Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit
Book Review by John E. HeimnickThis publication promises to be a useful supplement to the User Guide that came with the Adobe Photoshop Elements software. In order to explore the "Ideas" offered in the Idea Kit it is necessary to be running the Elements program and also to have the CD from the Idea Kit in the drive. It is worth the above effort while reviewing the book, since it is organized by the Table of Contents into an Introduction and then 19 projects.
While Photoshop Elements contains enough tools to handle just about any image modification project and to keep the advanced amateur involved and creative we now try to view the work of another artist. Both the User Guide and Idea Kit should be on the desk at the same time.
Browsing the Table of Contents will save some time as it covers some very basic steps that you may have mastered before in using the Elements program. But for beginners it might be helpful to check the first 9 pages and be sure to understand how to crop, set the resolution, size an image, enhance colors or sharpen a photo. The projects that follow depend upon your ability to handle files and to navigate throughout the computer.
Elements builds its strong program upon two features; layering and masking. Layering enables the artist to work on different parts of a picture and to keep them in separate layers, as though they were on transparent sheets. The layers are named, saved, merged and used in many ways. Masking with the brush tool allows the user to select any part of the image, or to select the background. Thus, image or background may be enhanced or corrected or moved.
There is a great range of interests displayed in the projects and finding one or two that fit into your program will make it worthwhile to explore this book. Any one of them, such as Publishing Your Photographs in a Newsletter, Hand Color Your Photographs, or Create Buttons for the Web could open the way to new styles and products.
Author: Lisa Matthew
The Idea Kit consists of a 124 page 8x10 paperback book with a CD included.
Published by Adobe/Peachpit Press
1249 Eight St., Berkeley CA 94710
$35.00 in the U.S.