Photoshop Elements and CS4 - DPChallenge Forums

08/24/2011 07:20:07 PM · #1

I am currently trying to learn photoshop and have been watching dvd tutorials however in the DVDs they use Elements 9 and I have CS4. Could anyone please give me a clue as to where I can find the equivilant of the 'Enhance' tab they use in Elements? I am trying to folllow a tutorial and he uses colour curves but I cant seem to find it in CS4?

08/24/2011 07:23:20 PM · #2

Originally posted by thrumyiis:

Enhance is where you will find shadow/highlights, color adjust, color lighting...curves, USM...not sure what it's called in CS/4

nova

Canon EOS-6D

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM

08/24/2011 07:48:34 PM · #3

You may have better luck by viewing tutorial videos on the web for Photoshop CS-3/4/5 instead of Elements. There are tons of them.

08/24/2011 08:01:44 PM · #4

Originally posted by nova:

You may have better luck by viewing tutorial videos on the web for Photoshop CS-3/4/5 instead of Elements. There are tons of them.

search YouTube....

08/24/2011 08:33:00 PM · #5

Ok I'll have a look at You Tube, thanks

08/24/2011 09:43:00 PM · #6

what tutorial are you looking for...curious...

I have more trouble trying to find an Elements tutorial vs CS/?

DCNUTTER

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

08/24/2011 10:20:02 PM · #7

If you add a curves adjustment layer in CS4 there is a drop down box that defaults to RGB which effects the whole image when tweaked. You can use that drop down menu to select the red, green or blue channels separately as well.

Not sure if that's what you are referring too, but thought I'd post that just in case.

Dave

08/24/2011 11:06:26 PM · #8

Ja-9Nothing in particular, at the moment I am just trying to learn from the dvds that come with the Digital Camera magazine, They just have half a dozen lessons each month on different things.

DCNUTTERYes I tried to see if I could find it in a curves adjustment and I think I ended up where you are talking about, didnt have time to play around with it just at the moment. It just seems elements 9 Enhance tab made the process a lot simpler, I think it offered a one click auto adjustment for beginners like me. Ill keep looking and playing around when I get more time.
Thanks again

DCNUTTER

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

08/24/2011 11:51:15 PM · #9

Originally posted by thrumyiis:

Ja-9Nothing in particular, at the moment I am just trying to learn from the dvds that come with the Digital Camera magazine, They just have half a dozen lessons each month on different things.
DCNUTTERYes I tried to see if I could find it in a curves adjustment and I think I ended up where you are talking about, didnt have time to play around with it just at the moment. It just seems elements 9 Enhance tab made the process a lot simpler, I think it offered a one click auto adjustment for beginners like me. Ill keep looking and playing around when I get more time.
Thanks again

Well, if you're just trying to remove a color cast from a photo and correct the colors a bit you can try using the Auto Tone, Auto Contrast or Auto Color options in Photoshop. On the menu bar select Image, then select either the third, fourth or fifth options down. Do this before you do any other editing to the photo. Sometimes it works great, and for some photos you'll find that it doesn't help that much or even makes matters worse. If the original image is not exposed properly and you have blown out highlights or clipped shadows to begin with it doesn't have much room too shift the white and black points to the proper position. If that's the case more advanced editing using the curves or levels adjustment layers would be needed at the very least.

Elements is designed to be more user friendly for the casual photographer who wants to correct for common problems with the help of the software. As time as gone by they have added a bit of the bells and whistles of Photoshop to give more advanced photographers a little more to work with. Photoshop definitely assumes more knowledge from the photographer and it geared towards people who want to take complete control over their workflow and processing. It's not for the faint of heart in a lot of cases and doesn't cater to those that desire a one click fix. Elements is a great place to start, and then migrate to Photoshop when the desire to learn more advanced techniques takes hold.

Dave

08/25/2011 03:23:30 AM · #10

Ill try out those auto settings you mention. Have plans to do a couple of short courses in photoshop at Tafe where the teacher uses CS4/5, have been planning to do that for some time but still havent found time yet, wont be till next year now. So I will just keep on trying to sift through it as best I can. Its so good knowing I can call on everyones expertise here to get me unstuck. Cheers