Photoshop Elements offers several levels of editing, from simple one-click fixes to advanced color correction and compositing. The Organizer provides access to some basic photo-fixing features, but for detailed editing of photos, you need to switch to the Editor workspace.
In the Organizer, you can perform a variety of one-click fixes to make basic image adjustments: Auto Smart Fix, Auto Color, Auto Contrast, and Auto Sharpen, for example. You can even choose Auto Red Eye Fix to remove red eye from selected shots without having to manually edit the photos.
The Editor workspace provides three additional editing modes: Quick Fix, Guided Edit, and Full Edit. Quick Fix offers slider controls for adjusting lighting and color and sharpening entire photos or selected areas of photos. Full Edit mode provides a complete editing toolset and controls. Here, you can adjust the exposure of specific areas of a photo using professional darkroom tools such as dodge, burn, and sponge; fine-tune exposure with the enhanced Brightness/Contrast control, or use Color Curves adjustments to get the perfect exposure.
In Full Edit mode, you can also remove imperfections or unwanted elements, brush away wrinkles and flaws, and apply artistic filters and effects.
Any time you’re not sure how to proceed, switch to the Guided Edit mode, which provides step-by-step assistance on how to perform common tasks, such as rotating and straightening photos, correcting skin tone, and performing color corrections.
You can feel free to experiment, too, because you can undo or redo multiple steps with a click.