Photoshop and Photoshop Elements (PSE) Archives

Take Your Photos from Good to Great Using PSE

Photo editing is my first love and the part of digital scrapbooking that I enjoy the most. Although it’s a subject worthy of a large, heavy book, I’d like to show you how I changed these photos with a few of the photo editing techniques I use routinely. Cropping. Most photos need some cropping to help […]

Using Shortcut Keys in Photoshop

Once you get the hang of Photoshop shortcuts keys, they can really speed up your digital scrapbooking. One nice thing about shortcuts is that they are often the same for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. While you can change and customize them in Photoshop, this tutorial will cover how to find the default keyboard shortcuts, plus […]

Favorite Keyboard Shortcuts for Photoshop Elements

When scrapping, I love to use keyboard shortcuts. They are exactly that – shortcuts – and they are great timesavers. It’s so simple to just press two or three keys to accomplish a task.

Dodge & Burn Your Way to Perfect Pics!

Have you ever said, “That photo would be perfect if only this part was lighter – or that part was darker”? More times than not, just about any photo can be improved by a little lightening or darkening of an area or element in the photo.
The Dodge & Burn tools are like magic when it comes to enhancing photos!

Getting to Know the Layers Panel in PSE

Whether you are new to Photoshop Elements or have been using it for years, it’s always interesting to explore a bit and see the various menu options that are available. Today, let’s explore the Layers panel (or Layers palette). Keep in mind that in other versions of Photoshop Elements, the icons might be placed a […]

Using the History Panel in Photoshop

One advantage of digital scrapbooking is having the ability to quickly fix mistakes and undo changes. While I often use Ctrl+Z for this, I use the history panel even more. If you aren’t familiar with the history panel, you can make it visible by choosing Window > History. The history panel saves the last 20 […]

Repair a Photo with the Spot Healing Brush

My dad was a photographer, so our entire family grew up in front of the camera. But before his kids came along, Dad had his camera during WWII and even before that. As we were growing up, we all watched Dad sort his slides with a light table as each slide was perfectly catalogued and […]

Installing Patterns in PSE

I’m going to cover two methods for installing pattern files. The first method involves loading the file as opposed to installing it. The second method involves installing the pattern file.

A Quick Way to Age a Photo

Ginny Whitcomb’s Family Ties Collection is rich with everything a scrapper needs for making memory pages. It provides charming designs, colors, and antique-looking elements — everything needed to finally make those family heritage pages we’ve been wanting to put together. However, while you are gathering and scanning those precious old family photos, you can enjoy Family […]

Using Levels to Enhance Photos

As digital scrappers, we always want our photos to look their best. There are several edits you might be doing on a routine basis, such as cropping or removing red eye. After that, however, one of the easiest and quickest ways to correct problems and to enhance photos is by using Levels adjustments in Photoshop. […]