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1. Finding Your Way Around Elements – Photoshop Elements The Missing Manual [Book] – Software description
This is Part 2- of-2 in the \” Adventures of Piper. This was not the work of an amateur. It\’s suspected that it was someone who followed the detailed steps presented by essential-photoshop-elements. Even the fine hairs around the edges were captured! Revisit Part-1 to discover how anyone can achieve the same results once they know the secrets of the sophisticated tools offered in Photoshop Elements.
Anyone with an inexpensive software program called Adobe Photoshop Elements and access to the internet can easily do it! In this episode we will break down the steps of how anyone can change backgrounds with Photoshop Elements. Now that we know how to grab a subject from their natural surroundings, let\’s see what steps can be taken to seamlessly fit that subject into a new setting.
This is the best explanation we have of how Piper ended up half way around the world chasing ducks in a fountain in New Zealand! Here\’s a summary of the steps to use in Photoshop Elements when you want to change backgrounds. Make sure to grab a f ree Cheat Sheet of the steps at the end to print out and use as a handy reference when using this technique in Photoshop Elements! Open both the photo of your Subject and your Destination new background photo in Elements. Click-and-drag the thumbnail of your Subject photo into the Live Work Area.
Your Subject is now part of the Destination photo. Look at the Layers Panel and notice that the Subject has been added as a new layer. If you want to reposition your Subject use the Move Tool from the Toolbox to click-and-drag it to where you want. Make sure that the Constrain Proportions box is checked down in the Tool Options.
If it\’s not, click on it to check it. To make your subject larger, drag outwards , away from the center. To make it smaller, drag in towards the center. To rotate your subject, place your cursor outside the bounding box near one of the four corner handles. When it changes to a curved, double-headed arrow you can click-and-drag up or down to rotate it.
When in Free Transform mode you can also move your subject around in the photo by placing your cursor anywhere inside of the bounding box and clicking-and-dragging. You can skip this step if you happen to be lucky enough that your Subject matches the brightness of the destination photo. But often times when you change backgrounds they don\’t match, so read on Let\’s use an Adjustment Layer to change the Brightness of the Subject.
A pop-up menu will appear. It looks like a square with a downward facing arrow next to it. Without applying a Clipping Mask the adjustment will be made to the whole photo, including the Background. The Adjustment Layer is shifted over towards the right and the little icon is added to the left of it. Now you can click-and-drag the Brightness Slider towards the left to make your Subject darker.
Or drag it towards the right to make your Subject lighter. If you ever want to change the Brightness to something else you can double-click on the Adjustment Layer.
To change it just move the Brightness slider and the brightness of your Subject will change accordingly. That\’s one of the benefits of using an Adjustment Layer. One of the most important things you can do when you change backgrounds is to add a shadow to your Subject. A shadow will make the composite photo look more believable. It will really help to anchor the Subject to its new surroundings. Go to the Layers Panel and click on the icon that looks like a piece of paper with a folded over corner.
That\’s the \” Add a New Layer \” icon. So click-and-drag the new Layer down until it\’s below the Layer with your Subject on it. Once you see the double horizontal lines appear under the Layer with your Subject on it you can release the mouse button and the new Layer will be moved to that spot in the Layers Panel.
You can create a Selection from the pixels on a Layer. To make our shadow we need a Selection of our Subject Piper. Since the only pixels on our Subject\’s Layer are the pixels that make up her image, we can make a Selection of her with those pixels.
Here\’s how:. Now we want to move the Selection down. To move just the Selection and not the pixels inside of the Selection you need to use one of the Selection Tools from the Toolbox. Now place your cursor anywhere inside of your Selection and click-and-drag to move the Selection. Lets move it straight down. Make sure that the new blank Layer that you created-and-moved-down in the Layers Panel is active by clicking on it. You can tell that it\’s active because it\’s highlighted in blue. In some versions of Photoshop Elements it might be highlighted in gray.
Now lets fill the Selection with black. Go up to the Edit Menu and choose \” Fill Selection The \”Fill Selection\” dialog box appears. Click on the \” Use \” field by clicking on it and a pop-up menu appears. Choose \” Black \” from the menu by clicking on it. Next we need to make the shadow look like it\’s laying flat. A bounding box appears around the shadow. There are 8 adjustment handles around the box.
Move the shadow up, closer to your Subject by placing your cursor anywhere inside the bounding box and click-and-drag up. Once you like the position , click on the green check mark to remove the bounding box and commit to the changes.
Next we\’ll blur the edges of the shadow. I start by dragging the Radius slider all the way over to the left so there\’s no blur applied. Then I slowly move it towards the right as I watch the shadow and how it\’s being affected.
When I have a nice visible blur around the shadow, I click \” OK \” to close the dialog box and accept the change. At this point the shadow is way too dark.
We can make it lighter by adjusting the Opacity in the Layers Panel. Go up to the top of the Layers Panel and hover your cursor over the word \”Opacity\” and it changes to a pointing finger with an arrow on either side of it. Click-and-drag towards the left to lower the opacity. That makes it barely visible , but I think our subconscious can detect whether or not it\’s there, so it helps with the believability factor.
That\’s the end of Part-2 of this tutorial , but there\’s more I made a printable \” Cheat Sheet \” of these steps so you can use it as a quick reference when using Photoshop Elements. Go from Change Backgrounds to the Home page. There seem to be a few PS Elements tutorials sites, but yours is by far the clearest and easiest to understand. A big thank you! I can\’t wait to use your tutorials especially with my scrapbooking obsession \” – Judy in MS.
Very very clear and useful tips, tricks and techniques of how-to in PSE9. A great great work! Very clear and helpful. Thanks a bunch. They have been such a BIG help. I bought the Dummies book, and it\’s OK, but I do better by watching instead of reading. Kudos to you!
I found it through one of your videos on YouTube. Again, thank you so much! First I\’ve got to say thank you for all the information you share. I can\’t wait to see the \”tips and tricks\” you are working on because it sounds like those will help things all come together.
I\’ve gone thru several of your tutorials and learn so much. I can\’t praise you enough for your time and patience. Rick – \”Many thanks for your advice, that I will take. A big thank you as well for you outstandingly good tutorials. You do seem to have an amazing knack of making quite complicated tasks seem easy and straightforward.
I am a fan! Thanks so much for your site.. Hi Rick. Just wanted to say a big thank you for all of the great information contained in your tutorials. I\’ve stumbled around PS9 for quite a few weeks now and can\’t believe quite how easily you explain the different aspects.
Photoshop Elements Images – Browse 5, Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video | Adobe Stock
Discover royalty-free images, illustrations and videos that will make you stand out. Save 20% with code UNSPLASH Brennan Ehrhardt. HD Red Wallpapers. door. HQ Background Images. HQ Background Images. Texture Backgrounds. HD Blue Wallpapers. Dec 19, · The background is the part of the image that is farthest from the viewer. Background layer (in Photoshop Elements) – The bottommost layer in the Layers palette, the background layer is always locked (protected), meaning you cannot change its stacking order, blending mode, or opacity (unless you convert it into a regular layer). Sep 17, · Find more video\’s like this at replace.me In this screencast we show how easy it is to change a background in Photoshop Elements and change.
Photoshop Elements Help | Background.One moment, please
Since the program already has a ton of photo tools and effects, the update is largely about adding new creative tools, with a handful of interface changes. Selection from Photoshop Elements The Missing Manual [Book] and choose “Edit with Photoshop Elements;” go to Fix→Edit Photos; or click the down. POWERED BY ADOBE SENSEI* NEW Create not-so-still photos Add moving overlays like additional 3GB to download all optional content; additional free space.