Photoshop Elements 15 For Dummies. Obermeier Barbara

in Version Set with Original: You can edit images and save a version of your image, but only in Quick mode. When you save the file from Quick mode, this check box is enabled. Select the box to save a version of the original, which appears in the Organizer.

      ❯❯ Layers: If your file has layers, selecting this check box preserves the layers.

      ❯❯ As a Copy: Use this option to save a copy without overwriting the original file.

      ❯❯ Color: Color profiles help you maintain accurate color, and this box controls your image’s color profile. Select the box for ICC (International Color Consortium) Profile. Depending on which profile you’re using, the option appears for sRGB or Adobe RGB (1998). When the check box is selected, the profile is embedded in the image. Chapter 2 introduces color profiles in more detail, and Chapter 14 explains how to use color profiles with your prints.

      ❯❯ Thumbnail (Windows only): If you save a file with a thumbnail, you can see a miniature representation of your image when viewing it in folders or on the desktop. If you select Ask When Saving in the Saving Files preferences, the check box can be enabled or disabled. If you select an option for Never Save or Always Save in the Preferences dialog box, this box is enabled or disabled (grayed out) for you. You need to return to the Preferences dialog box if you want to change the option.

       Saving files for the web

The Save for Web command helps you prepare photos to show on the web or just onscreen. To use this command, make sure you’re in Expert mode. Then choose File ⇒ Save for Web. In the Save for Web dialog box that opens (see Figure 1-10), you see your original image on the left, and the result of making changes for file format and quality settings on the right.

       FIGURE 1-10: The Save for Web dialog box.

      The standard rule with web graphics is to find the smallest file size for an acceptable image appearance. In the Save for Web dialog box, you have many choices for reducing file size. Notice in Figure 1-10 that you see the original image with the file size reported below the image on the left. After choosing JPEG for the file type, you can see that the image size is reduced from the original 3.55MB to 55.52K. (See Chapter 2 for details about choosing a file type.)

      You can also use the Quality item that appears to the right of the drop-down list to adjust the final quality of the saved file. Here, you need to find the right balance between quick download times and image appearance. Just keep an eye on the preview image as well as the download time information for your optimized file.

      For the most accurate viewing, set the zoom size to 100 percent. In the lower-left corner of the dialog box, you can choose zoom levels from the drop-down list or just type a value in the field box. If your chosen settings noticeably degrade your image quality, you can easily discern the loss when viewing at a 100-percent view.

       Working in the Save for Web dialog box is a matter of making choices and viewing the results. Toggle the different file type choices and make adjustments for quality. If you see image degradation, change to a different quality setting or file format. Always look at the file-size item reported below the image on the right and try to find the lowest file size that produces a good-looking image.

Chapter 2

      Basic Image-Editing Concepts

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      Understanding and changing resolution

      Resampling images

      Understanding color modes

      Working with file formats

      Understanding color

      When you open a picture in Photoshop Elements, you’re looking at a huge grid of pixels. These pixels are tiny, colored squares, and the number of pixels in a picture determines the picture’s resolution.

      This relationship between pixels and resolution is important for you to understand in all your Elements work. You’ll find the concepts covered in this chapter especially helpful when creating selections (as we explain in Chapter 7), printing files (Chapter 14), and sharing files (Chapter 15).

      Additionally, you need to understand color modes, which define how many colors an image contains. Color modes are important when you’re using tools in the Tools panel and Panel Bin and printing and sharing files. Basically, you want to choose a color mode for your image that is best suited for print or onscreen and the type of image you have (a photo with lots of colors versus a line drawing with only a few colors, for example).

      Like resolution and color modes, the file format in which you save an image often depends on your desired output – print or screen – so this chapter concludes with an introduction to choosing a file format. This chapter helps you understand the basics of working with resolution, color modes, and file formats that are essential to great results in your final images. We talk about changing resolution by resizing images, converting color modes, and saving the results in different file formats.

      Grappling with the Ubiquitous Pixels

      Most digital images are composed of millions of tiny, square pixels. Each pixel has one, and only one, color value. The arrangement of the pixels of different shades and colors creates an optical illusion when you view an image onscreen. For example, black-and-white pixels might create the impression that you’re looking at something gray – not at tiny black-and-white squares.

      Just about everything you do in Elements has to do with changing pixels:

      ❯❯ Surrounding pixels with selection tools to select what appear to be objects in your image

      ❯❯ Making pixels darker or lighter to change contrast and brightness

      ❯❯ Changing shades and tints of pixels for color correction

      ❯❯ Performing a variety of other editing tasks

      An image made of pixels is a raster image. If you open a file in Elements that isn’t made of pixels, you can let Elements rasterize the data. In other words, Elements converts other data to pixels if the document wasn’t originally composed of pixels.

       Images not made of pixels are typically vector images. You can also have vector content in an Elements file. Text added with the Type tool, for example, is a vector object. When you save an Elements file with the Text layer intact or save it as a Photoshop PDF file, the vector data is retained. We talk more about vector data in Chapter 13. For this chapter, you just need to focus on raster data.

       To use most of the tools and commands in Elements, you must be working on a raster image file. If your data isn’t rasterized, many tools and commands are unavailable.

      The pixels in an image determine an image’s resolution and dimensions, as we explain in the following sections.

       Understanding resolution

      The number of pixels in an image file determines the image’s resolution, which is measured in pixels per inch (ppi). For example:

      ❯❯ If you have 300 pixels across a 1-inch horizontal line, your image resolution is 300 ppi.

      ❯❯ If you have 72 pixels across 1 inch, your image resolution is 72 ppi.