Software Review of:
Photoshop Elements 
Adobe 

Normally, installation of software is so smooth as to not be worthy of mention, but in this case, I ran into a problem and, my friends, it was all due to operator trouble. (I just don’t know what I did wrong.) I had closed all running programs and the CD went into autorun. I click, click, and clicked until I got to actual installation; then the hourglass appeared, disappeared and everything was gone — without an installation. I went through every method known — all five of the three different ways to do it — and nothing would install. I e-mailed tech support (they are only available M-F) and gathered everything together to return the software. Finally, my PC refused to even shut down, so I did a hard shut down and rebooted to the inevitable scandisk. It booted up fine so I ran defrag and then tried installing again and it installed as smooth as silk — nary a problem. Will PCs forever have the upper hand? By this time I had received my June PC Alamode and discovered that Paul Vaughn had done a terrific two-page review of Photoshop Elements. But as I read Paul’s review I decided that there is more to be said about Photoshop Elements and this additional information needs to come from a graphics creator wanna-be. 

Photoshop Elements has a number of key benefits. You can import photos from digital cameras and scanners; correct images with auto-straighten, auto-crop, and red-eye removal tools. It is possible to instantly adjust underexposed areas and magically erase backgrounds and place foreground elements in other compositions. You can adjust tone with darkroom-style tools; create surreal effects by twisting and pulling your images; automatically blend multiple images to form a panorama; and use the Web to order prints and greeting cards. The software comes with a 266 page, 13 chapter user guide that covers most aspects of using Photoshop Elements with one chapter completely on filters and another chapter completely on layers. (I believe that these two terms are the most puzzling terms in Photoshop for a novice.) The opening screen has a list of options to choose from including New, Open, Paste, Acquire, Tutorial, and Help. (Fig.1) At this screen I chose Tutorials. Under tutorials, there is a table of contents on the left side that includes most of what is in the User Guide plus the Photoshop Elements Tutorials. It is this second tutorial that is actually a step by step guide on how to use layers.

I started out with the tutorial and got no-where. I had to go back to Windows Explorer to find the files that the tutorial uses. Once I found those files, Photoshop Elements began to make sense. I worked through the practice session for layers and eventually had a picture that I was able to flatten into a single picture — that is all of the layers merged into a single picture. Once I got through the practice session, it was time to see if I could apply what I had learned to a picture of my own. My camera takes its pictures on floppy disks and I was quite pleased to see that Adobe Photoshop displays a thumbnail before I open the picture. I understand layers and how to use them, but there are so many tools in Photoshop that one is not going to use Photoshop to create pictures within the first 24 hours. Even though this software is advertised as being user-friendly, there is still a learning curve and one must have the patience to take the time to learn how to use it. I like Photoshop Elements and think that it has everything that I could possibly want and more, but for now I must have my mouse in one hand and the User guide in the other hand in order to become more proficient. I will keep using some of my other photo software until I have gained sufficient skill with Adobe Photoshop, but I believe that with practice and perseverance Photoshop may replace a lot of photo-editing software. Photoshop certainly allows for a tremendous amount of creativity.

Be sure to read Paul Vaughn’s column in the June PC Alamode for more information about the features in this new Photoshop product, how it differs from Version 6.0 and some excellent screen captures.

As Paul Vaughn mentioned, Adobe Photoshop Elements is available in a downloadable 30-day full demo from Adobe’s Web site . Photoshop Elements is also available at Best Buy, Circuit City, Comp USA and some office supply stores. I found my copy on sale at Best Buy for $79.99 with a $30 upgrade rebate bringing the price down to $49.99. The rebate is good if you own a licensed version of Adobe Photoshop LE, Adobe PhotoDeluxe, ArcSoft PhotoStudio, Corel Photo-Paint, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, Microsoft Photo Draw and Picture It, MGI PhotoSuite, and Ulead PhotoImpact and Photo Express. So you can see, nearly everyone who has photo-editing software will be able to take advantage of the rebate.  One caution though — the rebate requires a copy of the “copyright page of the user manual” from the software that you use to claim the rebate. I mention this because the instructions for the rebate are not clear and I had to do mine twice.