Photoshop Elements
Quick Fix in Elements 3.0 and 4.0

Getting Started

  1. Open Photoshop Elements.  The default is the Welcome Screen.
  2. Select in the menu  on the Welcome Screen:  “Quickly Fix Photos”.

Opening an Image

Note: If you are using Organizer you may open your images through the organizer by highlighting a picture and then select "Edit".
  1. Using the command “File – Open” bring up the Windows Browser.  Browse to the folder that contains the image you wish to edit.
  2. You may view thumbnails of the images in the folder by clicking on the "view menu" in the upper row of the Open dialogue box.
  3. Click on the image you wish to edit.

Editing an image

Top to bottom in the editing Quick Fix menu at the right of your screen.  Double click on your image in your browser.

  1. General Fixes
    1. Rotate:  Click to rotate either left or right.
      Note: In Photoshop Elements 3.0 the rotate buttons are at the top on the right. In Elements 4.0 the rotate buttons are in the bottom center of the screen.
    2. Smart Fix:  Click for a completely automatic fix of your image.  This sometimes is all you will need or want.  However, much of the time it is either not enough or just plain wrong.  To undo click on the undo button.  (The sixth icon from the left below the main menu.)
    3. Amount:  The same as Smart Fix but allows you to control the effect.  Move the slider to get the amount of  “Fix” you think looks good.
  2. Lighting
    1. Levels.  Gives automatic levels adjustment.  We will look more at levels in a later project.
    2. Contrast:  Gives automatic contrast adjustment.  Normally you would not do both levels and contrast at the same time, at least not until you are more advanced.
    3. Lighten Shadows.  Slider adjustment to bring out details in shadows.
    4. Darken Highlights.  Slider adjustment to darken “washed out” overexposed areas.
    5. Midtone Contrast:  Slider adjustment to correct contrast.
  3. Color
    1. Saturation:  Increase or decrease the intensity of the color of the image. 
    2. Hue:  Change the basic color of the image.
    3. Temperature:  Adjust for the color of the light when the image was taken.
    4. Tint:  Another way to change the color of the image.
  4. Sharpen – either auto-sharpen or use the slider for control.

Crop the Image

  1. Click on the Crop Tool.  Then click on the clear button above the image.
  2. Move mouse to one corner of the area to be cropped.
  3. Drag mouse to the opposite corner and release.  The cropped area should be highlighted.
  4. Click on the Zoom Tool (or any tool.)  Then click on “crop” to complete the crop.  You may also cancel or “don’t crop” as you wish.
  5. Click on “Fit On Screen” to enlarge the computer image.

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