Troubleshooting and Additional Techniques

Nothing ever goes entirely as planned when shooting pictures, which is why we use Photoshop Elements to help fine-tune things such as composition, color, and image clarity. But even then, things can still go wrong when wrangling any software.

Adobe does a great job of updating the security and stability of Photoshop Elements on a regular basis, but even though almost everything in this industry is updated or replaced every few months, it's not surprising that problems can arise from time to time.

In this chapter, you will find the solutions to some of the most common image editing problems, including catalog issues, lost files, and poor color results. The last section profiles a bunch of really great additional techniques - correcting lens distortion, depth of field effects, adding lens flare and having fun with the fantastic Liquify filter.

What you'll learn from this chapter:

• File-saving issues
• Finding lost...

Troubleshooting and Additional Techniques

Nothing ever goes entirely as planned when shooting pictures, which is why we use Photoshop Elements to help fine-tune things such as composition, color, and image clarity. But even then, things can still go wrong when wrangling any software.

Adobe does a great job of updating the security and stability of Photoshop Elements on a regular basis, but even though almost everything in this industry is updated or replaced every few months, it's not surprising that problems can arise from time to time.

In this chapter, you will find the solutions to some of the most common image editing problems, including catalog issues, lost files, and poor color results. The last section profiles a bunch of really great additional techniques - correcting lens distortion, depth of field effects, adding lens flare and having fun with the fantastic Liquify filter.

What you'll learn from this chapter:

• File-saving issues
• Finding lost...

File-saving issues

I see many photographers lose their entire image collections from time to time—it can be very frustrating, for me as a teacher and, of course, for them, as they have no idea what happened or where everything disappeared to! However, there are several ways to prevent this kind of disaster from happening.

Firstly, don't just click OK whenever asked—it pays to look at the Save or Save As panel in respect of where it's going to save your precious stuff to.

That said, Elements will always save an existing file in the same location where it was opened from—so if you just saved something then wonder where it went, take a look in the folder where it was originally saved.

If you open a holiday snap, via Organizer (let's say it was originally imported from a folder called Vacations), then edit it, and choose Save (File>Save or Ctrl/Cmd + S), where did it go? It went back into the Vacations folder, so that's a good place...

Finding lost or disconnected files

Elements keeps all your original files, plus all your edited material, displayed in the Organizer—but only if you ask it to by checking the Include in the Elements Organizer box in the File>Save As window. That's the theory, but as we all know, in real life, things rarely go 100% to plan. Pictures can get corrupted, get lost, or just go missing. The following are a few strategies to initiate if you can't find images you thought were already imported and part of Elements' Organizer.

On any typical day, you might see a missing file or two in the Media area of Organizer. In my experience, Elements is very good at finding these errant files, providing it has the time (that is, you don't cancel the search prematurely) and that it is still in existence (that is, the image has not been deleted or renamed).

Check the Organizer: If your image was originally imported into the Organizer, but has disappeared for...

Using the Find menu

The Find menu is perhaps the most useful tool in the arsenal of search functions found in Elements. With this drop-down menu, you can search through the following categories:

• Metadata (including camera and shooting details)
• Media Type (such as photos, video, audio, projects, and items with audio captions)
• History (including Imported on, Emailed to, Printed on, Exported on, Shared Online, and Used in Projects)
• Caption
• Filename, including the following:

a) Version Set

b) Stack

c) Untagged items

• Visual Search (including visually similar photos and videos, objects appearing in the photo, or duplicate photos)
• Saved Searches

You can even search for an image using terms such as Items with Unknown Date or Time, Untagged Items, or even Items not in any Album:

Tip:

Although mentioned at the start of this book, it's worth reiterating the point—when Adobe states that you "import"...

Adjusting dates for different time zones

One thing that's going to mess up a photo search is if the date is set incorrectly on your camera. If you fail to set the proper date, the results of the Elements search will be inaccurate, because it'll be hunting for a different date.

Even if the date on your camera is set correctly, you must also be aware of time travel! Traveling across a different time zone will also throw your searches into a state of confusion. Traveling north or south is not the issue, but moving from east to west can confuse any search parameter.

The date of an image file can be changed in Photoshop Elements by editing the metadata. Here's how:

Step one: Select the files with dates you want to change in the Organizer.

Step two: Right-click the images, and from the pop-out menu, choose Adjust Date and Time of Selected Items....

Step three: In the Adjust Date and Time of Selected Items dialog panel that opens, select the fourth...

Reinstating your catalog

The catalog is saved to a computer's hard drive by default, although it can be saved to any drive, even a removable one.

Catalogs should be backed up on a regular basis (use the Organizer>File>Backup Catalog command to do this), preferably to a removable drive or even to the cloud. Never back up to the same drive that you use to run Elements from because that wouldn't really be a true backup. Always back your catalogs up to a different drive.

I know the prospect of backing up is boring, but trust me, you only have to lose everything once—whether to a mechanical or electronic failure, or even a virus—to fully appreciate how important the simple process of backing up can be.

So, how do we reinstate a catalog if we suffer data loss? The first thing is to make sure that the computer is 100% virus- and problem-free. There is no point in risking the loss of your data a second time if the computer is not fixed.

Plug in the...

Resolution issues: adding pixels

Occasionally, you might have to deal with pictures that don't have a high-enough resolution for the task you have in mind. For example, let's say you are preparing a family photo album but soon discover that some of the older photos that were scanned from the originals are too small; the images can't be enlarged past the size of a matchbox without them appearing soft and fuzzy.

Above: The low-resolution warning symbol in this screenshot is from Blurb's BookWright software, a free application designed for making coffee table books—but this type of resolution warning should pop up in most free bookmaking software. Clicking the yellow warning icon automatically resizes the file so it displays at the correct size for the number of pixels in the file. The resolution for print is 300 dpi. In this example, my scanned file is on par with the size of a postage stamp (inset)—not the size...

Remove Color Cast

You could also use the Remove Color Cast tool to achieve a similar skin color improvement —although this feature is not quite as flexible as it lacks those Tan, Blush, and Ambient Light sliders.

Essentially, any tool designed to adjust the color by taking a sample from the image itself is based on the White Balance feature, which you'll find scattered about the application in one form or other.

Tip:

'Click on a part of the Image'. It's a clear instruction but the information Elements receives from a single random click might not be accurate enough to get a reasonable result. To improve results, try right-clicking and from the pop-out menu choose to average out the sample with either a 3 x 3 or 5 x 5 pixel array. This might well produce a more reliable and realistic result.

Fixing Skin Tones

Getting the skin tones in a portrait 100% correct is always tricky. Factors such as memory (the photographer's), computer monitor calibration, and printer calibration can all play a role in not producing the best result. The Adjust Color for Skin Tone tool can help you produce the best color—and what's more, it's simple and fast to use.

Step one: Choose the Adjust Color for Skin Tone tool (Enhance>Adjust Color>Adjust Color for Skin Tone) and follow the onscreen panel instructions. It's simple to use.

Step two: Click on the skin tones, and if it corrects the color nicely, either click OK and save, or make further tweaks using the Tan, Blush, and Ambient Light sliders. Although your subject might look like they have a slightly tanned complexion, the skin tones in the image are a blend of different colored pixels—from yellow to ochre, brown, gray, and even red (inset)—with a specific but complex...

Altered reality: Adding lens flare

Years ago I read that this filter effect was actually developed during the production of George Lucas' Star Wars movie because the vision being created by his company, Industrial Light and Magic, was too 'clean'. Adding lens flare, traditionally an optical lens fault, was added to give some of the scenes a higher sense of reality. I was transfixed!

Above: Lens Flare is one of Elements' many hidden gems; you'll find it at: Filter>Render>Lens Flare. Choose a point source for the light and a lens focal length and that's all you need. It works really well on images that have been shot more or less into the sun as this adds to the veracity of the flare.

Left: The original image was shot late in the day, hence the white sky, which makes it a good candidate for this particular filter treatment.

Altered Reality: Correcting lens distortion

Sadly, even if you pay a lot of money for a lens, it is going to distort the image. As a general rule, the wider the lens' angle, the more it might distort the image—perspective changes, verticals lean inwards, people's faces appear almost caricatured. The more you might pay for a lens, the less it is likely to distort, but they all do and thankfully, Photoshop Elements has a tool, located in the Filters menu called Correct Camera Distortion. It should be called Correct Lens Distortion but, well, it works so let's not get too pedantic about its correct nomenclature.

Above: Inside one of Mexico City's many churches; I had to use a wide angle lens to get this view, but of course, with a 28mm focal length, it distorts the vertical lines, especially as I pointed the camera up when I took the snap—probably the worst thing you can do for creating more optical distortion!...

Altered reality: Creating depth of field FX

Most photographers I know love to shoot at wide open apertures to produce an extremely shallow depth of field. Unfortunately lenses with 'fast' apertures (i.e. f1.4 or even f1.2) cost a lot of money, but there's an easy way to simulate this 'look' using a combination of the Lens Blur (Filter>Blur>Lens Blur) feature, layers, and the Eraser Brush Tool.

Top: Open the image and duplicate the layer. Choose Filter>Blur>Lens Blur and add the desired amount of blur to the layer. The amount might need a bit of trial and error to get right. Once done, take the Eraser Brush Tool, set it to a soft tip, and an opacity of around 20%, and erase the (soft) pixels from the areas you want to look sharp. To add a greater depth of authenticity, fade the erasing action off towards the edges of the sharp bits so there's a gradual shifting from soft to sharp detail, as...

Altered reality: Changing Eye Color

We have all seen this in our lives: the subject's eyes have changed color—this could be created live using colored contact lenses or done in post using Photoshop Elements. This technique can be varied at all stages to give different results, from very subtle to outrageously graphic. Here's where to start:

Step One: Open the image and duplicate the layer.

Step Two: For this to be visually more effective I converted that new top layer from full color to black and white using the Convert to Black and White feature (Enhance>Convert to Black and White, or Alt/Opt + Ctrl/Cmd + B). I nearly always go for the Scenic Landscape preset as it's not very contrasty (compared to the Newspaper preset, for example) so it's more likely to retain all the highlight details.

Step Three: Rather than spend money on expensive contact lenses which the cat would...

The Liquify filter

Fashion photographers, wedding photographers—anyone photographing people for a living—will love this filter. Liquify turns your digital file into a malleable, liquid pool of pixels that can be pushed around as if they were wet oil paints. Its original purpose was to change the physical attributes of models—thinning faces, fixing broken noses, and enlarging eyes. While the fantastic Adjust Facial Features tool (under the Enhance menu) does a terrific job, Liquify offers far greater control over the entire image, whether it's a face or full body.

Of course, this filter can also be used by regular family photographers to wreak mayhem in family snaps. Here's what you can do with this filter:

• Make noses smaller/larger
• Change the shape of ears, chins, stomachs, thighs, and waists
• Change expressions
• Bend reality

Its tool bar (above left) includes:

• Warp tool: This is very much...

Using the Help Menu

Under the Help menu, you'll find a number of areas of interest, including the following:

• Photoshop Elements Help
• Getting Started
• Key Concepts
• Support
• Video Tutorials
• Forum

As you can see, Elements directs its users to an amazing array of instructional videos. They might not specifically address your exact requirement, but they do provide a starting point for anyone who needs help with their editing.