The Hidden Power Of Photoshop Elements 4 (2006)

Author's Acknowledgments

Many people who have helped with this book will likely never suspect that they did so, and, quite honestly, I don’t know them well enough to name them. The list ranges from rustic tour guides, to people I’ve met in passing at camera stores and eBay auctions, to people who participate in image editing forums on the Internet, to those who post book reviews and mentions, to people at work who might ask the most innocent questions about images and cameras. Any time I am forced to consider results and what people are trying to achieve in their images, it helps me look back to where I was years ago when trying to learn image editing. A grand thanks to all the readers who purchased previous versions of the Hidden Power book and Hidden Power tool sets, those who have downloaded the free tools or purchased tools, and those who visit the website (www .hiddenelements.com). Your visits and activity confirm for me and assure the publisher that there really is a market of advanced Elements users.

The list of people I can name who help day-to-day remains much the same. My wife, Lisa, and children, Julia and Isabel, provide pointed critique, patience in allowing the work to go on, and dexterity in avoiding collisions with the by-product debris that accu­mulates in piles during the project, and they show enough interest in the result (whether faked or real) to help make the writing seem less isolated.

Thanks to companions in “the business”: Al Ward (www.actionfx.com), Greg Georges (www.reallyusefulpage.com), Fred Showker (www.graphic-design.com), Doug Nelson (www .retouchpro.com), and Barbara Brundage. Thanks to those at the beginning (Stephanie Wall, Mitch Waite, and Beth Millett), those in the middle (Bonnie Bills), and the present Sybex/Wiley crew (Pete Gaughan, Walt Dietrich, Mark Clarkson, Daria Meoli, Linda Recktenwald, and Dan Brodnitz). Contracts be damned, Jeff (Schultz).

A round of applause for the chroma key backdrop: Sam, Murphy, Mom, Stephen L., Todd Jensen, Kevin H., Robert Blake, Larry Woiwode, Alan R. Weeks, Tony Zenos, Luke DeLalio, Rabelaise, Beckett, and various Nardecchias and Hongs. A blurry one out there to Vincent T. L.

About the Author

After graduating from college with an MFA in writing and separate careers as a chef, a college teacher, and a freelance development editor, Richard Lynch spent five years as senior editor and designer for a how-to photography book publisher, learning the ins and outs of book production and image editing. Over those years he designed and edited 40 books on various facets of photography, from the basics of taking pictures and through the nuances of professional lighting, special effects, and infrared photography, gaining an intimate knowledge of the business and art of photography.

Since moving on to a full-time job in communications, information management, and web development, Lynch has written six books on digital imaging, including The Hidden Power of Photoshop CS and The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 3, between being a columnist for Digital Photography Techniques, teaching digital art classes at local colleges, and enjoying digital photography. For freelance design work (CDs, books, websites, and other graphics) and writings on digital imaging, he uses Sigma dSLR cameras, LinoHell scanning equipment, and both Mac and PC computers.

Glad to move away from analog equipment that he’d been using since his first experi­ence dabbling in darkroom arts in grade school, Lynch has been working with digital images since 1986 and with Photoshop full time (50+ hours a week) since 1992.
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