Photoshop Elements is Adobe's photo-editing software for amateur photographers, digital imaging enthusiasts, and small business users. As the name implies, Photoshop Elements is built around core elements of Adobe Photoshop, excluding some advanced, professional-level features and adding unique features for photo-hobbyists. It includes a fully featured photo editor, photo organizer, project templates, artwork and themes, and sharing options.
Description
- Photoshop Elements has everything most people need to organize, edit and share digital photos.
- The Organizer and Editor are divided into activity-based tabs where you can Organize, Edit, Create, and Share photos.
- Organizer lets you organize your photos and videos with keyword tags, then search and share them in Creations.
- Creations include slide shows, video CDs, cards, email, calendars, online albums, photo books, and photo layouts.
- Offers Basic and Advanced modes for creations so you can create something quick in basic mode, or go advanced to fully customize your creations with all editing tools and options.
- Quick Fix lets you crop, fix red eye, adjust lighting & color, and sharpen with a before/after view.
- Standard editing tools for correcting and enhancing photos, drawing, painting, selecting, and adding text.
- Support for multiple layers, layer styles, layer masks, and adjustment layers provides editing flexibility.
- The Guided Edits feature provides fun and useful photo edits in an easy to use, step-by-step presentation, which advanced users can customize further in full edit mode.
- Share photos and videos on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, SmugMug, Kodak, and Photoshop.com.
- Automatically analyzes photos for content and tags them based on attributes such as faces, focus, quality, and so on.
- Mac and Windows versions are on the same release cycle and are shipped together in the same box.
Pros
Text on a Custom Path is a new feature of Photoshop Elements 10. (click for full size)
© Adobe- Bundles photo organizing, editing, and sharing into a complete package.
- Balances ease of use and flexibility. It's beginner friendly but not oversimplified.
- Based on more than two decades of Photoshop development by Adobe, the leader in digital imaging software.
- Photoshop.com integration provides backup and "anywhere access" to your photo collection.
- One of the most flexible and easy to use photo editors for its price range.
- Digital scrapbookers will enjoy new creative text options - text on a shape, text on a path, text on a selection.
- Organizer is included on the Mac, since version 9.
Cons
- Advertisements for upgrades throughout the program can be annoying.
- People recognition and auto-analysis don't work all that well, though this was improved in version 9.
- Launching the software is slow, and the Organizer often bogs down with large photo collections.
Overview of Photoshop Elements
Visual Search in Photoshop Elements 10 Organizer can help you find photos which are similar. (click for full size)
© AdobePhotoshop Elements incorporates many of Photoshop's powerful features without being too overwhelming to the novice user. A guided editing mode helps users get started, and automated features simplify many tasks. The user interface is friendly to beginners, but not "dumbed-down" to the point that it frustrates experienced users. Photoshop Elements also includes a photo organizer, drag & drop photo creation layouts and artwork, and many sharing options, which makes it a convenient all-in-one solution for photo hobbyists.
These are the main new features of Photoshop Elements 10, which I discuss in more detail on the following page:
- Visual Searches
- Facebook Friends integration for face tagging
- YouTube upload
- Text on a path
- Crop guides
- New Guided Edits
- New Smart Brush effects
- PDF and JPEG export for creations
