作者：RICHARD LYNCH
出版日期：2005
出版社：Sybex
页数：414
ISBN：0-7821-4385-7
文件格式：PDF

Introduction
I’d been a photography-book editor, digital retoucher, and Photoshopauthor for 10 years, using Photoshop as my primary image-editing tool,when someone asked me to look at Photoshop Elements for the first time.I was a little reluctant, having heard it was nothing but a dumbed-downversion of Photoshop. I expected that I wouldn’t find it veryinteresting and I’d just be wasting my time. From what I understood,the tools I used all the time were missing, including channels, Curves,masking, CMYK tools, and Blend If. I was pretty sure I’d never be ableto take the program seriously.
It just goes to show: Never judge a book by how someone else describes the cover.
Instead of being bored with the simplicity of Photoshop Elements, Ibecame fascinated by the possibilities. After toying with Elements foronly a few minutes, the program and the possibilities piqued myinterest—it seemed there was more to Elements than I’d heard, and itseemed like a pretty powerful program. I continued to explore theprogram, and within a few days I had discovered ways to either use orimitate every feature I’d heard was missing.
Elements could do a lot more than most people thought, and more thaneven the manufacturer let on. It got to the point where I beganwondering what Photoshop Elements couldn’t do, rather than worryingabout what the differences were between this program and Photoshop.
I looked around to see if there were other sources that said thesame thing, and I couldn’t find any. It was then that I realized that Ishould write a book to tell about what I’d learned and show whatElements could really do.
Since I started working with Elements, one idea became clear to me:fancy tools can actually stand in the way of learning. You don’t learnmuch by pressing a button—no matter how sophisticated the button is.Some tools in image editing programs help you forget about fundamentalsentirely, and can isolate you from the process. You end up pressingbuttons and not really understanding what is going on. For example, askalmost anyone (who hasn’t read this book) to make an RGB separationwithout using channels.
This is something that anyone serious about image editing shouldunderstand conceptually and be able to do, because it is fundamental toworking with and displaying the image. Yet many of the most experienceddigital professionals wouldn’t be able to do it.
Knowing how components separate offers a whole different historicaland scientific basis for evaluating, altering, and correcting digitalimages and color. And understanding how to separate components providesa solid foundation for understanding the way images are created andstored—on film and digitally. That is why this book not only gives youtools that simplify complicated processes, but it explains exactly howeach works, stepby-step. I have found that understanding the process isa better, more fundamental, way to look at and understand images fromthe ground up.
I learned a lot in the process of discovering Elements, and as aresult I’ve gone back to the fundamentals of working with images. Iwrote The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2 to capture thatdiscovery in hopes of helping other users understand the power of theprogram and what they can do with digital images. Now, in The HiddenPower of Photoshop Elements 3 the goal is to clarify and expand on thatfirst attempt based on the feedback I received, as well as create atoolset compatible with the changes in the Elements program andinterface. Both books free up powerful image properties and providetools for users that help make Elements a serious professionalimage-editing tool.
As a 12+ year veteran of digital image editing, I use Elements everyday for even the most challenging image-editing projects. With theaddition of 16-bit support and the ability to import RAW files, thereis really almost nothing that Elements can’t do. This book shows youhow.