Although a lot of people still think of Photoshop Elements as the immature kid brother of Photoshop CS4, the software package is actually quite capable of standing on its own two feet in the competitive world of photo editing applications.
In this review, we’ll examine some of the new features found in Photoshop Elements 7 (PSE7) – the latest release of the product – as well as some of the older tools found in the product. We’ll also take a look at how easy the application is to learn for those with little to no experience with image editing software.
For this review, the software was tested on a Windows PC running a 64-bit version of Vista Ultimate. Installation was typical for a Windows software product, and no problems were encountered.
In order for the software to function properly, your system should meet the following minimum requirements.
- 2GHz or faster processor
- Windows XP (SP2 or higher) or Vista
- 1GB RAM
- 1.5 GB hard drive space
- Color monitor with 16-bit color video card
- 1024 x 768 monitor resolution at 96dpi or less
- DirectX 9
- CD-ROM drive (for software installation)
Just as with any graphic-intensive software, if you plan on working with large or complex image files, you’ll probably want more RAM than what is stated in these requirements.
If you’re new to photo editing software in general, you may appreciate the welcome screen for PSE7 that appears each time you open the application. From this screen, you can choose whether you want to organize your digital photo collection, edit an existing work, create a new image, or share your creations with others. If you create an account with Photoshop.com, you can also log into that account at this point.
Once you’re in the actual editing portion of the user interface, you have several different options from which to choose. If you’re already quite familiar with the software and its capabilities, you can jump into full edit mode and manually decide which tools and features you want to access for your photo editing project. However, if you’re a beginner or you’re still not quite sure where all the different tools are located, you can choose to work in guided edit mode. If you select this latter option, Photoshop Elements 7 will present you with a series of question in the right panel of the interface and then walk you through the steps needed to perform the edits to your photo.
One of the complaints that was echoed by a number of users with the release of Photoshop Elements 6 involved the new, darker interface of the application. It’s clear that Adobe listened to and responded to those complaints since PSE7 now allows you to adjust the brightness settings of the interface. With this feature, you can enjoy the new dark gray background (as I do) or switch back to the same lighter background found in older versions of the software.
Continue on to page 2 of this review to find out more about the new features found in Photoshop Elements 7 and our overall rating of the software.