Photoshop Elements 3 For Dummies [Paperback]

Deke McClelland (Author), Galen Fott (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764570625 | ISBN-13: 978-0764570629 | Publication Date: November 19, 2004 | Edition: 1

Do you want to rearm Venus de Milo, shave Uncle Harry’s beard, or turn gray skies to blue? Have at it with PhotoshopElements 3 For Dummies, your guide to enhancing the effect, fixing the flaws, or adding artistic effects to your photos. You’ll discover how to:

• Import and organize your photos
• Create, rearrange, blend and manipulate layers to create a composite image
• Save photos using the correct file format— TIFF (Tagged Image File Format, PDF (Portable Document Format), or BMP (for PC users)
• Save for the Web with JPEG and GIF
• Take advantage of the terrific Help Great Help system, including a How To palette with step-by-step tutorials for image editing and features
• Create a slide show, a picture package, or a Web photo gallery

PhotoshopElements 3 For Dummies was written by Dele McClelland, award-winning author of more than 75 titles, including Photoshop for Dummies and Photoshop CS Bible, and Galen Fott, writer and reviewer for Macworld and PC Magazine. It includes 16 pages of full-color examples that demonstrate capabilities and show you “before” and “after” photos. You’ll get step-by-step specifics on techniques that can transform your photos, including:

• Selecting the area you want to work with using the lasso, marquee, or magic wand tools or the selection brush
• Using the healing brush to remove imperfections such as blemishes and the new red eye removal tool to remove that demonic glow
• Adjusting color with a variety of tools and techniques
• Applying filters such as Blur, Gaussian Blur, Colored Pencil, Diffuse Glow, Glass, Glowing Edges and many more
• Color correcting quickly with fast color-corrections
• Using the layer styles in the Styles and Effects palette to let your imagination go wild with painting, drawing, applying drop shadows and bevels, adding text, and more
• Using the brush, pencil, eraser, shape and cookie cutter tools
• Working with the type tools, including formatting options, warping type into unusual shapes, and creating outline type
• Making the most of the effects, including frame, image effects, text effects, and textures
• Using Photomerge to create panoramic pictures

PhotoshopElements 3 For Dummies doesn’t just give you instructions—it gives you ideas. You’ll be inspired to capitalize on the capabilities and explore different techniques to enhance and share your photos.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Loaded with tips on fixing flaws to create great photos

Find your way around Elements 3, organize your photos, enhance them, and more

Want to do cool things with your photos but uneasy about braving the Elements? Never fear — this handy guide makes it easy to use all the hot new features for both Mac® and Windows®. Improve your pictures or distort them for artistic effect, correct shading, add highlights, change color, create slideshows or online galleries, and much more!

Discover how to

• Import photos from digital cameras, CDs, and scanners
• Organize and search your digital photo collection
• Repair vintage photos
• Create slideshows to share with family and friends
• Fix photos with just a few clicks of the mouse

About the Author

Deke McClelland wrote the Photoshop Bible and Photoshop Bible, Professional Edition (both published by Wiley), bestselling guides on digital imaging. He has written 76 titles in 25 languages with 3 million copies in print, including Photoshop For Dummies (published by Wiley) and the tutorial-based Adobe Photoshop One-on-One (published by O’Reilly/Deke Press). In addition to his books, Deke hosts the video training series Total Training for Adobe Photoshop and Total Training Presents: Adobe Photoshop Elements (published by Total Training). One of the most award-winning writers in the business, Deke has received seven honors from the Computer Press Association. In 2002, he was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame.

Galen Fott contributed to two editions of Deke’s Photoshop Bible and to Adobe InDesign CS One-on-One (O’Reilly/Deke Press). He has also written for Macworld and PC Magazine. Galen created and hosted Total Training for Mac OS X, co-hosted Total Training for Adobe Premiere 6, and presented more than two hours of Photoshop training for the Apple Web site (all published by Total Training). In his theoretical spare time, Galen is involved in a number of other pursuits. As an animator, he has worked for AT&T and Paramount. As a performer, he has played leading roles in musicals across the country. As a puppeteer, he has performed with the Jim Henson Company. Those with piqued interest can visit his Web site at www.grundoon.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 422 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (November 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764570625
• ISBN-13: 978-0764570629
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,023,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Deke McClelland is a popular lecturer on Adobe Photoshop and the larger realm of computer graphics and design. He has hosted the interactive "Video Workshop" CD that shipped with Photoshop Versions 7, CS, and CS2, as well as hundreds of hours of tutorial-style video training for industry leaders lynda.com and Total Training. In addition to his video work, Deke has written 84 books translated into 24 languages, with more than 4 million copies in print. One of the most award-winning writers in the technology market, Deke received the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Computer Book in 1989. Since then, he has garnered more than 20 honors, including seven independent citations from the Computer Press Association. In 2002, he was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Photoshop Elements 3 for Dummies, January 2, 2005

By 

A. Arnold "AAUG Member" (Anchorage, Alaska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Photoshop Elements 3 For Dummies (Paperback)

This book goes into great detail explaining the features of all the photo editing tools available in Elements 3. It starts out simple but quickly advances with page after page of procedures and commands that cover the program from every angle. It is well written and indexed and provides a lot of useful information but is a bit comprehensive and technical. Although it thoroughly covers all aspects of photo editing, it is not a step-by-step how to book but rather a good reference book.
Although I prefer books written specifically for the Mac user, this book does a good job of identifying features that pertain only to Windows or only to Macintosh through the use of separate icons in the margins. This book also uses an icon for identifying new features in Elements 3, an icon for explaining technical stuff, an icon for providing tips obtained through experience, and an icon for pinpointing particularly important points you should remember. It is written with a good sense of humor but is densely packed into 397 pages that are void of color except for 16 pages of examples placed in the middle.
I read this book from cover to cover while on a trip and away from my computer and I found it hard to grasp the many concepts without being able to follow along on the computer. The examples used are not what you would expect to see on your monitor and they are not in color. Since most of us novice get our photos from a digital camera, in color, it would have been helpful to get step by step instructions on how to correct and improve these photos. Since this book is for dummies, I guess I need to find one for dumber dummies.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Photoshop Elements 3 For Dummies, October 17, 2005

By 

Mrs. Patricia A. Gehrman (Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Photoshop Elements 3 For Dummies (Paperback)

I do a lot of scrapbooking and was quite disappointed when I purchased Photoshop Elements because I could not seem to get around in the program. Now that I have the Dummies book I'm navigating the program with the greatest of ease. The book has talked me through step by step in easy to understand language. My pictures are looking much better and I'm able to print the sizes I want and recently I've started creating accessories for my pages. So I highly recommend this book.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best yet, February 14, 2005

By 

Alexandria May - See all my reviews

This review is from: Photoshop Elements 3 For Dummies (Paperback)

I've had all three versions of Photoshop Elements, and I always get this book to go with the new version. As usual the authors have done an excellent job of updating the book covering all the new features. If you want an inexpensive friendly book about Photoshop Elements 3, this it it.