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If this book were included with the CDs for the program, there would have been no need for other books to have been published.
If you want to learn to use the most popular photo-editing program of all time, look no further than this "here's-how" presentation. Laid out in an easy to follow and easier to understand format, this book tells and illustrates doing the most basic and the more challenging tasks using Elements.
It goes beyond the simple presentations in other books to tell you not only how to do a project the way Adobe intended, but how to do the task in an easier way.
The 19 chapters and 3 appendices are divided into 7 parts, making it even easier to learn in a systematic fashion a program that has so much to offer the novice and the expert photo editor.
"Part 1: Introductory Elements" gets the reader grounded in the fundamentals of the work space layout, tools and palettes.
"Part 2: Importing, Managing, and Saving Your Photos" makes file management seem the easy task it is - if one plans ahead and follows that plan.
"Part 3: Rotating & Resizing Photos" gives the step-by-step of doing two of the most common, but least understood, activities with those precious digital memories.
"Part 4: The Quick Fix" reveals how rapidly one can make photo repairs using the palettes in this valuable Elements option.
"Part 5: Making Selections" reveals the basics of advanced photo editing. It makes a difficult concept seem like the easy procedure it can be.
"Part 6: Layers: The Heart of Elements" shows how the layers make editing the fun task it is. Everything from creating layers to linking, merging and hiding are shown in an easy-to-understand fashion.
"Part 7: Basic Image Retouching" makes cleaning up those old, abused photos in that shoe box a snap.
"Part 8: Elements for Digital Photographers" makes white balance, RAW conversion, and file renaming seem like basic elements in understanding the digital camera's world.
"Part 9: Retouching 102: Fine-Tuning Your Image" takes the committed editor steps further into improving and enhancing those salvaged photos.
"Part 10: Removing and Adding Color" shows quick, effective ways to convert all or parts of photos from color to grayscale (also known as black-and-white) or from grayscale to color.
"Part 11: Creating Panoramas and Correcting Perspective" take the digital photo world to the next level. Where others take photos of parts of a landscape, these chapters show you how to make that landscape come alive.
"Part 12: Drawing with Brushes, Shapes, & Other Tools" moves the reader from photos to graphic creation and enhancements.
The remaining chapters take you into a world of possibilities that you may never have imagined learning - and, most importantly, doing.
Your previous evaluation of your photo-editing skills may have been elementary; but, after reading and using this manual, you will be elevated to levels you never believed yourself capable of achieving.
If you want to get a results-oriented, possibilities-enriched photo-editing program, buy Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.
If you want to conquer the potentials of that program, buy, read and use this "Missing Manual."