Table Of ContentPhotoshop®
Elements 3 Solutions:
The Art of Digital
Photography
Mikkel Aaland
SYBEX®
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Photoshop
Elements 3
Solutions
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Photoshop
®
Elements 3
Solutions
The Art of Digital Photography
Mikkel Aaland
San Francisco • London
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Acquisitions Editor: BONNIEBILLS
Developmental Editor: PETEGAUGHAN
Production Editor: LORINEWMAN
Author’s Assistant: EDSCHWARTZ
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Published by Sybex, Inc. Copyright © Mikkel Aaland 2005 World rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy,
photograph, magnetic, or other record, without the prior agreement and written permission of the publisher.
An earlier version of this book was published under the title Photoshop Elements 2 Solutions: The Art of Digital
Photography © CP 2002 Mikkel Aaland.
Library of Congress Card Number: 2004109308
ISBN: 0-7821-4363-6
SYBEX and the SYBEX logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SYBEX Inc. in the United States
and/or other countries.
Screen reproductions produced with Snapz Pro X. Snapz Pro X © 1995-1999 Ambrosia Software Inc. All rights
reserved. Snapz Pro X is a trademark of Ambrosia Software.
Except when otherwise noted, all photos in the book © Mikkel Aaland.
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SYBEX is an independent entity and not affiliated with Adobe Systems Incorporated, the publisher of Adobe®
Photoshop®Elements software. This is an independent Sybex publication, not endorsed or sponsored by Adobe
Systems Incorporated. Adobe®and Photoshop®are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
TRADEMARKS: SYBEX has attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descrip-
tive terms by following the capitalization style used by the manufacturer.
The author and publisher have made their best efforts to prepare this book, and the content is based upon final
release software whenever possible. Portions of the manuscript may be based upon pre-release versions supplied by
software manufacturer(s). The author and the publisher make no representation or warranties of any kind with
regard to the completeness or accuracy of the contents herein and accept no liability of any kind including but not
limited to performance, merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose, or any losses or damages of any kind
caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly from this book.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To my daughters
Ana Mikaela and Miranda Kristina
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Acknowledgments
Many people have made this book possible. I’ll start with Sybex’s Bonnie Bills and Dan Brodnitz,
with whom I have shared many successful years of creative collaboration and friendship. Studio B’s
Neil J. Salkind and David Rogelberg stood solidly behind me.
I’d especially like thank my good friend Tom Mogensen, who contributed his wisdom, images,
and techniques to the book. Other special friends who were there when I needed them are Rudy
Burger, Michael Rogers, Scott Highton, Maggie Hallahan, Monica Suder, Michelle Vignes, Laena
Wilder, Paul Persons, Monica Lee, Luis Delgado, Mark Ulriksen, Marcia Briggs, Julie Christensen,
Sebastian DeWitt, Jacques Gauchey, and, as always, Sean Parker and Valerie Robbins. I’d also like to
thank Michael Angelo, Laura Laverdiere, Maurice Martell, David Miodzik, Tom Morgensen, Brett
Newsom, and William Rutledge.
Thank you to Rodney Koeneke, Chuck Snyder, Barbara Smyth, Dennis Fitzgerald, Tara
McGoldrick, Richard Koman, Cathryn Domrose, Martha Emmanouilides, Esmeralda Marquez, Craig
Sandoski, Anne Compton, Audrey Tomaselli, Diana Howard, Andrew Tarnowka, Tony Barnard,
Micha X. Peled, Karen Thomas, Lisa Friedman, Olympus and Joe Runde, Eastman Kodak, Tracy and
■
Chris Cantello, David Robertson, Cindy Adams, Peter Banks, and Jeanne Zimmermann.
S
T
N It’s been an absolute thrill working with several people at Adobe: Mark Dahm, the product
E
NT manager for Photoshop Elements 3 was always responsive and helpful; Richard Coencas and Chad
O
C Rolfs wrote a wonderful Foreword; Kevin Connor, who wrote the Foreword to the first two versions
of the book, promised me his full support and proved he is a man good to his word; Susan Doering
was helpful; John Peterson, Jeff Chien, Marc Pawliger, Karen Gauthier, Christie Evans, and Gregg
Wilensky all gave me valuable advice; and Scott Wellwood was very helpful. Gary Cohen tech-edited
the book and patiently answered my many questions.
As you can see by several of the photos in the book, this has been a family affair. Thanks to
the Aalands (Kris, Beth, Erik, and Hans), Schneiders (Steve and Francisca), Michael Taggart, Sr., and
Michael Taggart, Jr. And to my wife, Rebecca, who kept a seven-year old and a three-year old out of
my office while I wrote: I love you.
Thanks to Lori Newman for gently but steadily moving the project forward; Sharon Wilkey
for her careful and thoughtful editing; and Hal Leith, a loyal reader, who contacted me and asked
revealing questions and gracefully made useful suggestions that I have incorporated in the new edi-
tion. Thanks also to Richard Hirschman, another reader who sent e-mails full of helpful corrections
and suggestions. And thanks to the many other readers of the earlier versions, many of them loyal
viewers of my Call for Help and Screensaversappearances, for their support and contributions. I’d
also like to acknowledge the input from the community of Photoshop Elements 3 beta testers. The
final version of the program, and this book, benefit enormously from such an active and generous
support group.
Just about everyone who contributed to the earlier editions of this book helped with this ver-
sion. I want to thank them all again for their wonderful support and great work. I’d like to thank
Lori Barra and Jan Martí for again making a beautiful book, Linda Orlando for editing the second
version, and Laura M. Levy for helping me get the earlier versions out on time.
Finally, I want to thank Ed Schwartz, my trusty assistant, who was involved with just about
every aspect of the this and earlier versions—from reviewing and writing copy, to grabbing the PC
screen shots used in the book, to giving me moral support. Ed, you continue to be such a pleasure to
work with!
—MIKKELAALAND, SANFRANCISCO, 2004
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Foreword
This book rocks! It is not just a revised version;this is a brand new edition.
So much has changed in Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 that it is practically a whole new pro-
gram, and Mikkel Aaland has completed quite an amazing undertaking with Photoshop
Elements 3 Solutions. What really impresses us about Mikkel is his continued commitment to
Photoshop Elements and to his readers. We have worked with Mikkel since version 1.0’s incep-
tion, and he has had a hand in bringing each of the Elements versions to life, including the latest
one. Mikkel has also taken to heart feedback from his readers by refining and improving some
of the fabulous techniques in this book, as well as adding at least 20 new ones based on all the
new 3.0 goodies.
As we said, Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 has taken a quantum leap from earlier versions,
incorporating new powerful organization and editing tools, advanced creations, and more fantastic
ways to share your photos. One of the biggest initial changes, which Mikkel gracefully walks you
through, is the completely revamped user interface—and we do mean completely! This book intro-
duces you to new and improved version 3 features such as a better Red Eye Removal tool, the
Cookie Cutter tool (which scrapbookers will love), and the new dedicated Quick Fix mode that
puts the most common tools and fixes into one accessible place. Digital photographers will be
extremely happy with the chapters that describe the functionality and tools that have been taken
from Photoshop and added into Photoshop Elements—namely the Camera Raw plug-in, the
Healing Brush, Photo Filters, the Reduce Noise filter, and 16-bit support. These new features are
explained and broken down in step-by-step techniques that tackle real-world problems and issues.
One of the things Adobe has done with Elements 3 is provide the digital photography
hobbyist with an integrated end-to-end solution, which Mikkel illustrates throughout the book.
With the explosion in digital cameras (last year, digital cameras outsold film cameras for the first
time), photographers have more and more images to sort through and organize. Elements 3 to
the rescue! Mikkel teaches you how to create tags and categories to group your images easily
and visually, allowing you to view by date and create stacks and version sets of related images.
Leaving no stone unturned, he explores how to effectively use Elements’ powerful Compare
function and Photo Review command, which let you, the photographer, quickly sort through
your images, marking them for print or correcting rotations on the fly.
Mikkel’s approach has always been to teach the hobbyist how to get professional results
with digital imaging software. Using Photoshop Elements 3, Mikkel shows how anyone can use the
tools in Photoshop Elements to retouch, enhance, and share their photos in ways they never thought
possible. You will learn techniques to repair tattered family photographs, bring out detail and color
that you thought was lost forever, stitch images into seamless panoramas, and create slide shows
and web galleries. What you end up with, thanks to Adobe and Mikkel, are amazing creations that
will make your friends, family, and maybe even your boss say, “How did you do that?!?!”
Most importantly, Mikkel makes it fun!
RICHARDCOENCASANDCHADROLFS
Adobe Photoshop Elements Quality Engineering
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Contents
Chapter 1 Importing and Organizing Digital Images 1
Importing Digital Images into Photoshop Elements 2
Managing Files with the Organizer (Windows Only) 10
Managing Files with the File Browser (Mac and Windows) 21
Chapter 2 Your Images: Global Solutions 26
Choosing an Editing Workspace 28
Deciding What Comes When 30
viii Setting Proper Orientation 31
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Making Dull Images Shine 33
S
T
N
E Correcting Color 40
T
N
O Tinting Images 44
C
Eliminating or Diminishing Dust, Scratches, and Electronic Noise 45
Converting Color Images to Black-and-White 50
Cropping to the Essential Parts 51
Resizing 54
Sharpening 57
Chapter 3 Better Faces 60
What Comes First 62
Working the Eyes 62
Working the Lips 73
Whitening and Fixing Teeth 73
Selectively Removing Wrinkles and Blemishes with the Healing Brush 75
Diminishing and Straightening the Nose 78
Making People Glow 79
Creating a Grainy 35mm Black-and-White Look 81
Creating a Digital Fill Flash 82
Making Distorted Faces Normal 83
Fixing Hair 84
Getting Rid of Glasses Glare 89
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Chapter 4 Better Outside Shots 90
Intensifying the Sky 92
Changing the Time of Day 94
Making Weather 101
Working with the Midday Sun 101
Adding Lighting Effects 102
Removing Unwanted Objects 104
Adding Selective Focus 107
Creating a Large-Scale Digital Fill Flash 108
Chapter 5 Better Product Shots 110
Separating a Product from Its Background 112
Changing a Product’s Color 119
Changing a Product’s Texture 123
ix
Adding Motion Blur 128 ■
C
Changing Scale and Perspective 130 O
N
T
Fixing Keystoning 132 E
N
T
Improving the Background 133 S
Adding Depth 138
Creating Lighting Effects 141
Softening Highlights and Glare 142
Adding a New Label 143
Making a Product Smile 144
Simplifying a Product Shot 146
Chapter 6 Making Photo-Realistic Composites 148
Adding Yourself (or Anyone) to a Group Shot 150
Combining Different Resolutions 152
Swapping Kids 157
Expanding Your Image 160
Seamlessly Pasting 164
Cloning Elements from Multiple Images 165
Pre-visualizing a Scene 167
