Here is a video demonstartion shows how Photoshop Elements’ Group Shot tool can help you salvage group photos where it was hard to get everyone to take a good picture at the same time.

The tool is easy to use once you see how it is done. By the way, this is just one of the many tools we will be using in the Photoshop Elements 8 Editing Tools class I’ll be teaching at PVNET in January. To find out more about the class and how to register, CLICK HERE.

Here is the link to the Video. You will need the Apple Quicktime Player installed on your computer.

Photoshop Elements 8 comes with two new features that may be useful, but can cause new users some problems. These features are the Auto Analyze function and the ablilty to automatically backup your photos to Photoshop.com and/or sync your catalog with another computer.

Both of these are a drain on your computer resources, and the backup/sync can cause a new user problems. I do not use either of these features, although I do use Photoshop.com to share my photos.

I have included a short video here that demonstrates how to turn these features off if they are not already deactivated. First, open PSE 8 in the Organizer mode. Then on the Menu bar, click on Edit > Preferences > Backup/Synchroniztion. CLICK HERE to view the video.

Even after you turn these features off, you will still get a message that pops up randomly on photos asking “Who’s this?” This can also be turned off by clicking on Edit > Preferences > Tags and Albums > People Recognition Hints > Hide.

Don

As promised, I have removed the password protected pages for the fall classes for both the South Bay Adult School and the Torrance Adult School. The handouts for PVNET will be available for another week.

Registration for all three schools is currently active for the upcoming winter term.  For the PVNET Photoshop Elements 8 Tools Workshop class I’ll be teaching beginning in January you can CLICK HERE or click on the PVNET Page tab above. 

Don

Before I get to the subject, I want to remind all of you that winter registration for the South Bay Adult School and mail-in/fax registration for Torrance has started with walk-in due to start December 7th.

Additionally, I will be teaching another new class for PVNET that differs substantially from any course I teach at SBAS or Torrance. Click on the appropriate tab above to find out more.

 Those of you who have taken my Photo Projects class know that two of the programs we work with are Movie Maker and Photo Story 3. With the introduction of Windows 7, things are changing for these two programs. In the following I summarize a few of the points discussed in an article by PapaJohn,the well known exert/author regarding all things Movie Maker.

http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/video/articles/25282.aspx

Starting with Photo Story 3, it appears that Vista is the end of the road for this program. It can not be installed on Windows 7. There is a way to get it to run in Windows 7, but it is not straightforward at all. I have it running on Win 7, but only because I did not do a complete reinstall when I upgraded to Win 7 from Vista.

For those of you who like/use Movie Maker, the situation is much better, but somewhat complicated.

It is clear that Live Movie Maker is the future. It’s part of the “Live” series of programs that Microsoft has introduced over the past couple of years. However as of right now, it does not have nearly all of the features that Movie Maker 2.1 (the flagship version) has yet. It can be downloaded for free.

Movie Maker 2.6, which can be downloaded for free runs on Win 7. However, it’s my understanding based on the referenced article, that it does not support acquiring video directly from a video camera, like Movie Maker 2.1 It does run on both Vista and Win 7.

Movie Maker 6 is the version that is part of the Vista operating system. It can be copied over to Win 7 and after some relatively complicated adjustments, I believe PapaJohn got it running on Win 7.

PapaJohn also got Movie Maker 2.1 to run on Windows 7, using some advanced computer magic. This is important, because it is this version that supports hundreds user written free profiles and effects. Eventually, similar user-written effects etc will be written for Win 7 compatible versions, but for now if someone is using these add-ins, the ability to continue using MM 2.1 in Win 7 is very important. I had loaded a few of these in MM 2.1 when I still had Win XP. I believe some are also working in Vista’s MM 6.

For most people, it seems the best path to follow is to download the free MM 2.6 for use in Win 7, or use Live Movie Maker, which is bound to have features added as time goes on.

Winter session registration for the Torrance Adult Adult School begins December 7th for Mail-In Only, and walk-in registration begins December 16th.

 I now have my digital photography class schedules for the winter term for both the South Bay Adult School and the Torrance Adult School at Griffith. The easiest way to see the schedules from here is to click on their respective links in the Blogroll in the right column. The winter term starts in early January for both schools.

I will also be teaching classes at the PVNET Annex in January. Once I know the details, I will include a link.

The introduction to digital photography class that I have written about the last couple of weeks is now ready to accept sign-ups. For a brief description of the class and to sign-up for it, click here. That will take you to the  PVNET Annex site. At the bottom of the page, you will see a link to the digital photography class. There you will see a brief description of the class and a link saying “Click Here to Register”. Clicking on the link opens up a form that you fill out to register/pay for the class. Just follow the instructions on the screen.

Please note: Currently there is a typo as to the start date. The class starts on Monday, November 16th, not November 15th as shown.  

After you register, you will be provided a pre-class general information sheet that tells you what to bring and what to do prior to attending the first class. You can click here to see a preview of the sheet.

One of the more interesting new features in the PSE 8 Editor is the Recompose Tool. Basically this new tool allows you to crop from the center of an image. Or in other words, remove the space or objects between two people/objects of your photo. Here is a short demonstration on how to use this new feature. For best results, right click on the link below and select Save as….

Download the MOV file to your desktop or some other folder and play it from there.

PSE 8 Recompose Tool Tutorial

While you are here, take a look at the new class I’ll be teaching this month for PVNET.

Hello Everyone,

I am excited to announce a new class that I will be teaching in about three weeks for the Palos Verdes on the Net  (PVNET) organization. Since this class will be a basic introduction to digital photography, it may not be of interest to those of you that regularly follow my blog. However, you may have friends that are just beginning the journey into digital photography. I would appreciate it if you would let them know about the class. On the other hand, you may also be interested yourself, as a brief review.  Below is a basic description of the class:

Are you new to digital photography? Did you just get your first digital camera and are wondering what comes next? This class may be just what you are looking for. In the course you will begin by taking a series of pictures of Point Vicente Park and the PV coastline. During the course, you will use Photoshop Elements 8 to upload your pictures to the computer, organize them so they can be quickly found, improve their color and brightness, make a simple slide show and other creations, and finally learn how to share them via email, ordering prints, or uploading them to photo sharing websites.

As you can tell by the description, we cover a lot of ground. However, we do not go nearly as deep into any of the topics as we do in my normal classes. The whole idea is give the student a clear idea of what digital photography is all about. The added nice feature is that those taking the class will use the pictures they take on the first day of class throughout the rest of the course. What’s really cool as that basically stepping outside the class room, there is a great view of Catalina, Point Vicente Park and the Palos Verdes coastline.

Here are some of the details.

Working Title: An Introduction to Digital Photography – The Basics
When: Mondays, beginning November 16th from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon for five weeks
Where: PVNET Annex Computer Technology Center, located at 30940 Hawthorne Blvd., Rancho Palos Verdes, 90275. The Computer Technology Center is located adjacent to the Palos Verdes City Hall.

The cost of the  five week, ten hour course is approximately $50. The computer center has sixteen computers (so the class will probably fill up quickly) and provides an excellent learning environment. One of the features I really am looking forward to using is a program called Insight. With this program, I can beam my computer screen directly to each one of the student’s computer monitors. This makes it much easier for the student to see what I am demonstrating. And as stated in the description above, we will be using PSE 8. However, if you or your friends have earlier versions, don’t worry; they will work fine.

As far as I know this is the first public announcement for this class. The PVNET web site should show it soon with instructions on how to register. Also, look for a flyer inside the Daily Breeze in the next couple of weeks.

To find out more about how to register for the class, as well as an aerial map showing the location of the Annex Computer Technology Center, click here.

This opportunity to teach the class came up unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago, which explains why you may not see any reference to it yet on the PVNET web site. That should change very soon. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me of comment below. I will keep you posted of any new developments.

Take care,

Don

Just a quick note about the availability of Adobe’s Photoshop Elements 8. It has been available for download for about three weeks or so. A student told me that Amazon was taking preorders for shipment on October 22nd or 23rd, I believe.

Today, in the Fry’s fold in the LA Times, Photoshop Elements 8 was shown. There was no mention regarding its availability, so I am assuming it’s available now at Fry’s. The street price seems to be $70 after a mail-in rebate. Its price is probably not going to go any lower in the near future.