SEBASTOPOL, Calif. -- After more than two years, Adobe has finally released a new version of Photoshop Elements for the Mac. With Version 6, Mac users get a lot more editing firepower. And fortunately, O'Reilly's latest release -- Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual for the Mac (O'Reilly, $39.99) by bestselling author Barbara Brundage -- puts every new feature in Elements into a clear, easy-to-understand context. Something no other book on Elements does.

"Elements is wonderful software, but there's a lot going on. I wanted to help people find their way around the program and to understand some of the great things they can do with it," says Brundage, the author of O'Reilly's bestselling Missing Manuals about Photoshop Elements.

"As primarily a Mac person, it was a real treat to write a Mac book for a change," continues Brundage. "It's been a long time since Adobe released a Mac version of Elements. That means there are lots of new features in Elements 6, so even if you're pretty handy with the older versions of Elements for Mac, you're going to have some new stuff to learn. This Missing Manual is the most complete reference book available."

And, she adds, "It's also nice to have a book that's all Mac all the time, if you're using OS X. You don't have to jump around and ignore parts of a book that cover Windows-only features."

Brundage, whose day job is playing the harp and arranging music, never planned on becoming an authority on Elements, one of the world's most popular photo-editing programs. Yet as an Adobe Community Expert, a member of Adobe's prerelease group and author of five Missing Manuals about Photoshop Elements, she's clearly secured her position as a leading Elements' expert.

In this timely new book, Brundage explains why Photoshop Elements 6 is perfect for scrapbooking, making fancy photo collages and creating Web galleries. She provides clear instructions for using all the new features including Guided Edit for performing basic editing tasks, the improved Photomerge feature, the handy Quick Selection Tool and much more. Even better, she covers not only how the tools and commands work, but also when to use them.

With this book, readers learn how to:

• Import organize and fix photos quickly and easily

• Repair and restore old and damaged photos and retouch any image

• Jazz up their pictures with dozens of filters, frames and special effects

• Use the tools the pros use

• Create collages and photo layout pages for greeting cards and other projects

• Get downloadable practice images and try new tricks right away

As always, author Brundage details which Elements features work well, which don't and why -- all with wit and humor. So don't hesitate: Now that Adobe's outstanding photo editor has been updated for the Mac, dive in with Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual for the Mac right away.

Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual for the Mac is available via the Imaging Resource Amazon affiliate program at a 34 percent discount.