Adoboe Photoshop Tutorial: Top 10 Tips on Editing Photos with Photoshop Elements

Adoboe Photoshop Tutorial: Top 10 Tips on Editing Photos with Photoshop Elements
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Elements Overview

Editing photos with Photoshop Elements is a great and cost-effective way to improve your photos and add effects to them. This is a comprehensive tool that is perfect for professionals who want to quickly tweak their photos. Amateurs may get the most benefit from this program since it introduces them to the world of editing with simple, but effective tools.

1. Using Common Tools

The most beneficial part of Elements is the tools. Common tools include the Red Eye, Clone Stamp and Spot Healing tools. Just like the name implies, the Red Eye tool removes red eye glare from your subject’s eyes. The Clone Stamp tool removes items that you don’t want in your photograph. For example, if you have a garbage can in the background, you can just remove it. The Spot Healing brush removes blemishes from people’s face.

2. Undoing

Another tip for beginners is using the undo tools. Whenever you want to erase a previous step, simply hit Ctrl + Z to remove the change. Hit Ctrl + Y to reinstate the change.

3. Levels

The Levels tools are a great way to fix the tonal range of your image, which involves adding more contrast and definition to your image. To use this tool, go to Enhance, and then Adjust Lighting. Here select Levels. Change the mid-tones of the image to make it look better.

4. Sharpening

You can sharpen an entire image using the Unsharp Mask. Or, you can use the Quick Selection tool to sharpen only a section of your image. Select the part of the image that you want to sharpen, and the select the Quick Selection tool to sharpen that area.

5. Cropping

Cropping allows you to remove exterior sections of your image to focus more on the subject of the photo. Select the Crop Tool, and move it over the section of the image that you want to keep. You can always undo the crop with the shortcuts if you don’t like the way it looks.

6. Curves

The Curves tool helps you deepen dark colors and lighten the light colors in the image. To use this tool, go to Enhance, and then Adjust Color. Then, select Adjust Color Curves. Use the Adjust sliders to increase or decrease darkness and lightness.

7. Increase the Size

Make your photos larger no matter what size they currently are. To do this in Photoshop Elements, go to Image and then Resize. Select Image Size, and then enter the dimensions of the image. Click Constrain Proportions to keep your images from looking distorted.

8, Save

Save often to avoid losing your work. To save over your original image, just select “Save”. To save a copy, select “Save As”, and give the work a new name.

9. Improve Color

The LAB color space in Photoshop Elements allows you to make your image colors more vibrant. To use this tool, you must first flatten the image, and then duplicate the layer. To use the LAB color tool, go to Image, Mode and then LAB Color. Click “Don’t Flatten”. Then, go into the Curves toolbox, and select Channel A, and make a horizontal line from the top right to the bottom.

Repeat the process, but just select Channel B this time. Now, go to Image, Mode and RGB. Select “Don’t Flatten”. Select the top layer, and change the blend mode to “Overlay”, and change the “Opacity” to a lower setting.

10. Flatten Images

Once you are done with your edits, flatten the images so they don’t take up as much room. This saves you space on your hard drive.

References

Richards, Matthew. “10 Photo-editing tips for Photoshop Elements”, https://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/10-photo-editing-tips-for-photoshop-elements-635076

Bradley, Helen. “5 Image-Editing Tips to Improve Any Photo”, https://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/biztools/article.php/3893896/5-Image-Editing-Tips-to-Improve-Any-Photo.htm

Adobe Photoshop Elements, https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopel/