My Version of the "Basics of Editing" - Part I

To date, I do all of my editing with Photoshop Elements.  I'm currently on version 11, but if you're working with a previous or a newer version, this should all work pretty much the same.  In this post I'm going to cover the very first steps that I do each and every time.

Before we get started let me point out that I always work in "Expert" mode (across the top). Not because I'm an expert (by any means), but because "Quick" has only the very basics, which are also in "Expert" and I see no reason to waste time flipping from one to the other. (There are some fun things in the "Guided" section that we'll explore another time.)

So the very first thing I do once I open an image, is go to "File" and then "Duplicate".  The reason for this is you NEVER want to alter your original image. ALWAYS work from a copy and keep the original safe for future use if needed.

You'll then get a screen asking you to name the new image.  Once you've named it and hit "OK", you should close your original.  Yes, just get it off the screen before you confuse the two and end up altering them both (And yep, I learned this lesson the hard way!).

Next we're going to take it one step further.  From your layers panel (to the right of your screen & if it's not showing you may have to select it), take your mouse, grab your background layer and drag it up (or down in some of the previous versions) to the "create a new layer" symbol.  

You should now have a screen that looks something like this.  Only one image opened, with two identical layers in the panel.

It is now past my bedtime and I might turn into a toad.  Part II coming up - hopefully tomorrow.