Elements 6 Basic Help

[delboysafa]

Hi,

I need to develop my processing skills. I have Elements 6. I have had a look through this great site and found some good bits and pieces, but really wanted to focus on two areas. The two things I want to focus on first are

1) Saturation - making the colours really pop. What are the steps in terms of doing this. Appreciate every image is different in terms of levels required, but a starting point in terms of process, would be really helpfull

2) Sharpness - once again, what should the layout be on sharpening in terms of radius etc. Appreciate again, things are different, but a starting point

Many thanks

D

 

[Freester]

Are you processing RAW or JPEG? Unfortunately Sats and Sharpness adjustment are in different places (for RAW in the RAW converter, JPEG in the software proper).

My basic workflow in PSE6 if working with JPEGs is to adjust levels first. Try and get the max and minimum by the beginning / end of the histogram.

I then adjust Sats for all channels. Usually it is rare than more than +10, it will just end up looking too oversaturated. Hard to explain but easy to see if it gets too 'zingy'.

For sharpness I now use the adjust sharpness (although sometimes use a High Pass Filter which brings up the colour and sharpens at same time). I tend to start at about 100% sharpening with a Radius of 0.8. But then adjust depending on how it looks. No hard and fast rules here. Play with to get a feel.

There really is no science to it. Hard to explain, I have just played with the different settings until I get a feel for what is right and what isn't.

I have taught myself using a book called "PSE6: The Missing Manual". It's on Amazon and I recommend it.

It's a similar workflow if I use RAW. Play with the Exposure settings and tweak the sharpness last. All in the PSE RAW converter.

HTH

Mark F

 

[delboysafa]

Thanks. looking at JPEG's at the moment