So my friend sent me Photoshop Elements 7 a few months back. I have tried several times to figure it out but I don't have the slightest clue where to begin!!! I have been on Adobe TV and Youtube at the moment my ADD won't let me sit through hours of tutorials that I don't necessary need at the moment (however reading is even worse), and I don't even really know the terms I need to search for what I'm looking for.
Basically what I want to do is take a portrait of a person and make it look awesome, like darken the background and lighten/retouch the face, add some sunlight in spots, and add some kind of cross processing or something of the sorts like in Picnik. Sorry, I know this is so not technical but its all i got ;)
Anyone that uses this, any suggestions where to start? I'm beyond frustrated and don't know where else to go but to my best support group!
take it one step at a time....i have elements 9, but started with 7:0 the best advice i can give is to pick an editing process you want to focus on and work on that first(like layering or smart brush, etc) there are some fab step by step tutorials on the web for many of the actions...if you have a specific question, i can help:)
there's a huge learning curve with photoshop. you could start with filters. filters is at the top, in the menus, and there's a lot of different ones to choose from.
here's a quick tutorial on darkening or brightening photo edges. i do this in a lot of my photos.
1. press and hold command, then press j
this duplicates your photo in a new layer
2.at the top of the layer panel (bottom right side of the screen), there's a pull down panel. it will be set on normal. if you click on it, you can pull up some more options... click the option 'multiply' to darken
or you could click 'screen' instead, which lightens the whole image
3.next select the 'rectangular marquee tool' in the tool box. if you hold your mouse over the tools, after a second it will tell you the name of the tool
4.next draw a rectangle in your image, about an inch from the edges of your photo.
5. now look at the top, under the menus. you should see a box that says 'refine edge' click on it.
6. a little menu will pop up, with some sliders.. one will say 'feather'
slide that up till the rectangle you just created has rounded edges, then click ok
7. press backspace. that should bring back the original coloring, just leaving the edges darkened.
8. another fun thing to play with is the opacity slider. it's also in the layer panel. give it a shot!
i hope this helps, and it's easy for you to find things!
@arrayofblues I'm still very much in the learning process with PSE, too. I've watched tutorials and I have the Dummies guide, but I agree with @4stories that you should focus on one editing process at time and gradually expand from there. I consider myself pretty technologically saavy, but PSE threw me for a loop at first.
Try going to http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/. It's a fabulous resource, and most of the info is available to non-subscribers. They also have a magazine (comes out every other month), but you have to pay and subscribe to receive it. This website has been my best resource for all things PSE.
@5unflow3r@4stories@sweett@lisjam1@amyecenb Thanks everyone. Another question.....if you buy actions, is that basically presets for us "slow" people that can't figure it out ourselves? Or are those things that can't normally be done without it?
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Try this:
http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Elements-All--Dummies-Computers/dp/0470434139/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311260594&sr=1-2
It's a "dummies" book, but it sounds like you want to do some basic stuff, and I find these dummies books are good for finding popular functions/topics really eassily,
here's a quick tutorial on darkening or brightening photo edges. i do this in a lot of my photos.
1. press and hold command, then press j
this duplicates your photo in a new layer
2.at the top of the layer panel (bottom right side of the screen), there's a pull down panel. it will be set on normal. if you click on it, you can pull up some more options... click the option 'multiply' to darken
or you could click 'screen' instead, which lightens the whole image
3.next select the 'rectangular marquee tool' in the tool box. if you hold your mouse over the tools, after a second it will tell you the name of the tool
4.next draw a rectangle in your image, about an inch from the edges of your photo.
5. now look at the top, under the menus. you should see a box that says 'refine edge' click on it.
6. a little menu will pop up, with some sliders.. one will say 'feather'
slide that up till the rectangle you just created has rounded edges, then click ok
7. press backspace. that should bring back the original coloring, just leaving the edges darkened.
8. another fun thing to play with is the opacity slider. it's also in the layer panel. give it a shot!
i hope this helps, and it's easy for you to find things!