• Import, organize, and fix photos quickly and easily.
• Repair and restore old and damaged photos, and retouch any image.
• Jazz up their pictures with dozens of filters, frames, and special effects.
• Learn which tools the pros use — and finally understand how layers work!
• Create collages and photo layout pages for greeting cards and other projects.
• Get downloadable practice images and try new tricks right away.

Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual progresses from simple to complex features. Those ready for the more sophisticated tools can easily jump around to learn specific techniques. As always, Barbara lets you know which Elements features work well, which don't, and why — all with a bit of wit and good humor. Adds Barbara: "Elements is wonderful software, but there's a lot going on there. I wanted to help people find their way around and to understand some of the great things they can do with the program."

Free Sample Chapter — Chapter 4: The Quick Fix
At the O'Reilly site you can find a great free sample chapter from the book — Chapter 4: The Quick Fix (PDF Format - 26 MB). From the intro:

With Elements’ Quick Fix tools, you can dramatically improve the appearance of a photo with just a click or two. The Quick Fix window gathers easy-to-use tools that help adjust the brightness and color of your photos and make them look sharper. You don’t even need to understand much about what you’re doing. You just need to click a button or slide a pointer, and then decide whether you like how it looks.

If, on the other hand, you do know what you’re doing, you may still find yourself using the Quick Fix window for things like shadows and highlights because the Quick Fix gives you a before-and-after view as you work. Also, the Temperature and Tint sliders can come in very handy for advanced color tweaking, like finessing the overall color of your otherwise finished photo. You even get two tools—the Selection brush and the Magic Selection brush—to help make changes to only a certain area of your photo.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to use all of the Quick Fix tools. You’ll also learn about what order to apply the fixes so you get the most out of these tools. If you have a newish digital camera, you may find that Quick Fix gives you all the tools you need to take your photos from pretty darn good (the way they came out of the camera) to dazzling.

Buy Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual at Amazon.com and save 34% off the cover price.


Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 Unleashed
The following 4 clips are taken from Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 Unleashed, hosted by Deke McClelland. Photoshop Hall of Famer and best selling author Deke McClelland provides you with step by step instruction for essential techniques including adjusting colors, effects, filters, and layer styles.
(Read our review of this DVD.)

Styles And Effects
 How to call up all kinds of special effects from the Styles and Effects palette.
 How to use the different Frames and Image effects.
Spot Healing Brush Tool
 All about the Spot Healing Brush Tool.
 How to clone areas of an image using the Spot Healing Brush.
Displace Filter
 All about the powerful functions of the Displace Filter.
 How to create a displacement map.
Shape Tool
 How the Shape Tool works.
 How to use the options bar to change shapes.


The following 8 clips are taken from Total Training Presents: Digital Photography & Adobe Photoshop Elements 3. Presenter and photography expert Brian Maffitt leads you through photography techniques, image correction and enhancements, and the steps for sharing images.
(Read our review of this DVD.)

Adjust Hue/Saturation
 How to unleash the full potential of the Hue/Saturation Dialog Box.
 How to selectively shift the colors in an image down the color wheel.
Edit Camera Raw
 What the Camera Raw format is.
 How to use the Camera Raw Dialog Box to your advantage.
Healing Brush
 Keyboard Shortcuts for brushes.
 How to use the Healing Brush to fix minor and even major flaws in an image.
Print Preview
 How to print an image.
 How to use and understand the functionality of the Print Preview Dialog Box.
Quick Fix Color Cast
 How to use the Auto Button in the Color Palette to correct an image with a color cast.
 How to quickly compare your new image with the old version with just a click of a button
Rotate Image
 How to use the tools provided in the Photo Browser.
 How to rotate an image directly from the Photo Browser and have it apply to the image on disk.
Save For Web
 How to use the Save For Web Dialog Box.
 How to take a high resolution image, compress it, crop it and e-mail it to a friend.
Show File Name
 How to change preferences in the Photoshop Elements Organizer.
 How to reveal the actual names of the files along with the dates.



Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 Maximum Performance

There's an interesting Photoshop Elements 5 book from Mark Galer that has come to my attention — Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 Maximum Performance. Part of the appeal is that the book ships with 5 hours of DVD tutorials and a whole bunch of free stock photos. That's a nice touch. And the book is getting a good amount of positive reviews, including this one: 'Using crafty work-arounds to achieve remarkable results, Mark Galer pushes Elements' capabilities to new levels.' — Christy Brandt, Director of Engineering, Photoshop Elements, Adobe Systems, Inc. Here's some press on Mark's book:

Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 Maximum Performance
Get the most from your digital camera to produce high-end results that casual users only dreamed of. Your photos will look like a pro shot them as imaging guru Mark Galer shows you how to use critical but little-known techniques for professional quality editing.