Tools

Zooms in or zooms out your image. The related tools shown in the Tool Options bar are Zoom In and Zoom Out. For more information about the Zoom tool, see Zoom in or out.

Moves your photo in the Photoshop Elements workspace. You can drag your image using this tool. For more information, see Viewing images in Expert or Quick modes. 

Moves selections or layers. For more information, see Move a selection.

Selects an area in your image in a rectangular box. Hold the Shift key to make the selection a square.

Selects an area in your image in an elliptical shape. Hold the Shift key to make the selection a circle.

Selects an area in your image in a free-form shape. 

Selects part of an image by selecting the high-contrast edges around a shape.

Draws straight-edged segments of a selection border.

Makes a selection based on color and texture similarity when you click or click-drag the area you want to select. 

Selects the area where you paint with the brush.

Selects the pixels with similar colors in a single click.

Adds or removes areas to and from a selection by automatically detecting the edges. For more information on this tool, see Edit and refine selections. 

Automatically makes a selection when you draw a shape around the object you want to select. 

Removes the red eye effect, pet eye effect, and corrects closed eyes in your photos. For more information about the tool, see Precisely remove red eye, Remove the Pet Eye effect, and Correct closed eyes.

Removes spots from your photos. For more information about this tool, see Remove spots and unwanted objects. 

Removes spots from your photo by selecting a part of your photo as the reference point.

Applies tonal and color adjustments to specific areas of a photo.

Paints the adjustment to specific areas of a photo just like a painting tool.

Paints with an image sample, which you can use to duplicate objects, remove image imperfections, or paint over objects in your photo. You can also clone part of an image to another image. For more information, see Clone images or areas in an image.

Paints with a pattern defined from your image, another image, or a preset pattern. For more information, see Use the Pattern Stamp tool.

Softens hard edges or areas in an image by reducing details. For more information, see Blur or soften edges. 

Sharpens a photo by focusing soft edges in the photo to increase clarity or focus. For more information on sharpening, see Sharpen an image.

Simulates the actions of dragging a finger through wet paint. The tool picks up color where the stroke begins and pushes it in the direction you drag. For more information on the tool, see Use the Smudge tool.

Changes the color saturation of an area. For more information on how to use the tool, see Adjust saturation in isolated areas.

Lightens areas of an image. You can use the tool to bring out details in shadows. For more information on the Dodge tool, see Quickly lighten or darken isolated areas.

Darkens areas of the image. You can use the tool to bring out details in highlights. For more information on the Burn tool, see Quickly lighten or darken isolated areas.

Creates soft or hard strokes of color. You can use it to simulate airbrush techniques. For more information about the tool, see Use the Brush tool. 

Changes the existing colors and details in your image so your photo looks like it was painted using stylized brush strokes. For more information about the tool, see Use the Impressionist Brush tool.

Simplifies replacing specific colors in your image. For more information about the tool, see Replace color in an image.

Erases the pixels in the image as you drag through them. For more information about the tool, see Use the Eraser Tool.

Turns color pixels to transparent pixels so that you can easily remove an object from its background. For more information about the tool, see Use the Background Eraser tool.

Changes all similar pixels when you drag within a photo. For more information, see Use the Magic Eraser tool.

Fills an area that is similar in color value to the pixels you click. For more information about the tool, see Use the Paint Bucket tool. 

Applies a fill or a pattern to your image, instead of using one of the brush tools. For more information, see Fill a layer with a color or pattern.

Fills in an area of image by a gradient. For more information, see Apply a gradient.

Copies or samples the color of an area in your photo to set a new foreground or background color. For more information about the tool, see Choose a color with the Eyedropper tool.

Provides different shape options for you to draw. When you select the Custom Shape tool, you can access these shapes in the Tool Options bar. 

Creates and edits text on your image.

Creates hard-edged freehand lines. For more information, see Use the Pencil tool.

Trims the part of an image according to the selection. For more information about the tool, see Crop an image.

Crops a photo into a shape that you choose. For more information about the tool, see Use the Cookie Cutter tool.

Transforms the perspective of a picture while cropping it. For more information about the tool, see Perspective Crop tool.

Intelligently resizes photos without changing important visual content, such as people, building, animals, and more. For more information, see Recompose a photo in Expert mode. For a step-by-step, guided method to recompose, see Recompose a photo in Guided mode.

Selects an object in your photo and moves the selection to a different location, or extends it. For more information about the tool, see Move and reposition objects.

Realigns an image vertically or horizontally. For more information about the tool, see Straighten an image.