Adobe 29180155 - Photoshop Elements 4.0 User Manual page 131

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 4.0 126
User Guide
4. Resize your image, if necessary
Resize your image to the size that you need if you are going to use it in another application or project. If you are going
to print the image, you generally don't need to resize it. (See "About image size and resolution" on page 158.)
5. Adjust the highlights and shadows
Begin corrections by adjusting the values of the extreme highlight and shadow pixels in the image (also known as
the tonal range). Setting an overall tonal range allows for the most detail possible throughout the image. This process
is known as setting the highlight and shadow or setting the white and black points. (See "About Levels adjustments"
on page 129.)
6. Adjust the color balance
After correcting the tonal range, you can adjust the image's color balance to remove unwanted color casts or to
correct oversaturated or undersaturated colors. With some Photoshop Elements Auto commands, both the tonal
range and color are corrected in one step. (See "Adjusting saturation and hue" on page 136.)
7. Make other special color adjustments
Once you have corrected the overall color balance of your image, you can make optional adjustments to enhance
colors. For example, you can increase the vividness of color in your image by increasing its saturation.
8. Retouch the image
Use the retouching tools, like the Spot Healing Brush, to remove any dust spots or defects in the image. (See "To
remove spots and imperfections" on page 163.)
9. Sharpen the edges of the image
As a final step, use the Unsharp Mask filter to sharpen the clarity of edges in the image. This step helps restore detail
and sharpness that tonal adjustments may reduce.(See "To use Unsharp Mask to sharpen an image" on page 208.)
See also
"About camera raw image files" on page 73
Using auto correct commands
Photoshop Elements provides several automatic lighting and color-correction commands in both Standard Edit and
Quick Fix. The command you choose depends on your image. You can experiment with each of the auto commands.
If you don't like the result of one, undo the command by choosing Edit > Undo, and try another command. You will
rarely need to use more than one auto command to fix an image.
In the Editor, you access these commands in the Enhance menu. Use the auto command that best meets the needs
of your image:
Corrects overall color balance and improves shadow and highlight detail, if necessary.
Auto Smart Fix
Adjusts the overall contrast of an image and may affect its color. If your image needs more contrast and
Auto Levels
it has a color cast, try this command. Auto Levels works by individually mapping the lightest and darkest pixels in
each color channel to black and white.
Adjusts the overall contrast of an image without affecting its color. Use when your image needs more
Auto Contrast
contrast, but the colors look right. Auto Contrast maps the lightest and darkest pixels in the image to white and black,
which makes highlights appear lighter and shadows appear darker.