/Hide Layers panel

F11

Show/Hide Navigator panel

F12

Keys for the Filter Gallery
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Apply a new filter on top of selected

Alt-click on a filter

Open/close all disclosure triangles

Alt-click on a disclosure triangle

Change Cancel button to Default

Control

Change Cancel button to Reset

Alt

Last updated 7/26/2011

294

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Result

Shortcut

Undo/redo

Control + Z

Step forward

Control + Shift + Z

Step backward

Control + Alt + Z

Keys for the Liquify filter
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Warp tool

Turbulence tool

Twirl Clockwise tool

Twirl Counter Clockwise tool

Pucker tool

Bloat tool

Shift Pixels tool

Reflection tool

Reconstruct tool

Zoom tool

Hand tool

Keys for using Photomerge Panorama
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Select Image tool

Rotate Image tool

Set Vanishing Point tool (Perspective option selected)

Zoom tool

Hand tool

Switch to Hand tool

Spacebar

Step backward

Control + Z

Step forward

Control + Shift + Z

Last updated 7/26/2011

295

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Photoshop Elements Editor keyboard shortcuts

Result

Shortcut

Move selected image 1 pixel

Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow

Change Cancel button to Reset

Alt

Show individual image border

Alt-move pointer over image

Keys for the Camera Raw dialog box
This partial list includes the most helpful shortcuts. You'll find additional shortcuts in menu commands and tool tips.
Result

Shortcut

Display highlights that will be clipped in Preview

Alt-drag Exposure or Blacks sliders

Enable Open Copy button in the Camera Raw dialog box

Alt

Last updated 7/26/2011

296

Chapter 17: Glossary
The glossary is your guide to unfamiliar terms in Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 and digital imaging terms. If you
don’t find a term here, search for it in Help to find a feature-specific definition.

Find definitions for terms
❖ In the Contents tab of Help, expand the letters below “Digital imaging terms.” If you don’t find a term there, enter

it in the Search box to find it elsewhere in Help.

Digital imaging terms
A
acquisition module interface A plug-in that allows you to import photos from a digital camera or scanner.
active layer The layer currently selected in the Layers panel.
additive primaries Red, green, and blue. The human eye perceives all other colors as combinations of these three. To

create colors besides the additive primaries, computer monitors combine these three colors of light. For instance, to
create yellow, a monitor emits a combination of red and green light. When combined with each other at maximum
intensity, the additive primaries create white. (See also “subtractive primaries” on page 308.)
adjustment layer A layer that lets you apply color and tonal adjustments to your image without permanently changing
pixel values. Use adjustment layers to experiment with color and color tones. You can think of an adjustment layer as
a veil through which the underlying layers are seen. (See also “layer” on page 303.)
ADM Adobe Dialog Manager. A file required for many plug-ins in Photoshop Elements.
Adobe Color Engine Manages colors you view on-screen and in print. It is used to map the gamut of one color space

to the gamut of another.
Adobe Color Picker A built-in utility for specifying a foreground or background color in an Adobe application.
Adobe Photo Downloader A feature of Photoshop Elements that automatically searches for and downloads photos

from attached card readers, cameras, or mobile phones. You can disable the automatic detection in the camera and
card reader preferences. When disabled, you can still manually access the downloader by clicking the Get Photos icon
in the Photo Browser and choosing From Camera, Mobile Phone, or Card Reader.
Adobe RGB The RGB color space profile created by Adobe Systems, Incorporated. It provides a large gamut of colors.

(See also “RGB” on page 306.)
AGMLib An Adobe Graphics Manager library file, which Photoshop Elements installs with and requires.
airbrush A brush option that lets you apply gradual tones to an image, simulating traditional airbrush techniques.
Paint builds up as you apply more pressure. Using this option simulates the effect of spray-painting an image.
album A group of photos that you want to view together. Photos in albums can have different tags. Each photo in a

collection is numbered, so you can order them by rank. Albums are useful for organizing the photos in photo albums
and slide shows.

Last updated 7/26/2011

297

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

aliasing The jagged edges seen at the edges of diagonal lines, arcs, and so on, caused by pixels lining up in a saw-tooth

pattern.
alpha channels Masks, which let you manipulate, isolate, and protect specific parts of an image. In Photoshop
Elements, alpha channels are called saved selections. To save an alpha channel, choose Select > Save Selection. To load
an alpha channel, choose Select > Load Selection.
ambient light The existing lighting conditions under which a photo is taken, without enhancement from a camera

flash.
animated GIF A series of images in GIF format that create the illusion of movement when they are displayed in

sequence over time.
anti-aliasing The smoothing of jagged edges in digital images by averaging the colors of the pixels at a boundary.
arithmetic coded JPEG A type of file compression used to compress JPEG files.
artifact Any unexpected and undesired change to a digital image caused by incorrect settings or faulty processing.

Examples include blooming, moire, sharpening, and noise.
aspect ratio The ratio of an image’s width to its height. It is used to determine how an image fits on a page or monitor.
associated Related to an application (also, file association). Each file type has an associated application. For example,

PSD files are associated with Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. You receive an alert if you try to open a file
that lacks an associated application.
audio caption Voice narration of a photo.
Auto Levels An automatic color-correction command.

B
Background layer The bottom-most layer in an image, usually containing the image data. The Background layer is

always locked. If you want to change its stacking order, blending mode, or opacity, you must first convert it to a regular
layer.
backlight Light coming from a source behind the photographed subject.
bas relief In digital photography, the illusion that an image is slightly raised from its background surface.
baseline JPEG The standard compression scheme for JPEG files. Baseline JPEG files display in line-by-line passes

when viewed on the web.
batch processing Performing one or more tasks to a group of files at the same time.
bevel A raised or depressed effect around all or part of an image or text. Bevels are created by applying highlight and
shadow to the inside and outside edges of its border to simulate three-dimensional depth.
bit depth The number of colors used to represent a pixel in an image. A 1-bit image is black and white; an 8-bit image

can have 256 colors or shades of gray; a 16-bit image can have 65,536 colors.
bitmap image An image consisting of rows and columns of pixels in computer memory. Also called a raster image.

Bitmap file formats include BMP, GIF, JPEG, PSD, PICT, and TIFF. (See also “vector graphics” on page 309.)
bits/channel Bits per channel. This measurement determines how many tones each color channel can contain.
black body A theoretical material that is black when completely cold and that begins to glow in various colors as it is

heated. As its temperature (measured in degrees Kelvin) rises, it begins glowing in colors ranging from red (coolest)
to white (hottest). (See also “color temperature” on page 299.)

Last updated 7/26/2011

298

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

blending mode A feature that controls how pixels in an image are affected by a painting or editing tool. The blend
color is applied to the base (original) color to produce a new color, the result color. When applied to layers, a blending
mode determines how the pixels in a layer blend with pixels in layers beneath it.
blooming An artifact caused by overflow of color information from one sensor in a camera (corresponding to a pixel)
to adjacent ones. Blooming can cause streaks, halos, and loss of detail. (See also “artifact” on page 297.)
blur The softening of the detail in an image or parts of an image.
BMP A standard file format for saving bitmap files in Windows. Windows can display BMP files on any type of display

device.
bounding box A rectangular border around an image, shape, or text that you can drag to rotate or resize.
brightness The relative lightness or darkness of an image, which determines the intensity of colors. Also, the relative

lightness or darkness of any color. (See also “luminance” on page 303.)
brightness value The brightness of an image or selection, usually measured as a percentage from 0% (black) to 100%

(white).
brush preset A brush with preset settings for size, thickness and so on. Photoshop Elements includes several brush
presets for you to choose from, and you can create your own as well. The maximum number of brush presets that you
can create in Photoshop Elements: 8000.
brush type One of the following brush tool styles: brush, impressionist brush, or airbrush.
burning The selective darkening of a part of an image.

C
cache file A file used for virtual memory. The cache file speeds the performance of Photoshop Elements.
camera raw format A format describing data exactly as it is captured by a camera sensor, with no in-camera processing
applied. Also called raw format. (This format differs from “Photoshop raw format” on page 305.)
canvas The workspace around an existing image, within the image window. Layer data may lie outside of the canvas,

but it will be clipped to the canvas when the image is flattened. You can change the size and color of the canvas by
choosing Image > Resize > Canvas Size.
caption Either a text or audio note attached to a photo. You can add audio captions in the Photo Browser by using

your computer microphone or by importing an audio file. You can add text captions by typing text in the caption field
of the Properties panel in the Photo Browser or the File Info dialog box in Full Edit.
card reader Portable hardware on which you can store, upload, or download photos, audio, video, and other data. You
can download data from a card reader into Photoshop Elements.
CCITT Comité Consultatif International Téléphonique et Télégraphique. A group that defines communications
standards. Now known as the ITU-T (International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication Standardization
sector). The CCITT has developed a family of lossless compression techniques for black-and-white images.
channel A construct for describing the color data in an image. A black-and-white grayscale image has one channel, an

RGB image has three, and a CMYK image has four. Ordinarily, a channel describes either red, green, or blue, which
are blended to create all colors.
chroma See “saturation” on page 307.
CIE Commission Internationale de l’Éclairage. A group that defined universal color standards in the early 1930s. The

Lab color model was developed by CIE.
clipboard The temporary holding area for data stored with the Cut or Copy commands.

Last updated 7/26/2011

299

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

clipboard path data Data for vector paths stored on the clipboard. Vector paths are used with vector data such as text

layers or shape layers.
clone To paint with the Clone Stamp tool. You must set a sampling point on the active layer before you paint with the
Clone Stamp tool.
CMap files Files used to access character sets in double-byte fonts such as Japanese fonts.
CMYK Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black—the inks most printers use to produce color images. Though Photoshop
Elements does not support CMYK color mode, most desktop printers automatically convert to it.
color cast An unwanted or unexpected color shift in a photo. For example, a photo taken indoors without a camera
flash may have too much yellow.
color channels The component colors from which all colors in an image are created. Usually refers to red, green, and

blue (RGB).
color depth Measures how much color information is available to display or print each pixel in an image. Greater color

depth means more available colors and more accurate color representation in the digital image.
color gamut The range of colors that a device can reproduce in any given color space.
color lookup table (CLUT) A system used to index or reference colors when the bit depth is insufficient to represent all

colors.
color management A system used to achieve consistent color as an image travels from one device to another (for

example, from camera to computer, and computer to printer).
color mode Determines how the components of a color are combined, based on the number of color channels in the
color model. Color modes include grayscale (1 channel), RGB (3 channels), and CMYK (4 channels), among others.
Photoshop Elements supports bitmap, grayscale, indexed, and RGB color modes.
color model Any system for specifying the components of color. The main color models are RGB, CMYK, and HSB.
color separation The conversion of RGB color data into CMYK data for printing.
color space A color mode designed for a particular device or purpose. For instance, Adobe RGB is the color space used

by Adobe applications, and sRGB is the color space used by most monitors. Color spaces are important in color
management, where the color profile of an image is reconciled with the color space of the application or device on
which it is viewed. The color space used by Adobe applications is sometimes called the working space.
color table See “color lookup table (CLUT)” on page 299.
color temperature (1) The position of a color along a continuum from warm (red) to cool (blue). (2) The degree of

heat (in degrees Kelvin) that an object would have to absorb before it glowed in a certain color. Each color is associated
with a color temperature, as are various kinds of light.
color value A mathematical description of the color of a pixel determined from its color components.
color wheel A representation of the colors in the visible spectrum arranged in a circle so that complementary colors

are directly opposite each other.
ColorSync Color management software provided by Apple.
command Refers to any menu item you choose to perform a desired operation.
complementary colors Two colors of light that, when combined, create white light, or two colors of ink that, when
combined, create black. Complementary colors are opposing colors on a color wheel.
compression A technique that reduces the file size of bitmap images.
content layers Any layer in Photoshop Elements that contains an image, text, or object.

Last updated 7/26/2011

300

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

contrast The difference in brightness between light and dark areas of an image. Contrast determines the number of

shades in the image.
cool colors The colors at the blue end of the spectrum.
CoolType A font technology from Adobe that improves on-screen text resolution.
Cos object An internal part of an Adobe PDF file.
craquelure Hairline surface cracking seen in old paintings, and the effect used to simulate surface cracking in
photographic images.
cropping Trimming a portion of an image to improve its composition or to create a frame around it.
custom shape A shape listed in the Custom Shape menu in the options bar. The Custom Shape menu is available when

you select the Custom Shape tool.

D
definition Sharpness or clarity of detail in an image.
differential JPEG files A type of coding method used with certain JPEG files. Differential JPEG files are not supported

in Photoshop Elements.
digital camera A camera that records image data in pixels, which consist of bits of information that a computer can

process.
dithering The approximation of an unavailable color through the use of two or more available colors. The color of

adjacent pixels is changed in an attempt to reproduce the unavailable color.
dodging The selective lightening of any part of an image.
dots per inch (dpi) A measure of printer resolution. High dpi settings produce prints with fine detail. (See also “pixels

per inch (ppi)” on page 305.)
double-byte fonts A term used to describe Asian fonts, often called CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) fonts. Two bytes,

rather than one, are needed to represent each character.
droplet A small application that batch processes images that you drag onto the droplet icon. Photoshop Elements does

not support droplets.
Duotone A two-color grayscale file that uses two custom inks. Photoshop Elements does not support duotone files.

E
embedded profile An ICC (color) profile resident in an image file. This profile ensures that image colors are correctly
interpreted. (See also “color management” on page 299.)
end-of-file The last line of readable code in a file. The error “Unexpected end-of-file” indicates that the file you are

trying to work with is damaged.
EPS Encapsulated PostScript. A file format used to save images that will be used in illustration and page-layout

programs
EPS file An Encapsulated PostScript file. A graphic file format that can represent both vector and bitmap data and is
supported by virtually all graphic, illustration, and page-layout programs.
EPS PICT preview A low-resolution screen preview saved with a Macintosh EPS file.
EPS TIFF preview A low-resolution screen preview saved with an EPS file.

Last updated 7/26/2011

301

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

error log A text file generated when an error occurs while running the Batch Processing command or the Process

Multiple Files command.
errors A system or application message that alerts you to a failed command or operation.
EXIF Exchangeable Image File Format. A standard for simplifying the exchange of data between cameras and software.

The data may include camera model, date and time the photo was taken, camera settings, shutter speed, and so on.
export module A plug-in that enables you to export images in different file formats from Photoshop Elements.
exposure A measure of the amount of light in which a photo was taken. Underexposed digital photos are too dark;
overexposed ones, too light.
extension module A plug-in for Photoshop Elements that enhances performance or adds features.

F
fade When used with painting tools, fade controls the number of steps until the paint flow fades to nothing.
fall-off Decrease in light as it travels from its source. Also the length of the transition between related colors in the
Hue/Saturation dialog box.
faux bold style A type style that allows you to apply a bold effect to a font family that does not include a bold style.
faux font A computer-generated version of a font that simulates the appearance of an unavailable font.
FDF File containing comments from an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. Photoshop Elements cannot open FDF files.
feathering The softening of an edge of a selection.
File Associator An internal engine in Photoshop Elements that allows the application to recognize, change, and open

different file types.
file-format module A plug-in that allows Photoshop Elements to open different file types.
fill layer A type of layer that contains a solid color, a pattern, or a gradient as an interchangeable attribute.
filter module A filter plug-in installed with Photoshop Elements and listed in the Filter menu.
filters Presupplied ways to alter the look of an image, for instance, to make it look like a mosaic, add unique lighting,

apply distortions, and so on.
flattening Merging all visible layers into the Background layer to reduce file size.
font A set of letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and symbols that share a common weight, width, and style. An
example is Times Italic.
font family A collection of fonts with the same name but different styles. For instance, Times Italic, Times Bold, and

Times Bold Italic all belong to the same font family.
font server An internal engine in Photoshop Elements that allows the application to use and display fonts.
font style A variant version of an individual font in a family. Italic, regular, and bold are font styles.
48-bit RGB color A high-bit image mode that can contain thousands of colors per channel. Photoshop Elements

supports 8-bit or 16-bits per color channel, so an RGB image can be a total of 24-bit or 48-bit, depending on the bit
depth per channel.
frame layer A layer masking an image in a photo creation. A frame layer borders an image and can be resized, rotated,

or repositioned using the same methods used for images.
fuzziness A tolerance setting for the Magic Wand tool and the Replace Color command. It controls the degree to
which related colors are included in the selection. See Tolerance.

Last updated 7/26/2011

302

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

G
gamma adjustment The contrast resulting from darkening or lightening the midtones of an image. When you adjust
the gamma, you change the brightness of the midtones without substantially affecting the highlights and shadows.
gamut The range of color that a device can reproduce. (See also “color space” on page 299.)
Gaussian blur A softening effect applied through a bell-shaped distribution of tones and colors.
GIF Graphic image file format. A file format suitable for images that contain line art, large areas of a single color, and

text. Web animations are done with images in GIF format.
gradient Any of several methods for achieving a smooth transition between two adjacent colors, including black and

white.
Gray working space profile A predefined profile that determines how best to display and print grayscale images for a

given color setting.
grayscale A single-channel image that includes only black, white, and shades of gray. Depending on the bit depth,
grayscale images can reproduce various shades of gray.

H
halftone A monochrome image made up of variably sized dots simulating the shades of gray in a photograph. It is used

for reproducing photographs on PostScript printers and printing presses.
highlight and shadow The lightest and darkest colors in an image.
highlights The brightest elements in an image. (See also “shadows” on page 307.)
histogram A bar chart showing the distribution of the pixel values in a digital image. The horizontal axis represents

levels from 0 (darkest) to lightest (255), and the vertical axis represents the numbers of pixels at each level.
history state An image state listed in the Undo History panel.
hotspot An area in which light is concentrated to such a degree that all detail is lost; that is, an area that is blown out

to white.
HSB A color mode that is based on the human perception of color and describes it according to hue, saturation, and
brightness.
hue The color reflected from or transmitted through an object. In common use, hue is the property that allows a color
to be distinguished as red, blue, yellow, and so on; the “color of a color.”
hue jitter Sets the rate at which the stroke color switches between the foreground and background colors. Higher
values cause more frequent switches between the two colors than lower values.

I
ICC International Color Consortium. ICC device profiles are the industry standard for reproducing colors accurately

across devices such as scanners, monitors, and printers. (See also “profile” on page 305.)
ICM Image Color Management, is Windows’s built-in color management system that uses color profiles for images
and devices such as scanners or printers. Similar to Apple’s ColorSync on Mac OS.
illuminance A measure of the light falling upon a subject in a photograph.
image cache A section of hard disk space used as virtual memory. The image cache speeds the on-screen redraw of
high-resolution images.
image mode The color mode of an image, such as Grayscale or RGB.

Last updated 7/26/2011

303

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

indexed color A color that is rendered by using a pixel value as an index to a panel of 256 or fewer colors for

interpretation.
interlaced video Video generated by a system developed for early television and still in use in standard television
displays. Video is displayed on-screen at 30 frames per second (NTSC) or 25 frames per second (PAL). Each frame is
divided into two interlaced fields, each displayed for 1/60 of a second. The odd field contains all the odd-numbered
scan lines, and the even field contains all the even-numbered scan lines of a video frame. The human eye perceives the
information in two sequential interlaced fields as one unified frame. (See also “progressive scan” on page 306.)
interlacing The display of a series of low-resolution versions of an image in a browser while the full image file is

downloaded.

J
jitter Specifies the randomness of a brush stroke.
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group. A committee of experts that develops algorithms for compressing computer
image files. Also, any graphic file to which a JPEG algorithm is applied. JPEG is the format generally used to share
photographs over the web.
JPEG compression A lossy compression technique that reduces image data and file size. (See also “lossy compression”

on page 303.)

K
kumimoji See “tate-chuu-yoko” on page 308.

L
layer A mechanism for overlaying and combining multiple images. Layers are like transparent sheets of acetate (clear

plastic) that you can stack and rearrange. In addition to ordinary image layers, there are special kinds of layers. (See
“fill layer” on page 301 and “adjustment layer” on page 296.)
layer group A collection of layers saved with a Photoshop image. When you open a file with a layer group in
Photoshop Elements, individual layers in the set are hidden in a read-only folder. To edit a layer group in Photoshop
Elements, you must first simplify the layer.
layer mask A protected area in an adjustment layer. Areas below the mask cannot be edited.
Levels Functionality for adjusting color and tone. With a Levels adjustment, you can set shadow and highlight values
to use a full tonal range, adjust middle tones only, correct color casts, and so on.
locked A file that is set as Read Only. In the Photo Browser, locked files display with a lock icon.
locked layer A layer in the Layers panel that has the lock icon applied. No changes can be made to a locked layer. A
Background layer is always locked.
lossless compression An image-compression technique that prevents image degradation caused by data loss. Lossless

techniques usually use lower compression ratios than lossy techniques.
lossy compression An image-compression technique using compression ratios that result in the loss of some image

data.
luminance Lightness. Technically, the highest plus lowest RGB values divided by two.
LZW (Lemple-Zif-Welch) A lossless technique especially suited for compressing images that contain large areas of a

single color.

Last updated 7/26/2011

304

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

M
matting A method for simulating transparency in images displayed on web pages. When transparency is not

supported, you can specify a matte color that matches the background to simulate transparency.
mezzotint An effect that simulates the pattern of light and shade seen in engravings made from a roughened plate.
Microsoft Panel file A color table attached to an image file.
midtone An area that falls between the brightest highlight and the darkest shadow.
moire A wavy striped pattern in an image, resembling the pattern of watered silk. Moire can be an artifact caused by

a camera’s inability to capture the detail in an image.
mojikumi A system for determining spacing between punctuation, symbols, and numbers in Japanese type.
monitor resolution The resolution of a monitor, described in pixel dimensions. The size of an image displayed

on-screen depends on the pixel dimensions of the image, the size of the monitor, and the monitor resolution. (See also
“resolution” on page 306 and “printer resolution” on page 305.)
multiple master Customizable Type 1 fonts with typeface characteristics that have variable features such as weight,
width, style, and optical size.

N
noise An artifact caused by interference or camera error. Noise is often seen as stray pixels of unexpected color or a
generally “grainy” appearance. Certain compression techniques can amplify noise.
noise gradient A gradient that contains randomly distributed colors within a range of specified colors.
non-fringe pixels Pixels that are more than 50 percent selected in an anti-aliased selection.
notes A note added to a Photoshop file. In Photoshop Elements you can view and delete notes, but you can't add them.

O
online service Any service to which you can connect to and order from over the Internet. You can access online

services directly from Photoshop Elements to order prints, photo books, cards, and such. In addition, you can share
your photos online through online sharing services.
opacity The extent to which something blocks light. You can change the opacity of layers, filters, and effects so that
more (or less) of the underlying image shows through.
opaque The opposite of transparent. When text, shapes, or layers are opaque you cannot see through them.
outline data Outline data for PostScript fonts that is used when printing. This data is stored in the font outline file,

also known as the printer font.

P
panning Changing the focus of a photo from one subject or area to another over a period of time. For example, in a

Photoshop Elements slide show, you can set the start of a pan on one face in a photo and end the pan on another face,
creating, in effect, a video from the photo. You can also zoom into or out of a photo over a period of time. For example,
you can begin with a close up of one face in a photo and zoom out to view the entire photo.
panorama A broad view of a subject, usually a landscape, made by overlapping individual shots as they are taken and

then merging them to form one image.
parser module A plug-in that converts vector data into bitmap data.

Last updated 7/26/2011

305

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

pattern A predefined pattern included with Photoshop Elements, or a pattern you create. You can use patterns with

fill layers, the Fill command, the Pattern Stamp tool, or the Paint Bucket tool.
PDF (PDP) Portable Document Format. An Adobe file format that captures the elements of a printed document,

including graphics and photos, as an electronic image. You can search, navigate through, print, and e-mail PDF
documents. PDF and PDP files are identical, except that PDF files are opened in Adobe Acrobat and PDP files are
opened in Adobe Photoshop Elements.
perspective The angle or level from which a photograph is taken; the camera-eye view.
phosphor The substance that coats the interior surface of a CRT monitor. It emits light in response to electrical
stimulation and affects how colors appear on the screen. Over time, changes in the phosphor make it necessary to
recalibrate or reprofile the monitor.
Photoshop raw format A format designed to accommodate images saved in undocumented formats, such as those

used in scientific applications. (This format differs from “camera raw format” on page 298.)
PICT A file format for storing digital images in Mac OS.
pixel The basic, rectangular unit of data that a digital image consists of. The edges of pixels can produce a saw-tooth

pattern unless anti-aliasing is used. (See also “bitmap image” on page 297.)
pixel dimensions The number of pixels along the width and height of an image. This is a measure of the amount of
image data in the photo, not its physical size when printed or displayed on a monitor.
pixels per inch (ppi) A measure of image resolution stored in a camera or computer file. High ppi settings produce

photographs with fine detail and large file size. (See also “dots per inch (dpi)” on page 300.)
PixMap A bitmap image stored in your computer’s memory.
plug-in module A small software program developed by Adobe or third parties to add functionality to Adobe

products.
PNG-24 Portable Network Graphics. An image format that supports 24-bit color. Like the JPEG format, PNG-24

preserves photographic detail. Unlike JPEG, it supports 256 levels of transparency.
PNG-8 Portable Network Graphics. A bitmap image format that uses 8-bit color. Like the GIF format, PNG-8

efficiently compresses areas of solid color while preserving sharp detail in line art, logos, or type.
point The default unit of measurement for type, for instance Times Roman Regular, 12 points.
pointillism A style of painting in which paint is applied in very small dots that cannot be discerned individually at a

distance. The eye merges the dots into the perceived color.
posterize To reduce the number of continuous tones in an image. Posterization results in a flat, cartoon-like image.
The effect can be deliberately applied but sometimes results from overcompression.
PostScript A programming language developed by Adobe that describes the appearance of text, graphic shapes, and

sampled images on printed or displayed pages.
printable character A text object that can be printed.
printer profiles Profiles that describe how printers reproduce colors.
printer resolution The fineness of detail that a printer can render in an image. It is measured in ink dots per inch (dpi).
Generally a resolution of 240 dpi provides good results when you print high-quality photos on an inkjet printer. (See
also “resolution” on page 306 and “monitor resolution” on page 304.)
profile Information about the color space of a device, application, or photo file. An ICC device color profile allows an

image’s color data to be converted so that color is reproduced faithfully on that specific device. (See also “color
management” on page 299.)

Last updated 7/26/2011

306

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

progressive scan A process of displaying images on-screen that draws 60 complete frames of video from left to right
every second. Progressive scan creates a cleaner, clearer picture than interlaced video.
project A product that you make using your photos in Photoshop Elements. You can create slide shows, album pages,
greeting cards, calendars, and more.
PSD The native file format of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Q
Quick Mask A mask channel created in Quick Mask mode in Photoshop. Photoshop Elements has no Quick Mask
mode and flattens all channels in Photoshop images.
QuickTime Software from Apple that allows you to view movies and other multi-media files on your computer.

R
RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks, a category of disk drives that use two or more drives at the same time
to improve performance and ensure a graceful response in the event of a hardware or software failure.
raster image See “bitmap image” on page 297.
rasterizer The engine in Photoshop Elements that converts vector data, such as text, to bitmap data.
red eye The reflection of the camera flash from the retina of a photographed subject, resulting in a red dot in the

subject’s eye. You can eliminate it automatically when you import images or by using the Red Eye Removal tool.
Rename Multiple Files Allows you to automatically rename several files at once. Available with the Process Multiple

Files command.
rendering Converting a vector layer such as a shape layer or a text layer into a normal layer. To convert a vector layer

into a normal layer, choose Layer > Simplify Layer.
renmoji See “tate-chuu-yoko” on page 308.
resample To change the resolution of an image by changing its pixel dimensions. Downsampling is decreasing the

number of pixels, and resampling up (or upsampling) is increasing the number.
resolution A measure of the clarity and sharpness of an image. In digital images, it is measured in pixels per inch. (See

also “monitor resolution” on page 304 and “printer resolution” on page 305.)
resolution independence Lets an image be resized without changing its resolution. In a typical bitmap image, pixel

resolution is fixed, so if you enlarge the image, quality is reduced. With resolution independence, however, an image
isn't rendered into pixels until it is simplified or printed.
reticulation A traditional photographic effect caused by the rapid changing of the film emulsion from hot to cold (hot

developer to cold fixer). It produces a random pattern of lines in a photographic image, less fine than craquelure.
revert The command that reverts the image to the last saved version.
RGB A model for representing colors on a computer display. Red, green, and blue (RGB) are combined in different

proportions to represent any color. The RGB model can represent 256 x 256 x 256 colors.
RGB working space profile A color profile that defines an RGB working space, such as that for a digital camera or

scanner.
RLE (run length encoding) A lossless technique for compressing the transparent portions of each layer in images. (See

also “lossless compression” on page 303.)

Last updated 7/26/2011

307

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

S
sample To select a color with the eyedropper in order to use it with a drawing or painting tool.
saturation The purity, or strength, of a color. A fully saturated color contains no gray. Saturation controls make colors

more vivid (less black or white added) or more muted (more black or white added).
scanning The process of converting a tangible image, such as a slide or print, into a digital image by using light shining
onto sensors such as Charged Couple Devices (CCDs).
scatter Determines how brush marks are distributed in a stroke.
scatter spacing Determines the spacing between elements in a brush stroke.
Scitex file A high-resolution file for use with proprietary Scitex systems. Photoshop Elements can open Scitex files that
are in RGB color mode.
scratch disk Photoshop Elements’ own virtual memory system, which uses any disk drive or drive partition with free

space. You can designate scratch disks to be used whenever there is not enough RAM to perform an operation.
screen resolution The dimensions of the pixel grid used by a monitor.
selection A part of an image selected for manipulation of any kind—duplication in a layer, color correction, deletion,

rotation, and so on. The selection consists of all the pixels—fully or partially selected—contained within the selection
boundary.
selection module A plug-in that enables you to make a selection in Photoshop Elements, such as the TextureSelect

plug-in that is used by the Magic Selection Brush tool and the Magic Extractor.
sepia print A photograph in tones of brown. Photo-editing programs simulate this antique look by applying special

effects.
shadows The darkest elements in an image, and the degree of detail that is discernible in those the dark portions. (See

also “highlights” on page 302.)
shape layer A layer that contains vector-based shapes. (See also “layer” on page 303.)
sharpening In photo-editing programs, any functionality that enhances the details at the edges of photographed

objects and people. Sharpening is often applied as part of in-camera processing as well, although no sharpening is
applied to camera raw file images. (See also “Unsharp Mask” on page 309.)
sharpening halo An artifact, seen as a bright ring or line around edges, caused by too much sharpening. (See also

“artifact” on page 297.)
silhouette A dark mass outlined against a light background.
simplifying Converting a text layer, shape layer, solid color layer, gradient layer, or pattern fill layer to a regular image

layer. You must simplify these layer types before applying filters or using the painting tools.
single channel images An image that contains one channel such as a bitmap-mode, grayscale, or indexed-color image.
16-bit grayscale A high-bit image mode that can contain thousands of shades of gray. Photoshop Elements supports

flattened 16-bit images (it does not support layers in 16-bit images).
skewing Deviation of the content of an image from a vertical or horizontal axis. Skewing can be a camera artifact or

an intentionally applied effect.
slices Portions of an image in Photoshop that divide the image into functional areas. Slices are not supported in

Photoshop Elements.
smoothing A technique for averaging the values of neighboring pixels to reduce contrast and create a soft, blurry

effect.

Last updated 7/26/2011

308

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

spot channels A Photoshop channel that contains a spot color such as a Pantone color. Photoshop Elements does not
support spot channels.
sRGB An RGB color space that’s now a standard on the web. Most computer monitors can display only the colors in

the sRGB color space. (See also “color space” on page 299.)
stack Photos that you group together under one photo. You can create stacks when you have multiple photos of the
same subject and you don’t want them all to clutter up the Photo Browser.
stroke (1) An outline around an image or part of an image created with the Stroke command or with a drawing,
painting, or selection tool. (2) The characteristics of the lines created with one of the painting or drawing tools,
especially brushes.
subtractive primaries Cyan, magenta, and yellow. In theory, when pigments of these three colors are combined in
equal quantities, the result is black. Printers combine these colors in various proportions to represent all printable
colors. The additive primaries are used to combine colors of light, whereas the subtractive primaries are used to
combine colors of ink. (See also “additive primaries” on page 296.)
swatches Preset colors that you can choose from in the Color Swatches panel. The maximum number of color

swatches that you can load in Photoshop Elements: 8190.

T
tag A label that you attach to photos to organize them. You create your own tags according to the people, places, and

events that they represent. You can attach multiple tags to a photo. Once tagged, you can easily find photos by
searching on the tags.
Targa (TGA) format A file format that is compatible with systems using the Truevision video board.
target channels Selected channels in the Channels panel of Photoshop. Photoshop Elements doesn’t have a Channels

panel.
target colors Colors you specify for highlights, neutral grays, and shadows when you correct a photo.
target layer The selected layer in the Layers panel.
target path The selected path in the Paths panel of Photoshop. Photoshop Elements doesn’t have a Paths panel.
tate-chuu-yoko A block of horizontal type that is laid out in a vertical line.
temperature In regard to color, the degree of heat (in degrees Kelvin) that an object would have to absorb before it

glowed in a certain color. Each color is associated with a color temperature, as are various kinds of light. (See also
“black body” on page 297.)
text layer A layer that contains vector-based text. (See also “layer” on page 303.)
thumbnail A small, low-resolution representation of an image. The program displays thumbnails of the photos you
are working on to help you find them and edit them.
TIFF Tagged Image File Format. A digital image format widely used for images that are to be printed or published.
TIFF images can be compressed losslessly.
tint A variation of a color produced by adding white, thus decreasing saturation and increasing lightness.
tolerance A measure of the precision with which certain tools work. The tolerance describes the difference in value
between adjacent pixels affected by a tool. If the tolerance is high, many more pixels are affected or selected than if the
tolerance is low.

Last updated 7/26/2011

309

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

tonal correction An adjustment made in the tones of an image: shadows, highlights, or midtones. You can adjust
highlight and shadow values to increase the tonal range, adjust the brightness of the midtones without affecting
shadow and highlight values, and so on.
transform To scale, shrink, enlarge, skew, distort, rotate, or change the perspective of a layer, selection, or shape.
transform bounding box The box that surrounds the portion of an image you are changing with a transform

command.
transition An effect added between two photos, for instance in a slide show, that affects the visual presentation of how

one photo changes to the other. For example, you can add a Fade transition between photos to make one photo fade
out of view as the next photo fades into view.
transparency In digital photography, the functionality that supports transparent areas in an image or image layer.

Certain image formats do not support transparency.
trim To remove pixels from an image by using the Trim command in Photoshop. Photoshop Elements doesn’t have

a Trim command.
TWAIN A protocol by which applications and devices, such as scanners and cameras, exchange information.
type mask A selection outline in the shape of text.
type style See “font style” on page 301.

U
underexposed image An image that is overly dark because it was taken in low-light conditions or with incorrect

camera settings.
Unicode character Part of the Worldwide Character coding system for text.
Unsharp Mask A technique that sharpens details in an image by increasing the contrast between light and dark areas.
(The name originates from traditional photography, where contrast is increased by adding a slightly blurred negative
over the original.)

V
VCD Video Compact Disc. A CD that includes MPEG-formatted audio and video. You can play a VCD in a DVD
player or CD player. You can include menus in VCDs that you create in Photoshop Elements.
vector graphics Lines, shapes, and other graphic image components stored in a format that incorporates geometric

formulas for rendering the image elements. For this reason, the graphics scale without degradation of image quality,
and there are no jagged lines in the output. Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics program.
version set Edited versions of photos that are automatically grouped together when you save edits in the Editor. By

default, when you edit a photo in the Editor, Photoshop Elements saves the edited version as the top photo and groups
the original and previously edited versions underneath it. You can reveal or ungroup photos in a version set at any time.
video monitor Video monitors use a progressive scanning method to display images (as compared to televisions,
which use interlaced fields).
vignetting An effect in which the edges of an image gradually fade out.

W
wallpaper The background image or images on your Windows desktop. You can create your own custom wallpaper

by using the Creations wizard in Photoshop Elements.

Last updated 7/26/2011

310

USING PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 8 EDITOR
Glossary

warm colors Colors at the red end of the spectrum, including yellow and orange, associated with heat.
warping A distortion of an image, often text, to conform to a variety of shapes. For instance, a line of text can be

warped in the shape of an arc or wave.
web-safe color Any of the 216 colors that are displayed consistently on the web, regardless of browser and computer

platform.
white balance A function that compensates for the different rendering of identical colors under different sources of
light: incandescent, fluorescent, sunlight, and so on.
white point A reference point used to represent white. This reference point is used to calculate all other colors in the

image.
wizard A Photoshop Elements tool that steps you through a creation process from start to finish. The wizard informs

you of all the features you can use at each phase of the creation process; you decide which ones you want, and then you
move to the next step.

Z
zero length images Images without specified dimensions.
zero width images Images without specified dimensions.
ZIP encoding A lossless compression technique best used for images that contain large areas of a single color.

Last updated 7/26/2011

Source Exif Data:

File Type                       : PDF
File Type Extension             : pdf
MIME Type                       : application/pdf
PDF Version                     : 1.4
Linearized                      : Yes
Tagged PDF                      : Yes
Page Mode                       : UseOutlines
XMP Toolkit                     : Adobe XMP Core 4.0-c320 44.284297, Mon Apr 16 2007 09:10:35
Format                          : application/pdf
Title                           : Using Photoshop Elements 8 Editor
Description                     : Adobe Photoshop Elements 8
Creator                         : Adobe Systems Incorporated
Create Date                     : 2011:07:26 04:32:19Z
Modify Date                     : 2011:07:26 04:32:19Z
Creator Tool                    : FrameMaker 8.0
Producer                        : Acrobat Distiller Server 8.1.0 (Sparc Solaris, Built: 2007-09-07)
Document ID                     : uuid:0504719e-1dd2-11b2-0a00-001838d80016
Instance ID                     : uuid:050471a5-1dd2-11b2-0a00-ffbff2a0fdb2
Page Count                      : 317
Subject                         : Adobe Photoshop Elements 8
Author                          : Adobe Systems Incorporated

EXIF Metadata provided by EXIF.tools

Adobe Using Photoshop Elements 8 Editor 8.0 (Windows) User Guide Photoshopelements Windows Eng

Navigation menu

Versions of this User Manual:

Views

Navigation