Working in the Edit workspace of Photoshop Elements gives you choices about working with your files. You can set options for opening, saving, and exporting files by type, by file size, and resolution. You can also process and save camera raw files. These tools make it easy to combine files of different types and optimize them in Adobe Photoshop Elements.
In the Edit workspace, you can create a blank file, open a recently used file, specify which files types to open in Photoshop Elements, and more.
An additional option for working in the Edit workspace is to use the Guided Edit feature. Guided Edits helps you when you’re unsure of a workflow or how to accomplish a task. They empower users to complete complex editing workflows in a small number of easy steps.
You may want to create a web graphic, banner, or company logo and letterhead, in which case you need to start from a new blank file.
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Preset
Provides options for setting the width, height, and resolution of images that you intend to print or to view on‑screen. Select Clipboard to use the size and resolution of data that you copied to the clipboard. You can also base a new image on the size and resolution of any open image by choosing its name from the bottom of the Preset menu.
Width, Height, and Resolution
Sets these options individually. The default values are based on the last image you created, unless you’ve copied data to the clipboard.
Background Contents
Sets the color of the image Background layer. White is the default. Select Background Color to use the current background color (shown in the toolbox). Select Transparent to make the default layer transparent, with no color values—the new image will have a Layer 1 instead of a Background layer.
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You can also right-click the background of an image to choose a background color (gray, black, or a custom color).
You can open and import images in various file formats. The available formats appear in the Open dialog box, the Open As dialog box, and the Import submenu.
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To open a file from Elements Organizer, select it, click Editor in the task bar.
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Choose File > Open. Locate and select the file you want to open. If the file does not appear, choose All Formats from the Files Of Type menu. Click Open.
Click the Open drop-down (above the tool box). The Open drop-down is a list of recently opened files.
Drag an image from a folder on your computer or storage device, and drop it in the Editor.
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To drag additional images into the Application Frame to open them, enable floating document windows (see View and arrange multiple windows). Convert open images into floating document windows to view the Application Frame.
Portable Document Format (PDF) is a versatile file format that can represent both vector and bitmap data and can contain electronic document search and navigation features. PDF is the primary format for Adobe® Acrobat®.
With the Import PDF dialog box, you can preview the pages and images in a multipage PDF file, then decide if you want to open them in the Photoshop Editor. You can choose to import full pages (including text and graphics), or you can import just the images from a PDF file. If you import only the images, the resolution, size, and color mode of the images remains unchanged. If you import pages, you can change the resolution and color mode.

Each page is shown as a thumbnail. To increase the size, choose an option from the Thumbnail Size menu.
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To import just the images from a PDF file, choose the Images option from the Select area, in the Import PDF dialog box. Select the image or images you want to open. (To select multiple images, hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click each image). If you do not want to import pages, skip to step 5.
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To import pages from a PDF file, choose the Pages option from the Select area in the Import PDF dialog box, and then do any of the following:
If the file contains multiple pages, select the page or pages you want to open, and click OK. (To select multiple pages, press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click each page.)
Under Page Options, accept the existing name, or type a new filename in the Name box.
Select Anti-aliased to minimize the jagged edges as the image is rasterized (bitmapped).
Specify the Width and Height. Enable Constrain Proportions to avoid image distortion due to change in size.
For Resolution, accept the default (300 ppi) or type a new value. A higher resolution increases the file size.
Choose an option from the Mode menu (RGB to keep the photos in color, or Grayscale to automatically make them black and white). If the file has an embedded ICC (International Color Consortium) profile, you can choose the profile from the menu.
You can place pages or images from PDF files into a new layer in an image. Because the placed artwork is rasterized (bitmapped), you cannot edit text or vector data in placed artwork. The artwork is rasterized at the resolution of the file into which it is placed.
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Drag one of the handles at the corners or sides of the bounding box.
In the Tool Options bar, enter values for W and H to specify the width and height of the artwork. By default, these options represent scale as a percentage. However, you can enter a different unit of measurement—in (inches), cm (centimeters), or px (pixels). To constrain the proportions of the artwork, click the Constrain Proportions box. This option is on when the icon has a white background.
The Process Multiple Files command applies settings to a folder of files. If you have a digital camera or a scanner with a document feeder, you can also import and process multiple images. (Your scanner or digital camera’s software driver may need an acquire plug‑in module that supports these actions.)
When processing files, you can leave all the files open, close and save the changes to the original files, or save modified versions of the files to a new location (leaving the originals unchanged). If you are saving the processed files to a new location, you may want to create a new folder for the processed files before starting the batch.
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The Process Multiple Files command does not work on multiple page files.
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If you chose Folder as the destination, specify a file-naming convention and select file compatibility options for the processed files:
For Rename Files, select elements from the pop‑up menus or enter text into the fields to be combined into the default names for all files. The fields let you change the order and formatting of the components of the filename. You must include at least one field that is unique for every file (for example, file name, serial number, or serial letter) to prevent files from overwriting each other. Starting Serial Number specifies the starting number for any serial number fields. If you select Serial Letter from the pop-up menu, serial letter fields always start with the letter “A” for the first file.
For Compatibility, choose Windows, Mac OS, and UNIX® to make filenames compatible with the Windows, Mac OS, and UNIX operating systems.
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To attach a label to the images, choose an option from the Labels menu, then customize the text, text position, font, size, opacity, and color. (To change the text color, click the color swatch and choose a new color from the Color Picker.)
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The Watermark option enables you to add a permanent visual watermark to images. For more information, see Add permanent watermarks to a batch of photos.
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Select the Apply to All option, to apply the current action to all the files that are being closed. For example, if you choose Apply to All and click Yes to save the first file, all other open files are saved and then closed.