PhotoShop Elements 2 Instructions LESSON ONE
1. Let's look at the work area in PhotoShop Elements: A. Toolbox B. Menu bar C. Shortcuts bar D. Options bar E. Active image area F. Search field G. Palette well H. Palettes
You can drag a palette from the palette well to keep it open. For example, pull HINTS off the palette well and click on any tool in the toolbox. If there is a small triangle at a tool's lower right corner, hold down the mouse button to view the hidden tools. Then click the tool you want to select. (To return a palette to the well, close it with the X in the upper-right corner.) Each tool has a shortcut key that displays when you mouse-over the tool.
2. Open the frog from the K-Drive folder called PHOTOSHOP. Notice the percentage of the image size in the title bar. To increase the viewing percentage, use CONTROL/+. To decrease it, use CONTROL/-.
3. Rotate the image 90 degrees from the left. (IMAGE/ROTATE/90 degrees left).
4. Crop using the crop tool in the toolbox (or hit C on the keyboard). Once you select the cropped area, double-click on the image. If you don't like the crop, hit CONTROL/Z and try again.
5. Perform a QuickFix at ENHANCE/QuickFix. First, make sure your viewing percentage is 100%. Then try out different adjustments, including AUTO and your own adjustments. You can preview them as you try them, using the UNDO button as needed. All digital photos need some sharpening with UNSHARP MASK, but if you do to much, you'll add NOISE to your picture. You can manually sharpen your photo using FILTER/SHARPEN/UNSHARP MASK: Amount between 150 & 200, radius between 1 and 2; threshold between 2 and 20. You can make the other adjustments without QuickFix under ENHANCE.
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6. Save your photo as a JPEG. (FILE/SAVE AS/JPEG on pull-down menu by FORMAT.
7. Now, let's work on a face that doesn't belong to a frog. Open PINK.
8. Sharpen the image using FILTER/SHARPEN/UNSHARP MASK with the picture at 100%. Set the amount at 150%, radius at 2, and threshold at 2and watch her eyes pop open!
9. Next, we'll use the get rid of her red eyes using the REDEYE tool. Use the ZOOM tool and go to 300% on her eyes. Using the redeye tool, make sure the brush size is smaller than the iris and brush inside the iris until the red is gone. (You can change the brush size by popping open the size box on the menu bar.)
10. Next, we'll get rid of the saliva on her tongue using the CLONE STAMP tool. Use a size 11 pixel default brush, ALT-Click next to the white spot and drag to paint.
11. Now, let's make the background more subtle. Choose the magic wand at 30% tolerance and click on the right side of the background and hold down the shift key as you select areas until you have the whole area selected. Use ENHANCE/Adjust brightness/contrast to darken the right side of the background until it matches the left side. Get rid of the chair in the same way, using the clone stamp to touch up as needed. Next, use the clone stamp to remove the dirty mark on the face under the ribbon.
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