Mastering Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 - Second Edition

Mastering Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 - Second Edition

by Robin Nichols
Released April 2020
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781800204201

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Book description

An example-driven guide to take your image editing skills from beginner to advanced using powerful Photoshop Elements tools and techniques in tandem with Adobe’s latest AI technology

Key Features

  • Updated to the latest version of Photoshop Elements 2020 with focused coverage on Adobe’s latest AI technology
  • Organize, search, and keep track of an ever-increasing number of images and videos using expert practices
  • Discover common solutions to a wide range of photographic and image-editing problems

Book Description

Adobe Photoshop Elements is a raster graphics editor for entry-level photographers, image editors, and hobbyists. Updated and improved to cover the latest features of Photoshop Elements 2020, this second edition includes focused coverage of Adobe's new AI-powered features that are designed to make the editing process more efficient, creative and fun.

This book takes you through the complexities of image editing in easy-to-follow, bite-sized chunks, helping you to quickly recognize the editing challenge at hand and use suitable tools and techniques to overcome it. You’ll start by learning how to import, organize, manage, edit, and use your pictures in a format that’s designed for creative photography projects. Throughout this Adobe Photoshop Elements book, you'll discover how to fix different photographic problems using an extensive repertoire of commonly applied solutions. Common processes such as applying artistic effects to creative projects, custom image makeovers, processing images for social media, and other file export methods will also be covered.

By the end of this book, you’ll have learned about the impressive tools available in Photoshop Elements 2020, and how it is designed not only for photographers who’d like to dip their toes into the editing world, but also for those wanting simple but effective ideas on how to expand their creativity while remaining time-efficient.

What you will learn

  • Explore the automatic AI-powered features designed to make the editing process faster and more efficient
  • Add graphic elements to any composition, photograph, or illustration
  • Overcome challenges in editing multi-layered images for your photography projects
  • Develop illustrative skills using Photoshop Elements drawing tools
  • Learn techniques for professional photo retouching
  • Work with online and local templates to create calendars, greeting cards, and other projects

Who this book is for

This book is for creative and enthusiastic photographers with elementary experience in photo editing. If you are looking to organize your picture collection and take control of post-processing requirements, you’ll find this book useful. Though not necessary, photography skills alongside basic photo editing knowledge will help you to get the most out of this book.

Table of contents

  1. Mastering Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 Second Edition
  2. Why subscribe?
  3. Contributors
  4. About the author
  5. About the reviewer
  6. Packt is searching for authors like you
  7. Preface
    1. Who this book is for
    2. What this book covers
    3. To get the most out of this book
    4. Conventions used
    5. Get in touch
    6. Reviews
  8. Chapter 1: Photoshop Elements Features Overview
    1. What's new in Elements 2020?
    2. The Home screen
    3. The Organizer
      1. The catalog
    4. The edit modes
      1. Quick edit mode
    5. The Guided edit mode
    6. The Expert edit mode
    7. The Create and Share menus
    8. Working with video and Premiere Elements
    9. Working with panels and the Panel Bin
      1. What do these panels do?
    10. Summary
  9. Chapter 2: Setting Up Photoshop Elements from Scratch
    1. Color spaces
    2. File formats – JPEG and RAW
      1. File format characteristics
    3. Setting up a photo-editing computer
    4. Media backup
      1. Importing photos and other media into Elements Organizer
    5. Reviewing the media
      1. Suggested editing workflow
    6. Organizing your work
      1. Star-rating your photos
      2. Using metadata
      3. Organizing your work – keyword tags
      4. Organizing your work – places
      5. Organizing your work – events
      6. Organizing your work – people
    7. Backing up your media and the Catalog
    8. Managing Catalogs
    9. Working with plugins
    10. Additional resources – keyboard shortcuts and working tips
      1. Color management options
    11. Screen calibration
      1. Organizer keyboard shortcuts
    12. Summary
  10. Chapter 3: The Basics of Image Editing
    1. The editing workflow and best practices
    2. Ten ways to open a photo for editing
    3. Editing RAW files
      1. RAW files – a brief overview
      2. The Basic tab – RAW processing tools
      3. Camera RAW – profile browser
      4. The Detail tab – sharpening and noise reduction tools
    4. Understanding picture resolution
    5. Cropping for better composition
      1. How does the Crop tool work?
      2. Straightening horizons
      3. Resampling
    6. Instant photo-fixing in Organizer
      1. Saving files and Version Sets
    7. Using autocorrection tools
    8. Mastering contrast, color, sharpness, and clarity
      1. Adjusting the contrast using Levels
    9. Adjusting color using Hue/Saturation
    10. Creating high-impact black and white images
    11. Perfecting skin tone color
    12. Skin smoothing
    13. Simple retouching – spot removal
    14. Modifying facial expressions
    15. Eyes wide shut
    16. Additional resources
    17. Summary
  11. Chapter 4: Image Makeover
    1. Basic edit workflow
    2. Creative edit workflow
    3. Makeover example one
    4. Makeover example two
    5. Makeover example three
    6. Makeover example four
    7. Makeover example five
    8. Makeover example six
    9. Summary
  12. Chapter 5: Easy Creative Projects
    1. Finding inspiration on the Home Page
    2. Adding artistic effects
    3. Exploit the easy stuff
    4. Colorize – AI-driven creativity
    5. Creating widescreen panoramas
    6. Panoramas the easy way
      1. Working tips
    7. Advanced panorama techniques
    8. Making a jigsaw panorama
    9. Using Photomerge Scene Cleaner
    10. Making a simple slideshow
    11. Creating custom Photo Calendars
    12. Creating custom greeting cards
    13. Making a custom Facebook page
    14. Keyboard shortcuts
    15. Summary
  13. Chapter 6: Advanced Techniques – Layers and Masking
    1. Introduction to layers
      1. Other features on the Layer panel
      2. Blend Modes
      3. Layer opacity
      4. Merging layers
    2. Adjustment Layers
    3. Adjustment Layer masking
    4. Pseudo layer masks
    5. Combining pictures – posters and flyers
    6. Correcting perspective with Transformations
      1. Other Transformation modes
    7. Correcting skewed perspectives
      1. Working tips
      2. Layer Masking
      3. Erasing Tools
      4. Gradient tool
    8. Keyboard shortcuts
    9. Summary
  14. Chapter 7: Advanced Techniques: Retouching, Selections, and Text
    1. Beauty retouching
      1. The Clone Stamp tool explained
      2. Retouching in practice
      3. Combining the Spot Healing Brush and the Clone Stamp tools
    2. The Burn, Dodge, and Sponge tools
    3. The selection tools
      1. Easy object removal
      2. Selecting your subject
      3. The Lasso tool
      4. The Magic Wand tool
      5. Saving a selection
      6. Feathering selections
      7. The Selection Brush tool
      8. The Quick Selection tool
      9. The Refine Selection Brush tool
      10. The Auto Selection tool
      11. The Refine Edge function
    4. Removing large objects
      1. Finishing tips
      2. Brush and Pencil tools
    5. Working with graphic elements
      1. Text graphics
      2. Regular Shape tool
    6. Custom Shape tool
      1. Cookie Cutter tool
      2. Paint Bucket tool
    7. Adding text to images
      1. Using the Type options panel
      2. Text styles and special effects
      3. Custom fonts
    8. Keyboard shortcuts
    9. Summary
  15. Chapter 8: Advanced Drawing and Painting Techniques
    1. Illustration – drawing and painting techniques
    2. The View menu
    3. Using a graphics tablet
    4. Using brushes
      1. Brush behavior
    5. Drawing a sphere from scratch
    6. Impressionist Brush
    7. Color Replacement tool
    8. Working with Brushes
      1. Importing and using custom Brushes
      2. Custom lightning brushes
    9. Adobe vectors
      1. Creating custom vector illustrations
    10. Effects filters
    11. Keyboard shortcuts
    12. Summary
  16. Chapter 9: Exporting the Finished Work
    1. Resolution revisited
    2. Online – web and blogging
      1. Facebook
      2. Instagram
      3. Flickr
    3. Print resolution
      1. Local printing
      2. Page Setup
    4. Save for Web
    5. Sharpening
      1. Unsharp Mask
      2. The Adjust Sharpness tool
      3. The Shake Reduction tool
      4. The High Pass sharpening technique
      5. General sharpen filters
    6. The Haze Removal tool
    7. Export as New Files
      1. Process Multiple Files
    8. Keyboard shortcuts
    9. Summary
  17. Chapter 10: Best Practices
    1. Finding lost or disconnected files
    2. Using the Find menu
    3. Adjusting dates for different time zones
    4. Reinstating your catalog
    5. Resolution problems – resampling or adding more pixels
    6. Dealing with gross overexposure or underexposure
      1. Underexposure
      2. Overexposure
    7. Fixing blurred images
    8. People and face-swapping
    9. Content-Aware Move tool
    10. Recompose tool
    11. Using the Help menu
    12. Summary
  18. Chapter 11: Feature Appendix
    1. Home Screen
    2. Organizer – Import (button)
      1. Organizer – the five view spaces
      2. Expert Edit mode – the Tool bar
      3. Quick Edit: Tool bar
      4. Adjustments
      5. Guided edit space
      6. Basics
      7. Color
      8. Black and White
      9. Fun Edits
      10. Special Edits
      11. Photomerge
    3. Panels overview
      1. More tabs
    4. Create Menu (Organizer and Editor)
    5. Share Menu (Organizer and Editor)
  19. Other Books You May Enjoy
    1. Leave a review - let other readers know what you think

Product information

  • Title: Mastering Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 - Second Edition
  • Author(s): Robin Nichols
  • Release date: April 2020
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781800204201