Enhancing Digital Images:

Some Basics

STEM Earth Central

August, 2005
Mort Sternheim, Holly Hargraves
Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0

 Many, many features

 Windows and Mac versions (some
differences)
 Academic price about $53 (~$100 list)
(govconnection.com, 800-998-0009)
 Simpler, easier to use, cheaper than Adobe
Photoshop (~$600 list )
 Free 30 day trial download from adobe.com
References and Help

 Photoshop Elements 3.0 for Dummies

 Excellent
 $21.99 list, $15.39 from Amazon.com
 Elements manual < Help
 Help has search options, tutorials
 How to palette in program
Today
 Basics
 Adjusting brightness, contrast (Levels)
 Adjust color
 Quick Fix
 Cropping
 Redeye
 Reducing file sizes for PowerPoint, web,
email
 Using Layers to make labels
Elements components
 View and organize photos
 Tags, collections, search by date ….
 Quickly fix photos (Quick Fix)
 Automated, menus
 Edit and enhance photos (Standard Edit)
 More control, options, tools, ….
 Make photo creation
 Web gallery, Slide show, Card, postcard,
calendar, VCD, …
Getting Started
 Double click on the Photoshop Elements icon
to start the program
 On the Welcome Screen, select Edit and
Enhance Photos
 Use File  Open, go to the Desktop, and
then to SEC_Photos
 Double click on Alan.jpg to open that file.
 On the menu bar (top of screen), click on
Window, and then on Undo History. This lets
you track and undo changes
Adjusting Brightness and Contrast
 Useful for nearly every photo!
 On the menu bar select
Enhance  Adjust Lighting  Levels
 You will get a screen with a levels histogram and
three sliders just below it.
 Drag the rightmost slider to the left until it is under
the end of the graph. (Brighter whites)
 Drag the leftmost slider a bit to the right. (Darker
grays.)
 Drag the center slider to the right or left to choose
the best midtones. Click OK.
Levels
Levels Histogram for Alan.jpg
Levels, cont.

 Use the Undo History palette to undo/redo

Levels effects
 Try this exercise with Ilka.jpg
 To see a major improvement with Levels, try
ibis.jpg
 Try Levels on underexposed photos such as
Kathy.jpg or Oval Window.jpg
Adjusting Color

 Try Enhance  Adjust Color  Color

Variations with one of these images.
 Experiment with some other Adjust Color
options.
Quick Fix
 Fast, easy, somewhat limited
 Open Ilka1.jpg
 Select Quick fix. Note the Undo and Redo
buttons that let you retrace your steps.
 Note menu options for General Fixes,
Lighting, Color. These are not as powerful
as the equivalent individual menu options, but
easy to use and experiment with.
Cropping
 Trim off unwanted stuff; zoom in on birds, etc.
 Easiest way is with the Crop Tool.
 Open gps.jpg
 On Toolbox, click on Crop Tool
 Click at one corner of area you want to keep,
drag to opposite corner, release.
 When you are satisfied, hit click on the check
mark (commit) on the right side of the
Options bar. Or, to start over, click on the
cancel icon.
Adjusting crop boundaries

 You can drag any “handle” to modify that

part of the boundary. Shift-drag on a corner
handle constrains the proportions.
 If you position the cursor inside the box, you
can drag the whole box to a new location.
 If you position the cursor outside the box,
you can drag and rotate the box.
Cropping to specific sizes,
resolutions
 Handy for preserving aspect rations, and for
cropping and resizing to desired print formats.
 In the Options bar, note the Width, Height,
Resolution boxes. Enter 6, 4, 300. (More on
resolution later.)
 Click on a corner of the desired box and drag.
The resulting box will be have 6/4 proportions.
 When you click on the check, the image will
have 6” x 4” dimensions, and 300 pixels per
inch.
Fixing Red Eye
Fixing Redeye
 Open smile.jpg
 Use the Zoom Tool to enlarge her eyes.
 Select the Red Eye Brush in the Toolbox.
Click in the red area of an eye. This should remove
the red eye,
 (If you want to adjust the effect, vary the pupil size
and darken amount in the Options bar. This is
seldom needed.)
 Open redeyegirls.jpg and fix their redeye
Pixels and Displays
 Screen images are made up of tiny squares
called pixels (picture element).
 Pixels are usually 1/72 inch across.
 Today most people use 800 x 600 or 1024 x
768 pixel displays, or < 1 million pixels
 How large a given image appears depends
on the screen settings! An image 800 pixels
by 600 will fill the 800 x 600 display but not
the 1024 x 768 display.
Downsizing Images

 Most people have displays with less than 1

Megapixel and can’t see a larger image all at
once
 Downsize pictures for PowerPoint, the web,
or email, usually to 0.5 Megapixels or less.
 This makes it faster to load (or download)
 Exception: You expect someone to make
large prints from the image.
Why buy a 4 or 8 Megapixel
camera?
 You can’t see all those pixels at once on a
screen.
 But, you can make use of them for zooming,
cropping.
 You can also make larger, better prints with
more pixels.
Checking Image Sizes

 Open Brie.jpg in Standard Edit or Quick Fix

 Select Image  Resize  Image Size
 You will see the following screen
Image size data
Width: 2272 pixels (7.573 inches )

Height: 1704 pixels (5.68 inches)

Channels: 3 (RGB)
Resolution: 300 pixels/inch
• Numbers in inches (7.573, 5.68) define the size
if the photo is printed.
• The width and height in pixels (2272 x 1704)
define how it will fit on a screen
• The resolution (pixels per inch or ppi)  how
good the print will be; it means nothing for
onscreen viewing.
• Channels (RGB)  color, not grayscale
Changing Image Size for Screen Use
 Select Image  Resize  Image Size
 Make sure Constrained Proportions is
checked
 For Width, enter 800
 Height should automatically change to 600.
 Note the file size is now 1.37M (was 11.1M)
 Click on OK
 Note: You can resize a batch of files all at
once using File  Process Multiple Files
Saving the Image File

 Select File  Save As. For File name, enter

Brie1.jpg to avoid overwriting the original
image. (.jpg format is the best image format
for photos in most cases. It compresses the
file while preserving nearly all the details.)
 Click on Save. In the next screen, select
High Quality and then OK. (Note the image
size is now 87k. The original Brie.jpg file size
was 844k.)
Resolution and Printing
 For good ink jet photos, you need at least 150 pixels
per inch (ppi)
 200-300 ppi is better
 For 8 x 10.66 print,
150 x 150 x 8 x 10.66 = 1.9 million
 Thus an 8 x 10 requires a 2 Megapixel image or
better for good results.
 Set print size with Image  Resize  Image Size,
changing Document Size Width, Height
 Or, use File  Print or File  Print Multiple
Photos. (Picture packages, contact sheets …)
Layers
 Like sheets of
transparent plastic on
an overhead projector.
 Work more easily on
one element of image –
edit one layer at a time
 Combine, copy images
 Create text layers with
labels, etc.
Adding labels with text layers

 Open 1ibis.jpg
 Click on Window and on Layers to display the
Layers palette
 Right click on the Text tool in the toolbar
 Select horizontal type
 Position the cursor somewhere near its head
 Type the word “head”
Changing the appearance of text

 Use the move tool to position the label

 Click on the Text tool again
 Change the font, font size, and color of “head”
using boxes in the option bar
 Use the icon next to the color option to warp
the text
 Click the last icon to change the text
orientation
More labels

 Click on the Text tool. Put you cursor near a

leg and type “leg”
 Again, play with this label – move it, format it,
etc.
 You can select the “active layer” by clicking
on the appropriate layer in the layers palette.
The active layer is indicated by a paintbrush
in the second column and a blue field to the
right.