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Genealogical Computing
4/1/2002 - Archive
Laboratory of Life: Image Editing with Photoshop Elements
When you purchase a scanner or digital camera, the equipment comes with software
that enables you to edit and otherwise manipulate the images you create. This
free software is usually easy to learn and provides several basic features. However,
as you work with images and become more familiar with the possibilities for improving
them, you may find that you want more advanced features than the starter program
will provide.
Adobe Photoshop® has long been recognized as one of the more powerful image-editing
programs on the market and is the choice of many professionals. Unfortunately,
it has a steep learning curve that only a dedicated guru can master. This obstacle,
along with a very high price tag, discourages most genealogists and other casual
users from even attempting to use it.
Adobe must have recognized this and developed Photoshop Elements as a mid-level
image editor with hobbyists and digital camera users specifically in mind. Program
designers seemed to have copied those features from Photoshop that they thought
would be of most interest to hobbyists and included them in Photoshop Elements.
It was designed to help get photos edited, printed onto paper, into e-mails, or
posted on Web sites with as little effort as possible. It provides a lot of help
and short-cut commands to fix common problems. However, you are able to use more
sophisticated solutions if you choose to do so. Photoshop Elements has many photo-retouching
tools and filters, capability for layers, some interesting Web tools, and an array
of practical selection tools that make it a very powerful image editor, particularly
for the moderate price. A convenient toolbar provides one-click access to the
most common file and editing commands, and tabbed Palettes are located across
the top of the screen keeping them off the work area but available for easy access.
Using Photoshop Elements
After installation, the opening dialog begins by offering a choice of options-open,
create, acquire, paste, tutorial, and help, as shown in figure 1. As you work,
help is available in the form of hints, recipes, tutorials, and context-sensitive
help to guide you through the otherwise complicated procedures. Whenever the cursor
passes over a tool or other item, a quick hint comes up describing the tool and
giving little tips. However, if the hint is not enough and you need more help
about that item, just click on "More Help" and a detailed explanation
appears. As you become familiar with the tools and interface, this feature can
be hidden away.
The Recipes Palette is a collection of detailed instructions that guide you step-by-step
through common tasks. This is much like following recipes in a cookbook, except
the instructions are also combined with Photoshop macros, allowing you to automatically
execute the procedure if you desire. This helps you to learn how to do it the
next time by yourself, rather than the software just doing it for you. Figure
2 demonstrates a recipe for restoring damaged photographs that should be of interest
to many genealogists. More than 30 similar recipes are available to help you perform
a series of helpful image editing tasks.
Make a mistake and need to undo? The History palette provides multiple undos,
allowing you to selectively go back to any earlier state.
Software Tools
Photoshop Elements has several new tools designed specifically for the digital
camera and Internet user. Automatic tools make it almost effortless to fix such
items as red-eye, lack of fill-in flash, and bad back lighting. I found these
features did wonders to correct photographs taken indoors with poor light or photographs
having too much flash in someone's face. After your photos are corrected the way
you want them, they are ready for you to save, print, or send in e-mail. If you
wish, Photoshop Elements can also help you upload digital photographs directly
to Shutterfly.com, a Web-based photo service company, for printing.
File Browser is a great help when trying to manage multiple images at one time.
It allows you to move through your hard disk to select any directory, and then
automatically generates thumbnails of all the images that it finds. This enables
you to select and work with actual images rather than just filenames. Figure 3
gives a graphic example of the File Browser in action.
Photomerge is a tool for putting images together. Pick the photos you want to
merge and Photoshop Elements will load those images into another interface, allow
you to arrange them, and then automatically stitch them seamlessly when they come
together.
Web Gallery Wizard automatically creates a Web page from a group of photos. Save
to Web allows you to preview images to see how they will look with varying compression
before you post them to a Web page.
Contact Sheet will collect all the images in a particular folder and automatically
place them as thumbnails on a page for viewing or printing.
Picture Package will let you select a single image and automatically arrange it
in a variety of sizes on a page, much like the familiar school class pictures.
The sizes and arrangement of the pictures can be customized by choosing from a
variety of template layouts.
One of the nicest features of the help system is that much of it is presented
in HTML format and run locally (without an Internet connection). This allows tutorials
and true color examples to display instantly. If this isn't already enough help,
Adobe provides online answers to your Photoshop Elements questions. The entire
user's guide is online, as well as step-by-step tutorials. The Adobe Web page
also has quick tips for common problems, updates, plug-ins, technical guides,
and a searchable database for technical questions, as well as links to user forums.
Many die-hard users may still prefer a printed manual, and Adobe has not disappointed
them; a well-prepared 383-page manual comes with the package. I found that the
online manual and the many on-screen help features were complete, faster, and
more convenient to use. The only disappointment I found in the help system is
the lack of a glossary in the online and printed manuals. Adobe uses many names
and terms that are undoubtedly common language for image professionals, but these
same words can be quite baffling to the amateur. Once you overcome the mystery
of unfamiliar terms, the learning process becomes much easier.
Adobe Photoshop Elements is available for both Mac and PC. It requires a Mac PowerPC
running at least Mac OS 8.6. IBM PC users need a Pentium speed processor with
Windows 98 or later. The box indicates at least 64 MB RAM and 150 MB hard disk
space is necessary on either platform. Considering the low cost of RAM memory,
I would suggest that adding another 128 or 256 MB RAM would be a wise investment
if you plan to work with images.
Adobe Photoshop Elements is priced at $99, making it competitive with other mid-level
image editors such as Corel Photo-Paint, Ulead PhotoImpact and JASC Paint Shop
Pro. After discounts and upgrade rebates, Photoshop Elements can sometimes be
purchased for as little as $49. The program is also available in a downloadable
full-feature demo for 30-day free trial from Adobe's
website.
Jim Slade is on the GENTECH Board of Directors. A retired civil engineer, he
is active in genealogical research and lectures nationally on subjects relating
to the use of computers for genealogy research. He is the former chairman of the
NGS Computer Interest Group and has led the Genealogy Group of the Oklahoma City
Computer Users since 1993. He can be reached by e-mail at sladej@swbell.net.
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