Photoshop Elements 5: The Missing Manual

Introduction 5

Introduction

If You Have a Mac

This book covers Elements 5 for Windows (the only version available at the time of

writing). However, when Adobe releases Elements 5 for Mac, you can use this

book with the Mac version as well. Just substitute Command (c) for Ctrl, and

Option for Alt whenever you see keyboard shortcuts. About 98 percent of the

Editor’s functions work the same on both platforms. However, this book’s sections

on the Organizer apply only to Windows. (See page 14 for more on the difference

between the Editor and the Organizer.)

Elements vs. Photoshop

It’s very easy to get confused about the differences between Elements and the full

version of Adobe Photoshop. Because Elements is so much less expensive, and

because many of the program’s more advanced controls are tucked away, a lot of

Photoshop aficionados tend to view Elements as some kind of toy version of their

program.

They couldn’t be more wrong. Elements is Photoshop, but it’s Photoshop adapted

for use with a home printer and for the Web. The most important difference

between Elements and Photoshop is that Elements doesn’t let you work or save in

CMYK mode, which is the format used for commercial color printing. (CMYK

stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK. Your inkjet printer also uses those

ink colors to print, but it expects you to give it an RGB file, which is what Ele-

ments creates. This is all explained in ...