Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
ORGANIZATION STATION: SPECIAL TAGS
Elements starts you off with two special kinds of tags:
▪
Ratings
. These tags let you assign one- to five-star ratings to photos (a good way to mark the
ones you want to print or edit). Ratings are a great search tool, because you can tell Elements
to find, say, all your pictures rated four or more stars. To assign ratings, in the Organizer, go
to View→Details or press Ctrl+D/
⌘
-D, and then click the star under the photo's thumbnail
that corresponds to your rating (the third star from the left for a three-star rating, say); or you
can rate any photo in the Information panel's General section. To search by ratings, click the
appropriate star at the top right of the Organizer and then choose a qualifier (like “and high-
er”) by clicking the symbol to the left of the stars. You can search for all photos rated four
stars or higher, for instance, or those rated two stars or lower, and so on. To change or remove
a photo's rating, right-click/Control-click its thumbnail, choose Ratings from the menu that
appears, and then pick the number of stars you want. You can also change a rating by clicking
a different star under the image's thumbnail (if you're in Details view).
▪
Hidden
. When you apply this tag to a photo, the photo disappears from the Organizer win-
dow. The Hidden tag is useful for archiving photos that didn't come out quite right but that
you're not ready to trash; that way, you can save these pictures (just in case) without having
them cluttering up your screen while you're working with your good photos. To assign the
Hidden tag, right-click/Control-click a photo and choose Visibility→“Mark as Hidden.” To
bring it back, go up to the View menu and choose Hidden Files→Show All Files, or right-
click a visible photo and then choose Visibility→Show All Files; both methods make even
your hidden files visible. Then right-click/Control-click the photo again, and select Visibil-
ity→“Mark as Visible” to keep it in view. To put the rest of your hidden files back out of
sight, choose View→Hidden Files→Hide Hidden Files. See
only
your hidden files by going
to View→Hidden Files→Show Only Hidden Files.
When you create an album, you don't actually make a copy of all the photos included in it;
you just create a group of virtual “pointers” to each image so Elements knows where to find
them. That means albums can hold lots of pictures without taking up much space and, even
better, you can include the same picture in different albums. Also, photos in an album can ap-
pear in any order you choose, which is important if, for instance, you're preparing a
slideshow. Albums are divided into two main sections: Local Albums, which contain photos
stored on your computer, and Mobile Albums, which are for photos stored online via Adobe
Revel. (Revel is explained in the next section.)
Elements gives you several ways to create albums:
