Photoshop Elements 11: The Missing Manual (Missing Manuals)

This is an excellent book for anyone who has a large photo collection and who wants to use Photoshop Elements 11 to organise and edit their photos on their computer. The book covers everything you'd ever be likely to want to do with your photos other than preparing them for publication in a book (which is the one situation where the author suggests that you should be looking at obtaining the full version of Photoshop as Elements doesn't have all the options necessary to prepare photos for book publication). The book covers all aspects of photo processing from when you first offload them from the camera onto the computer, through how Elements can apply quick fixes to try to resolve the most common problems, manual fixing in expert mode, organising photos, and even how to prepare copies of the photos suitable to share with others either via email or via the web. The book does get a bit technical in places such as where it talks about calibrating your monitor to set the colour mode correctly but most of the sections of the book are written so that they can be used without necessarily having to apply everything else.

Both the Windows and Mac versions of the program are covered. There is very little in the book that deals specifically with one or the other and so the two versions of the program are presumably very similar in how they work. The book can therefore be used regardless of which of the two systems you use and would continue to be useful if you decided at some time to switch from one to the other or if you use both on different computers. Photoshop Elements is a quite sufficient program for graphics that does not involve professional printing at the end of the process and this book demonstrates how you can do almost everything relating to manipulating photos with Elements that you could do with the full version of Photoshop (the one or two things that the equivalent book for Photoshop covers that are not covered here are things that you would be unlikely to want to do in the first place).

The one area where this book is lacking in information is when it comes to using the program for graphics work that doesn't involve photos. As the book makes clear, the main difference between this program and the full version is the lack of the CYMK colour mode and so the program ought to be able to be used for a lot of things that don't involve photos however there is little in the book relating to use of the program for creating graphics that are not photos.

The 'Missing Manual' for PSE-11 is good on telling what the program will do but short on detailed instructions on how to accomplish the act. Even things which are relatively simple have incomplete instructions (see moving photos into albums, or combining parts of different photos, or adobe photo mail, or moving RAW images into the Organizer, etc). There is no list of keyboard shortcuts which make using PSE-11 much simpler. It is still necessary to use Adobe tutorials or the Help sections. I would like a comprehensive section on setting preferences. The book is relatively poor on foreseeing problems the average user will encounter. The organization of the chapters is very good. The descriptions of what PSE-11 can perform is excellent. I think it is a worthwhile purchase for a user with moderate experience using previous versions of Elements.

Like most geeks ( and I don't use that term disparagingly) the author knows her stuff, but is incapable of presenting the material to a novice. It is not important to me to know the historical perspective of past versions of Elements nor what the differences are between Windows and Mac versions nor why Elements 11 is better than versions, etc. I just want to know how to use it. Not interested in comparisons. I have a Mac so make a Mac version of the book. At the least put both versions in one binding with Windows on one half and Mac on the other (like spanish/english versions of owners manuals). This book is a quagmire for someone who wants to enter the world of digital photography. My head is spinning with files, stacks, rooms, tags, panel bins, media rooms, and on and on and on. This was worse than a waste of money and I would give it no stars if that were possible.

If you were fluent in previous versions of Elements and just want to get up to speed with this version this book is for you. If you are new to Photoshop Elements this book is a house of horrors. It is as if they are trying to teach grammar to an infant that does not yet know how to speak.

Clarity, brevity, and a step by step method are what I wanted. My search continues.

This is more of an essay on the virtues of Photoshop Elements 11 rather than a how-to guide. I recently bought Elements, and it works great. I have used an old version of Photoshop for years so the transition was fairly simple. However some of the Photoshop features are still a mystery to me, like doing layers. So I bought this book hoping to get some answers. it tells me I can make layers of photos and do all sorts of amazing things, but never explains how. So layers remains a mystery.

Brundage's PSE11 "Missing Manual" is a "must have" tool for almost all of us. If you are an expert in PSE than you don't need this manual and you are probably wasting your time in Elements and should move on to the full version. She clearly describes each process and tells you not only the "how" but the "why" involved with that process. I started with PSE5, went to 9, and I am now on 11. I thought I understood about 50% of the processes but reading through this book helped me realize my knowledge was probably closer to 25%. I found her writing easy to understand, both for someone with past experience and for those with limited or no experience. Did I like spending the extra dollars? Absolutely not, but with no written manual provided you need a reference guide. The video tutorials are good, but limited. I have used other manuals including the "Dummies" series. This one is the most complete and best by far.

. . . to get the best out of the product, and with (I suspect) only as many "jokes" as O'Reilly insist on. If you need it it's here and if it's not here you don't need it. If you only buy one book on this or any other version of Elements make it this one.

I add that the print version is well bound and robust, which is always a plus.

This book is absolutely necessary for learning PSE 11. There have been so many changes that it would be impossible without it. Adobe offers very little in the way of instruction and their site is very confusing.

This book is absolutely necessary for learning PSE 11. There have been so many changes that it would be impossible without it. Adobe offers very little in the way of instruction and their site is very confusing.

I bought this book a couple of months ago, only to ultimately discover that this book is a complete waste of time for my needs. Almost every attempt to seek answers is hopeless. Even if a needed answer is truly within its pages, the book's index is usually of no help.

Some of us will better accomplish learning Photoshop Elements 11 from a reference book of 1-2-3 steps. If I could be benefitted by the kind of information as is in this book, I would be better off investing in tutorial DVDs.

I love this book because it's a no-nonsense and comprehensive guide to how to effectively use Photoshop Elements 11 without the tiring, unnecessary and not funny side comments found in other books!

It's well written and shows the author's thorough knowledge of the subject, plus the book truly is a high quality print product.

If I have to nitpit, the book is heavy. But it does not matter, of course. What's important is that the book fulfills your expectations and functions as it should---the Missing Manual!

I highly recommend this book to users of Photoshop Elements 11.