Photoshop Elements 9

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Photoshop Elements 9 was recently introduced by Adobe.  The program  has come a long way since it was first introduced.

Adobe claims Elements is "The #1 selling consumer photo editing software" and that's probably a true claim.

The Wacom Bamboo line (Pen and Touch, Craft and Fun) all include an earlier version of Elements on DVD in the box and Intuos4 users can download a copy when they register their tablet with Wacom.

If you have an earlier version of Elements you may be wondering if it's worthwhile to invest in the latest version.

I can't answer that question for you but I can sure tell you what's new and what's been enhanced in Photoshop Elements 9 so you can decide for yourself.

If you are a Mac user then it's a good idea to upgrade.  For some unknown reason, up until this version of the program, the Mac version really lagged behind.  Now it is on equal footing with the Windows version.

What's New


Windows Users

According to Adobe there are six new features in Photoshop Elements 9 that were not included in Elements 8.  The new features are ...

  1. Instantly unclutter and repair photographs.
  2. Match the style of a favorite photograph automatically.
  3. Create stunning pop art, reflections, out of bounds and lomo style photographs.
  4. Layer masks.
  5. Quickly share photos and video on Facebook.
  6. Print calendars, cards and photo books with a home printer.

Mac Users

The number of new features for Mac users is even greater, making Elements 9 the same for both platforms.  The new features are ...
  1. Organize, find, and view all your photos and video clips in the convenient, easy-to-use Organizer.
  2. Find photos of specific people fast with automatic People Recognition.
  3. Quickly find your best photos and video clips with the Auto-Analyzer.
  4. See the same photos and videos on all of your computers with automatic syncing.
  5. Get automatic online backup and 2GB of storage — enough for up to 1,500 photos.
  6. View your photos from any web-enabled computer.
  7. Organize photos and video clips with visual tags.
  8. Edit photos in full-screen mode directly from the Organizer.
  9. Instantly unclutter and repair photographs.
  10. Match the style of a favorite photograph automatically.
  11. Create stunning pop are, reflections and lomo style photographs.
  12. Layer masks.
  13. Quickly share photos and video on Facebook.
  14. Print calendars, cards and photo books with a home printer.

What's Enhanced


In addition to the new features, some of the things you may be familiar with have been enhanced.  The enhancements apply to both Windows and Mac and include ...

  1. Ongoing how-tos with helpful tips and tricks.
  2. Fuller panoramas.
  3. Edit raw image files for the highest quality results.
  4. Share photos via online albums.
  5. Flexible layouts create scrapbook pages, CD/DVD labels and more.
Let's take a look at some of the new features in Photoshop Elements 9 ...

Unclutter and Repair Photoghraphs


Unclutter and repair uses the Spot Healing Brush and takes a fabulous feature from the full version of Photoshop called Content Aware.

Take a look at what this combination of Brush and Content Aware can do on the Unclutter page.

Style Match


The Match Style option in Photoshop Elements 9 is really quite neat.

What it does is take one photograph and apply it's style and color to another photograph - just like this photograph of Johnny's Topdog ...

photoshop elements 9 original
 photoshop Elements 9 style photograph
 Photoshop Elements 9 matched
The Original .........
 Matched to this Style .......
 Produces This

It's quite neat and worth of a look right here ...

Pop Art


The Pop Art modification (found in Guided > Fun Edits) is interesting.

There are only 4 steps in creating a Pop Art ...

  1. Choose a style (Bit Map or Posterize).
  2. Convert or Posterize the image.
  3. Add a color Fill or a Neon Glow.
  4. Duplicate the Image.
And that's it.  Here is a crown that was processed using both bit map and posterize ...


photoshop elements 9 bit map photoshop elements 9 posterize
Bit Map
 Posterize


Reflections


There's a reflection tutorial on my site and it works well.  Now Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 has their own version.

Once again it's found in the Guided > Fun Edits > Reflection.  This is what we are going to achieve ...


Photoshop elements 9 reflection


It's a nice reflection, isn't it?  Wanna see how this works?  Click here ...

Out Of Bounds


Making a picture go out of bounds was not something that was a big concern to me but I had planned on doing an Elements Tutorial for scrapbooking.

And then - along comes Photoshop Elements 9 that has automated the whole darn process right there in the Edit > Guided panel.

This is what's meant by Out of Bounds ...


photoshop elements 9 out of bounds


It's kind of a neat treatment, isn´t it?  You can find out more about this addition to Elements right here ...

Lomo Effect


The Lomo effect refers to the look of pictures created with a Lomo camera.  The pictures are typically over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, and happy accidents.

Lovers of the Lomo film cameras seem to be a happy lot who don't take creating the perfect picture very seriously - in fact they seem to delight in unusual results.

Click here to see how to use Photoshop Elements 9 to simulate the Lomo effect ...

Layer Masks


This is an awesome addition to Photoshop Elements 9!  In previous versions adding a layer mask in Elements required a complicated and convoluted bunch of things - I have a tutorial on it, as a matter of fact.

Now all you need to do is click the Layer Mask icon and there you have it - a Layer Mask.

So let's look at the uses of Layer Masks...

Upload To Facebook


photoshop elements 9 share panel



Uploading to Facebook is done directly from the Organizer.

Simply choose Facebook or Flickr or whichever way you want to share your photos and follow the instructions.

I rarely use my Facebook account but it was easy to upload a few pictures into a new album.

Before you start you will need to populate the organizer with your photos.  Use the File > Get Photos and Videos >  From Files and Folders ...

Page Links


What's New


What's Enhanced

Unclutter and Repair

Style Match

Pop Art
Reflections

Out of Bounds

Lomo Effect

Layer Masks

Upload to Facebook and others



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