Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual

What's New in Elements 8

Elements 8 brings some really cool new editing features, as well as some helpful new organizing tools:

• Recompose your photos (Recomposing Photos). You know how it is: You try and try to get a photo of all the kids together, but in the best one, there's an awkward gap between your son and daughter because they just wouldn't stand close together. Or you got a perfect shot of that mountain landscape, except for that pesky condo in the background. Wouldn't it be great if you could squeeze the edges of your photo together and get rid of the empty space or those unwanted objects? With the new Recompose tool you can. A couple of scribbles to tell Elements what to lose and what to keep, drag the edge of your picture, and presto!—a recomposed photo with no distortion. It's an awesome use of computer intelligence.

• Exposure Merge (Blending Exposures). Combine two or more different exposures of the same scene for one image that's well-exposed everywhere. This is similar to what you can do with the popular HDR (High Dynamic Range) tools found in Photoshop or from companies like Photomatix, only with Elements' classic ease of use. It's perfect for situations like night portraits, where properly exposing your subject can wash out the dramatic lighting of the skyline behind him.

• New look (Panels, Bins, and Tabs). Now you can view your images in the Editor as floating windows, as in previous versions of Elements, or as fixed tabs. You can arrange the Editor workspace to suit ...