Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 - The Beginners Guide

Evening,

OK - So I've just downloaded and installed PSE9 - where do I start?!

I'm trying to start a digital workflow to work with my photos - from now on I'm going to shoot RAW + JPG so I want to learn some basics and progress from there.

So first question - I've heard about the layers feature but unsure what is and how it works.

If you experts can give me some pointers that will be great.

[idi banashapan]

ok, first off personally i don't see much benefit from shooting both RAW and JPG. just shoot RAW. you'll save space over time, plus RAW is better to edit and suffers less during the process (although some features are 8-bit only, so if you really need to, convert the 16-bit RAW to 8-bit and carry on). you can then edit, save as a PSD file, then convert to 8-bit and save as a final JPG. this means you can go back to the PSD file later and you'll still have the 16-bit data and your layers will still be editable. remember, you can always convert down, but converting up will never give you data that isn't there!

layers... basically, think Photoshop as having the bottom layer of a photo (say a face), then you lay a sheet of acetate over the top of that and make some changes (say draw a mustache). to the eye, it looks like one image, but you can easily manipulate the mustache without affecting the face photo in any way (and vice-versa). you can pile on layer after layer with different changes which will not affect any other layer below or above as far as editing and effects go, though you can use each layer to change the way the other layers look.

you may find this site useful

you can see some examples of layer work here

Why not get a very good book on it.Try looking in your local library first (and if they are on t'internet then you may be able to search the catalogue all over the county).You might have to resort to an earlier version of Elements but it should get you started and provide info on Layers.

Then you might find a new or second hand one (I'd look in Amazon).

Also there are copies of adobe Photoshop booklets around as magazines in good newsagents.They will make layers very clear as Elements is a stripped down version of Photoshop(any old Photoshop book should be helpful),

I would try and explain BUT I'm entirely self taught and my way to teach it is to show by example.

The best way to regard layers as being like a sandwich.You can insert images,layer two or three different photos together to get a combined image,use a filter on one image and insert it into another,use mask layers,use another layer to add text..
The use of layers is endless.

The Adobe Free Exchange is a good resource

[Scary]

best advice i can give you after using photoshop for over 5 yrs is use youtube it might sound stupid but you can get a step by step guild on how to do anything you want

Originally Posted by Scary

best advice i can give you after using photoshop for over 5 yrs is use youtube it might sound stupid but you can get a step by step guild on how to do anything you want

Yep another good source of help.

[idi banashapan]

Originally Posted by Scary

best advice i can give you after using photoshop for over 5 yrs is use youtube it might sound stupid but you can get a step by step guild on how to do anything you want

this is true. I too have used it (and other tutorial videos) a number of times over the years. Of course, there's nothing stopping you copying out your original photo to your desktop (or another area where you won't accidentally overwrite the original) and just play. get first hand experience of how actions you perform affect the image.

[Scary]

if you ever need any help with photoshop just PM me and i will gladly help you. i would advise downloading photoshop CS4 or CS5 as most of the tutorials that are out are for those products even though they are all similer

[Angua]

Best book is Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Photoshop CS3 (works for any Photoshop from 3 onwards). Highly recommended as a guide to the whole post processing work-flow, complete with downloadable lesson pictures.

[Delta Whiskey]

I'd recommend the Scott Kelby/Matt Kloskowski "Photoshop Elements 9 Book for Digital Photographers". I have the version 7 book which I found excellent. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photoshop-El...5865795&sr=8-1

[cookie_365]

http://www.elementsvillage.com/forums/

is a pretty good place for support.

Wow - thanks for the responses so far. At the moment I have trial version for 30 days which is on about day 6 and I've not used it much. But I can install it again on a laptop to get another few day to see if it's really for me.

I've had a go with PhotoShop before and found it very over-complcated - I'm hoping PSE is simpler for me.

I've downloaded (cough) a few books so far but nothing very helpful so I'll have a look at the one you've sugested. As such I'm liking the line :

it cuts through the bull and shows you exactly “how to do it.”

- sounds like what I need.

Looks like I'll be getting that and PSE9 from somewhere soon - probably Amazon!

---------- Post added at 20:31 ---------- Previous post was at 20:28 ----------

Oh yeah - one other question - what does PS CS5 do over and above PSE9? And are they important features for a beginner like me?

[Scary]

CS5 is alot easier to use than any other i personaly think, the best way to learn anything on photoshop is to use youtube type in what you want to do and it will bring up lots of differant examples and tutorials, there is no point wasting money on books when you can see it being done step by step

[idi banashapan]

Elements is a cut down version of Creative Suite, but it will hold most, if not all of the tools to get you going if you are just editing photos to touch up and it's a fraction of the cost.

Using an old version of Photoshop and cannot upgrade so I'm thinking of going with Elements eventually.Was impressed when I tried the demo last year.

[Halcyon]

The new Content Aware fill function in Photoshop Creative suite 5 is briliant.

There are some good guides to Photoshop online.
The guide attached are for CS3 but many of the functions and explanations apply to all.

This guide is good too:
http://www.bgsu.edu/downloads/cio/file17749.pdf