Looking for some quick, meaty information about both photo editing and security among Apple devices? Peachpit Press, the publisher for many of my books, posted excerpts from my two most recent books. These are full chapters, packed with a lot of useful information.
First up, from The Connected Apple Family (co-authored with Dan Moren), is Chapter 4, Passwords and Security. You’ll learn about using iCloud Keychain, 1Password, working with strong passwords, finding lost devices, and more.
“Security” used to refer solely to one’s physical safety, such as having good door locks and perhaps a home security system. But in our modern world of hacks and malware and phishing, security increasingly focuses on the important information stored on your computer and devices. You can take concrete steps to keep burglars out of your house, but if a malicious entity steals your credit card information—usually from a hacked retailer, not directly from you—your bank accounts could be drained without you even knowing about it.
Understand at the outset that we’re not going to sugarcoat security in this chapter. The days when you could choose a pet name as a password, or use the same password for more than one Web site or service, are long over. Security is now a fact of daily digital life.
The good news is, you’re not powerless against these threats. In fact, employing good passcodes, using the security features of iOS and OS X, and making a few smart decisions ahead of time goes a long way toward keeping you and your family members safe from technological threats.
Next, from Photoshop Elements 13: Classroom in a Book, comes Chapter 4, “Image Editing Basics for Photoshop Elements 13.” (Note that the excerpt does not include the image files for the lesson; those are available after you purchase the book.)
This lesson begins with an overview of the core concepts behind image correction, and then introduces a range of quick and easy techniques to help you get more from your photos in just a few clicks:
- Making quick and easy edits in the Organizer
- Batch-processing photos and using automatic fixes
- Understanding the histogram, levels, and white balance
- Making Quick Fix adjustments
- Working in Guided edit mode
- Applying editing presets selectively with the Smart Brush
- Correcting an image using Smart Fix
- Working with camera raw images
Both books’ chapters can also be downloaded as PDFs, so you can get a feel for what the book (or PDF ebook) looks like. Click one of the following:
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