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I'm a Photoshop guy in a
Photoshop world. Pretty narrow minded outlook, but that is how
I've operated for quite some time, and quite contentedly. I'm
constantly getting requests through my website for add-ons and
material for Photoshop Elements, but have always turned those
people away, as I had adopted the attitude that 'Elements is NOT
Photoshop, therefore I do not 'DO' Elements'. I wasn't aware of
what an ignorant web I'd entangled myself in… that is, until
recently.
A few weeks ago, my good friend Richard Lynch
(author of 'Using Photoshop 6' and webmaster-mind of
http://ps6.com) brought up Elements in an email conversation. My
first thought was that he was joking, but it soon became
apparent that he was totally serious. After a few more emails,
my interest was piqued and I rushed to the local Staples store
and picked up a copy of Photoshop Elements. Boy, was I
surprised.
What I had passed over as a simplistic, basic
editing program is a far more powerful tool than I'd given it
credit for. In fact, many of the functions available to
Photoshop 6 users are included with Elements, including all the
filters. Some items have been omitted which I miss… in
particular the Curve adjustments and Channels. But this program
is no lightweight, so let's take a quick look at some of the
features I find particularly interesting.
When you open Elements, you will see several
items docked in the bar along the top.
To begin, we have a File Browser. I find this
incredibly convenient, as wish that this were included in the
full version as it makes finding those image files you lost very
easy to locate.
Next on the list are Recipes. In short, these
are simply HTML pages that can be viewed right inside the
program as tutorials. When you open the Recipes Palette, you see
a drop down menu at the top from which you can select the effect
or process you would like to learn.
Once you select the tutorial, you will get a
series of links with all the tutorials on that subject. Click on
the specific tutorial, and a page with the step by step process
for that effect springs into view.
The next in line is a Filters pop-up. Though you
can access the filters the conventional way, this particular
window gives you an added advantage in allowing you to see
thumbnails of the image if the filter is run… sort of a
before-after effect.
The Effect Palette is the Elements incarnation
of Actions in Photoshop 6. Though you cannot create/save new
actions from within Elements, you can still apply existing
pre-recorded effects to your image.
Again you are given a drop down menu with
several categories of Effects, and once selected thumbnails of
those effects are loaded into the palette. Simply click on the
effect, choose 'Apply' and the effect is applied to your image.
One other item that I find to be an excellent
tool, especially if you are on the learning end of the curve, is
the Hints Palette. Selecting any of the other folders causes a
set of Hints to appear for that palette. Very cool!
To close, I thought I would go through the
tutorials I covered here over the past 2 weeks, but use Elements
instead of Photoshop. Here are the results:
Glass Sphere:
Water Ripples:
Though not as beefy as it's big brother
Photoshop, Elements is still a force to be reckoned with. |