How to Edit Pictures in Photoshop Elements

Whether you're creating original artwork, or snapping a photo there's a good chance your picture will have some aspect you'll want to fix. Photoshop Elements can help with this effort. The application's tools include those that impact the content of the image, and those for adjusting the shape and size of the picture's borders, or selected internal regions. Elements lets you control the amount of help the program gives you. See the "Full," "Quick" and "Guided" buttons under the "Edit" tab. With any editing you do in Elements, make a backup copy of your original picture in case your editing efforts don't pan out.

Instructions

Fix Red Eye

1. Click the "File" menu's "Open" command, then navigate to and double-click a picture with red eyes.

2. Click the tool palette icon shaped like a red eye with a cross.

3. Click above and to the left of a red eye.

4. Drag down and right until the cursor is below and to the right of the red eye.

5. Release the mouse to fix the red eye.

Straighten

1. Click the tool palette icon shaped like a straight rectangle in front of a crooked rectangle to run the "Straighten" tool.

2. Click one end of a horizontal element in the picture to which you'd like to align the entire picture, if you want to align the picture horizontally. For example, to align a face with its lips, click the left end of the lip seam.

3. Click the other end of the horizontal element if you want horizontal alignment. For example, click the right end of the lip seam. Elements will rotate the picture to align with the horizontal element.

4. Press and hold "Control," then use the instructions from the previous two steps to straighten the picture based on a vertical element such as a lamp post.

5. Press "Control" and "S" simultaneously to save your straightened picture to disk.

Fix Contrast

1. Click the "Enhance" menu.

2. Click "Adjust lighting."

3. Click "Brightness/contrast."

4. Drag the "Contrast" slider toward the right.

5. Release the mouse when the separation between the picture's light and dark areas is sufficient.

Crop

1. Click the tool palette icon shaped like two overlapping right angles to run the "Crop" tool.

2. Click on the upper left portion of the region you'd like to preserve.

3. Drag down and right until the mouse cursor is over the bottom right portion of the region you want to preserve. Release the mouse.

4. Click an edge of the cropping rectangle, and drag to shape the cropping rectangle exactly as you want it, then release the mouse.

5. Press "Enter" or click the green checkmark icon above the canvas to perform the crop.

References

• " Photoshop Elements 9: The Missing Manual "; Barbara Brundage; 2010