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If you've got a digital camera, the chances are that you're already quite familiar with Adobe's PhotoDeluxe program.
Bundled with several million digital cameras, PhotoDeluxe is a simple editing program that allows you to quickly edit your photographs and remove common flaws such as red eye or dust and scratches.
PhotoDeluxe is a little on the basic side, though, so Adobe has also developed a program called Photoshop Elements for the slightly more ambitious user who wants to do more than just remove flaws.
To confuse matters further, Photoshop Elements is based on Photoshop, the powerful and expensive photo editing program aimed at professional designers and photographers.
This new version of Elements includes a number of very powerful editing tools but Adobe's main focus is on keeping the program nice and easy to use. The initial welcome screen asks if you want to import pictures from a digital camera or scanner and there's also an option to open up some tutorials that explain basic image editing procedures.
There's more help available as you enter the main program. The menu bar running across the top of the screen now includes a Search option that allows you to type in words, such as 'contrast' or 'negative' and it then provides information about relevant tools. You can also use an online glossary to look up any technical terms that you're not familiar with.
Basic editing work has been simplified with the addition of the new QuickFix feature. This large dialogue box displays before and after versions of your photos. It allows you to select a number of basic options such as colour correction, focus and brightness, and then provides a number of more varied settings for each.
Select brightness, for instance, and you will be presented with options such as altering back lighting or shadows. You can ask Elements to apply these new settings automatically or experiment with the settings yourself, using simple slider controls.
We feel that Adobe could have done more to simplify some of the more sophisticated tools. Even with all the built-in Help files, obscure features such as gradient maps and histograms will baffle the majority of users.
To be fair, most users of Elements will probably never go near these features. They'll be too busy experimenting with creative tools such as the new Impressionist brush, which can be used to create a variety of artistic effects such as painting clouds onto a scene or mimicking water colours, pastels and other natural media effects.
You'll also find that the printing options have been improved. The 'Print Package' feature allows you to print multiple photographs, or multiple versions of one particular photograph, on a single piece of paper. This will help to cut down your printing costs as well as being very convenient.
If all you want to do is tidy up a few photos you may be perfectly happy to stick with the more basic PhotoDeluxe. If you're feeling a bit creative and want to experiment with more sophisticated tools and special effects, Photoshop Elements is worth a spin.
Price: £88 (inc VAT)
Contact: Adobe 020 8606 4001
www.adobe.co.uk
Also consider: Paint Shop Pro 7
A great product. £95 *****.
See also:
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Paint Shop Pro's little brother is very affordable and crammed with useful features. 11 Jul 2002
Quite simply the best photo editing program in the history of the universe. 15 May 2002
Image-editing software that not only lets you manage, correct and enhance photos, but also allows you to create and publish many types of images. 11 Apr 2002
The latest incarnation of the picture editing app offers some great new features. 04 Mar 2002All Image Editing & Management
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