How to Use Guided Edit in Adobe Photoshop Elements

Adobe Photoshop Elements has three editing modes. Full Edit Mode is the most similar to the Professional Adobe Photoshop, but without a lot of the tools. Quick Fix Mode provides easy-to-use slider controls for the most popular editing functions (see my article on Quick Fix Mode). The Guided Edit Mode is for novices and provides easy-to-use "wizards" with step-by-step instructions. Guided Edit can be used for many editing functions and certain project functions like Photo Merge and Face Merge. In this article I will explorer some of the more popular guided edit choices to give you an idea of how to use guided edit mode. If you are new to image editing this is a great place to start experimenting.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0
• A copy of an image for experimentation

Instructions

1. 

   Start up Adobe Photoshop Elements and open an image for editing. Notice that below the EDIT button on the right that you have three choices. Click on GUIDED to open the Guided Edit menu of choices.

2. 

   The Guided Edit Menu is on the right-hand side of the screen. There are five types or categories of edits. There are basic edits like cropping and color changes. There are also complex edits like removing a color cast or blemish. Once you select a choice, a step-by-step guide will open up for each edit providing you with the tool and the help you need to use it properly. The choice "Guide for Editing a Photo" will lead you through all the edits step by step from cropping to color cast correction

3. 

   First, let's look at a simple edit like cropping. Notice you can select your "before and after" view at the bottom of the screen. I find it very helpful to have the before and after view available while doing any edits. Once you select CROP you will see a cropping box in the "after image box" that you can adjust by selecting the handles on the cropping box. When you click DONE the image is cropped. Remember to save it to a new file name so you do not overwrite the original.

4. 

   Complicated edits like color cast correction are easy to do with GUIDED EDIT. A color cast is when there is an unwanted color cast to an image. Look at the image on the left. It has a slight magenta cast. This was due to a failure to white balance correctly during image capture. To correct this I simply have to follow the instructions and select the eyedropper tool. You will see it appear when you move your mouse over the AFTER image. By simply identifying the pure white of the image, the cast is automatically removed. The AFTER image looks much better and more natural. If there is not a pure white in the image, select the most transparent neutral gray.

5. 

   There are many other types of guided edits available. You can fix blemishes and touch up photos with the spot healing brushes. You can also Merge Photos together into one image. You can rotate and straighten images and even adjust skin tones. Experiment with all the different guided edit functions to get a feel for what you can and can't do. You should try the "Guide for Editing Photos" first, which will lead you step by step through all of the functions. Remember, you don't make any changes to the actual images until you save them.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use copies of images to preserve the integrity of your image archive.

• Always save to a new file name so you do not accidentally overwrite your original.

Resources

• Adobe Photoshop Elements