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Product Description
Platform: PC/Mac
From the Manufacturer
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11
Easy and powerful photo editing. Sensational results.
Use Guided Edits to easily create pro-quality photographic looks, including the high-key effect.
Quickly turn photos into stunning illustrations by applying new filters, including the Comic filter.
Turn everyday snapshots into sensational photos
Choose a trusted solution - Bring your photos to life with a powerful picture editing solution built from Adobe Photoshop software, the professional standard for digital image editing.
Enhanced: Do it all with one powerful yet easy-to-use product - Use Photoshop Elements 11 for all your photo needs. Intuitively organize and find photos; edit and enhance them; create custom photo keepsakes; and share via print, the web, and more.
Enhanced: Easily keep track of your memories - Find and manage all your photos and video clips in the convenient Organizer. Use automated options to find your best photos and clips—or photos of specific things and people.
Enhanced: Count on step-by-step assistance - Want to fix a photo scratch, add a vignette effect, or create the perfect portrait? Use Guided Edits for help with key steps so you can get the results you want fast.
Go from flawed to phenomenal in seconds - Use one-step shortcuts to whiten teeth; make skies bluer; or fix color, contrast, and lighting—and then choose the best result from a group of adjustment previews. Instantly remove clutter from photos, too.
Dramatically transform your photos with easy-to-use options - Enhance specific areas of your photos with more than 100 brush-on effects. Convert your color originals to elegant, nuanced black-and-whites, or quickly adjust color to get the perfect look.
Easily create the perfect photo - Take advantage of amazing Photomerge technology to match the style of one photo to another; create fuller panoramas, perfectly lit shots, and great group shots; and combine elements of different faces for entertaining results.
Enhanced: Show off your creativity with flexible layouts - Make calendars, scrapbook pages, cards, and more in minutes using professionally designed templates, or customize every aspect of your creations. Get fun, fresh looks with new artwork and templates.
Enhanced: Share experiences in fresh ways on the web - Show off your photos and videos in one-of-a-kind, interactive Online Albums with your choice of animated templates. Share them via Photoshop Showcase or your own website.
Instantly remove unwanted elements from your photos.
Organize
Keep track of all your memories with intelligent options that help you quickly organize, find, and view all your photos and video clips.
Edit
Make every photo look its best with powerful yet simple editing options that offer everything from quick fixes to unlimited creative possibilities.
Create
Get inspired to create personalized keepsakes you’ll treasure forever, including photo books, scrapbook pages, greeting cards, and calendars.
Share
Quickly showcase your photos or video clips via email, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Adobe Revel (subscription available separately), interactive Online Albums, and virtually anywhere else.
Product Description
Bring your photos to life with a powerful picture editing solution built from Adobe Photoshop software, the professional standard for digital image editing.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
713 of 720 people found the following review helpful
Platform for Display:PC/Mac|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
|
Length:
9:37
Mins
I've used Photoshop Elements since version 2 and I strongly believe it is the best photo-editing program available for under $100. It will do most of the editing tasks that the full version of Photoshop does but at a fraction of the cost. It is the software program I have my "Digital Photography" and "Digital Painting" students purchase for the college courses I teach.
Photoshop Elements is a program that has two basic components. The first is the Editor which is the program that you use to make changes to your photos. The other component is the Organizer which is used to manage and organize your photos.
I've included a video that shows some of the features of the Editor in Elements 11. The interface is probably the biggest difference between version 10 and 11. While new-comers may find the new interface easier to use, it will take me a while to get used to it. (I apologize for the neurotic mouse movements and the hurried pace of the video. I had a lot I wanted to include. If I get a chance I may redo the video.)
If you are serious or semi-serious about editing photos this is the program I recommend. Since Photoshop Elements is based on the full version of Photoshop everything you learn can be easily translated to the full version of Photoshop if you ever decide to purchase the much more expensive program. Granted, the new interface does make Elements 11 look quite different from Photoshop CS6, but the basic commands and tasks are still similar enough to be able to make the transition from Elements to the full version without too much hassle.
The other advantage to purchasing Elements 11 is that there is a lot of free material available online that will help you learn how to use the various Photoshop software programs. Adobe also offers a variety of free video tutorials that will help you learn this program. In addition, there are also a lot of books that will teach you how. Overall my favorite Photoshop books are by Scott Kelby.
Elements also comes with an extensive "Help" feature. This software program can do so much it would take years to learn it all--but fortunately it doesn't take that long to learn the basics.
If you just want an easy program to use to edit a few photos then there are much cheaper programs available. More importantly--there are also many online photo-editing programs that are absolutely free! One of my favorite free online photo editing applications is Sumopaint.
My recommendations to current Photoshop Element Users:
Photoshop Elements 3 - 8 Users: I highly recommend the upgrade to Elements 11. There was a huge improvement between versions 8 and 9 (content aware and the ability to add masks to layers). If you are using one of these earlier versions I think you will appreciate the new features.
Photoshop Element 9 - 10 Users: If you do a lot of selecting and masking then you might want to upgrade since Elements 11 includes the more advanced "Refine Edge" feature that until now was only available in CS5-6 versions. There is also a limited "actions" or "automated commands" feature. You can't record your own actions, but you can select from a number of pre-loaded options, and you can download and install actions created in the full version of Photoshop. Some of the added "Guided Features" are also nice.
There were also changes to the Organizer interface. I currently have approximately 30,000 photos tagged and arranged in the Organizer. With a click of a button I can easily find any image I am looking for. Some people complain about the Organizer but I love it. I haven't had time to look over the new interface yet--but when I do I will update this review.
Most of this review has dealt primarily with photos--but Elements 11 is also an excellent program to use to create digital paintings. There is a variety of filters and styles that you can use to quickly change a photograph into a work of art--but more importantly Elements 11 comes with a huge variety of brushes and other tools that enable you to create an original painting stroke by stroke. Purchase a Wacom Bamboo tablet and you will be amazed at what can be accomplished with a pressure sensitive stylus and tablet.
I hope this helps.
Photoshop Elements is a program that has two basic components. The first is the Editor which is the program that you use to make changes to your photos. The other component is the Organizer which is used to manage and organize your photos.
I've included a video that shows some of the features of the Editor in Elements 11. The interface is probably the biggest difference between version 10 and 11. While new-comers may find the new interface easier to use, it will take me a while to get used to it. (I apologize for the neurotic mouse movements and the hurried pace of the video. I had a lot I wanted to include. If I get a chance I may redo the video.)
If you are serious or semi-serious about editing photos this is the program I recommend. Since Photoshop Elements is based on the full version of Photoshop everything you learn can be easily translated to the full version of Photoshop if you ever decide to purchase the much more expensive program. Granted, the new interface does make Elements 11 look quite different from Photoshop CS6, but the basic commands and tasks are still similar enough to be able to make the transition from Elements to the full version without too much hassle.
The other advantage to purchasing Elements 11 is that there is a lot of free material available online that will help you learn how to use the various Photoshop software programs. Adobe also offers a variety of free video tutorials that will help you learn this program. In addition, there are also a lot of books that will teach you how. Overall my favorite Photoshop books are by Scott Kelby.
Elements also comes with an extensive "Help" feature. This software program can do so much it would take years to learn it all--but fortunately it doesn't take that long to learn the basics.
If you just want an easy program to use to edit a few photos then there are much cheaper programs available. More importantly--there are also many online photo-editing programs that are absolutely free! One of my favorite free online photo editing applications is Sumopaint.
My recommendations to current Photoshop Element Users:
Photoshop Elements 3 - 8 Users: I highly recommend the upgrade to Elements 11. There was a huge improvement between versions 8 and 9 (content aware and the ability to add masks to layers). If you are using one of these earlier versions I think you will appreciate the new features.
Photoshop Element 9 - 10 Users: If you do a lot of selecting and masking then you might want to upgrade since Elements 11 includes the more advanced "Refine Edge" feature that until now was only available in CS5-6 versions. There is also a limited "actions" or "automated commands" feature. You can't record your own actions, but you can select from a number of pre-loaded options, and you can download and install actions created in the full version of Photoshop. Some of the added "Guided Features" are also nice.
There were also changes to the Organizer interface. I currently have approximately 30,000 photos tagged and arranged in the Organizer. With a click of a button I can easily find any image I am looking for. Some people complain about the Organizer but I love it. I haven't had time to look over the new interface yet--but when I do I will update this review.
Most of this review has dealt primarily with photos--but Elements 11 is also an excellent program to use to create digital paintings. There is a variety of filters and styles that you can use to quickly change a photograph into a work of art--but more importantly Elements 11 comes with a huge variety of brushes and other tools that enable you to create an original painting stroke by stroke. Purchase a Wacom Bamboo tablet and you will be amazed at what can be accomplished with a pressure sensitive stylus and tablet.
I hope this helps.
265 of 272 people found the following review helpful
Platform for Display:PC/Mac|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
INTRODUCTION
I've been using Photoshop Elements since Version 1. But, my last "favorite" version of Elements was Version 8. I ditched V9 and didn't even bother with V.10. THIS version, 11, however, is excellent.
For one thing, after realizing that over half the users of Adobe Elements are over fifty (statistic per CNET), Adobe adjusted the interface for better visibility. I am well over fifty, one of the pet peeves I have with software, websites and printed matter is that the fonts are too small (even with bifocals) and the contrast can be so low as to make reading difficult. You need bigger fonts, more contrast and more light when you get over fifty. And there are plenty of us senior users of software, so kudos to Adobe for being kind to older eyes.
OUT OF BOX EXPERIENCE
Speaking of readability, the box contains two DVDs. Same color, same printing but ONE is for MAC OS and one for Windows. I looked at these pale blue DVDs with greyish white small print for two minutes, shrugged my shoulders and chose one (lucky me, it was the right one.) As it was installing, I eventually found the small print on the left saying MAC OS on the other DVD. So look at the DVDs carefully to choose the correct one for your computer.
FREEBIES!!
Also inside the box, which by the way is a lot smaller, saving on wasteful packaging, was a coupon for twenty bux worth of Shutterfly (nice!), a getting-started pamphlet with 24 pages of info and screen shots, a coupon for online tutorials and a description of the free 30-day trial of Adobe Premiere Elements 11, the film and video editing software. This software is included in trial format in case you want to try editing videos. More on THIS later.
WARNING! SAVE THAT WHITE BOX!!!
The inside white box, contained in the outer dust case, has the LICENSE number for installation, so DO NOT lose this box. I suggest you copy out the license number and put it in a text file on your computer and also copy it and put it in a notebook somewhere. A lot of times, the license numbers are on the protective sleeve for the DVD but in this case, it is on the inner box. If you lose this number, you are in trouble the next time you might need to re-install it (say, on a new computer or if you have to restore a crashed system.)
INSTALLATION
Installation takes a while (maybe 10 minutes) and there are SOME GOTCHAS:
1. I did NOT want to install the trial of Premiere (yet) because I'm not ready to do a review of it and the last versions of Premiere that I tried were so bugged up, I really developed a distaste for this software, despite a very nice user interface. So I picked from the drop-down menu, Install Adobe Elements 11. ONLY.
Then you enter the license number on the next page, click on your location (which country) and lo, you have to DE-CHECK the Install Premiere Elements or else it overrides your previous wish to NOT have Premiere on your computer. How insolent!! I SAID, I DON'T WANT Premiere! Luckily, I saw that check box and I made sure to de-check it.
2. The software installed without incident and then I tried to read the READ ME file as I mentioned. It claimed NOT to find it on the DVD, which it won't. It's web-based now but the DVD installation menu apparently didn't get the news. I ALWAYS read the READ ME, for update information and other interesting warnings and info.
Here is some important information for you, if you are a previous user of Elements:
Q. Can you install over a previous version of Elements?
A. Yes, you can...but don't try to use both ever again, because the new organizer will take over the old one. In the Read Me File, under updates, there is this warning:
"Adobe does not recommend switching between older and newer versions of the Photoshop Elements Organizer.
Catalogs created in older version of the product would need to be converted to the latest version.
Only the most recently used catalog will be converted automatically. If you use multiple catalogs, start Photoshop Elements, go into Organizer, and use the File > Manage Catalogs command to search and convert other catalogs.
Updating previous catalogs (more than 30,000 photos) can take over an hour (possibly a few hours, if the catalog is large, and from an older version of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album). Please be patient!
Following file formats are no longer supported in Photoshop Elements 11 and the corresponding files will be not be imported into the new catalogs JPEG 2000, Filmstrip (FLM), Wireless BMP (WBM, WBMP), PCX, Targa (TGA, VDA, ICB, VST), Photoshop RAW (RAW), PICT File (PCT, PICT), Scitex CT (SCT), Photoshop EPS (EPS), EPS TIFF Preview (EPS), Generic EPS (AI3, AI4, AI5, AI6, AI7, AI8, PS, EPS, AI, EPSF, EPSP)."
There is also info on what file types are no longer supported in MAC but as I am clueless on MACs, you can read it for yourself, if you use a MAC and not a PC.
USING THE SOFTWARE: FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I clicked on EDIT (because I didn't want to organize my photos yet) and like previous versions, it was slow as can be to load. This is a resource-heavy piece of software.
The interface, when it loaded, was a pleasant surprise; big, a light gray, and all the familiar tools and filters where I was used to finding them. I loaded a photo of someone harvesting crabs and fooled around making it into an artistic rendition. I was very pleased with the speed and the visibility of the interface.
The tools default to a basic version but you can go to "Expert Version" and the old style editing tools will show up. There are three modes, Quick, most basic--for photo editing, Guided, for more specialized projects, and Expert (the older style tool view.) You choose these at the top of the workspace. You can go back and forth easily by clicking these buttons.
You can choose to use the software in guided mode (if you are a novice) or in Expert Mode (for those familiar with Elements.) The guided modes allow you to learn the functions, and there are some new filters that allow you to make illustrations -- Pen and Ink, Comic, Graphic Novel, and Lens Blur. I tried Lens Blur and I was very impressed with the result. The new filters are great--and I use the filters a lot. One of the things I use Elements for is visualizing paintings I intend to do in watercolor or gouache; I massage a photo I've taken with the filters, change colors and add effects to preview what I want to achieve with paper and paint. The "watercolor" filter is, strangely enough, the least useful to me. I use posterizing, finding edges and the new lens blur more often as well as shifting and deleting colors. I also use the magic wand to select elements to move around or even delete before I sketch my painting.
ORGANIZER
The new organizer is also really nicely cleaned up, four modes--media, people, places, events so you can work various projects and organizing tasks for your catalog. Cleaner look, easy to grab and drop down to the editor space. A less-cluttered, easier-to-use interface.
PREVIEW THE NEW LOOK
If you don't click on either ORGANIZER or EDITOR when you start the software, you can click on some short videos, charmingly read by someone with an Aussie accent, who takes you on a tour of the new features of the user interface and a short guide on using it. This is well worth looking at.
Notable new features: Maps let you locate geo-tagged photos. Face recognition lets you tag people in photos. I don't use this feature but it is there for people with masses of photos who want to organize photos and file them by who's who.
SUMMARY
Excellent revision. Much better interface. The new filters (which look like variants of some of the older ones) are very slick and useful. The guided mode will help the novice user, because the Expert Mode really means you are pretty familiar with Elements past versions, layers, filters, etc. No shame in taking tutorials or using guided mode if you are not familiar with this software. In fact, for best results, if this is your first crack at Adobe Photoshop Elements, do all the tutorials you can. A helpful way to make this less boring is to have a task at hand you REALLY want to do (fix a photo, create an artistic version of a photo, etc.) Then find the tutorial that teaches that task and go through it, step by step.
Watch that installation--if you don't want to install the trial of Premiere, you need to be careful.
Bottom line: I'm very happy with this new version and I will be using it instead of my old version 8.
_________________________________________
Minimum system requirements
1GB of RAM (2GB for HD Video Functions)
4GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation)
DVD-ROM drive
Internet connection required for Internet-based services
Windows®
1.6GHz or faster processor
Microsoft® Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista®, or Windows 7, or Windows 8
Color monitor with 16-bit color video card
1024x768 display resolution
Microsoft DirectX 9 compatible display driver
Mac OS X
Multi-core Intel® processor
Mac OS X v10.6 through Mac OS X v10.8
1024x768 display resolution
Quicktime 7 software required for multimedia feat
I've been using Photoshop Elements since Version 1. But, my last "favorite" version of Elements was Version 8. I ditched V9 and didn't even bother with V.10. THIS version, 11, however, is excellent.
For one thing, after realizing that over half the users of Adobe Elements are over fifty (statistic per CNET), Adobe adjusted the interface for better visibility. I am well over fifty, one of the pet peeves I have with software, websites and printed matter is that the fonts are too small (even with bifocals) and the contrast can be so low as to make reading difficult. You need bigger fonts, more contrast and more light when you get over fifty. And there are plenty of us senior users of software, so kudos to Adobe for being kind to older eyes.
OUT OF BOX EXPERIENCE
Speaking of readability, the box contains two DVDs. Same color, same printing but ONE is for MAC OS and one for Windows. I looked at these pale blue DVDs with greyish white small print for two minutes, shrugged my shoulders and chose one (lucky me, it was the right one.) As it was installing, I eventually found the small print on the left saying MAC OS on the other DVD. So look at the DVDs carefully to choose the correct one for your computer.
FREEBIES!!
Also inside the box, which by the way is a lot smaller, saving on wasteful packaging, was a coupon for twenty bux worth of Shutterfly (nice!), a getting-started pamphlet with 24 pages of info and screen shots, a coupon for online tutorials and a description of the free 30-day trial of Adobe Premiere Elements 11, the film and video editing software. This software is included in trial format in case you want to try editing videos. More on THIS later.
WARNING! SAVE THAT WHITE BOX!!!
The inside white box, contained in the outer dust case, has the LICENSE number for installation, so DO NOT lose this box. I suggest you copy out the license number and put it in a text file on your computer and also copy it and put it in a notebook somewhere. A lot of times, the license numbers are on the protective sleeve for the DVD but in this case, it is on the inner box. If you lose this number, you are in trouble the next time you might need to re-install it (say, on a new computer or if you have to restore a crashed system.)
INSTALLATION
Installation takes a while (maybe 10 minutes) and there are SOME GOTCHAS:
1. I did NOT want to install the trial of Premiere (yet) because I'm not ready to do a review of it and the last versions of Premiere that I tried were so bugged up, I really developed a distaste for this software, despite a very nice user interface. So I picked from the drop-down menu, Install Adobe Elements 11. ONLY.
Then you enter the license number on the next page, click on your location (which country) and lo, you have to DE-CHECK the Install Premiere Elements or else it overrides your previous wish to NOT have Premiere on your computer. How insolent!! I SAID, I DON'T WANT Premiere! Luckily, I saw that check box and I made sure to de-check it.
2. The software installed without incident and then I tried to read the READ ME file as I mentioned. It claimed NOT to find it on the DVD, which it won't. It's web-based now but the DVD installation menu apparently didn't get the news. I ALWAYS read the READ ME, for update information and other interesting warnings and info.
Here is some important information for you, if you are a previous user of Elements:
Q. Can you install over a previous version of Elements?
A. Yes, you can...but don't try to use both ever again, because the new organizer will take over the old one. In the Read Me File, under updates, there is this warning:
"Adobe does not recommend switching between older and newer versions of the Photoshop Elements Organizer.
Catalogs created in older version of the product would need to be converted to the latest version.
Only the most recently used catalog will be converted automatically. If you use multiple catalogs, start Photoshop Elements, go into Organizer, and use the File > Manage Catalogs command to search and convert other catalogs.
Updating previous catalogs (more than 30,000 photos) can take over an hour (possibly a few hours, if the catalog is large, and from an older version of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album). Please be patient!
Following file formats are no longer supported in Photoshop Elements 11 and the corresponding files will be not be imported into the new catalogs JPEG 2000, Filmstrip (FLM), Wireless BMP (WBM, WBMP), PCX, Targa (TGA, VDA, ICB, VST), Photoshop RAW (RAW), PICT File (PCT, PICT), Scitex CT (SCT), Photoshop EPS (EPS), EPS TIFF Preview (EPS), Generic EPS (AI3, AI4, AI5, AI6, AI7, AI8, PS, EPS, AI, EPSF, EPSP)."
There is also info on what file types are no longer supported in MAC but as I am clueless on MACs, you can read it for yourself, if you use a MAC and not a PC.
USING THE SOFTWARE: FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I clicked on EDIT (because I didn't want to organize my photos yet) and like previous versions, it was slow as can be to load. This is a resource-heavy piece of software.
The interface, when it loaded, was a pleasant surprise; big, a light gray, and all the familiar tools and filters where I was used to finding them. I loaded a photo of someone harvesting crabs and fooled around making it into an artistic rendition. I was very pleased with the speed and the visibility of the interface.
The tools default to a basic version but you can go to "Expert Version" and the old style editing tools will show up. There are three modes, Quick, most basic--for photo editing, Guided, for more specialized projects, and Expert (the older style tool view.) You choose these at the top of the workspace. You can go back and forth easily by clicking these buttons.
You can choose to use the software in guided mode (if you are a novice) or in Expert Mode (for those familiar with Elements.) The guided modes allow you to learn the functions, and there are some new filters that allow you to make illustrations -- Pen and Ink, Comic, Graphic Novel, and Lens Blur. I tried Lens Blur and I was very impressed with the result. The new filters are great--and I use the filters a lot. One of the things I use Elements for is visualizing paintings I intend to do in watercolor or gouache; I massage a photo I've taken with the filters, change colors and add effects to preview what I want to achieve with paper and paint. The "watercolor" filter is, strangely enough, the least useful to me. I use posterizing, finding edges and the new lens blur more often as well as shifting and deleting colors. I also use the magic wand to select elements to move around or even delete before I sketch my painting.
ORGANIZER
The new organizer is also really nicely cleaned up, four modes--media, people, places, events so you can work various projects and organizing tasks for your catalog. Cleaner look, easy to grab and drop down to the editor space. A less-cluttered, easier-to-use interface.
PREVIEW THE NEW LOOK
If you don't click on either ORGANIZER or EDITOR when you start the software, you can click on some short videos, charmingly read by someone with an Aussie accent, who takes you on a tour of the new features of the user interface and a short guide on using it. This is well worth looking at.
Notable new features: Maps let you locate geo-tagged photos. Face recognition lets you tag people in photos. I don't use this feature but it is there for people with masses of photos who want to organize photos and file them by who's who.
SUMMARY
Excellent revision. Much better interface. The new filters (which look like variants of some of the older ones) are very slick and useful. The guided mode will help the novice user, because the Expert Mode really means you are pretty familiar with Elements past versions, layers, filters, etc. No shame in taking tutorials or using guided mode if you are not familiar with this software. In fact, for best results, if this is your first crack at Adobe Photoshop Elements, do all the tutorials you can. A helpful way to make this less boring is to have a task at hand you REALLY want to do (fix a photo, create an artistic version of a photo, etc.) Then find the tutorial that teaches that task and go through it, step by step.
Watch that installation--if you don't want to install the trial of Premiere, you need to be careful.
Bottom line: I'm very happy with this new version and I will be using it instead of my old version 8.
_________________________________________
Minimum system requirements
1GB of RAM (2GB for HD Video Functions)
4GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation)
DVD-ROM drive
Internet connection required for Internet-based services
Windows®
1.6GHz or faster processor
Microsoft® Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista®, or Windows 7, or Windows 8
Color monitor with 16-bit color video card
1024x768 display resolution
Microsoft DirectX 9 compatible display driver
Mac OS X
Multi-core Intel® processor
Mac OS X v10.6 through Mac OS X v10.8
1024x768 display resolution
Quicktime 7 software required for multimedia feat
248 of 273 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bloated and intrusive, bordering on spyware; no useful improvements since 2.0.2
January 1, 2013
By Kirk
Platform for Display:PC/Mac
I received Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 as a Christmas present (one which I unfortunately had asked for). I've been using Elements 2 for many years now, and figured I'd take the plunge and update, hoping to be amazed with all the advances and new features that have happened since 2002. My interest in Elements is solely for editing photos.
After an extraordinarily lengthy install (I have plenty of RAM, fast drives, and an 8-core processor), the first thing I noticed is that it opened INSTANTLY when I started it the first time, a little TOO fast. Sure enough, they thoughtfully load a chunk of their program on bootup, and keep it running in the background constantly, tying up resources and potentially getting in the way whether you are using it or not, just so they can shave a second off their load time. Edit registry, remove startup item; done.
The next issue is security. I use ZoneAlarm as my software firewall (in addition to a couple of hardware firewalls). Mainly I run ZoneAlarm as a means of keeping track of any attempted outbound activity on my computer that I didn't initiate. Normally, on the first startup of a program, a message pops up asking whether I want to give permission to the application to access the web. Guess what? No popup. Looking into ZoneAlarm, I discovered that Adobe apparently has figured out how to hack Zonealarm, and granted themselves the maximum trust level/permissions. In addition, I found that if I changed the security settings to restrict it in any way, at the next startup of Elements, the settings had all returned back to maximum privilege. Of about 5 Adobe program components that registered themselves in ZoneAlarm, the only way I was able to restrict settings and have them remain in effect was to set the trust level to KILL on all but one. And evidently those 4 items weren't needed, since the program started up without problems after that.
After screwing around with all of this for well over an hour (maybe even two) I was actually able to kneecap all the extraneous Adobe nonsense to the point where the program was running only when I actually wanted it to.
I have no interest in the photo organizer. I have my own system for managing my photos that works well for me. I find that programs which offer to do stuff for me almost always guess wrong what I want, and simply get in the way and create more work and distractions for me. I don't need them scouring my drives and "helping" me by adding folders and files to their database without asking me, nor did I need to be presented with a dialog every time I started Elements asking which program I wanted to start (the organizer or Elements). Yes I know that it can be turned off; however even when off, you're still loading other stuff besides the photo editor. Eventually I ended up hunting down the actual Elements program and making a shortcut directly to that. (I did run the photo organizer for a bit to give it a chance, and I stand by my previous statements).
Finally in the photo editor, I found that very little had changed functionally from version 2. Things had been moved around, menus had been renamed, but I found next to nothing of actual value had been added in 9 - count them - 9 - full versions and 10 years. What they HAD accomplished was managing to eat up considerable screen real estate by making the tool settings area HUGE, tying up another large band across the top with a menu bar whose only purpose is to switch between noobie and expert mode, and additional other clutter which can't be resized or removed entirely. The result of all this was that in order to actually get any work done, I'd have to be constantly turning items on and off just to have a decent area to work. I'm really only interested in seeing the photo I'm working on, not admiring all their pretty icons and color choices; if I'm not currently using something, I should be able to get it out of my way easily. My screen resolution is set at 1280x720, so it isn't like things are crowded because I'm running at 640x480 or even 800x600. Since that's my monitor's full resolution, I can't exactly bump up the resolution any further, and if I could, I'm sure that Adobe has figured out how to make that just as crowded too.
But wait! There's more! Aside from the program itself being a disappointment, there's also this program they trick you into downloading called AAM - Adobe Application Manager. This program is allegedly to help with keeping all of your Adobe software updated, but actually serves no purpose other than to give Adobe further access to your system, and to constantly check whether you've stolen any of their software or not. REALLY? Updates can still be performed through the individual programs WITHOUT this P.O.S. present. Doing a search on this program revealed a message board conversation, where one of Adobe's people apologized about this, promised that it wasn't a marketing ploy, and gave instructions for removal of the program. BTW, did I mention that this AAM did not show up in Add/Remove Programs and also runs constantly? Downloading their uninstaller and following their instructions did not remove the offending software. Nor did uninstalling PhotoShop Elements (along with all user settings). AAM still was on my system and running until I killed the process tree and removed it manually. I had installed Elements the evening before and had worked solely with it for several hours, so I did a search for all files/folders that had been created the previous day. A stupendous amount of crap had been left on my system AFTER A FULL UNINSTALL WITH DEACTIVATION. The entire AAM program was still there. (Anything in Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\OOBE and below is involved in this rubbish. Under this folder PDApp\core\PDapp.exe is the actual culprit.) After deleting all the offending files and folders, I then proceeded to run several registry cleaners, and with the leftover files missing, they found plenty more Adobe residue to remove.
I'll continue to use Elements 2, at least for the moment, since it has worked well for me over the years. Once I find something else suitable to replace it with however, it's gone. I'm finished with Adobe, since apparently there is no actual upgrade path and they are more concerned about jerking around with my computer and creating eye-candy than actually writing a useful program.
After an extraordinarily lengthy install (I have plenty of RAM, fast drives, and an 8-core processor), the first thing I noticed is that it opened INSTANTLY when I started it the first time, a little TOO fast. Sure enough, they thoughtfully load a chunk of their program on bootup, and keep it running in the background constantly, tying up resources and potentially getting in the way whether you are using it or not, just so they can shave a second off their load time. Edit registry, remove startup item; done.
The next issue is security. I use ZoneAlarm as my software firewall (in addition to a couple of hardware firewalls). Mainly I run ZoneAlarm as a means of keeping track of any attempted outbound activity on my computer that I didn't initiate. Normally, on the first startup of a program, a message pops up asking whether I want to give permission to the application to access the web. Guess what? No popup. Looking into ZoneAlarm, I discovered that Adobe apparently has figured out how to hack Zonealarm, and granted themselves the maximum trust level/permissions. In addition, I found that if I changed the security settings to restrict it in any way, at the next startup of Elements, the settings had all returned back to maximum privilege. Of about 5 Adobe program components that registered themselves in ZoneAlarm, the only way I was able to restrict settings and have them remain in effect was to set the trust level to KILL on all but one. And evidently those 4 items weren't needed, since the program started up without problems after that.
After screwing around with all of this for well over an hour (maybe even two) I was actually able to kneecap all the extraneous Adobe nonsense to the point where the program was running only when I actually wanted it to.
I have no interest in the photo organizer. I have my own system for managing my photos that works well for me. I find that programs which offer to do stuff for me almost always guess wrong what I want, and simply get in the way and create more work and distractions for me. I don't need them scouring my drives and "helping" me by adding folders and files to their database without asking me, nor did I need to be presented with a dialog every time I started Elements asking which program I wanted to start (the organizer or Elements). Yes I know that it can be turned off; however even when off, you're still loading other stuff besides the photo editor. Eventually I ended up hunting down the actual Elements program and making a shortcut directly to that. (I did run the photo organizer for a bit to give it a chance, and I stand by my previous statements).
Finally in the photo editor, I found that very little had changed functionally from version 2. Things had been moved around, menus had been renamed, but I found next to nothing of actual value had been added in 9 - count them - 9 - full versions and 10 years. What they HAD accomplished was managing to eat up considerable screen real estate by making the tool settings area HUGE, tying up another large band across the top with a menu bar whose only purpose is to switch between noobie and expert mode, and additional other clutter which can't be resized or removed entirely. The result of all this was that in order to actually get any work done, I'd have to be constantly turning items on and off just to have a decent area to work. I'm really only interested in seeing the photo I'm working on, not admiring all their pretty icons and color choices; if I'm not currently using something, I should be able to get it out of my way easily. My screen resolution is set at 1280x720, so it isn't like things are crowded because I'm running at 640x480 or even 800x600. Since that's my monitor's full resolution, I can't exactly bump up the resolution any further, and if I could, I'm sure that Adobe has figured out how to make that just as crowded too.
But wait! There's more! Aside from the program itself being a disappointment, there's also this program they trick you into downloading called AAM - Adobe Application Manager. This program is allegedly to help with keeping all of your Adobe software updated, but actually serves no purpose other than to give Adobe further access to your system, and to constantly check whether you've stolen any of their software or not. REALLY? Updates can still be performed through the individual programs WITHOUT this P.O.S. present. Doing a search on this program revealed a message board conversation, where one of Adobe's people apologized about this, promised that it wasn't a marketing ploy, and gave instructions for removal of the program. BTW, did I mention that this AAM did not show up in Add/Remove Programs and also runs constantly? Downloading their uninstaller and following their instructions did not remove the offending software. Nor did uninstalling PhotoShop Elements (along with all user settings). AAM still was on my system and running until I killed the process tree and removed it manually. I had installed Elements the evening before and had worked solely with it for several hours, so I did a search for all files/folders that had been created the previous day. A stupendous amount of crap had been left on my system AFTER A FULL UNINSTALL WITH DEACTIVATION. The entire AAM program was still there. (Anything in Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\OOBE and below is involved in this rubbish. Under this folder PDApp\core\PDapp.exe is the actual culprit.) After deleting all the offending files and folders, I then proceeded to run several registry cleaners, and with the leftover files missing, they found plenty more Adobe residue to remove.
I'll continue to use Elements 2, at least for the moment, since it has worked well for me over the years. Once I find something else suitable to replace it with however, it's gone. I'm finished with Adobe, since apparently there is no actual upgrade path and they are more concerned about jerking around with my computer and creating eye-candy than actually writing a useful program.
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