GoFlex Slim Performance USB Drive
Seagate
$100 for 320GB
It’s not the least expensive or the highest capacity external hard drive, but it is the slimmest, and it does have good performance on both Mac and Windows computers. You need to reformat GoFlex Slim using an idiosyncratic NTFS method specified by Seagate to achieve optimum Mac/PC compatibility. MyMac recommends you do this immediately after purchase.
What’s wrong with Adobe Photoshop Elements 9?
Not much. It’s almost perfect.
I teach Photoshop Elements. I have used every version for Macintosh and Windows from 1 through 9. I am very familiar with this excellent application for editing and enhancing digital images.
Adobe tweaks each incremental upgrade to Photoshop Elements, or PSE, to improve the user experience and to stimulate sales of a software product that was just fine in the previous release. Most of the major features of PSE9 were in place in the landmark version 1, which indicates there is much to applaud about PSE during its entire life cycle.
For its modest price, PSE has exceptional value. Only a tiny percentage of amateurs require the robust professional and costly experience of “real” Photoshop CS, currently in version CS5.
Nemo’s Ten Point Tutorial Number 11
Photoshop CS5 Workflow for Beginners — #1 — Off-color holiday food under glass
When taking a photograph indoors where light is artificial and inaccurate to the eye, don’t worry about in-camera color balance unless you know what you are doing. Available light photos are easier to improve via Photoshop CS5 than images made using a flash.
Below is my original JPG taken full frame with a steady hand inside a high end grocery store. I liked the bizarre irony of the subject matter and the linear chaos of the composition. I wanted to include the butcher’s hand reaching for some chicken apple spice sausages, but he wouldn’t cooperate, and I didn’t want to get thrown out of the store.
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Travel Monster! I’m not talking about Godzilla wreaking havoc on Tokyo and moving on to Osaka, but people that spend a lot of time out and about and want the best overall experience from their road gear. So many decisions to make about what to keep and what to leave behind. Because of the nature of portable computing, there are certain sacrifices that have to be made, but for those of us fortunate enough (or smart enough) to have chosen the Mac platform, those choices don’t have to be nearly as painful as they’re sometimes made out to be.
The nature of my former job required that I travel.. A lot. It didn’t actually entail that I use a laptop or computer programs while in route, or at my hotel, but I did enjoy carrying my Mac computer everywhere with me. What do I do with it while on the road? Depends on where I am and how long I’ll be gone. If I’m going to be gone for more than a few days, I might need to use GarageBand to record the “Dashboard Minute” for the MyMac.com podcast. If it’s family related travel, I’ll need to download pictures from a digital camera or DV camcorder. More about what you might want to do with all this gear in another article.
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Scrapbooking with Photoshop Elements: The Creative Cropping Cookbook
by Lynette Kent
Sybex Press
ISBN 0-7821-4377-6,
175 pages plus three endpaper pages of laminated tear-apart tutorial cards
Price: $29.99 US, $41.95 CN, £19.99 UK
There’s a lot to like in the early chapters of this friendly, inviting reference and tutorial book. How often do we see introductory text dealing with principles of design and color theory, with a presentation that doesn’t require a wall of post-graduate diplomas to comprehend?
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The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2
By Richard Lynch
Company: Sybex, Inc.
ISBN 0782141781, 292 pages
Price: $40.00 US, $64.00 CN, £29.99 UK
http://www.amazon.com
Now I’ve done reviews of Photoshop Elements 1 & 2, and I’ve also reviewed books on Photoshop Elements and thought I’d gotten quite familiar with the software, its uses, capabilities and limitations. Yet as I began to read Richard Lynch’s book, I began to understand what he meant by the “Hidden Power” of Photoshop Elements 2.
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Having just reviewed Photoshop Elements 2, it wasn’t hard to make the transition over to reviewing books on PSE 2. Despite having a great help system built in and terrific online information available, there are always those moments when questions will pop up when you’re involved with something in PSE 2 that you just wish you had a book to look through just to make sure. Well, I have four books that are designed for users of PSE 2 from the beginner level up through advanced concepts. So take a few minutes to read through the four titles to see if you’ve found one that just suits your needs. Also take the time to check online to check out sample chapters and for great pricing on the books!
Photoshop Elements 2 for Dummies
By Deke McClelland and Galen Fott
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
ISBN 0-7645-1675-2, 388 pages
$21.99 US, $32.99 CN, £16.50 UK
Let’s be honest… sitting down and reading any how-to book on any software application program can at times be dry, to say the least. Thankfully Deke McClelland and Galen Fott have taken PSE 2 and approached it with a sense of humor that makes reading their Dummies book quite enjoyable.
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Photoshop Elements
Company: Adobe
Price: $99.00 (Rebates Available)
http://www.adobe.com
Back in August of 2001 I reviewed Photoshop Elements and was impressed with what Adobe had presented to computer users in its then new product. Adobe Photoshop Elements had taken up a position between the low-end PhotoDeluxe and the ultimate Photoshop, offering a mid-range product in both pricing and capabilities for Mac users. Photoshop Elements definitely also made the learning curve a heck of a lot easier for the new or average user.
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Photoshop Elements
Company: Adobe
Price: $99.00
Upgrade price: $69 following $30 mail-in rebate (PhotoDeluxe, Photoshop LE or Corel PHOTO-PAINT)
http://www.adobe.com
I’m sure that a lot of you have discovered the joys of taking pictures with a new digital camera. By now you’ve also probably discovered that the software that came with the camera just doesn’t seem to be able to do what you want it to do. Well, for those of you who can’t afford to run out and buy Photoshop, Adobe has provided you with an alternate software program that will do what you need it to do, and at a price that most people can afford.
Adobe Photoshop Elements has taken up a position between the low-end PhotoDeluxe and Photoshop, offering a mid-range product in both pricing and capabilities for Mac users. If any of you have ever tried to use Photoshop, you are well aware that it is not that easy a product for someone to sit down and use just by doing. You really do need to read the manual and preferably, get a well-written how-to book on Photoshop and practice, practice, practice. Photoshop Elements has definitely made the learning curve a heck of a lot easier for the new or average user.
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