Photoshop Elements 12: The Missing Manual

Chapter 9. Retouching: Fine-Tuning Images

Basic edits like exposure fixes and sharpening are fine if all you want to make are simple adjustments. But Elements also gives you tools for making sophisticated changes that are easy to apply, and that can make the difference between a ho-hum photo and a fabulous one. This chapter introduces you to some advanced editing maneuvers that can help you rescue damaged photos or give good ones a little extra zing.

The first part of the chapter shows how to get rid of blemishes—not only those that affect skin, but also dust, scratches, stains, and other photographic imperfections. You’ll also learn some powerful color-improving techniques, including how to use the Color Curves tool, which is a great way to enhance an image’s contrast and color.

Then you’ll learn how to use the exciting Recompose tool, which lets you change the size and shape of photos, eliminate empty areas between objects, and even remove unwanted elements from pictures, all without distorting the parts you want to keep. This amazing feature works so well that nobody seeing the results would ever suspect the photo wasn’t originally shot that way.

Fixing Blemishes

It’s an imperfect world, but in your photos, it doesn’t have to look that way. Elements includes powerful tools for fixing your subject’s flaws: You can erase crow’s feet and blemishes, eliminate power lines in an otherwise perfect view, or even hide objects you wish weren’t in the photo. Not only that, but these same tools ...