Thanks everyone for the welcome messages. I've been lurking in another photo retouching forum for some time, but it was way over my head with no special place for beginners. I'm glad I found this place.

Here is a little about me, just so you will know. I'm a retired great-grandmother, and for many years my hobby has been rebuilding, repairing, and upgrading computers. I've had to give that up recently because of the lifting involved. Computers are heavy!

I missed my hobby, and was casting about for something I could do. It occurred to me that cameras aren't that heavy. I got my first camera when I was ten years old, but eventually wandered away from photography. Now I'm back into photography with a "new to me" digital camera, and loving it. That led to my current project of copying old family photos, which eventually led me here to this forum.


alpha

So glad you found us!!! This is a very friendly forum and full of people willing to help.

Alpha,

If you are learning Elements, one of the best places to start is to go over to the Challenge Section and look at Kimi's Homework Threads. Work thru some (all) of the weekly assignments - do them in any order. They are step-by-step -- perfect for a beginner.

Even if you don't think you have any interest in the subject for a particular week, do them anyway. This causes you to become familiar with all of the various tools, blend modes, selection methods, etc within Elements. You will be surprised at how fast you learn stuff.

The nice thing, all you have to do is ask a Q and somebody will jump in to help you out. I screwed around with Elements for over two years; never did really understand what I was attempting to do. Then I found the people on this forum and, boy, did my learning take off.

Rusty

Hey Alpha, welcome.

Welcome Alpha. You'll learn so much on this forum. I echo Rusty's advice to check out Kimi's Homework in the Challenge Section.

Anita

Welcome, Alpha. You will love it here. Everyone is SO helpful and very willing to share their knowledge.

Alpha,
Welcome to the friendliest spot on the net. You have questions.......we have answers.
Chas

Thanks again for the welcome messages everyone. Plus a special thanks for the tip about Kimi's Homework Assignments. I've found the first one, and downloaded the accompanying video. Now to try it out. The video goes pretty fast, so I'll try running the video and pausing it while I do each step, then moving to the next step. Now to select the photos to merge.


alpha

Learn layers, learn layers, learn layers.

The member's tutorial sections as well as the newsletters are another great resource. Welcome.