Photoshop Elements 8 for the Digital Photographer

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Lesson 1
Photoshop Elements is an excellent package for photographers to enhance and edit digital images. In this first lesson, you'll find out how to download the images you'll use throughout the course and start learning the basics of Photoshop Elements. We'll take things one step at a time so that even if you're a new user, you can get comfortable editing and enhancing digital photos. We'll also look at what's new in Elements 8.

Lesson 2
Today we'll discuss the many file formats digital images can take and how you can use them to your best advantage with Photoshop. You'll learn how to save updated originals and copies of your images and how to use Edit Quick to produce fast results. You'll see how to crop and rotate images to get just the look you're after, and you'll practice using the Straighten tool for one-step corrections.

Lesson 3
Digital images come in all sizes! In this lesson, we'll discuss image resolution, pixels, and recommendations for resizing pictures with excellent results. Whether you want to create flawless prints or send your photos quickly by e-mail, you'll discover how to optimize your images for the best results. You'll see how the Crop tool, Options bars, and a 3:2 ratio can change the look of your pictures.

Lesson 4
Photoshop Elements gives you lots of options for printing your documents, and we'll explore all of them in this lesson. You'll find out how to add temporary colorful borders and how to print images to just the size you want. You'll also practice saving photos for use on the Web using Photoshop Elements Save for Web feature, and you'll have a chance to try out the Photoshop.com Web site for Adobe users. In addition, we'll look at the Organizer and see how you can print multiple photos on a page.

Lesson 5
Most of the time, photographers have plenty of images to work with, but sometimes you'll want to create a new file as a foundation for your images. You'll learn how to do that in this lesson. You'll also see how to use Elements 8's new tabbed windowing for quick access to your open images. From there, you'll add color and then move a photo onto your background. In the process, you'll discover how to use the Layers feature.

Lesson 6
Ever wondered how professional photographers can make the colors in some images look out of this world? Today you'll find out how they do it! You'll work with color adjustments in your images, including hue and saturation. You'll also create black-and-white images from color images using Elements Black and White Conversion feature, and you'll pick individual colors to replace with others. Color Variations is a wonderful visual tool included in Photoshop Elements. You'll learn how to make quick changes with this!

Lesson 7
Light is the essence of photography, but it's not always cooperative. In this lesson, we'll discuss ways to enhance and even create better lighting after you've taken an image. You'll see how to use Brightness and Contrast to improve your images, and we'll cover techniques for lightening shadows. You'll also have a chance to work with the histogram, Levels, and Color Curves?all excellent tools for correcting lighting and color tones. Through all this, you'll see how Elements keeps track of your changes and lets you go back through them if you want to undo something.

Lesson 8
Adobe includes Organizer, a powerful organization package, with Photoshop Elements. Today we'll look at how Organizer works to keep track of your images. We'll also cover strategies for using both folders and Organizer, as well as connecting with Photoshop.com online. You'll see how to sort your pictures, add tags, and collect them for use in projects like scrapbook pages and greeting cards.

Lesson 9
Creative projects often pair photos with text. Photoshop Elements gives you plenty of text tools, and in this lesson, you'll explore them and add text to your images. You'll see how Photoshop Elements uses layers with text, and you'll get tips on how to master the Layers panel. You'll also get acquainted with the powerful selection tools, including the color-based Magic Wand tool and the flexible Lasso tool. With these, you'll discover the power of Feathering selections and copying selections within an image.

Lesson 10
Today you'll learn how to create a silhouette image using the Quick Selection tool. You'll also practice using the selection tools in a reverse mode for tricky selections. We'll see how the Marquee tools let you select perfect squares and circles for use in framing and highlighting your images. You'll also work more with Feathering and see the difference it makes, especially when you want to create a soft, blended background in your image. Finally, we'll go over how to add colors with the Gradient tool.

Lesson 11
In this lesson, we'll finish up with the selection tools by exploring the Selection Brush tool, which lets you do detailed and exacting work. You'll also learn some advanced techniques for using the selection tools together. We'll work extensively with the Add to selection option, and we'll preview our work with Mask Mode. You'll have a chance to experiment with some of Photoshop Elements' filters and color options, as well as the settings in the Magnetic Lasso tool. As a final addition to your knowledge in this area, you'll have a chance to explore and work with each item on the Select menu.

Lesson 12
For our final lesson, we'll discuss Retouching and Correcting tools, and you'll perfect your skills with the Red Eye Removal tool, the Clone Stamp tool, and both the powerful Healing Brushes. You'll learn when to use each tool for the best results. The power of Photoshop Elements will really come to life for you as you use these tools in your final assignment.