Course Offerings

Photoshop Elements 13 for the Digital Photographer

Course ID: SGR-3100PE
Overview
Course Outline
Requirements
Intended Audience
More Details

Bring out the best in your photos! In this course, you'll learn how to use Adobe Photoshop Elements to do everything from quick fixes to detailed enhancements that will greatly improve the look of your digital images. Even if you don't have any image-editing experience, this class will turn you into an advanced photo editor. As you explore the program's many tools and features, you'll gain control of Photoshop Elements and create results that you never imagined possible. You'll master techniques for editing images, fixing flaws, enhancing the final product, creating simple art projects, preparing images for online use, and organizing your images.

Course Objectives

Master techniques for editing images, fixing flaws, enhancing the final product, creating simple art projects, preparing images for email and the web, and organizing your images.

Learn how to edit your images like a pro

Understand the basics of this program as well as more advanced techniques

Outline of Instruction

Photoshop Elements is an excellent package for photographers to enhance and edit digital images. Learn how to download the images you'll use in class, and start with the very basics of Photoshop Elements. The instructor takes things one step at a time so that even new users can get comfortable editing and enhancing their digital photos.

Learn the many file formats digital images can take and how you can use them to your best advantage with Photoshop Elements. Learn how to save updated originals and copies of your images, as well as how to use Smart Fix to produce fast results. See how to crop with the Rule of Thirds Grid Overlay and rotate images to get just the look you're after. Practice using the Straighten tool for one-step corrections.

Digital images come in all sizes, so discuss image resolution, pixels and recommendations for resizing pictures with excellent results. When you want high-quality prints, you see just how to resize them and maintain quality with Photoshop Elements' sizing options. Discuss the different shapes images can take and how you can be sure your prints will fit the frames you choose.

Photoshop Elements gives you lots of options for printing your documents. Find out how to add temporary colorful borders and print images to just the size you want. You also practice saving photos for use on websites using Photoshop Elements' Save for Web. In addition, take a look at the Organizer and see how to print multiple photos on a page.

Most of the time, photographers have plenty of images to work with, but in some instances you'll want to create a new file as a foundation for your images. Learn how to use Elements' tabbed windowing for quick access to your open images. From there, you can add color and then move a photo onto your background. You discover how to use the Layers feature in the process.

Ever wondered how professional photographers can make the colors in some images look out of this world? Work with color adjustments in your images, including hue and saturation. You can also create black-and-white images from color images using Elements' Black and White Conversion feature, and pick individual colors to replace with others. Learn how to make quick changes with this, and look at a tool that can help adjust skin tones quickly.

Light is the essence of photography, but it's not always cooperative. Learn ways to enhance and even create better lighting after you've taken an image. See how to use Brightness and Contrast to improve your images, and we'll cover techniques for adjusting shadows and highlights. You also have a chance to work with the histogram, Levels and Color Curves – all excellent tools for correcting lighting and color tones. Through all this, you see how Elements keeps track of your changes and lets you go back through them if you want to undo something.

Take a look at how Organizer works to keep track of your images. You see how to sort your pictures, add tags and collect them in albums for use in projects like scrapbook pages and greeting cards.

In your creative projects, you'll often want to pair photos with text. Photoshop Elements gives you plenty of text tools, so explore those and add text to your images. You see how Photoshop Elements uses layers with text, and you get tips on how to master the Layers panel. You also begin your study of the powerful selection tools, including the color-based Magic Wand tool and the flexible Lasso tool. With these, you discover the power of Feathering selections and copying selections within an image.

As you continue your study of selection tools, you learn how to create a silhouette image using the Quick Selection tool. You also practice using any of the selection tools in a reverse mode for tricky selections. See how the Marquee tools let you select perfect squares and circles for use in framing and highlighting your images and how the new Text on Selection tool works with any shape! You also work more with Feathering and see the difference it makes, especially when you want to create a soft, blended background in your image. Finally, go over how to add colors with the Gradient tool.

Work with the Selection Brush tool for detailed and exacting work when you need it most. You also learn some advanced techniques for using the selection tools together. Work extensively with the Add to selection option and preview your work with Mask Mode. You have a chance to experiment with some of Photoshop Elements' filters and color options, as well as the settings in the Magnetic Lasso tool. As a final addition to your knowledge in this area, you have a chance to explore and work with the Select menu.

As we bring this first class to a close, you'll find many new tools to put to work and still more to learn. Discuss Retouching and Correcting tools, and you perfect your skills with the Red Eye Removal tool (including the new Pet Eye option), the Clone Stamp tool and both the powerful Healing Brushes and the Content-Aware Healing option. You learn when to use each tool for the best results. The power of Photoshop Elements will come to life as you use these tools in your final assignments.

Contact Hours

CEUs

Industry Standard, State or National Certification

Certification

None

Website

None

Certification Learning Outcomes/Requirements

CE or CU Articulation

Prerequisites

You should feel comfortable acquiring digital images, either with a digital camera, using images scanned onto CDs or scanning film prints. Basic computer skills, such as using a mouse, creating and accessing folders and downloading and saving files will be briefly reviewed in this course but should be familiar to you. This course uses the Windows version of Photoshop Elements to demonstrate the software. In the vast majority of cases, the Mac version is identical or very similar. Windows and Mac keystrokes and menus are included in the course material, and any significant differences are noted in the materials.

Learning Supplies Needed

Hardware requirements:
This course can be taken on either a PC or a Mac.

Software requirements:
PC: Windows 8 or later
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader or other PDF reader
Adobe Photoshop Elements version 14 or later (not included in enrollment). This includes all year-labeled versions, such as Photoshop Elements 2025. The course will use version 2021 for demonstration with notes and instructions for significant changes in other versions, although these are very minor.
System requirements: For the current release of Photoshop Elements, see: System requirements | Photoshop Elements.
For earlier releases of Photoshop Elements, see: System requirements | Older Versions.
Operating System requirements: Photoshop Elements runs on Windows or macOS. See the operating system requirements for your version of Photoshop Elements above.
Photoshop Elements must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:
Email capabilities and access to a personal email account

Instructional material requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Clinical Site/Special Facilities

None

Requirements for Successful Completion

90% attendance
Students must pass 10 quizzes with a minimum grade of 70% by the second quiz attempt. If all quizzes are not passed with 70% or better by the second attempt, the final exam score must be 70% or higher on the first attempt. The final exam must be taken by the Wake Tech course end date.

Accreditation/Special Approval Requirements

N/A

Intended Audience

Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop Elements to do everything from quick fixes to detailed enhancements that greatly improve the look of your digital images. This course will take you from a novice to an accomplished user.