Getting into Elements

There is now an amazing number of software packages devoted to post processing of images. Some of these are genuinely excellent. A good many are pitched at people seeking "dumb down appeal" at the expense of actual performance. Such programs are festooned with features commencing with "auto-" or "smart-". I always get a little wary when confronted by commands which serve to take fine adjustment out of my hands.

This "computer knows best" approach is often the very reason that post processing of a given image was made necessary in the first place. Crude adjustments made by "auto" or "smart" fixated cameras at the instant of capture have very often gotten our pictures into trouble in the first place. Surely more of the same may just make the problems worse. If one is going to post process images, let's give control back to the photographer. Accordingly a lot of "easy", "quick", "auto" and "smart" style software packages are actually less than suitable for our purpose.

At its CS4 evolutionary state, Adobe Photoshop represents the last word in power, flexibility and precision when optimising images. It allows users to retain meticulous control of what they are doing while at the same time affording them powerful means for creating and fine tuning macro commands to take away the drudgery. It facilitates the "plugging in" of external programs to replace or augment inbuilt functions. Dozens of monthly magazines devoted to Photoshop adorn newsagency racks while many thousands of websites offer articles, courses, plug-ins, tutorials and advice on the subject.

If you have decided to post process images, using Photoshop attaches you to a world wide community of photographers all trying to do the same thing with the same tools. While any individual like you or I will never hope to master every intricate Photoshop skill by ourselves, the world-wide Photoshop user base collectively knows every last nook and cranny of its astounding capabilities. Choosing Photoshop over a less prominent package is a very good way to start your digital darkroom education.

The pity is that the full version of Photoshop is very expensive. Even upgrading to the latest version from earlier ones isn't especially cheap - particularly when you are doing it every 18 months or so.

For this reason I frequently recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements. Years ago they used to call the cut down version of Photoshop, "Photoshop LE" (Light Edition). The interface looked exactly like the full version and it wasn't always easy to work out what was really missing from the senior package. These days the situation has changed, "Elements" is still a cut down "Photoshop" but the interface is now quite different and a whole host of populist features have been tacked on - lots of "auto" this and "smart" that along with cosy "sharing", "creating" and file management facilities.

If you know where to look however, you can still dig up and utilise a kurnell of late-model Photoshop routines and facilities which allows Elements to substitute for the real thing quite nicely. In the blogs to come I am going to share with you how I have learned to strip Elements of its tinsell window dressing and utilise it as a serious substitute for the mother program. At the end of the day, if you get your skills moving on the "Photoshop" part of "Photoshop Elements" you will have a great headstart toward learning the full program later.

Check out my work at: www.pbase.com/davidhobbs