Adobe Announces Photoshop Elements 4.0 and Premiere Elements 2.0

Today Adobe announced the upcoming release of Photoshop Elements 4.0 and Premiere Elements 2.0 for Windows. Available in early October 2005, the two products can be purchased separately or in a bundle. Although it does not sound like a major upgrade for existing users, there are a few things in Photoshop Elements 4 that sound intriguing. I'm particularly interested in the auto red eye removal as photos are downloaded from the camera, and the face tagging feature that attempts to automatically find faces in your photos. Other new Elements 4 features include Magic Selection Brush, Skin Tone Adjustment, and Magic Extractor tools in the Editor. The Organizer has an enhanced date view and folder view, plus new sharing options. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some speed improvements, too. I'll have an updated review of Photoshop Elements 4 soon, but meanwhile you can read more details in the Adobe Press Release (continued).

New Photoshop Elements 4.0 for Windows Delivers More Editing Magic, Creative Sharing and Easy Photo Organization

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 27, 2005 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, a significant upgrade to the No. 1 selling consumer photo-editing software*. Photoshop Elements 4.0 delivers an impressive array of new ways for consumers to easily edit photos, show them off in creative and entertaining ways and always have them at their fingertips. Available for Windows, Photoshop Elements 4.0 is the software that consumers choose for quick, one-click fixes, in addition to more sophisticated editing techniques when they need advanced creative control.

Also today, Adobe announced the availability of Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 software, a complete home video-editing solution. Available as separate products or together in a single retail package, Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Plus Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 delivers the powerful and affordable software consumers need to be creative and delight friends and family with their digital photos and home videos.

More Editing Magic
Auto Red Eye Removal, Magic Selection Brush, Skin Tone Adjustment, and Magic Extractor join an already impressive list of consumers' favorite editing tools that fix common photography problems and expand creative control.

The improved Red Eye Removal now eliminates red eye automatically as photos are downloaded from the camera. The new Magic Selection Brush quickly selects specific parts of a photo for easy color, lighting, and contrast adjustments. The new Skin Tone Adjustment allows consumers to get more realistic skin colors in just moments. The new Magic Extractor easily removes subjects from photos, with advanced edge de-fringing, for scrapbooking and composites like placing a friend on a mountaintop, adding ancestors to a family portrait, and creating other fun combinations.

Breakthrough Organization
Simple search and intuitive tagging options make it easier to find and view photos in Photoshop Elements 4.0. Date View automatically arranges photos by date. The enhanced Folder View lets consumers move, create, or delete files and folders. The new breakthrough Face Tagging helps consumers find faces in their photos automatically so that they can easily tag them now and quickly find them later.

Showcasing and Sharing Photos
New sharing options include multimedia slide shows, which consumers can create in seconds, complete with multiple pans and zooms, easier soundtracks with narration, over 80 transition options, clip art and more. New one-click printing makes it simple to order professional-quality Kodak prints and beautiful hardbound photo books in seconds through easy-to-access, integrated online services.

Photoshop Elements 4.0 makes it simpler than ever to entertain a roomful of friends and family by showcasing photos on TV over home networks, Video CD, or DVD, for consumers who have both Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements.

Photoshop Elements 4.0 is part of a complete family of Photoshop products that meet the needs of a diverse spectrum of digital photographers: the free Photoshop Album Starter Edition for the novice digital camera user; Photoshop Elements for the digital photography enthusiast; and Photoshop CS2 for the professional or the most demanding amateur photographer. Each product offers more growth and creative control for customers, giving them access to award-winning technology and options for more sophisticated editing, organization and sharing options for their digital photos.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe's digital imaging and digital video products will be available in early October 2005 at www.adobe.com and other major electronics retailers including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Comp USA, Circuit City, Fry's, Staples, and Office Depot. Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 for Windows XP (Home, Professional with Service Pack 2 or Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005) for an estimated street price of US $99.99. Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Plus Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 for Windows is available as a bundle in the United States and Canada at an estimated street price of US $149.99.

Information about the other language versions, as well as pricing, upgrade, and support policies for other countries is available on www.adobe.com. For more information, customers can call 1-800-492-3623.

* Source: The NPD Group/NPD Techworld, September 2003 - May 2004

Related Articles on this Site:
• Photoshop Elements Review
• Photoshop Album Starter Edition
• Photoshop CS2 Review
• Comparison of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements
• Free E-Course: Organizing Your Photos with Photoshop Elements
• Photoshop Elements User Resources