Photoshop?

kristen

I am going to buy an editing program. What's the difference in Photoshop Elements and CS3? Which is best? I have never used any editing program really. I don't know where to start.:dunno

DavidTO

Start with Elements. It's inexpensive and will do 95% of what you would do with CS3. Meaning that there's a lot that CS3 will do that you'll never use, most likely. The cost/benefit for a beginner with Elements is much better than CS3. You may end up buying CS3 eventually, but really, it's about 10x the cost.

jfriend

I'd recommend starting with Elements

kristen wrote:

I am going to buy an editing program. What's the difference in Photoshop Elements and CS3? Which is best? I have never used any editing program really. I don't know where to start.

Photoshop Elements is a junior version of CS3, though Elements is more powerful than most people know how to use. If you are just getting started with an editing program, then Elements is a great place to start and that is what I would recommend. Elements is also a LOT less expensive that CS3. If, after you've really learned how to use Elements you fnd that you're ready for some of the advanced functionality in CS3, then you can always take Adobe up on one of their upgrade offers from Elements to CS3 and you'll end up with CS3 for less than if you bought it first anyway.

richtersl

I agree with all the comments regarding Photoshop Elements. I've used it for years and have had no complaints. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that Photoshop has, but as far as a starter package goes, you can't beat it for its power and price.

kristen

Thanks

richtersl wrote:

I agree with all the comments regarding Photoshop Elements. I've used it for years and have had no complaints. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that Photoshop has, but as far as a starter package goes, you can't beat it for its power and price.

GREAT. Thanks guys. I have Elements 2.0 right now. It was given to me. I know that it's OLD. I find it hard to get around in. Are the newer version easier?

I know that right now it's very popular to have a black and white photo with just one element of the photo in color. Is this doable with Elements?

jfriend

kristen wrote:

GREAT. Thanks guys. I have Elements 2.0 right now. It was given to me. I know that it's OLD. I find it hard to get around in. Are the newer version easier?

I know that right now it's very popular to have a black and white photo with just one element of the photo in color. Is this doable with Elements?

Elements has improved a bunch since 2.0 (it's now on version 5.0). You will not find CS3 easier than Elements so if ease of use/learning is important, then that's another reason to start with Elements.

You absolutely can modify an image to have a B&W version that has one part in color. There are lots of different ways to accomplish this in Elements. One way that I know works fairly easily is:

• Create a hue/saturation adjustment layer.
• Desaturate the whole image to make it all black and white in the adjustment layer controls.
• Depending upon what you are trying to add color back, use one of the selection tools to outline a selection around the items to add the color back and fill that selection with black on the mask for the adjustment layer (this blocks the desaturation for just that part of the image so the color shows through)

kristen

Thanks

jfriend wrote:

Elements has improved a bunch since 2.0 (it's now on version 5.0). You will not find CS3 easier than Elements so if ease of use/learning is important, then that's another reason to start with Elements.

You absolutely can modify an image to have a B&W version that has one part in color. There are lots of different ways to accomplish this in Elements. One way that I know works fairly easily is:

• Create a hue/saturation adjustment layer.
• Desaturate the whole image to make it all black and white in the adjustment layer controls.
• Depending upon what you are trying to add color back, use one of the selection tools to outline a selection around the items to add the color back and fill that selection with black on the mask for the adjustment layer (this blocks the desaturation for just that part of the image so the color shows through)

Thank you a ton. I am going to get it soon. I'm sure I will have more questions as soon as I start using it.

kristen

kristen wrote:

Thank you a ton. I am going to get it soon. I'm sure I will have more questions as soon as I start using it.

O.K. I am on my older version of photoshop, and I am trying to attemp this.

Layer-New Ajustment Layer- I then ajusted the hugh and sat to make it black and white.

I attempted to use the brush tool to outline. It would outline, but I don't know how to make it color again. I have NEVER used this program. Thanks for the help.

greenpea

kristen wrote:

Thank you a ton. I am going to get it soon. I'm sure I will have more questions as soon as I start using it.

Once you get your copy of Photoshop Elements consider getting Scott Kelby's book "Photoshop Elements 5 for Digital Photographers". I have his book for PSE 3 and I found it answered a lot of my questions on how to do this or that.

Rene`

kristen wrote:

O.K. I am on my older version of photoshop, and I am trying to attemp this.

Layer-New Ajustment Layer- I then ajusted the hugh and sat to make it black and white.

I attempted to use the brush tool to outline. It would outline, but I don't know how to make it color again. I have NEVER used this program. Thanks for the help.

To tint specific areas:

Once you have your background layer and your desaturated adjustment layer you can choose the eraser tool and erase the desaturated layer. You can adjust the opacity of the eraser to determine how much erasing you do. If you want the color to be tinted use a low opacity eraser.

jfriend

kristen wrote:

O.K. I am on my older version of photoshop, and I am trying to attemp this.

Layer-New Ajustment Layer- I then ajusted the hugh and sat to make it black and white.

I attempted to use the brush tool to outline. It would outline, but I don't know how to make it color again. I have NEVER used this program. Thanks for the help.

I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to do. In the future, one of the great things about Photoshop is there is so much written about it that you can do a Google search on basically any Photoshop topic and find hundreds of articles and tutorials written on any topic. So, a Google search for "selections Photoshop" returns a lot of results:

• Selections and Removing Backgrounds
• Lesson 14: Selection Tools
• Harnessing the power of Photoshop selections
• Photoshop Selections

And there are literally hundreds more.

Likewise, a Google search for "partial black and white Photoshop" returns a lot of tutorials on the subject. Here are a few:

• Partial color in a black and white photo
• Partial black and white photos
• Creating a partial black and white effect in Elements (video)
  
• Photoshop Tutorial: How to Make a Partial Black and White Effect

The general idea for the technique I described earlier is that you create the adjustment layer, desaturate it and then restore color in one area by creating a mask on the adjustment layer. You create the mask by making a selection that includes the areas you want to be colored and not desaturated like the rest of the image. Once you have this selection (that shows as the marching ants in Photoshop), you then select the mask on the adjustment layer by clicking on it with the mouse and then you fill the selection with black. You fill the selection with black by selecting the paint can tool, selecting a 100% black color and then clicking inside the marching ants. This will fill the part of the mask outlined by the selection with black ink which will block the desaturation effect from the area of your selection.

Masks are non-destructive so if you want to work on the contents of the mask a little more you can just edit the ink on the mask by either adding more black (to block more areas) or painting over the black with white (to reveal more areas).

LuckyBob

Rene` wrote:

kristen wrote:

O.K. I am on my older version of photoshop, and I am trying to attemp this.

Layer-New Ajustment Layer- I then ajusted the hugh and sat to make it black and white.

I attempted to use the brush tool to outline. It would outline, but I don't know how to make it color again. I have NEVER used this program. Thanks for the help.

To tint specific areas:

Once you have your background layer and your desaturated adjustment layer you can choose the eraser tool and erase the desaturated layer. You can adjust the opacity of the eraser to determine how much erasing you do. If you want the color to be tinted use a low opacity eraser.

Rene's technique would work if done on a duplicate layer which has been desaturated, but not (necessarially) with adjustment layers due to the fact that you can't technically erase adjustment layers. Due to the fact that the desaturation was an adjustment layer, you'll only have to paint in black (or varying shades of grey, for that matter; darker means lesser effect) on the adjustment layer mask to restore color to the underlying layer(s). Do note that the eraser tool will "work" on an adjustment layer, but it is effectively a paint brush using the background color instead of the foreground color.

kristen

Rene` wrote:

To tint specific areas:

Once you have your background layer and your desaturated adjustment layer you can choose the eraser tool and erase the desaturated layer. You can adjust the opacity of the eraser to determine how much erasing you do. If you want the color to be tinted use a low opacity eraser.

Thanks. I will try that out tonight.

kristen

Rene` wrote:

To tint specific areas:

Once you have your background layer and your desaturated adjustment layer you can choose the eraser tool and erase the desaturated layer. You can adjust the opacity of the eraser to determine how much erasing you do. If you want the color to be tinted use a low opacity eraser.

THANKS. I will try that out tonight.

kristen

LuckyBob wrote:

Rene's technique would work if done on a duplicate layer which has been desaturated, but not (necessarially) with adjustment layers due to the fact that you can't technically erase adjustment layers. Due to the fact that the desaturation was an adjustment layer, you'll only have to paint in black (or varying shades of grey, for that matter; darker means lesser effect) on the adjustment layer mask to restore color to the underlying layer(s). Do note that the eraser tool will "work" on an adjustment layer, but it is effectively a paint brush using the background color instead of the foreground color.

Thanks. It looks like I've got some reading to do!