Hello there, and welcome! In this video we are going to see the amazing
features inside the Expert workspace on Photoshop Elements 2018!
Leave us suggestions below this video to improve our next video guides for
this software!
In the previous tutorial inside this guide, we have seen how to use the
Quick and the Guided workspaces, with easy tools, corrections and effects
guided step-by-step.
The Expert workspace collects all the features inside Photoshop Elements,
including the most advanced ones to customize your picture as you like.
This shows up with the Toolbar on the left, and the quick buttons seen in
the other workspaces, such as the Photo Bin, the Tool Options, the Rotate
and the Organizer buttons. In addition, you also have the Layout button,
used to preview and edit multiple pictures at the same time.
On the right, you have a panel with additional features we will see.
The Toolbar inside the Expert workspace collects several tools under
different sections. Some of these are also present inside the Quick
workspace, like the Eye, the Crop, or the Straighten Tool, some other show
up on the Expert workspace only. Let's get a complete overview on these!
The Modify section has all the tools to correct the very basic appearance
of your picture. Use the Crop Tool to crop the picture by moving, scaling
and rotating the rectangular grid. Through the Tool Options below, you
can enable the Cookie Cutter Tool to crop the image by following a cool
shape instead of a rectangle, by clicking and dragging on the Preview.
Choose the Perspective Crop Tool to add perspective by distorting the grid.
The Recompose Tool allows to size and stretch the picture by editing or
saving specific brushed sides. From the Tool Options, choose Mark for
Protection to brush all the regions that should not be edited in size
and aspect ratio, colored in green. Choose Mark for Removal to brush on all
the parts of the picture that should be edited the most, under a red color.
To brush precisely, zoom in and out by holding ALT down and using your
mouse wheel and pan by holding the Space bar key, and moving around.
You can undo all the brushes by right-clicking on the picture and going to
Clear All Highlights.
Once the brushes are made, just size the picture by using the nodes on the
corners. Then, use Commit or Cancel to apply or undo.
The Content-Aware Move Tool is very useful since it allows to cut and move
a piece of your picture quickly and easily, since Photoshop corrects the
missing pixels automatically. Just click and drag to select the interested
region, and then move it from its contour and apply.
Remember to use CTRL+Z to undo in case you make any mistake.
The Enhance section collects all the tools to enhance the appearance of
your photo with great corrections.
The Healing Brush tools are used to recover and fix pixels by brushing on
the picture. On the Tool Options, you can either use the Spot Healing
Brush, or the Healing Brush Tool.
Spot Healing Brush corrects spots and small imperfections by clicking once
on the picture. Make sure that the brush size is enough to cover the
interested region.
Whereas, the Healing Brush Tool corrects wide regions of the picture by
brushing on it. Hold ALT down and click on the picture to fix the source
point, then brush on the picture. The correction is made by taking the
source (or cross point) as reference. The way these adjustments are applied
depends on the Mode you choose from the Tool Options.
The Clone Stamp Tool works just like the Healing Brush Tool, with the
difference that the Clone Stamp brushes an exact copy of what is under the
reference point. Under Mode, you can also apply effects to the brush
applied.
The Smart Brush Tools are used to apply adjustments on the brushed regions
of the picture, such as color, lighting corrections and effects. From the
Tool Options, choose the effect to apply, and then click and drag on the
picture. If you choose the Smart Brush Tool, the brushed region is extended
to all the regions that share a similar color automatically. You can remove
unwanted parts by holding ALT down and brushing on the selected region.
With the Details Smart Brush Tool, you can brush freely without automated
extensions, to get full control on where to apply the effects.
The Smart Brush Tools apply corrections by creating a new Layer on the
Layers window, which are independent objects that we are going to see
shortly. You have to click on the original picture (often called
Background) to apply your next modification on it.
The two tools at the bottom of the Enhance section apply advanced effects
on your picture by brushing on it. Use the Blur Tool to add blurriness,
setting brush Size and Strength from the Tool Options.
Use the Sharpen Tool to reduce the blurriness level, and make details
clearer.
Use the Smudge Tool to move and drag pixels on the same direction where you
brush.
Use the Sponge Tool to increase or decrease the color intensity. On the
Tool Options, under Mode, choose Desaturate to reduce the color level, and
Saturate to increase it.
Use the Dodge and the Burn Tool to add or remove brightness respectively.
You can also choose where to apply corrections with Range. Use Shadows to
apply the tool on the darkest sides of the photo; Highlights to affect the
lighter ones, and Midtones for the intermediate ones.
Moreover, you have other useful adjustments and effects available inside
the Enhance tab. Some of these apply automated corrections on the whole
photo; some others open a dialog box to fix the setup for the correction
chosen. Once applied, you can't change these any longer, so make sure to
use CTRL+Z to undo if you make a mistake.
By default, all of these adjustments are applied on the whole photo, unless
you use the Selection tools. These select portions of your photo in order
to make adjustments and tools effective just within the selected area,
under a dashed contour.
All the selection tools are collected inside the Select section. Use the
Rectangular or the Elliptical Marquee Tool to create a rectangular or an
elliptical selection area by clicking and dragging on the photo.
Use the Lasso tools to define a complex selection area by hand. With the
Lasso Tool you can select the region completely freehand, where the
selection area gets closed automatically. Use the Magnetic Lasso Tool to
draw a selection area which is guided by the color contrast of the photo.
Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool to make a polygonal selection area by fixing
each of its vertices.
You also have advanced tools to make complex selections quickly and easily.
Use the Quick Selection Tool to select the interested region by brushing
on it. The selection area extends to all the parts of the photo that
share the same colors.
Use the Selection Brush Tool to select the regions by brushing on it,
without automated extensions.
Use the Magic Wand Tool to select with one click an entire region that
shares the same color.
Use the Auto Selection Tool to select a region with well-defined contours
very quickly. Click and drag to create a rectangular area containing the
interested region to select, and the tool selects it automatically.
All these selection tools can work on different Modes, all listed on the
Tool Options. With Add, you join the new selections with the current ones
you have. With Subtract, you remove parts of the selection area to refine
it. You can enable this Mode anytime by holding ALT down.
If you choose New, you will make a new selection every time, discarding all
the ones previously made.
The Draw section collects all the tools used to draw on your photo freely.
Use the Brush and the Pencil Tools to brush on the picture with the brush
style and size fixed on the Tool Options, and the color from the Color
section below the Toolbar.
Use the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the portion of the picture that shares
the same colors with the solid color chosen on Color.
Use the Custom Shape Tool to drop regular shapes on the picture. These
are added as new Shape Layers inside the Layers panel.
Use the Eraser tool to remove pixels from the photo.
You can apply adjustments, enhancements and corrections through the
several options in the bottom right corner.
The Layers panel allows to manage, order, and edit all the corrections
you apply on the picture, with respect to the adjustments seen on the
Enhance tab. You can open it by clicking on the Layers button.
The imported photo is represented as an independent layer called
Background. You can apply adjustments by using the third button from the
left on top, choosing the kind of correction to apply. These enhancements
are added as new independent objects called adjustment layers, composed
by its properties on the left, and the Layer Mask on the right.
Double-click on the left to change the properties for such effect, whereas
the Layer Mask represents where the adjustment is applied in white color.
By default, the adjustment layer is applied on the whole photo, with its
Layer Mask in white color. If you have any selection area, and add
corrections, only this region will be affected, as the Layer Mask shows.
You can disable and enable the adjustment by clicking on its eye icon. To
delete it, just click on its properties, and then use the bin button.
Remember that all the tools from the Toolbar and the effects from the
Enhance tab are effective on the current Layers selected from the Layers
panel.
Besides the Layers panel, you can also use the other panels to apply
special effects on your photo. Check them out!
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