Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 [OLD VERSION] Reviews

• Big changes to Photoshop's best product

  
  By A1IU7S4HCK1XK0 on 2007-12-04
  I'm a user of Photoshop Elements all the way back to the first edition. This is, in my opinion, one of the best graphics programs out there--all the power of the great Photoshop full professional program minus the printing CMYK functions you'd need to do professional layouts. So for most users, the great features of Photoshop are there and the price is oh-so-much-more-affordable.
  
  The Version 6 has some significant changes. The interface looks quite different, though I only had some trouble finding my favorite functions. The loading is significantly faster than the previous versions, which was one of my chief annoyances with Photoshop Elements. Version 6.0 loads very quickly, and this is a big improvement.
  
  Changes:
  Smart Albums: built-in picture organization. No need to use a separate organizer program.
  
  Darkened Interface: The picture interface (where you load your photos) is darkened to make a better contrast on screen. At first, I did not like this, but it is easier on the eyes so I got used to it and like it now.
  
  Selections: With this new technology, you use a brush to mark out your selection, and then use sliders to make the adjustment blend into the background. Very easy to use. Major change.
  
  Enhanced Clone Tool: Cloning lets you take an inocuous background selection and copy it over an offending area of a picture (mailbox, person, unwanted pole.)
  
  Enhanced Spot Healing Brush: Very easy to use brush to haze out areas, I used to use the smear brush, this is easier and less difficult. The later versions of Elements have a check/cancel button in the corner of your work area, so you can back out of the changes without altering your work.
  
  Enhanced Black and White: Contrast function built in to convert color to pretty decent b&w.
  
  Photo Blending: Much better function to mix photos. Now you can create unrealistic pictures of yourself by putting in your best bits with someone else's better bits, post it on Match.com and disappoint people who meet you in the flesh.
  
  Enhanced Photo Books: available only in North America and Japan. Kind of a way to make your own catalogs.
  
  Enhanced Sharing: Sharing Center burns cds and sends to email as well.
  
  Enhanced Interactive Sharing: Adobe Flash Technology is employed to make animated web galleries. Very cool.
  
  Smart Albums: You can sort by 10 criteria, such as date of shoot, etc, and make an album of only those pictures to work on.
  
  The computers that run Photoshop Elements 6.0? Right now, it's just PC's, and it supports both XP and Vista, though I've heard reports that Vista can be problematical. I do not use Vista, so I can't report on this.
  
  MAC version is due out in early 2008.
  
  For PC's, here's your system requirements:
  1.3GHz, or better CPU
  256 MB RAM (512 recommended, really)
  16-bit Color display with 1024x768 resolution at 96DPI or less.
  CD-Rom
  1.5 GB hard disk space minimum available
  
  I'd add that a good video card is advisable; if your system is more than 3 years old, it may bog down if you don't have enough video memory on board and I can't speak to what is required, as this is not given as a spec. If you find the processing of pictures slow on your system, adding more video memory may be more useful than more RAM on the main board.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• If you have Photoshop Elements 5, no need to upgrade

  
  By ARLPG7FN42GJN on 2007-11-01
  I only use the Editor in Photoshop, never the Organizer, and my OS is Windows XP SP2. I started with PSE 4, then 5, and now 6, and have found this program to be extremely useful for improving, even renovating, my old slides and photos which I have scanned. But I am sorry to say that 6 does not seem to improve on 5. First of all, the Help button brings up no help at all. Tech support provided a workaround which is to use a shortcut to a file in Common Files. I must admit that the resulting Help file is much better than the Help file in 5. Secondly, the color scheme of the program, which cannot be changed, makes many of the buttons hard to read, especially for my aging eyes. In 5 the buttons were very clear. In 5, if you clicked on L, the shortcut for the Lasso Tool for example, an icon in the Options Bar will be highlighted to show which Lasso Tool you have activated, and the same for other shortcuts for multiple tools. That feature has been eliminated in Photoshop Elements 6 for no good reason.
  
  In all fairness, PSE 6 is about 75% larger than 5, so it probably has some resources that I have not had occasion to use, and probably never will. Adobe's "What's New" for PSE 6 does not indicate anything really sensational in my opinion. My conclusion is that if you already have PSE 5, don't bother to upgrade now, and save your money for a future upgrade. But if you don't have any version of Photoshop Elements at all, then I would highly recommend Photoshop 6 which does offer an almost infinite number of ways to improve your photos.
  
  

• Version 6 is quite buggy - try the free trial first

  
  By A36QMAMGNWE349 on 2007-11-26
  I've used all 6 versions of Photoshop Elements, recommending previous versions to friends, and version 6 is by far the buggiest. The Organizer (the part that organizes all your photos) is riddled with bugs, some minor, some major, indicating a major lapse on Adobe's part. While 6 performs a little better than 5 for me (with 12K photos), and some people with larger catalogs says it performs much better, the bugs and new features barely justified the upgrade cost for me.
  
  I'd recommend reviewing the problems people are having at Adobe's user forums ([...]) and testing the free trial available from Adobe before committing your money, especially if you're upgrading from a previous version. Beware that Adobe almost never releases patch releases of Elements - they release one version each fall.
  
  Here are the bugs that I've personally encountered:
  
  Major Problems:
  
  * Even when Help installs correctly, it is missing more than half its content, and the manual isn't in the online download or on the CD. (How is one supposed to know that much of the Help content is missing?)
  * The menu bars don't display if you have changed the screen DPI to be larger than 96 (as many people do on today's ubiquitous high-res displays).
  * The grey-on-black user interface can be completely unreadable or hard to read on many uncalibrated displays (e.g. the typical consumer display) and can be hard to read by older people with aging eyes (distinguishing dark is a known problem of aging, and middle-aged people like myself appear to be a primary target demographic for PSE).
  * The File > Move command will silently and permanently lose a file if the destination folder has a file of the same name as the file being moved; this is different behavior than PSE 5.
  * The File > Move command loses the association between the photo and the audio caption, even though it moves both files to the new location.
  * On a multiprocessor, the Organizer behaves erratically with catalogs containing raw files: sometimes it crashes, sometimes it shows the hourglass icon for raw files, sometimes it shows the broken-image icon.
  * In a catalog with large numbers of raw files, scrolling quickly over dozens or hundreds of large-sized thumbnails will consume 100% CPU for a minute or longer.
  * Tag hierarchies with more than 500 or so tags make the Keywords pane unusably slow (but worked fine in PSE 5).
  * Moving map locations always fails, silently (too bad if you want to record backcountry locations not namable via Yahoo Maps).
  * Giving a map location to a tag assigned to hundreds of photos makes both the Keywords pane and the Map View unusably slow.
  * Removing the map push-pin of a tag assigned to hundreds of photos mistakenly tries to update the metadata of each photo, which can take tens of minutes and fill up your recycle bin.
  * If a photo with GPS coordinates is imported, it doesn't show as a red push-pin on the map.
  * New dates set by Edit > Adjust Date and Time sometimes get silently lost.
  * The Photo Downloader process APDProxy.exe crashes at startup because of a missing DLL.
  * File > Write Keyword Tags and Properties fails to update the metadata of TIFFs produced by Nikon Coolscan V, Nikon Coolscan 5000, and Epson 4490 scanners.
  * File > Write Keyword Tags doesn't write the map location (GPS coordinates) into the .xmp sidecar files of Nikon D80 or Canon G9 raw photos.
  * The File > Write Keyword Tags command doesn't report any errors in writing the metadata back to the photo (e.g. unsupported file types, readonly files, corrupt EXIF data).
  * The Organizer fails very ungracefully when two drives have the same volume serial number, e.g. because of the use of a disk-cloning utility.
  * The duration of a video clip included in a Slide Show is set to the default duration, not the length of the video clip, and right-click Edit Duration doesn't change the clip's duration.
  * An audio caption attached to a photo isn't imported into a slide show even though the option Include Audio Captions as Narration is selected.
  
  Searching and Dates/Times:
  
  * The timeline doesn't correctly display date ranges spanning many years.
  * You can no longer exclude a parent category from a search, e.g. exclude all photos tagged with any tag in the People category.
  * Find > By History > Imported On sorts the photo dates alphabetically, rather than by date/time, making the command almost useless, and it shows a scary message "Deleting Keyword Tags" for catalogs converted from version 5.
  * Setting a date range and then excluding two tags from the search clears the date range.
  * Show All doesn't clear a date range set by Find > Set Date Range (can be very confusing).
  * Searching for "0 stars only" doesn't work for photos in a catalog converted from PSE 5.
  * Save Search Criteria As Smart Album isn't available if a date range has been set but no other search criteria have been.
  * Time "unknown" has two bugs: Editing a photo won't preserve time "unknown", and searching with date ranges doesn't properly handle "unknown".
  * File > Write Keyword Tag And Properties sometimes fails silently to write the EXIF XMP Date Time Original tag to older .jpgs, even though several other tools are fully capable of doing so.
  * Edit > Adjust Date and Time sets the wrong date/time for the EXIF:CreateDate field of JPEGs produced by an Olympus C50-Z.
  
  Minor Bugs:
  
  * If a hard drive containing photos in the catalog gets its drive letter reassigned by Windows, then the left-hand folder pane of Display > Folder Location view shows the old drive letter, not the new one, as containing the photos.
  * The File > Rename command no longer includes leading zeroes, causing the renamed files to sort incorrectly in Windows Explorer.
  * In File > Export, the Common Basename can no longer be empty, and a hyphen is added automatically, so you can no longer get files named 1.jpg, 2.jpg, etc.
  * Setting the Apply Metadata > Author or Copyright fields or the option Preserve Current Filename In XMP of the advanced options of the Photo Downloader causes duplicate files to be downloaded and imported.
  * Display > Import Batch shows the wrong time for batches imported by the Photo Downloader; if the local time zone is UTC-8:00, then the time will be 8 hours earlier. Also, dates are shown as 2\20\2008 rather than 2/20/2008.
  * With the Import EXIF Caption option turned off, captions pre-existing in a file's EXIF:ImageDescription metadata field reappear in the Organizer after invoking the Full Editor.
  * In the full Editor's Red Eye Removal Tool, the Darken Amount is reversed: 1% produces the most darkening, 100% the least.
  * Nudging with the arrow keys in the Editor stops working after applying a layer style, until you type Ctrl-T (Free Transform).
  * The width of the Editor's Palette Bin can't be adjusted by dragging the left edge, as you can with all the other similar panes (Project Bin, Organizer Bin, Map View).
  * Dialogs in the Editor sometimes bounce back when you try to move them.
  * On a 1280x1024 display, the Editor Print window is positioned to perfectly obscure the scroll bar of the drop-down list of printer profiles, leading people to think their printer's profiles aren't available.
  * If there are more lines than can be displayed in the Note field of a keyword tag, it is impossible to show the last line, though you can select it with Ctrl-A (select all).
  * Copying a paragraph from Microsoft Word and pasting it into the Notes field of a keyword tag causes some of the spaces between words to be deleted.
  * The scroll bars in the Organizer Full Screen view don't work correctly - clicking on the scroll bar arrows or the space between the arrows and the center box of the bar does nothing, unlike a standard Windows scroll bar.
  * Escape doesn't close the full-screen-mode Properties dialog.
  * Control-A to select all text doesn't work in the text fields of the Properties dialog.
  * You can't use the Windows Explorer Tile command to tile the PSE Organizer and Editor windows.
  * The Editor window can't be resized the standard Windows way by grabbing any edge, just the lower-right corner.
  * Alt doesn't underline the shortcut letters of top-level menu items in the Full Editor (but it does in the Organizer).
  * In the full Editor, if at least one open photo is minimized to the Project Bin, Ctrl-Tab no longer cycles through the open windows.
  * In Create > Slide Show > Slide Show Preferences dialog, you can't use backspace or delete to clear the text in the Static and Transition Duration fields -- you need to select the text and then type over the selection (non-standard Windows behavior).
  
  

• Upgrade problems if you have Vista

  
  By A1Q8F4SV8MHRPA on 2007-10-06
  Even after a tech support call, I am unable to upgrade my 5.0 picture catalog to this new version. I am using vista, other users using XP seem fine. In the adobe forums there are reports of a number of other problems. I am sure these will be cleared up, but you should wait a couple months before upgrading, especially if you have Vista.
  
  If you have not used Photoshop Elements before, and you are just using folders to keep track of your photos, you should start tagging and backing up your photos asap. There are other tools out there, but overall I have been happy through the years with the Photoshop Elements organizer. I have over 30,000 photos and videos organized and tagged. I use the full version of photoshop for my imaging needs, but Elements has some great tools that are not even in the full version.
  
  

• Released before its time

  
  By A2GJRR8YFWP3H5 on 2007-10-13
  There are a LOT of bugs in this version. I've had Photoshop Elements 6 peg my processor at 99% for minutes at a time just trying to view a picture full screen -- a task which version 5 had no difficulties with. Scrolling through the organizer will often cause random thumbnails to be replaced with the "missing photo" thumbnail. You have to update the thumbnail at some point after to restore it.
  
  The only positives so far have been the upgrades to processing of RAW photos. Sadly, it is the smallest of silver linings in this dark cloud.
  
  
• Get better quality with 16-bit support somewhere else but not here
  By A3PDSB660ZTZJO on 2007-10-07
  From the Adobe description of this product "Get better quality with 16-bit support
  Get truer, more vibrant results with support for 16-bit color." This is the reason I upgraded from version 4. Since I have been scanning negatives using 16 bit color, I was unable to use the old Elements 4 and when I saw that there was support for 16 bit color I bought this. The first thing I did was to open a tiff to remove some dust with the spot healing tool and then the message pops up that this is unsupported. It offers to degrade the image to an 8 bit image but that is what Elements 4 did also so what is the point of upgrading? Essentially I wasted $100 dollars again on something unusable. It is slow to load but I can't use it anyway. What I was using for dust removal was Photofiltre but that had a bug after several years of use that made me take another look at Elements. Now I'll file a bug report with Photofiltre and try to work with that again. This product is probably useful if you only use jpegs and are interested in the head swapping feature in those jpegs.
  
  
• Photoshop Elements Keeps Getting Better!
  By A3IA6CYFWMTGPI on 2007-11-05
  I can't advise on Vista compatibility, since I run XP. Also, it's a personal choice as to whether or not to upgrade from a previous version of Photoshop Elements. With these caveats out of the way, I'll say that Photoshop Elements 6 is the best version of Elements I've used and is a good improvement over Photoshop Elements 5 (which was a marginal improvement over Photoshop Elements 4). Since I teach Photoshop Elements on cruise ships I have to keep up with the latest version, and break it apart as I update and build new lessons. While versions 4 and 5 were great programs, Photoshop Elements 6 is an outstanding program. Just discussing the improvements in the Edit area: (1) Photomerge now has three features that work magnificently. Previously, Photomerge only had a Panorama. Adobe has drastically improved Photomerge Panorama and has added Photomerge Group Shot and Photomerge Faces to the menu. Photomerge Group Shot allows you to move people between photos (someone blinks or is looking the other way when a photo is taken) and works really well. Photomerge Faces lets you move facial features between photos (I'm still in trouble for putting a beard onto a photo of a friend's wife); (2) Quick Selection Tool, that replaced the previous Magic Selection Brush Tool, has become my favorite selection tool. It's fast and accurate, and a lot easier for new users to use than many of the other tools, such as the Magnetic Lasso Tool; (3) Clone Stamp Tool Overlay is a handy new option for use with the Clone Stamp Tool, and Elements has a Refine Edge Option that works well with the Quick Selection Tool, Lasso Tool, and Polygonal Lasso Tool. There are other improvements as well, and Adobe has retained the other useful features that worked well in Elements 4 & 5 (Straighten Tool and Magic Extractor to name just two). The one update in Elements 6 that I don't like is they removed the zoom in and out when scrolling the mouse wheel. My other critcism goes back to Elements 5 and is that to build and print a calender you have to send it off and pay for it. The one great feature in Elements 4 was that you could build calendars and print them out yourself (saving $20 per calendar), which is the one reason I'll also keep Elements 4 on my PC. Photoshop Elements 6 is well worth buying!
  
  
• Overall, it's great software
  By A11AIEN0W9PBP9 on 2007-10-24
  I didn't give it 5 stars because I know it's not perfect. But with that said, I love the program. After using trial versions of several image-editing programs, I decided on Elements 6.0 because I will eventually purchase Photoshop Lightroom and thought they would integrate well together. I also didn't want to pay the price for Photoshop CS3. I am still learning Elements, but so far I have not been disappointed.
  
  The program works flawlessly--no glitches, hangs, crashes, or bugs. I'm running it on my 2-year-old laptop, which has Windows XP SP2, Intel Celeron M processor (1.5 GHz), and 2 GB RAM. (I don't know what my video card is; whatever came with the computer.) I would have to agree with another reviewer who said that any problems people experience with Elements 6.0 is most likely due to insufficient RAM and processor speed.
  
  I highly recommend this program, and I look forward to learning more of its nuances.
  
  
• OK But still confusing.
  By A2K6I9R5BTMAA3 on 2007-10-30
  I have used many so called graphics programs over the years, from Highly complex to simple. I am now at the point where I want functionality but not at the expense of simplicity. This product may have many features but they are not readily available nor explained very well. The only way you will know what it is capable of is by digging. Do a search for Photomerge, (which is mentioned many times) and get nothing. No written manual - online everything and very little explanation (or clear explanation, you can purchase some training if you like). It feels as though you are running multiple programs that are some how disjointed. I just did not feel that it was very intuitive and the controls were confusing - unless maybe you are a Photoshop junky - but this program is supposed to be for people who dont want all the confusion ! I just did not find it very user friendly. It may include everything but the kitchen sink - but it is not explained very well.
  
  I have an Intel Quad CPU and an Nvidia 8800GTX OC w/over 700 meg of memory on the video card and 4 meg of on board Ram with Windows XP sp2 and a Dell 24" LCD monitor. - I found the program sluggish and just downright slow.
  
  Corel Photo Album 6 by the way, is very fast and has a very good organizer with intuitive controls. Editing is lacking but sufficient for most tasks - Paintshop pro 11 does the rest if the Album cannot fix it. I believe Corel has Changed the name of the program with the album to Media Studio or something like that.
  
  I have to say after using the product for a while and becoming familiar with it my opinion has changed. I highly recommend it.
  
  I am figuring Elements out bit by bit - but it is not what I expected. I have had a couple of crazy things happen with thumbnails - do not remember exactly - thought it was just me - but may be a glitch.
  
  
• Disasterous Experience
  By A3HN049VIP6HQM on 2007-11-19
  I have been a faithful Elements user for manAdobe Photoshop Elements 6y years. My most recent experience with Elements 6.0 has been disasterous. When I loaded the program it caused a strange malfunction to my system. Task Manager Performance window showed my CPU usage constantly at 100% making it very difficult to do anything. I finally traced it to a file called apdproxy which is loaded as part of Photoshop Album. Uninstalling Elements did not correct the problem as the uninstall program left apdproxy still installed. I have not been successful in tracking down the problem or reaching anyone at Adobe to report this problem to. I don't know if this is a fluke, an abnormal interaction with something else on my computer or a common problem. I resorted to reformatting my hard drive and reinstalling all of my software but as soon as I reinstalled Elements 6, the problems recurred.
  
  
• WARNING!
  By A3VR02TUH2JH54 on 2007-11-24
  If you are using Photoshop Elements 3 you will NOT be able to transfer or import your current catalog and tags into Elements 6. Before I bought 6 I called Adobe and they said I'd be able to import my current catalog and tags into 6 but AFTER I had purchased it they said it wasn't compatible!
  
  
• Sadly, do not recommend this version
  By A1IJSD2B3JCEUZ on 2007-12-20
  As a long-time user of PSE, currently version 3, I was very much looking forward to upgrading to this version. It looked great, and had a lot of great features. I downloaded the tryout version, which is exactly the same as the regular version...you just pay for a serial number.
  
  At first, I was happy...I experienced none of the issues others found. I was able to successfully import all the photos and tags from version 3 into the new version. I imported new photos okay, and it automatically took care of red eye. I liked the fact that several of the most common functions, like cropping and red eye removal, are right in the Organizer now...no need to go to the editors to do that if you don't have to.
  
  I went to try out the slide show feature. I added pans, fades from one photo to another, and a soundtrack...to 22 pictures. The interface was fairly easy to use, and the end result looked good. The problem came when I went to export it. The 2 main options are to PDF (then you lose all moving effects) or WMV file. I tried the latter several times...it kept stopping when it got to 98% complete. I tried taking out the soundtrack...still no luck. Couldn't find resolution on help forums.
  
  Another thing I tried was to email 2 photos directly from the Organizer. Version 3 made it easy...just exported them to a file to attach to your email program. This version forces you to use an Adobe email system, which needs to send you an email to verify the connection. I received a code to enter on a screen....only thing was, when I received the code, I couldn't type it into the area where the code was required!
  
  The 3rd bug I found was when trying to select all things matching one tag. I selected one tag, I found other photos not matching that tag come back, those with symbols that indicated "no match." It made no sense to me.
  
  The upshot: I uninstalled version 6 and will not buy it...it doesn't work properly. I do not have Vista...I have Windows XP SP2. I would not recommend this version, based on my experiences and having read several of others. Too bad...I really wanted to use this.
  
  
• Great Program for the Future
  By A2J7XVM9MBWVRM on 2007-10-07
  I initially gave this program 1 star, because I could not get it to work on a Vista upgraded machine, nor on a different machine with a fresh install of Vista. Graphic Editing is extremely important to me, so I took the plunge and bought an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM and 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 fast fresh Vista Machine and now it works great. The work flow between Quick Fix and Full Edit is smooth, and saves quite a bit of time. Integration with the Organizer is quick and usefull. I wish the Organizer had an explorer type of interface, but I am getting used to it. My old photoshop plugins work with the program, but some of the layer filtering features of the super Photoshop CS3 are missing, oh well.
  
  Recently the program stopped working properly, so I did a clone of the computer to an earlier time when it worked, and now it works again. It is so important to me that this program works; I make a copy (clone) using Acronis 10 once or twice a day, in case PSE6 becomes unstable again.
  
  I had asked Adobe about the program not running and they were confused and not helpful, asking lots of easy questions to me that were meaningless. I don't think they recognize the stability problems of the program working on slightly older upgraded Vista machines. But when it is working it is superb, so I have to give it 5 stars, it saves so much time. I have used it for hundreds of photos already, and the work flow is far superior to my previous methods, some which used Ulead products which now don't work on Vista. For 99% of my needs PSE6 is much faster than PE CS3, so I only use PE CS3 for more technical work. There are dozens of user friendly features that make editing a more natural and enjoyable experience.
  
  The slate interface takes some getting used to after decades on white versions of photoshop, but now I prefer it, less tiring on the eyes. The handy sliders on Quik Edit are fabulous. The graphics are clearer and more vibrant than any earlier program provided. This is a program of the Future, and not the past. Don't try to use it on older machines. It can give you a reason to get that new Duo or Quad processor machine where installation is a breeze and it works almost all of the time.
  
  
• LATEST IS NOT THE BEST
  By AVT7LQQ5AFAN4 on 2007-11-15
  If you plan on getting Photoshop Elements, do yourself a favor and go for version 4 or 5. The latest version is so full of bugs you will need an exterminator to get rid of them. And if your computer is not a very recent model your problems will be compounded.
  Elements is a pretty good photo organizer and basic photo editor. The module that selects faces to be labeled (tagged) makes a boring chore quick and easy. The editing module is a bit slow but performs quite well.
  You can file your photos any way you wish and still keep track of your entire collection.
  BUT version 6 has a long way to go before it's worth its money. Other reviews say that version 6 was brought out prematurely to cash in on the Christmas shopping rush and I agree with them. The new features which Adobe promotes for version 6 would be nice to have but just not worth the trouble of wrestling with the program.
  I have erased version 6 from my computer and gone back to version 4
  and I am a lot happier but about eighty bucks poorer.
  
  
  
• If you enjoy trouble then get this software
  By A3RB317QWDHVQ5 on 2007-11-01
  I bought this when it was first introduced as an upgrade from PSE5. I installed it on a new HP computer with three gigs of RAM and about 360 available gigs of storage. It constantly locks up when scrolling through the organizer. Freezes on a regular basis. I am back to using PSE5 now because 6 is totally undependable. If you think I'm exagerating then I suggest you go to the photoshop elements users website and read the forums. There are many threads about people having grief with this software. PSE6 was clearly not tested as it should have been and is a money grab by Adobe for Christmas shopping suckers.
  
  
• Not an essential buy, but could be worth the price
  By APU7WO93ETHE7 on 2007-10-16
  I've gone from Elements 2 to 4 to 6, not deliberately following that pattern, but I do find the Adobe upgrade pricing to be very steep and I don't want to dish out significant chunks of money every year.
  
  Elements 6 is a useful upgrade from Elements 4. It being a couple of years since I last paid for an upgrade though, this has probably tempered my view of version 6.
  
  This is not a killer application, at least not any more than previous versions of the program, but it is still very good. What is there to upgrade for in this version? The most obvious feature is the new 'graphite' interface - having calibrated my screen properly (and that's another story) I find that it provides a better way to work on photographs - beware though, if your screen is not set up well the new interface could be almost illegible! The 'tools' interface is cleaner and the functionality of the tools has been improved somewhat, and although the editing tools remain pretty much the same I seem to find my way around them easier. Usefully, the workflow has been thought through much better, and one can go through a series of actions comprising a project much more easily.
  
  What's not to like? Well, I've never been a big fan of the Organizer - why it can't provide a straightforward explorer view without hogging resources I'll never understand - another example of Adobe bloatware? Also, having recently bought a camera with super high ISO ratings I find myself gathering an ever increasing bunch of photos with noise like Roman mosaics - the noise reduction filter in Elements is next to useless, so I found myself paying out for a plug-in filter. On speed, I would say it is a little bit slower than version 4, but I can live with that.
  
  Overall though, having skipped the upgrade to version 5, I think that version 6 is a good upgrade. Not an essential buy, but worth the price for me. By the way, if you do want to 'upgrade' version 4 (or 5) for free, try the 'smartcurves' plug-in - that one piece of software transformed the way I worked with Elements.
  
  
• Works as advertised
  By A28MNI4HN0EPS7 on 2007-10-08
  I have this installed on a Microsoft Vista computer. Works like a charm. Program opens quickly and the interface looks great. I was a Google Picasa user, but wanted more robust features and elements 6 fit the bill.
  
  Very happy with my purchase.
  
  
• A disaster with Windows Vista
  By A2D90629MCEVMT on 2007-12-05
  I used Photoshop Elements 4 for several years and was quite happy with it.
  
  But version 6 is close to unusable. File loading is extremely slow with Vista, pasting images from the clipboard (such as screen snapshots) takes over 5 seconds (and occasionally crashes), the cursor keys fail to nudge layers as they are supposed to, and so on.
  
  Be warned--Photoshop Elements 6 crashes frequently. If you don't save changes constantly, you will lose work.
  
  The provided help is extremely limited and of little use.
  
  If you are using an earlier version of PS Elements, version 6 will disappoint.
  
  
  
• Does not convert catalog's from previous versions
  By A1NCHIVTAMZPDR on 2007-10-31
  I've been using Adobe PhotoAlbum for 3 years, been very happy. Decided to upgrade and it wouldn't do the catalog conversion. I even tried downloading an earlier version of photoshop elements, and was able to convert to that but not the 6.0 version.
  
  Researched and lots of folks having this same problem. It's a new database structure for 6.0 versus all prevous versions, and seems to be very fragile. I don't understand why they wouldn't do extensive testing with their own previous product lines. I have 15,000 photo's and video's tagged in my catalog, and it's not acceptable that this new version of adobe software can't import correctly the adobe catalogs from software written only 3 years ago.
  
  I put in this issues with their tech team, but have not gotten a response. I am resigned to return to Amazon the PSE 6.0. Maybe I'll buy a 5.0 version instead.
  
  
• Another great product from Adobe.
  By A18HEAES71AQTS on 2007-10-19
  Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 is a great photo editing product and a good upgrade from Photoshop Elements 5. I have Windows Vista and have not had any problems with this program and Vista compatibility nor have I had any problems with my computer running pictures at full scale either. It runs smooth as silk. Any prior reviews you may have read on here are strictly based on an older computer and/or insufficient hardware. My computer has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor E6320, 2 GB of RAM and 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card. In addition I have a 30" monitor which as you may or may not know puts extra strain on the computer and I still have no problem editing multiple pictures . Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 is a great buy for the price and I recommend it for anyone from professional photographers to basic users.
  
  
• Vista might cause problems
  By A3W02BUO8BKDS5 on 2008-01-24
  I purchased Photoshop Elements 6.0 for installation on my wife's new Dell Laptop that has The New Vista opperating system. The installation went smoothly, but the program refused to run. After four hours on the phone with Adobe tech support, (The first two were with a person that clearly did not know what the problem was) I got the problem fixed...and many people might have the problem. I was told it was caused by a "vapor launch", and will be a problem on ALL Vista computers that do not have the patch that fixes the problem. The patch comes with version 8.0 of Adobe Acrobat Reader...so if you don't have the patch, you will need to call Adobe and have them guide you through the installation.
  I found nothing on the Web prior to purchase to warn me of this problem.
  
  
• Avoid this release!
  By AP04SKDA7YOD8 on 2007-12-21
  I have been using Photoshop Elements since the first release and have upgraded immediately as each new release came out. This is first time I have regretted it.
  
  This release is buggy and slow. The hourglass icon is active at least half of the time. Screen refresh is seriously broken- I get artifacts all over the PE window. It acts like its running on a 386, rather than a nearly new high-end dual-core machine. It's crashed a dozen times.
  
  A few things are better- it does import new pictures much quicker.
  
  The User Interface is all new- for no particular reason- and difficult to navigate. I could deal with that ... if there weren't so many bugs ... and the simply unreal lagtime in doing anything ... anything!
  
  I uninstalled and reverted to PE 5, which runs great. And am eyeing the similar Corel app. Guess I will consider it a $100 lesson to check the reviews first before upgrading..
  
  
• Finally, a user-friendly version of PS Elements
  By AYWIO6OYAGFGQ on 2008-06-01
  I had tried previous versions of Photoshop Elements as free trial downloads from Adobe and while they had some great features, I didn't like the interface. I especially disliked switching from browsing to editing, which I found to be clunky and cumbersome, and ended up using ACDSee for image organization and minor editing.
  
  When I started reading positive reviews about PSE6, I decided to download the trial version and give it a shot. After using the trial version for about a week, I was so impressed with the changes and improved ease of use that I purchased the software. For the money, I don't think you can do any better.
  
  At first, I was a bit put off by the organizer, which, while a huge improvement over previous versions of PSE that I'd tried, was still not as intuitive as ACDSee or even the basic photo gallery in Vista. But after using it for a few days, I became more comfortable with it. It includes several quick fix editing options, as well as the option to view complete metadata for your photos. Importing photos into the organizer is relatively easy (very easy when you insert your camera's memory card, might take a little work importing from files and folders already on your PC). It will even do an auto red-eye correction as it imports your photos, which is a handy feature.
  
  As for the image editor, I was very impressed by how easy it was to use. By offering three edit modes, Adobe gives users a choice. Full mode is exactly what it says. Your image appears in a window with the complete tool palette and you choose what you want to do. This would be great for users who know what they want to do, and how to do it. Quick mode offers a smaller tool palette, and a task bar that includes the most common editing fixes (lighting, color, etc.) as well as various automatic fixes. Guided mode offers a series of questions that you work through, asking you what you want to do, and then guiding you through the process. For me, this was the easiest way to get started. You always have the option of undoing your edits, or resetting the image.
  
  Once you're done editing an image in the editor, you must close it or when you return to the organizer, there will be a red bar through the middle of the image that says "edit in progress". It's not enough to save the edited image in the editor, you have to close it. I don't particularly mind this, but I'm not sure why it's necessary.
  
  There is a fairly extensive set of user preferences and they're reasonably easy to navigate and control, though there is no option to change the program's dark gray color scheme (see below).
  
  The printed manual that accompanies the software is very basic, and Adobe directs the user to its online help files. I did not find the online help to be especially helpful, so I bought a couple of books (one by Scott Kelby, one by Philip Andrews). These include much more detailed and thorough guidance and they are excellent resources. Kelby's book includes detailed, step-by-step instructions for various editing tasks, while Andrews is more of a quick reference. Between the two of them, I have found more than enough guidance for the tasks I've attempted so far.
  
  Some reviewers have complained about the dark gray color scheme, especially since you cannot change the color. I don't mind the dark gray, but I don't know why Adobe didn't offer several other color schemes to allow users to choose what they liked. Others have said that the program is slow and crashes frequently. I'm using a laptop that's about a year and a half old, with 2GB RAM, and without a separate graphics card, and I haven't had any problems with crashes or slowness. I usually don't have any other programs open when I'm editing photos, but when I do, PSE6 doesn't seem to mind.
  
  I'm very pleased with this version of PSE and it is by far the best image editing software I have used. (Note: several reviewers who have used PSE5 say that version 6 is not a major upgrade, and this may be true. The most recent version of PSE that I had used prior to 6 was version 3). PSE6 is so user-friendly and contains so many features that it has encouraged me to try more advanced tasks that I would never have tried before. It also offers the auto fix options in the organizer and the quick mode in the editor, for newer users or for when you're in a hurry. I think Adobe has done an excellent job of combining a rich feature set with a user-friendly interface.
  
  A note about the current rebate offer: contrary to what one reviewer wrote here, the 6 week time limit refers to the amount of time you have to submit your rebate, and does not mean that you can only get the rebate if you've purchased other software 6 weeks prior to purchasing PSE6. Read the rebate coupon, it's very clear. Furthermore, the upgrade rebate is offered for a variety of non-Adobe products as well as previous versions of PSE6, and the proof required. In my case, I was able to submit a photocopy of the CD for an old version of Paint Shop Pro. The other rebate requirements are easy to assemble: a small tab from the box, your purchase receipt, and the ocmpleted coupon along with proof of ownership of the product you're upgrading.
  
  
  
• Wow from a die-hard Photoshop user!
  By A11UAS6UUFRG7I on 2008-07-28
  I was trying to decide if it was worth upgrading my Photoshop 7 to CS3 (even at the academic price of $300) when I stumbled across Elements 6. I downloaded the free 30 day trial from the Adobe site and I was shocked how good this program is, even compared to its pricey sister Photoshop CS3.
  
  I am a photographer and even have a few photography blogs, one where I have tutorials/free actions for Photoshop. I have been an avid Photoshop snob for over 10 years, and I know the program pretty much backwards and forwards. After reviewing Elements for over a month (and editing tons of photos with it) I have to say that unless you are a professional photographer who edits tons and tons of prints and are at a loss for time, Elements will give you spectacular results on par with Photoshop CS3. Even a professional photographer can use this program for editing, but it will be slower for them to get their work done.
  
  What it is missing that I love in CS3 is the ability to write actions (not necessary, but it speeds up my workflow) and not being able to batch process prints without auto settings. If you don't understand what I mean with that sentence, then by all means don't bother getting CS3 and stick with Elements 6.
  
  There is a learning curve and I would suggest reading up on free sites on the web to learn how to work the program (and Kelby's books are great). It is also much more powerful than most users realize, so dig deep and play with it. There are tons of free plug-ins and actions out there that make your program more like its big sis Photoshop, just do a search.
  
  Anyway, Elements is a great powerful program that I would be happy to use to edit my pics on a deserted island. Don't underestimate its power.
  
  The people who gave this bad reviews are obviously people who did not take the time to really play with this program. It has "idiot" modes where anyone can get a decent processed print, but if you are willing to learn a bit you can create art.
  
  CS3 is a BMW and Elements 6 is a Honda. Sure, the BMW is more flashy and has some bells and whistles you will use and will improve your life a bit, but they are bells and whistles you really did not know you "had" to have. The Honda will get you to the same place at approximately the same time, safely and in an equally smooth ride. Sure, your friends won't be in awe, but the money you save you can spend in gas (or a nice lens for your camera!).
  
  Oh, did I mention it comes with the same Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) that CS3 is bundled with to process RAW prints? ACR is great if you shoot in RAW (which everyone should if you have the ability).
  
  
• Photoshop Elements 6 - fatally flawed
  By AQBB9L2FL3QD9 on 2007-12-19
  No matter how much better this product is than previous versions it is almost unusable due to the color scheme they have chosen. I am sure some young programmer thought shades of black and gray with white (and gray) lettering would look cool and more modern. I am sitting here looking at a photo with a medium gray title bar and light gray lettering. You have to be kidding me. It is as if the program spent some time in a coal mine and needs to be pressure washed. Hopefully they will be offering some options for color schemes - real soon. As far as I can tell it is not possible to change that. I am seriously thinking uninstalling it and going with a previous version.
  
  
• An improvement over Version 5
  By A1O1KXS4B7P6NX on 2007-11-15
  I have used Elements from Version 4 to Version 5 - and now to Version 6. I was very happy with the performance of Version 5 and was reluctant to purchase Version 6, as it read like an evolution in the program - as compared to a revolution. There were some items that got my attention - and, as it turns out, these made the purchase worthwhile. The Organizer flows more quickly and looks better than that of Version 5. I've tried the 'guided fix' process - but have returned to going directly to the 'full' edit process as I am comfortable working in that space. Still - the guided approach will be a drastic improvement to the Version 5 'quick' fix and less intimidating than the 'full' edit approach.
  
  If you already use the 'full' edit - then there are some enhancements but probably not enough to warrant spending the bucks for the upgrade. If you use the 'quick' approach and are uncomfortable with the 'full' edit approach - this version will help you in the process.
  
  Evolution - not - Revolution
  
  
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 - it's AWESOME
  By A2D5YPABH7LNGP on 2007-11-04
  I started with Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 and have purchased the newer version every time it came out. I also have Photoshop CS but I find myself using the Elements everytime instead. Elements 6 is layed out in a manner that doesn't get overwhelming and their website has great tutorials - free. I highly reccomed this product and will be in line to purchase version 7 when it comes out.
  
  
• VISTA 64-bit version incompatable with this product
  By A26QL0T3E7MOAE on 2007-12-18
  I have a high-end computer with the latest 64-bit version of MS VISTA operating system. I found out (too late) that the Adobe Photoshop Elememts 6 is incompatable with my operating system. The box says it is compatable with VISTA, but this is misleading as it may be only compatable with the MS VISTA 32-bit system. For my graphic editing needs I've had to load it back to my old XP operating system. Come on Adobe, get with the future and build a compatable version for those who really need it.
  
  
• Difficult to use and then...CRASH!
  By A3VS0SJKYHOZFM on 2008-03-23
  I had been using Microsoft Digital Image 2006 for all my photos for two years and it served me well and worked great! It was also very easy to navigate and clean up photos. However, they are not making an upgrade of this product anymore unless you go Vista from XP. I decided to buy the Adobe Elements 6 for Windows XP. It was a big mistake. Here is what I did not like and what is unacceptable.
  
  1. I did not like that every time you changed anything to a photo, it created a separate version of the photo. That means- 4 changes- 4 separate .jpeg files. (Yes- if your photo is 2MB- you now have 4 x 2MB = 8MB of the same photo albeit 3 versions are enhanced on your HD) Digital photo enthusiasts swear that this is the way to go, so you always have your original. If I loved the original- why would I want to change it anyway? I did not like this function.
  
  2. I found it difficult to navigate around and figure everything out. (and that was the easy basic stuff) I planned on spending another $30.00 for a "how-to" book for all the advanced editing. Glad I waited on that!
  
  3. After making corrections it is extremely difficult to figure out how to save everything. There is no "done" option. You have to save or save as and your task is still not complete. There are also some other options that come up after you save your "fixed" .jpeg photos. You will not know what these mean, but you click "OK" anyway. If you do not exit properly after the "changes are made" --even after you save your fixed photo--the screen will have a "lock" icon and read "picture in edit mode". Far too difficult and time consuming, not to mention frustrating, in my opinion.
  
  4. CRASH- Recently when I tried to save a fixed photo(s)- the software got an error and crashed. This happened on any photo when trying to "save" the photos after enhancement. Rebooting does not help. In the newsgroups on this product I have read that this has been happening to others with V. 6.0 and earlier versions on Windows and Macs recently! What good is it if it crashes when you try to make changes? In some of the newsgroup posts I read, some people are justing waiting for an update fix. Yikes- Not me, I dumped the product off my HD. Unacceptable!
  
  5. $100.00 flushed down the drain; only to go back to my "old" software.
  
  6. There is some good news! Because the software pulls the files off the folders where you keep your photos on the HD-- you can delete the software from your system and go back to your old program without deleting or destoying any of the photos. I then spent an hour deleting the 6 versions (.jpg) of the photos that I enhanced when the software did not crash.
  
  In summary: If you are a professional photographer or have used the previous versions of "elements" and know how to "work everything", this may be for you. (if it does not crash)--For the person that just takes pictures of their kids and family with a digital camera and wants a program that is easy to use and just gets the job done by clicking "DONE" with no problems...look to another program.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Things to know before buying
  By A3SCS9P6U9AGWW on 2008-04-08
  -Trial software is same as product. Worth the effort to download and use.
  -Rebate is VERY limited offer... Read all details.
  -Needs fast PC. Read and exceed system requirements!
  
  Pros
  -Clean, Intuitive interface
  -Can save keywords,caption,rating (metadata) directly in the photo's file.
  -Edits IPTC, XMP metadata from main window (not just a dialog box)
  -Two-way (photo to text/text to photo) drag and drop tag/keyword assignment.
  -Multiple level Keyword(tag) categories
  -Excellent Technical Support @ 800-642-3623
  
  Cons:
  -Selecting views by file folder is confusing (Show All toggle??)
  -Importing fails on some older photos -where competition had no problems.(use trial period to test)
  -Keyword categories don't auto-expand during mouse over (helpful in large, complex category lists)
  -Keywords in Properties pane don't word wrap in pane, requires horzontal scroll bar (group shots have lots of people keywords)
  -No Tag Cloud view for keywords (like Flickr or delicious.com)
  -No Autofind/Autofill dropdown list text entry for keywords
  -No option to automatically save/synch metadata to photo files (manual only)
  -catalog deletions of keywords are not deleted from image file's metadata
  -Software slows down significantly when more than 200-300 different keywords are used within the catalog.
  
  
  I selected this for my mother-in-law, who is a PC Novice and needed an all-in-one (upload-organize-enhance-burn)solution without too many controls. We purchased this mostly for the organizer. There were some issues with initial importing of old files or files in different folders with the same filename. Once imported, it was a breeze to organize and 'tag' 7000+ photos with keywords and captions.
  
  Warning don't use windows explorer to move catalogged photos-Do it within Elements or else:-(
  
  
  For those with more PC skills, I would highly-suggest Idimager personal edition. It can do everything Adobe Elements can do, but the User interface is not as clean and there are a bazillion options within the User preferences dialog.
  
  

• Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual
• Photoshop Elements 6 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
• The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
• Teach Yourself VISUALLY Photoshop Elements 6 (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech))
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 Classroom in a Book