Photoshop Elements 4.0

Adobe Photoshop Elements is a widely used photo editing program that photographers of all ages and experience levels have been using for years. The latest update, version 4.0, adds new features and tools, and still, it’s quite easy to learn and to use.

The new tools included in Elements 4.0 are what make it intriguing for photographers who use Elements to upgrade to this latest version. For example, the Magic Selection Brush and Magic Extractor tools help the user select part of a photo for editing, along with the Move Tool that’s used to drag that selected part of the image from one photo to another.

In addition, the new Skin Tone Adjustment tool is designed to render more realistic skin color, and the new Auto Red Eye Removal tool enables the user to correct red eye with one, or a few clicks.

Photoshop’s photo file browser, called “Bridge,” is now the browser for Elements as well, and in addition to storing photos and displaying them for review, the full-screen mode can display photos in a slideshow.

Other easy ways to share photos include email – press the email icon on the menu bar to include a selected photo in an email message. In addition, Picture Package (under the File menu), enables you to print multiple pictures of the same photo, or different ones, on one page.

Okay, onward to try out this software and see if it actually works well, and whether it’s easy enough for non-experts to use.

Installing the software is as easy as inserting the program disc and following a few simple directions.

Click to Bridge and you’ll see it displays and stores all the photos imported into Elements.

The first goal is to create a composite photo by moving individual faces from one photo to another using the Magic Selection Brush or Magic Extractor to select each face and the Move Tool to move it. To learn how, open the Elements user manual and you’ll see it covers the whole process, or read the steps for using these section tools that are displayed on the screen.

Begin by selecting the photo you want to use as background and then the photos you want to pull faces from to make the composite. (For example, you can switch family members faces to go with different bodies.) Thumbnails of the chosen photos are displayed at the bottom.

Next step is to select the first face to be moved. Touch the face in a few places with the Magic Selection Brush and it selects what it thinks you want. Modify the selection and then drag it (with the Move Tool) to the background picture, resize it to fit the body it will own and cover the face it will replace.

The Magic Extractor can also select and pull parts of images, so try that tool too, and you’ll discover it works well, though both the Selection Brush and Extractor tools take practice to use effectively.

One-by-one, move the faces to new bodies and when that’s done, go ahead and print the results. You’ll probably be amused and want to create more composite photos.

Next adventure is to try the Skin Tone Adjustment tool (click the Enhance menu, and pick Adjust Color > Adjust Color for Skin Tone). To adjust skin color, the on-screen instructions say to click on the person’s skin, which makes the color change slightly, along with surrounding colors in order to blend the photo. The tool includes color sliders to make further adjustments if needed.

Try that tool and judge for yourself. It works particularly well on faces that have been washed out by a flash, so try that first.

The new Auto Red Eye Removal tool works pretty well, too.

In sum, this new version has more capabilities and more tools, and yet the user interface doesn’t appear daunting to less-experienced photographers, so it’s not likely to scare them away.

Keep in mind that besides the new tools covered here, Elements 4.0 also offers the full range of essential and sophisticated editing tools it has provided for several versions.

For further help in learning to use Elements, read Photoshop Elements 4 Solutions, by Mikkel Aaland, and Photoshop Elements 4.0: The Missing Manual, by Barbara Brundage.