Photoshop Elements /
Organizer / 1 - Basics
The Organizer is only found in Windows versions of Photoshop
Elements.
Mac versions of Photoshop Elements have
Bridge.
Clean the House, First
Before you organize your photographs, you may want to find
and delete duplicate photographs.
Go to Duplicates:
Find & Delete.
Like a Card Catalog
The Organizer is like a card catalog.
The Organizer contains "cards," links to your photographs.
Your photographs are not located in the Organizer.
Your photographs are sitting in the "stacks," your folders in
My Pictures.
Where's the File?
You have a thumbnail of a photograph in the Organizer.
But, you may not know where the actual file is located in My
Pictures.
To determine where a file is located, select Folder Location
in the box in the lower-left corner of the screen.
The pathway to the file will appear above the thumbnail of the
photograph.
Once You Start Using the Organizer . . .
. . . use it for just about everything.
Use the Organizer to delete and move your files.
Don't go to My Pictures and delete or move files between folders.
If you do, the Organizer won't know what you've done.
If you need transfer your photographs to a flash drive for class,
go to
How to Transfer Photographs to a Flash Drive Using the Organizer.
Open the Organizer
To open the Organizer from the welcome window, click View and
Organize Photos.
If you're using the Quick Fix or Full Edit (Standard Edit) sections,
click Photo Browser (4.0) or Organize (5.0) in the shortcuts bar
toward the top of the screen.
Go to a view of the entire
Organizer screen.
Experiment with a Few Photographs
You may want to experiment with the Organizer with just a few
photographs.
Go to File > Get Photos > From Files and Folders.
Select a folder that has just a few files.
Use these photographs to:
• Become familiar with how the Organizer works.
If you make a mistake, it's just with a few photographs.
• Figure out albums/collections, tags, and captions, all of which will
be described below.
By doing some "drafts," you'll find the best configuration for
your needs.
Then, start to bring the rest of your photographs into the Organizer.
Get Your Photographs -
Those Already in My Pictures
You probably already have photographs located in folders in My
Pictures.
How do you get them into the Organizer?
Select by Searching
The Organizer can search your computer for photographs.
Go to File > Get Photos > Select By Searching.
However, you may be flooded with thousands of photographs.
You may want to move your photographs into the Organizer folder
by folder.
From Files and Folders
Go to File > Get Photos > From Files and Folders.
Get Your Photographs - New Ones
You can continue to use your existing method for transferring
photographs from your camera to your computer.
After transferring the photographs, go to their folder in My
Pictures.
Do so by going to File > Get Photos > From Files and Folders.
However, you can use Photoshop Elements to transfer your photographs.
Let's say you're a travel photographer.
You've just returned from photographing many restaurants in France.
Connect your camera or card reader to your computer and turn
the camera on.
The Photoshop Elements Photo Downloader window will open.
If other windows appear, such as a Windows Easy Play window,
close them by clicking Cancel.
If the Photoshop Elements Photo Downloader window doesn't appear,
go to File > Get Photos > From Camera or Card Reader.
There are two areas on the Photo Downloader window, Source and
Import Settings.
Source
The source for your photographs can be your camera, hard drive
(C:), a disc drive, or a flash drive.
Import Settings
Location
Click Browse to select the destination folder for your photographs.
You can open the Organizer automatically after the transfer if
you select Open Organizer When Finished.
Create Subfolder(s)
You can choose to create a subfolder in the destination folder.
Rename Files
If you wish, you can rename all of the files.
For example, DSC_123 can be renamed as Paris_123.
You can automatically download any new photographs by selecting
Automatic Download.
Delete Options
The default setting is After Copying, Do Not Delete Originals.
This setting allows you to confirm that the photographs have
transferred successfully.
After checking, reformat your memory card in your camera to delete
the files.
If you click Advanced Dialog in the lower-left corner of the
window, you can:
• Fix red eyes as the photographs are transferred.
This slows the transfer, so if you know there are no photographs
with red eye, deselect the option.
• Suggest grouping of photographs into stacks, which will described
below.
• Tag all of the photographs with the group custom name, if you
created such a name in the Create Subfolder(s) box.
• Enter your name and copyright into the metadata of each photograph.
Once you've made your choices, click Get Photos at the bottom
of the Photo Downloader window.
