I get asked a LOT about which book to buy for help with Photoshop Elements. I know most people start with Scott Kelby’s books, however, his books are not at the top of my list. At the beginning of my PSE journey, I started with Scott’s book (for PSE 7), but I suffered through many a frustrated night. He meant well, but too many steps were missing.
After many, many tears and late nights, I finally starting catching on. Once I was down the road a good bit, I bought The Missing Manual for Photoshop Elements and found that book to be much more complete and comprehensive. I am not sure how I feel about it for a brand new beginner, but if you have your feet wet in PSE at all, I feel like it is a book that will answer more of your questions than any other PSE book.
Now, the second book I would recommend is Scott Kelby’s book on PSE, but only after The Missing Manual.
If you do not know already, Photoshop Elements 10 has just recently been release and fortunately, Barbara Brundage, author of the Missing Manuals for PSE, just came out with her newest version.
p.s. Just so I stay above reproach, the links included in this post are Amazon affiliate links. What does that mean? That means if you click over and buy a book or anything else, I get like 3% of the sales as a commission. Little bits here and there help me pay for hosting and other costs I incur to keep up Everyday Elements. Thank you!
GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED
Now, for an impromptu giveaway!!I just decided to give away on copy of The Missing Manual this week! To enter just leave me a comment telling me what you ate for supper last night!
- One entry per person
- Giveaway ends Friday, October 7th at 11:00 PM EST.
- Winner has one week to respond to my email, then alternate winner will be chosen
- Winner chosen via Random.org
The winner of the giveaway was Peggy, who had comment number 127, and she has been contacted (so if you are Peggy, check your inbox/spam folder).
About Amanda
I bought Elements a year ago and it still is in the box…new, unwrapped. I am sure I could use this .
And I ate chicken and rice. 😉
We had Duck and asparagus for dinner last night.
Last night we made hamburgers and tater tots and beans. Hubby barbecued. I have elements and don’t know what to do with it.
Hi, Amanda! Yesterday I busted out the crockpot and made some yummy potato soup and whipped up some garlic and herb scones! Love the fall and crockpots! <3 Thanks for the opportunity to win this! 🙂
Glazed pork chops w/apricot-ginger sauce, rice, and steamed broccoli.
We had Wendy’s….spicy chicken wrap to be specific. I am knee deep in Alaska vacation photos and wedding preparations for my daughter. I just upgraded to PSE 10 from 8. Like you, Scott Kelby has been my go to guy for all things Photoshop. I would like to give Missing Manual a try this time. A new approach would be interesting. Thanks!
Last night, we ate pesto pasta with shrimp – a favorite of my husband!
I am glad top hear about this book. I too feel that Scott’s book is great, but I really didn’t understand a lot of it. Maybe this will fill in the blanks.
oops, and I ate waffles, prepared by my daughter. yay!!
I had chicken with those corkscrew noodle things mixed with some basil pesto. I would love this manual. Still not understanding mask and layers, its hit and miss. Thank you so much!
Well, we ordered pizza from Papa Johns! BBQ Chicken (with onions and mushrooms instead of the bacon)! It was delicious. Just a side note, it was also what I had for breakfast. Yum!
Oh yay! We had baked chicken, limas, mashed potatoes, and biscuits. It was yum!
Would LOVE to have the book!!! Hope you are doing well and I am slowly but surely getting the hang of the Mac. Thank you for the post you did about batch processing! Made a world of difference when saving for the web and makes watermarking WAY easier.. SO thankful you are so knowledgeable and feel called to share with us!!! XO and blessings!
PS. We have Chicken, biscuits, mac and cheese, and mixed veggies. XO
Dinner last night was salad followed by a late night bowl of cheerios. Thanks for the book recommendation.
pork chops, mashed potatoes and carrotts/peas……..
I had creamy tomato and sausage pasta last night. Thanks for hosting this giveaway I could really use this book.
I made homemade lasagna last night….for the first time ever!! It was delicious and we are all alive today, so guess I did it right….lol
Natasha Nicholson
Precious Expressions Photography
Uh-oh….now I feel like I got caught! We had Burger King because I didn’t feel like cooking… 😉
We had bean tostados with rice. Thank you for doing a giveaway!
I had a craving for Thanksgiving dinner early and had some turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and rolls. MMM. Except I learned that I need to leave the cooking of the turkey to my husband. My son said it was hard like a book. I didn’t blame him. It was hard. 😀
Would love this book. I had mashed potatoes and baked salmon for dinner last night. Awesome!!!
White Chicken Chili…Yum!
I had pizza & wings from wild wings ! I was working late doing a photo session and my husband ordered dinner in ! I really need to get this book as I’m learning to use photo shop but the learning curve is huge and I know I’m spending wayyyyy to much time trying to get things done when I’d rather be shooting pictures !
Yummy Salad! I love the Missing Manual books. I have the one for the Version of Elements I have now(6.0), but I am planning on buying Elements 10 as soon as it comes to my local Best Buy. I have been putting off upgrading, but I am biting the bullet and getting this version and will, of course, need some help getting the most out of it 🙂
Shrimp Ceviche Tostadas
I made a cheeseburger pie! Sounds weird but it was actually very good!
i ate baked chicken!
We had chicken and rice for dinner last night. Surprisingly myself, my hubby and my 6 yr old daughter all liked it. Even my 10 month old son tried the rice. That’s a good night in my house. LOL
Last night- shameful.. Kentucky Fried chicken- I feel cheap and slutty now… but would love to win.. but if not Iam going to buy it.. and will use your link.. win either way!
maddie
For dinner on Tuesday night I had a Banana with a few pieces of dark chocolate with hot tea and a slice of bread …. eaten while editing photos with PSE9 .. I know I could put this book to immediate use and may even imporove my nutritional intake.
Last evening for dinner I had a roast beef, mushroom, and avacado wrap. With that I had some veggies!
Weight watcher points = 9!!
Nothing too exciting in this house: chick peas, avocado, tuna salad and rice. I’m too busy trying to understand Elements to make a good dinner! 🙂
I ate out and had Mexican shredded chicken quasadillias (sp). Yum! I also cannot wait to get my hands on PSE10! HUGS!
Broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl.. yum!
It sounds like a great book! Teryaki chicken, brown rice and steamed green beans 🙂
Fajitas!! 🙂 thanks for the giveaway!
Rotisserie chicken pasta salad and a handful of dark chocolate covered raisins
I made potato soup yesterday and that’s what I had for dinner.
I’m glad I found your blog today (blogging basics 101 shared on fb). I am planning to buy PSE 9 today! I just got a new computer and can’t find my disc for PSE 2 which was the last one I had. Guess I am waaayy behind! I will get PSE 9 and then if I don’t win your give away I will buy the book from here.
Thanks!
barbara
I ate an odd combination of 1/2 a pear, curry on rice, and seasoned barley. So odd sounding but so delicious!!
This book sounds great! I’ve been looking for a good “un-manual” for PSE!
I ate meatloaf….Jenny Craig meatloaf – still trying to loose some baby weight 🙂
Since it was my husband’s birthday we had his favorite dinner–hamburger gravy on mashed potatoes.
We had homemade pesto pizza with chicken. YUM. 🙂
Thanks for the steady stream of instruction.
We had eggplant chili, crusty bread & a glass of Merlot.
I had roasted turkey breast with sliced tomato, green onions and cottage cheese for dinner last night….. Got elements and trying to use it more.
Thanks for the opportunity…. what I do know , came from your site.
Last night I had frozen pizza and it was delicious…it was a long and hard day at work! Throwing something in the oven was all the energy I could muster…lol, actually my dh did it for once! Thanks for the chance to win. I definitely could use some serious help!
I had the most delicious roast – my husband grilled in rotisserie style. Perfectly done – one more meal he can take over as far as I’m concerned! Thanks for the chance. PSE 9 is on my birthday list, but I’ve been telling my husband that 10 is sure to come out shortly! I’ll be making the change to my list! Have a great day!
a ham sandwich!!! lol lame i know but my husby had a late lunch so he wasn’t hungry! so… why cook? 🙂
Last night’s dinner: homemade pesto sauce over whole wheat fettucini, sweet red pepper sauteed with onions and garlic in olive oil. No dessert.
I just bought PSE v. 9 a couple of weeks before they announced v. 10. They emailed me and said I could get v. 10, which came in the mail about a week or so later.
We had meatloaf last night, a new recipe that my husband wanted to try (from Weight Watchers book). He liked it, but I didn’t.
Well, I ran out of time to throw something in the crockpot, so it was Papa John’s for us!
We had homemade Beef & Barley soup with crusty sourdough bread. It was spectacular! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!