When you go on a road-trip vacation, you need two things to make the trip a success—good navigational aids (maps), and an understanding of how to measure distances between two points on a road map (1 inch equals 100 miles). When you are working in the Editor, one of the keys to making the journey a success is to understand the navigational and measurement aids available. Photoshop Elements’ navigation and measurement systems are more that just information; they represent control of the photo and control of the creative process. Photoshop Elements lets you choose a measurement system to fit a specific project. For example, if you’re working on images destined for the web or a monitor, you’ll be using pixels as a measurement system.

Conversely, if you’re outputting to paper, or possibly a 4-color press, you’ll likely choose inches or picas. Selecting between different measurement systems does not impact the quality of the final photo; only how you measure distance. Trust me on this one; understanding how to measure distance helps to make the journey an enjoyable experience.

Having problems squinting at the small details of a photo? Using the Zoom tool is a great way to gain control over a document. Zooming into a section of a document makes touching-up the fine details just that much easier. In addition, the Info palette gives you up-to-date information on the exact position of the cursor inside the document, as well as detailed color information that can be indispensable in color-correcting a photo.

Making changes to a photo is all part of the processing of creating the results you want. If you don’t like a change, you can use the Undo History palette to restore the photo. Think of the Undo History palette as having a magical mistake correction tool, which never wears out.

The Navigator palette in the Editor gives you an overall view of the photo and the ability to navigate through the document or change the zoom size. Viewing images at different sizes gives you the ability to focus on small elements of the design, without impacting the overall quality of the photo. Once small areas of a photo are enlarged, it’s easier for you to make minute changes. Zoom size determines the visible size of a photo, as seen in the document window. Zooming in (enlarging the photo) gives you a handy magnifying glass that lets you work on and manipulate fine details, and then you can zoom out (reducing the photo) to view how the changes impact the entire photo. The Navigator palette contains a thumbnail view of the photo, and under the thumbnail are easy-to-use controls that let you adjust the zoom of the photo. In addition, changes made in the Navigator palette, are immediately viewable in the active document window (what you see is what you get).

Zoomed images are typically larger than the size of the document window. When this happens, Photoshop Elements adds navigational scroll bars to the bottom and the right of the document window. However, using awkward scroll bars is not the only way to change the viewable area of the photo; the Navigator palette gives you a visible approach to changing the view area of the photo. The view box in the Navigator palette represents the visible boundaries of the active document window, which is the viewable area of the photo.

The view box defines the viewable area of the photo—the default color of the view box is blue. It’s important for the color of the view box to stand out against the photo. However, some documents contain images that are the same color as the view box, making the view box difficult to identify. By changing the color of your view box to work with your photo, you can make sure your view box stands out against the photo. This may seem like a small thing to do, but it significantly cuts down on my frustration level, when I’m attempting to identify the view box.

Changing the view allows you to look at a photo up close or far away. You can change the view by using the View menu, the Zoom tools on the toolbox, and the Navigation palette. The View menu allows you to zoom in and out, fit the photo to the screen, and display the photo at the actual size. The Zoom In and Zoom Out commands lets you view an photo at different magnifications. The Fit on Screen command displays the photo to fit on the screen, while the Actual Pixels command displays the photo at 100%.

Working with the Zoom tool gives you one more way to control exactly what you see in Photoshop Elements. Just like the Navigator palette, the Zoom tool does not change the active photo, it only lets you view the photo at different magnifications. The Zoom tool is located at the top of the toolbox, and resembles a magnifying glass. The maximum magnification of a document is 1600 percent, and the minimum magnification is less than 1 percent of the original photo size. Increasing the magnification of a photo gives you control over what you see and gives you control over how you work. Large documents are difficult to work with and difficult to view. Many documents, when viewed at 100 percent, are larger than the maximized size of the document window. When this happens, viewing the entire photo requires reducing the zoom.

Since changing the zoom size of a photo is fundamental to the creative process, Photoshop Elements gives you several ways to accomplish zooming. An additional way to zoom is using the options on the Options bar. To access the Zoom tool options, you must have the Zoom tool selected. Photoshop Elements gives you two handy zoom preset values. To automatically zoom the document to 100 percent, double-click the Zoom tool. To automatically fit the photo to the monitor, double-click the Hand tool.

One of those little used, but handy tools to have is Photoshop Elements’ Hand tool. The Hand tool (called so because it resembles an open hand) lets you quickly move the active photo within the document window without ever using the scroll bars. For example, you’ve zoomed the photo beyond the size that fits within the document window and you need to change the visible portion of the document. It’s a simple operation, but a handy one to know.

There are times when you’re working on a photo in Photoshop Elements, and you need to see two separate views of the photo. For example, you’re working on retouching a photo and you need a zoomed in view to do fine detail work. At the same time, you want to see a normal view to get an idea of how the retouching is affecting the normal-sized photo. Being able to view one photo at two different views is a valuable tool. The Image submenu on the Window menu provides options to help you work with multiple windows. The Match Zoom and Match Location commands allow you to match the zoom and location in multiple windows. You can also use the Cascade and Tile commands to display windows across the Photoshop Elements window.

Photoshop Elements has a lot of tricks up its electronic sleeves, and one of the handiest is the ability to move layers between open documents. For example, you have a photo of a landscape and sky, but you don’t like the sky, so you erase it. You then open another document with a sky that suits the design of your document. It’s a simple matter to move the layer containing the sky into any other open document.

Photoshop Elements’ Info palette gives you a wealth of data on the current document’s color space, as well as information on the x/y position of your mouse cursor within the active document window. In addition, when you’re using one of the drawing or measuring tools, the Info palette gives you up-to-date information on the size of the object you’re creating. Photoshop works with black, white, shades of gray, and every color in between.

Knowledge of the colors used in a document is important, but so is a thorough understanding of the color mode of the document. Different documents require different color modes. For example, images displayed on a monitor use the RGB (red, green, blue) color mode, and images sent to a 4-color press, use CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black). Not only does the Info palette measure color, it also measures color in specific color modes.

Carpenters know that precise measurements are essential to making things fit, so they have a rule: Measure Twice, Cut Once. In keeping with the idea that precise measurements are essential, Photoshop Elements gives you several measuring systems-among them are the ruler bars. Ruler bars are located on the top and left sides of the active document window, and serve several purposes. They let you measure the width and height of the active photo, they let you place guides on the screen to control placement of other photo elements, and they create markers that follow your cursor as you move. As you can see, rulers serve a very important role. Ruler guides help you correctly align photo design elements.

In the Editor, the Undo History palette helps you automate and streamline the way you work in Photoshop Elements. As you work in Photoshop Elements, the Undo History palette is tracking all your actions for the entire document. With the Undo History palette, you can undo or redo actions to correct mistakes.

The Undo History palette doesn’t replace the Undo and Redo commands on the Edit menu, it simply tracks every action you perform in Photoshop Elements. When you undo or redo one or more commands, the Undo History palette displays the results; the Undo/Redo slider moves according to the commands you select.

You can open the Undo History palette using the Window menu like any of the other palettes in Photoshop Elements. Each action you take in the active document during a work session (since you created or opened the document) appears on a separate line in the Undo History palette. The first action you perform in a work session appears at the top of the list and the last action appears at the bottom. Unlike other palettes in Photoshop Elements, the Undo History palette includes a slider on the left side you can use to undo/redo actions; the Undo/Redo slider initially points to the last action you performed. The More button (shown with the text More or double arrows) displays commands, such as Clear Undo History, specific to the Undo History palette.

You can use the Window menu to open/display the Undo History palette like any of the other palettes in Photoshop Elements. Each action you take in the active document during a work session appears on a separate line in the Undo History palette. Actions you take in other Photoshop Elements documents don’t appear in other Undo History palette lists. If you no longer need the actions in the Undo History palette, you can delete an individual action or the entire list. When you close a document, Photoshop Elements clears the Undo History palette.

Use the Undo History Palette

• Open or Close Undo History Palette. In the Editor, click the Window menu, and then click Undo History.

• Delete an Item in the Undo History Palette. In the Editor, display the Undo History palette, select the item you want to remove, click the More button, and then click Delete.

• Delete All Items in the Undo History Palette. In the Editor, display the Undo History palette, click the More button, and then click Clear Undo History.

You can undo or redo a single action or series of actions quickly with the Undo History palette. The Undo History palette contains the Undo/Redo slider which you can drag up to undo (restore previous actions) a series of actions, or drag down to redo (restore actions you’ve undone) a series of actions. You can also undo and redo previous actions one at a time using the Undo and Redo commands on the Edit menu or Shortcuts bar. When you use these commands, the actions in the Undo History palette change based on the command results. The Undo History palette and the Undo command can undo actions up to a maximum number (from 2 to 1000) set in the General tab of the Preferences dialog box.

As you work with photos, the contents of the Clipboard and the Undo History palette can start to take up a lot of memory (RAM), which can start to slow down your computer. If you have 1 GB of RAM or more, this shouldn’t be a problem. However, if you have 512 MG or less, it could be a problem. To avoid memory problems, you can clear Clipboard contents and the entire Undo History palette. When you close a document, Photoshop Elements clears the Undo History palette, while the Clipboard remains the same until you clear its contents.

Clear Memory and the Undo History Palette

• Clear Clipboard Memory. In the Editor, click the Edit menu, point to Clear, and then click Clipboard Contents.

• Clear Undo History Palette Memory. In the Editor, click the Edit menu, point to Clear, and then click Undo History.

  Timesaver

  In the Editor, click the Undo History palette More button, and then click Clear Undo History to clear Undo History palette memory.

• Clear Clipboard and Undo History Palette Memory. In the Editor, click the Edit menu, point to Clear, and then click All.

To work efficiently in Photoshop Elements you need information about the active document. Details about the document’s size, resolution, color mode, and current size all help in the design and preparation of the final photo. Photoshop Elements displays current information about the active document through the Status bar, located at the bottom of the document window.

A guide is a vertical or horizontal line that appears in a document window you can use to align objects. The grid is useful in designing a layout that is proportional and balanced. If you have a Photoshop file with guides present, you can view and use them in Photoshop Elements. Unfortunately, you can’t add or move them in Photoshop Elements. You can also use the Snap To option with the guide to enable objects to snap to a guide line when they get close it.

Notes can be found everywhere—you see them stuck to the side of refrigerators, bulletin boards, and even covering your computer monitor. Notes serve a purpose to remind you of important duties and events. If you work in Photoshop, the ability to save notes can help you remember an important part of the design, or they can instruct another designer to the how’s and why’s of your document. If you have a Photoshop file with notes, you can view and delete them in Photoshop Elements. Unfortunately, you can’t add them.

In addition to text notes, Photoshop lets you create audio notes. To create an audio note, your computer needs to have the ability to record sound. The good news is that most computers sold today, especially laptops, have the ability to record sound. Besides being an excellent way to communicate information, audio annotations give a sense of emotion or urgency, which sometimes can’t be communicated using the written word. If you have a Photoshop file with an audio annotation, you can view and delete them in Photoshop Elements. Unfortunately, you can’t create them. Audio notes require that the receiving computer has an audio output, and while this might seem quite common with today’s technology, you might want to include a text note along with the audio note.