Customer Reviews

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(105)
4 star:		(81)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

I like Photoshop Elements. I've always considered it a good option for photographers who haven't spent the many, many hours needed to learn the full version of Photoshop. That's not to mention the extra $560 the full version will set you back.

I've taught Photoshop at a local college since 2000 and use it in my graphic design business. There are real advantages to having the pro version, for pros. However, there are some real disadvantages, too. I see person after person come into my classes having paid the full price for the full version. With very, very few exceptions these people don't push their program hard enough to exceed Element's limitations and probably never will. There seems to be the mind set that because these people have spend a bundle on their cameras and lenses they "need" the "better" version of Photoshop. They don't. Elements can handle a huge percentage of photo editing and design jobs. You may have to use a different tool than what you're used to but can usually achieve identical results. A better camera can produce better photos. Photoshop CS- whatever isn't a better photo editing program. The underlying graphics engine is identical in both programs. Elements just has a simpler interface. If you think that Photosho Elements is complicated, try learning CS4.

To prove my point to a professional photographer friend I had him come up with a dozen photos. He edited them in CS3 and I used Elements 7. Our results were different on a couple of the images but that wasn't due to Elements but that my interpretation was different from his. Even he agreed.

That said my recommendation is that if you are getting serious about editing your photos, start with Elements. It will save you a ton of scratch and the vast majority of what you learn will be easily transferable to the full program. If you find that you outgrow Elements some day you haven't lost anything. Chances are that Photoshop will have a new version out and even the upgrade for Photoshop is half again as expensive as Elements at full retail.

As to the value of this version of Elements. Some people have written that they find it slower than previous ones. Maybe they had an earlier version of Elements. I haven't found that to be the case on my pretty middle of the road computer. Are the new tools worth the cost? That's a tougher question. If you have version 4 or earlier, absolutely. Version 5, I'd say yes. Version 6? Probably. I usually skip a version when upgrading.

There are some new tools that are nice. The Adobe Photoshop.com isn't too compelling. I've been on Flickr for years and don't plan to move off. Adobe's site doesn't offer an real advantages for me.

The Scene Cleaner and Smart Brush are both very useful tools. The Action Player lets me run pre-recorded Photoshop actions in Elements. That's not quite like making my own, but there are hundreds, possibly thousands of pre-recorded Photoshop actions available for download. Actions can perform automated changes to your images and can be quite useful

Other tools, like the Blue Sky brush have limited functionality. Painting a blue sky over water is easy and cool. Doing so over trees or any complicated horizon is a total pain. The Whiter Teeth brush is handy, though that wasn't that hard to accomplish before. But keeping with Elements' philosophy of simplifying photo editing, I can see that it is an obvious inclusion. And the Surface Blur tool, well don't get too excited about it.

Adobe's Photo Organizer is still an excellent tool, though I would have liked to see Adobe include Bridge instead, as they did in the Mac version of Elements.

Adobe includes some guided activities like creating holiday cards and scrapbooks with Elements. If that appeals to you, there are wizards that guide you through the activities. The results aren't quite professional looking but probably better than most people could achieve on their own.

What can you say about Photoshop?

It changed the world of digital photography. If you really want close control over your digital photographs and other digital images, there is simply nothing better available to the non-professional user and few things better available even to professionals!

If you really don't know what Photoshop is, well, here are a few examples of what can be done with this fine piece of software:

1) You can view images

2) You can edit images (get rid of red eye, scratches and graininess, change colors, light levels, etc. in either the entire image or in just one part and even do complex edits like making your dog look like he has zebra stripes in a particular photo)

3) You can combine images (e.g. if you can't get a decent family photograph because in each sample photograph somebody looks bad, then you can take everybody's best shot and combine them into one single image)

4) You can take pieces out of images (in addition to cutting and cropping, you can outright cut a person out of the picture)

5) You can add captions and lettering to images.

6) You can put all kinds of effects into your images such as lens flares, clouds, etc. You can also create psychedelic effects, make things sharper, duller, blur boundaries between items, etc.

7) Photoshop also has a full panoply of items that you'd expect to find in any art program (paint brush tools, pencils, erasers, etc.)

8) Photoshop allows you to create images in layers, so that you can move and edit one part without affecting others.

9) Photoshop also makes it easy to scan multiple images from your flatbed scanner at the same time and import them to separate image files. Forget about scanning one at a time or scanning a bunch of photos into one big file and then cutting and pasting. My wife wanted to digitize hundreds of old family photos and this software, literally, saved me dozens of hours of work time and blessed us with a resource that has become a wellspring of wonderful memories.

10) Photoshop allows you to enlarge and shrink images and will even help minimize pixelation in enlarged images.

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Now, for those of you who DO know what Photoshop is and what it can do, here are a few things you might want to know if you are considering upgrading to or buying this piece of software.

1) The first thing one notices is the new welcome screen. You can opt to enter the program or the organizer, as usual, or you can opt to interact with[...], an online resource for photoshop users, where one can either work with others or store one's images (among other services) online.

2) The interface is fairly similar to Photoshop Elements 6, but it offers some interesting new features. For instance, one can edit the features of the desktop (make it darker, to pop the photos or brighter if one likes brightness).

3) In the "New File" option, one can now use a pull down menu to create a scrapbook file (when one is working with a blank file), which is good for scrapbookers. My wife likes it, but I don't use it too often.

4) When you're working with guided edit, you can now use an "Automated Actions" feature that allows one to take advantage of what Adobe calls the "Action player". It is, essentially a wizard that gives one step by step instructions on various edits, such as "Lose weight", "Resize and crop" or "Special effects".

5) The bug that made it tough to move objects with the arrow keys has been fixed in this version of Elements.

6) If you weren't impressed with what the "Action player" could do in #4, well, take heart. You can create your own actions so that, once you have executed a complex series of edits in one photo, you can do the same for every subsequent one by simply executing an action. Not only that, you can share your actions with friends and download actions off the net. Tons are available.

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In truth, there are a lot more features and uses than the ones I have mentioned. Photoshop, like any piece of enormously robust software, is simply beyond an easy summary. However, Elements 7 is an exciting hint at where this mainstay of graphical software is heading. There are a lot of new good ideas and it really feels like a winner.

RATING = 1 STAR as delivered / 4 STARS with supplemental book from the library!!!!

I'm new to Photoshop Elements. I really need a good digital photo editor because my pictures don't always turn out. I was going to order PSE6 and then saw PSE7 was coming out in October so I pre-ordered PSE7 on Amazon.

When I first installed this program I thought it was REALLY, REALLY slow to use, and there is really no documentation provided on how to use it. CRAZY! I figured out how to do basic things as best I could and tried figuring out how to get help from Adobe's website - just generally not intuitive.

Well - being resourceful and not ready to give up I got Photoshop Elements for Dummies from the library. I'm currently on Page 18, and I'm finally getting it - It's a miracle. There are things that you would NEVER figure out on your own (ex: hover and blue text will appear and you can click on the blue text to get specific help for that functionality!!!!)

My advice - buy the software and then ahold of some good documentation that will help you figure out how to use this!!!

I have used PE4 successfully for quite awhile. I tried upgrading to PE6 a few months ago, but found the software too slow and buggy. I am working on large files and it was much slower than PE4. I went back to PE4 and waited for PE7. I have only had PE7 for a few days, but so far I am not impressed. Loading and converting my catalogs went smoothly, but PE7 is still a memory hog and buggy. PE7 is much slower than PE4 -- there is noticeable and annoying lag trying to generate thumbnails in my catalog in the organizer. When trying to use the editor, the program only works for a few minutes before giving me an error and randomly shutting down, resulting in a lot of lost work. There are some software upgrades that look very promising (if I can get to work). In particular, the automated action feature is an improvement over PE4. And, you can now adjust the background of the organizer so it is lighter than PE6 (although still not as user friendly as PE4 in my opinion). I will keep looking for a solution, but so far I am very disappointed with this software.
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I am updating my review in response to comments. I am reasonably competent on the computer, but I am not a power user and don't want to waste a lot time troubleshooting. I use PE extensively for photo editing and digital scrapbooking. I don't have a cutting edge system (I'll post exact specs later when I have more time), but I have updgraded it, including bringing it up to 2GB RAM. My system runs XP. It is a very good, but not brand new system that ran PE4 like a dream. If you are like me and looking to upgrade, expect problems and save your money until you can also by a new computer. If you have a brand new computer, you will probably enjoy this software.

I have been an avid user of Photoshop Elements for years and recently 'upgraded' to PE 7.0. I am still looking for some sort of added value over PE 6.0. While the program functions adequately, it seems slower than the previous version, even on my quad-core system. Save your money until Adobe comes out with something that actually makes the price of this 'upgrade' worth your hard earned dollars. I would recommend picking up an older version of the software and saving yourself some money.

I have been using Photoshop Elements as my "go to" editing program since about version 2. I have a number of other editing programs - both free and paid - but always seem to return to Elements.

My previous version was version 6 and I usually upgrade about every other release. I'm glad that I upgraded to version 7, though, since there are a number of minor improvements and several major ones.

One of the major improvements is v. 7's improved speed of importing pictures. While the program gave me the option to convert my v. 6 catalog, I decided to do a new catalog to see how long it would take. My computer has - according to Elements - almost 80,000 pictures (I've been doing digital photography since 1999 - initially with a Nikon 950, then a Canon Eos 10D and presently with a Canon Eos 30D). Version 6 literally required overnight to catalog the pictures (and there were probably 4 or 5 thousand less) while v. 7 required only 1 hour and 20 minutes! (Both programs are installed on an HP computer with 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad cpu, 4 GB ram, and running 64 bit Vista Home Premium).

Another major improvement is the "smart brush tool". While a number of programs have similar tools, this is the first one that I have used that actually works well. My main use for it has been to darken the background of a photo to accentuate the foreground (usually a person). This can be done within less than a minute which is a significant time savings over older methods. One simply "paints" over the areas to be selected for modification.

Version 7 continues to have v. 6's excellent enhancement tools - particularly those for lighting adjustment. These are definitely my most used tools.

While I don't use the organizer regularly, it does have some nice features such as sorting by date and the ability to use - and search on - keywords.

If you are just getting into digital photography this is the program to buy. If you have an older version of Elements, I think that this is a good upgrade and worth the price.

12/16/08: I uploaded two pictures showing the use of the smart brush tool before and after. I don't know who the "little elf" is, I took the picture at a party my grandson attended.

Some major and not-so-major changes to Photoshop Elements here in Version 7. Photoshop Elements is the almost-grownup version of Photoshop. For 90-plus percent of users, PSE has all you need to edit photographs, make digital art. Add in Photoshop Premiere Elements and handle videos, too.

There are so many new features in version 7. One that stands out is the new "guided edit." If you are impatient to try out all the ways to modify a photo, you can learn then quickly using a guided edit. The try-it buttons lead you through a sequence of filters and adjustments (not always explaining them in detail, however) and you can get a relatively good result. For tweaking "your way", you'll have to learn the underlying techniques but for an on-the-fly method, this is a handy tool and a great way to dip into the huge array of tools. But some of the new guided edits won't help you learn how to do it on your own as they are script-based and some of these newfangled tricks only show up in guided edit, nowhere else.

For those that use the selection brushes (a magic tool that selects similar color areas to allow you to recolor, delete or otherwise modify sections of pictures) there is now the ability to modify the selection with a plus-minus feature that is included in the brush control, not as a separate brush as in previous versions. I use the selection brush a lot to modify photos for visualizing paintings, and this is a nice improvement.

The help has been greatly expanded; not only is the Adobe reader-based help available, but there is a new beta community-based (wiki-style) help as well.

The photographic editing has been greatly enhanced for ease of use. For example, there are quick fixes, remove elements (dust, red glowing zombie eyes, poles sticking up in back of heads) and other desirable cures for photo problems. There are project guides for making artwork with an eye to the scrapbooking hobbyist. There is an improved photomerge feature for group shots (that's handy.)

I was certainly happy with the new text search box, which lets you search your for pictures by keywords, time, data, camera, and caption. If you've lost a picture and it's somewhere buried in your folders, you know how useful this can be.

You can now back up your photos online, join a Photoshop community and download more easily to cell phones. Photoshop.com membership offers a lot of ways to share photos, including one I found intriguing; if you keep your photos on your desktop and travel with a laptop, you can access the server at Photoshop.com and have access to photos you don't have with you. (Conversely, I can think of a case when I was traveling in a remote place and was downloading photos to the laptop. I would have appreciated an easy way to upload them all somewhere else for safekeeping.) There are also album templates for online sharing, similar to Flickr and Photobucket. The online part of PSE is really the biggest addition to the new version. While I did find a lot of the editing slicker in the revamped organizer, the basic program is very much the same.

Why should you bother with Photoshop.com if you use other online photo management systems? Existing users and new ones get free, basic membership plans with 2GB of storage. The 'Plus' plan is sold on its own for $50 per year or bundled with the desktop software for $140 and has 20GB of space and you can also store videos. The online membership allows you to sync with some applications in PSE7 and to do phone picture management. Right now, the phone feature is uploading and sharing, but in future, there may be a mobile version for more photo manipulation. (I use my cell phone just for calls and the occasional peep at the news; apparently phones are becoming pretty advanced--when they have one that dispenses a decent espresso, I'll think about it.)

In summary: if you are a new user to Photoshop Elements, there are many enhancements for communication and sharing as well as better help. If you are a current user, you might want to think if you need the latest bells and whistles. If you are a home-based PSE user, there might not be enough to tempt you. But if you share a lot of pictures and want a faster way to do some of the photo manipulation, PSE7 could be great for you. Remember, if you want macros (scripts of frequently-used sequence of keystrokes) and if you need to access information on PANTONE, CMYK and other printer's color functions, Photoshop Creative Suite --the original full program, is what you need to use.

The program may be the best on the market, I havn't got past the fact that the rebate scam is very difficult for me to swallow. In order to qualify for this rebate you have to be replacing another photo program (in most cases an Adobe program) with this one... and have purchased that program 6 months or less ago. Otherwise... you will not get the rebate. Read very carefully the deeply embeded rebate info before you commit to purchase.

Adobe Marketing must have been bored. PE 7.0 affords no meaningful enhancement to the functions of 6.0. A sharing feature if 7.0 is a gimmick, and adds nothing to function. I find the program seems to actually run more slowly on my quadcore system, than 6.0. Save your money -- buy 6.0 while its on clearance.

I have used Elements 3 and 5 with success, and read some good things about Elements 7 in photography magazines, so I decided to upgrade. However, I have not been able to find a way to import/convert the photos from Elements 5 organizer into Elements 7. Oh, I have the photos, but without their captions (Who wants to recaption over 600 photos? I sure don't!). Maybe someone else can tell me what I'm doing wrong, but I've wasted much of today just trying to get organizer to work, without even getting into the editor much at all.
I will be willing to change my opinion when someone can explain how I can get the import/convert to work like it should.