Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 Reviews

• Buy PE 6.0 or earlier

  
  By AYVM2DODURDLE on 2008-10-19
  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.
  
  

• A real disappointment

  
  By A10XULCDFD8VC7 on 2008-10-16
  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.
  _____
  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.
  
  

• PE 6.0 is Better

  
  By on 2008-10-18
  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.
  
  

• Lots to Learn!

  
  By A2GJCYHBIFEKD2 on 2008-11-01
  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!!!
  
  

• Organizer isn't converting from Elements 5 well

  
  By A1LBVG3VS9CI4 on 2008-10-19
  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.
  
  
• A serious photo editing program
  By A2UWPPU5GZLMQZ on 2008-11-25
  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.
  
  
• Very Disappointed-Not a Review
  By A2V99RXY8L0HL7 on 2008-10-21
  This, obviously, is not a review of PSE7.
  
  I currently use PSE6 and was hoping that PSE7 would solve its shortcomings. Apparently it does not.
  
  Before PSE6, I used PSE2 and then PSE4, both of which worked very well. However, like many others, I've found that PSE6 crashes like crazy and is very unstable. I have more than enough memory (4gb) on my XP machine and have no problem running software like Bibble and Nikon Capture NX.
  
  It almost seems as though Adobe is putting out buggy versions of Elements so that they can sell more copies of CS4 at a substantially higher price. Nice marketing, but very poor customer relations.
  
  Personally, I'm about ready to give up paying good money to Beta test Windows-based software and move to MAC just for Aperture.
  
  
  
  
• Lucky Number Seven: many fun features in PSE V.7
  By A1IU7S4HCK1XK0 on 2008-11-10
  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.
  
  
• Keep Your Previous PE Version Installed; You May Be Glad You Did!
  By A34EGKN2KDX08N on 2008-10-24
  My review rating of 3 stars is currently above the rest. I have kept my previous PE 5 installed, which is what I did when I intalled PE 5 I kept my PE 3 installed.
  
  Photoshop and Windows Vista can be a dysfunctional living arrangement and definitely have their conflicts.
  
  With that said Adobe seems to be well intentioned in making Photoshop Elements better. You get a tiny amount of help in learning how to use just a few of its functions from Adobe. You need a manual, such as, Photoshop Elements Missing Manual, and others to help you learn; plus, a wealth of personal patience.
  
  You do have a choice of Auto, Guided and Full Edit--so if one can be satisfied with Auto, then you won't have to work too hard.
  
  I can certainly understand the other reviews, and that's why I have only been upgrading every other release.
  
  I am probably stuck on the name Adobe and Microsoft as well, even though their products don't live up to all their claims of how wonderful they are. Perhaps next time I get a new computer I'll research Apple more? And, maybe someone will be offering a better photo editor?
  
  Be willing to have a little user-lacking helpfulness even though Adobe's intention is probably more; or perhaps not, maybe the want to sell more training products that will get what you pay even more costly. Hopefully this application will not try your patience too much.
  
  I wish I could have provided a better review than this lack-luster one for you.
  
  
  
• Diffficult to USE
  By AGOH8N902URMW on 2008-10-28
  I find this program powerful but not helpful in its design. It is difficult. I tried Corel's Paint shop pro easier, more logical and just as powerful. The Corel program is very mainstream and accepts many useful plug-ins just like elements. This program needs a total redesign for the the advanced consumer market - is is locked into the more difficult aspects of Photoshop.
  
  
• Me likes
  By A64UIMNR159SU on 2008-11-03
  The upgrade from 6 to 7 is arguable, but buying 7 has inspired me to learn more and more about the abilities of elements 7. There's a lot of tutorials out there helping me with (what I consider)a big learning curve.
  
  I have become addicted. This is the best thing since sliced bread.
  
  It's better than a video game. You can do some very cool stuff. This is challenging my imagination.
  
  If you don't have photoshop...get it. It is not a perfect program. It seems demanding of your computer. Thats because some major computing is going on, and so far, I have figured out a way to make everything work as designed.
  
  Because it's not perfect, it gets 4 stars. Did I say, get it? Yeah, I did.
  
  
  
  
• Good Program
  By A2N1989NKR0SFN on 2008-10-26
  This is a good program. I was originally using PSE4 that belonged to my Mother who had loaded it onto my computer. Something went wrong and ended up buying Photoshop for myself and decided to go with the most up-to-date program Adobe was offering. Sure there isn't a HUGE difference from PSE4 to PSE7 but I enjoy the program and I was able to buy it cheaper than what I could've bought PSE6 for. If you want to save some money, go with 5 or 6, definitely don't think you'll go wrong. I wanted CS3 but is beyond what I can afford right now. And as an aspiring photographer, Elements is great!
  
  
• The question isn't if this is a good upgrade but if this is a good product!
  By A32B6XWNR55SRL on 2008-11-07
  This is an excellent product for home use. My HP photo editing software was no good on a VISTA 64-bit system. We take a lot of digitial photos and need an easy editing program. This is one of the more powerful and is not very hard to learn. You will find all the standard "home editing" items and some nice additional features.
  Instalation was no problem, the system runs well and is not unusually hard to use. You will need a training book! The internal documentaion is lacking and the screens can be daunting. My choice was the "Teach Yourself Visually" book. It isn't expensive and has all that I want and need.
  Photoshop is a very poweful poduct. This is for home use and you shouldn't expect professional features. Like any software, you have a learning curve. The results are worth the effort. This is a product that is supported by a major company and one that you will be able to use for yesrs aand years.
  
  
• Adobe should start over
  By A1U9MOEQ2PW3QY on 2008-10-30
  I am an expert PC user, a reasonably serious amateur photographer and a great fan of Adobe Acrobat. I started using Adobe PSE V6 about a year ago, after using Microsoft Picture It for years (and liking it, though I'm not a Microsoft fan).
  
  Because I'm experienced and because of my enjoyment using Acrobat, I expected PSE6 to be relatively easy to learn. It wasn't. Nothing works the way I expected it to and nothing was where I expected to find it. I'm also one of the few who actually reads a manual when all else fails. I read two books, including the Dummies book and still couldn't comfortably navigate this software.
  
  When PSE 7 came out, I thought maybe things would get better. Not so. Now I don't know what I'm going to do.
  
  Adobe should get the Acrobat development team to start from scratch with the Photoshop programs.
  
  
• I'm thrilled
  By A2SW30S4VMJNN on 2008-11-19
  Count me as a thrilled ex-Corel (Paintshop Pro X2) user. After Corel decided to charge their loyal customers $50 for RAW file support updates I moved on.
  
  I can't compare PE7 against PE6 and probably don't need to. Lots of users seem to be doing that already. I can compare against Paintshop Pro X2 though. You'll often hear Corel PSPX2 users take pride in their ability to get things done quickly without having to worry about Adobe's complicated workflow. "Let them have their Photoshop, we're getting real work done" is common. The other believe that has been held is that the Elements brand is for novices only, because Adobe won't ever add the truly powerful features from PS. I think PE7 destroys both these arguments, to be honest.
  
  Organizer: I have about 5,000 photos and managing them hasn't been easy. Corel PSPX2's organizer is really just a file browser...functional but not outstanding. The big problem for me is that you click a directory and wait and wait and wait while the program creates snapshots for all of the photos within the directory. Because of this it is hard to dynamically navigate around in order to tag, move and sort photos. PE7 on the other hand, makes file organization a breeze. It takes a while the first time, to cataloge and create thumbnails. But after that you can search, tag, move, rename photos to your heart's content. I love the feature that lets you associate geographical coordinates with a tag. Once the tag is assigned to a photo, the photo now can be found on a version of Yahoo maps. Brilliant. Oh! And raw files from my Olympus E-510 are supported out of the box! No need to pay $50 extra to get this support (Corel, I'm looking at you).
  
  Plugins: The other important feature to me is the ability to use photoshop plugins. Lack of plugin support in Lightroom is the primary reason I couldn't settle on that app. I have a bunch of great plugins that I've purchased over the years. They were always a bit wonky in Paintshop Pro, but they worked. However, now I'm seeing the true power of these plugins in PE7.
  
  I haven't dug in to too much else yet, but I'd encourage folks to consider this program if you haven't yet. A trial is available from Adobe's website so you can see for yourself.
  
  I'm running on an HP dv9000 series laptop, 4GB of RAM running Windows Vista 32-bit. PE7 runs smooth as butter.
  
  
• It's the industry standard in a package for folks who don't need the whole shebang.
  By A2LZKUARB5Y8C2 on 2008-11-28
  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.
  
  **************
  
  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.
  
  ********
  
  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.
  
  
• Give it a chance, it is better than stated
  By A3UDOQ3QFXPU02 on 2008-11-11
  First, let me say for the many that do not know. Adobe Photoshop elements 6 as well as every other earlier version DOES have a manual. It just doesn't come with it, due to the fact that it would cause the box to weigh a ton considering it has over 400 pages... however it can be found in PDF format on the Adobe website, do a search for photoshop elements 6 user guide in the search bar and then cheack back in a couple of months for the version 7 guide. (amazon won't post the link)
  Adobe is still processing the user guide for PSE7 and it should be out soon. Since PSE6 in essentially the same as PSE7, you can use the user guide for it until the version 7 guide is published.
  I do not own PSE7 yet, but I have used PSE6 and I am currently using the trial version of PSE7. I am an advanced photoshop user and I use this software on a daily basis for my photography edits and digital photo restoration. I think the software is a little slower than version 6 but overall it is great and very useful for a photographer on a budget. It also has some added backgrounds, templates, graphics and framing options that are easy to use for the digital scrapbooking enthusiasts.
  If you are upgrading there may be some things that you do not like, but they aren't enough to stop you from upgrading. If you are a new PSE user then you won't know the difference and won't be dissapointed. Happy Photoshopping!!
  
  
• Very pleased
  By A1VWD9FMW6YI61 on 2008-11-22
  I am probably the furthest thing from a computer genius. I have had no experience with any of the PSE versions so I am starting fresh with PSE7. I have to say that I really do love it and have already created quite a few things using it. So far I am very pleased. If you have the previous version then you are probably ok. If you are new to PSE then I highly recommend it. I gave it only 4 stars because I find the "help" function to not be as good as it should be. But, I have taught myself just by playing around for a while. Oh, and I have Vista and do not find the program slow at all.
  
  
  
• A very powerful photo editing and management tool, but it is not for everyone
  By A3T8WOFS5RD2IR on 2008-11-29
  This is a review of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 (PSE7) - so this review should not be applied to other versions or other bundles.
  
  If you are new to photography, and are looking for a first time editing tool, to manage, edit, and enhance photographs, this might be too much for you, unless you are willing to learn it. There are products with less features, some online versions are actually free, that might be just what you need to get started as they do all the basic things that most people will use. In time however, you will need this product or something like it. I caution you to just start with this one, as it's complicated, and powerful, and sometimes not as intuitive as one would like.
  
  If you are upgrading from a prior version of Photoshop Elements, then I'm not sure that this version is worth it for you. Yes, there are some new capabilities, but a lot of the changes are just changes... some for the better, some for worse, and some are just different - and if you really got good with a prior version, this version will bring with it a learning curve that you will not be real happy with. I was pretty good with Photoshop Elements 4, and the jump to 7 was a shock. I like the new capabilities, but I do NOT like the learning curve, and it is a big change. The good news is that you don't have to un-install the prior version(s) to run PSE7. You can't run PSE7 and the older version at the same time, but keeping both versions on my PC has been helpful for some things I was just really good at using the old version (PSE4 in my case).
  
  If you have been using one of the free photograph editing tools, or a really old product, or a scaled down version that came with your PC, then I recommend this product to you! You don't need to spend hundreds for the full blown professional tools from Adobe (such as Adobe Photoshop CS3 or Adobe Photoshop CS4). PSE7 will do all and more than you will probably need. The marketing materials on Amazon describe this product in general - but believe me, it can do many many more things and with numerous embedded tools, filters, techniques, that no single review could ever hope to document. There are college level classes that teach Photoshop (sure, many are geared at the professional version, but most of the techniques apply to this version too).
  
  
• Very good photo editor, but complex commands
  By A3NVISBOJLC5Z5 on 2008-11-25
  Photoshop Elements is a very comprehensive package, but suffers from a complex tools and menu system. Once you use the software on a regular basis, the faults are less prevalent, but still less than easy for more than a casual user.
  
  Third party plug-ins offer short cuts for many tedious tasks that otherwise would be very time consuming. If you use this package on a daily basis, I highly recommend installing the plug-ins you need. Otherwise, you will be spending hours performing tasks that will drive you crazy.
  
  For the money though, Elements is a good alternative to full blown Photoshop for most users unless you need total control over every aspect of the image. I found that Photoshop Elements does almost everything that Photoshop does at a much lower cost. I recommend trying Elements before spending much more on the full package first. You will likely be like me and be glad that you saved a lot of money.
  
  
• Was Suprized at Memory Required
  By A3MW8CASWPIUW1 on 2008-11-29
  Bought the upgrade as soon as it was announced and was not aware of the extra memory needed to run this version - 1 GB. Version 6 only needed 256 MB with a recommended 512 MB. Had initially installed this on my computer that was running Version 6 and could not figure out what was wrong with the new version. Voila - discovered the requirement for extra memory. I then installed it on my faster machine that has 3G of memory it zips right along and works fine.
  
  Like lots of the new features and the ability to store up to 2 GB of photos on line for free. Makes slick movies.
  
  
• If I ever got the product!
  By A3C9OU36AQC38P on 2008-11-16
  I am sure the product is great... I will buy it somewhere else! I never received the product!
  
  
• Best Upgrade Yet
  By A9867WYLNN7ZQ on 2008-11-24
  I've used both the "big" version of Photoshop and Elements. Elements 7 has much of the feel of CS without a few bells and whistles needed only by pros. It has an ease of use and continuity that most other programs do not. Kudos to Adobe.
  
  
• I think I'll stick with version 4
  By A30J7WQV0ZNRXG on 2008-11-27
  I have been shooting home movies using a Sony MiniDV format camcorder for about six years now. Over that period, I have used more brands and versions of video editing software that I'd really like to admit to - at least 7 or 8. For a while, the basic Pinnacle seemed adequate but the eventual bugs reported by so many others began to pop up with it. AIST's "Movie X One" and CyberLink's "Power Director" were tried and found to be unsatisfactory. Various versions of Roxio, Sony's "Vegas" packages and Corel's "Video Studio" came and went. My recent experience with Adobe Premiere 7 causes me to recommend that the immediately previous version 4 is probably the overall best amateur video editing software on the market today.
  
  Shortly before upgrading my computer to one with Vista Premium, I tried the (now obsolete for Vista) Premiere Elements 2. Although marketed as being for non-professionals, the learning curve was pretty steep for me, but I managed to produce DVDs that were perfectly acceptable for family memories. Unlike most of the other programs, Adobe Premiere Elements did not freeze up requiring hours of re-capturing the same video over and over again. I believe it was worth the change and I was delighted to find something that worked well for me.
  
  Following my hardware upgrade, I moved up to Premiere Elements Version 4 which is compliant with Vista.
  
  I liked Version 4 a lot. Having mastered most of the bells and whistles in Version 2, it was not especially intimidating. When I became aware that Adobe had released Version 7, I felt like Woody Allen waking up after many years in his classic film, "Sleeper" to find out that a lot of things had changed and that I had missed a great many things. Well, I was wrong. The differences between Versions 4 and 7 are not especially substantial (unless you are a U-Tube videographer or are interested in using Adobe's on-line storage site - neither of which is of interest to me.) As it turns out, I did not miss Versions 5 or 6 - They never existed. Apparently the jump from 4 to 7 as designations was more driven by the wish to have the version number compliant with Adobe's newest version of its Photoshop software.
  
  I will not reiterate all the technical information about Version 7 here - You can read it online or on the box. The focus here is on my subjective experience with the product.
  
  I need note that because my camera does not capture video in an HDTV format, I was not able to experiment with Version 7's tools specifically designed for use with that category of video.
  
  There are, of course, changes. Some of the automated features, like AVCHD can come in handy for people who take HD video and some can seemingly fun and user friendly (by manual definition) heavily automated tools that are useful in integrating stills or slideshows as integrated parts of your video (Videomerge) or in creating complete `professionally looking edited movies using the built in editor (Movie Theme) and video creator that actually chopped and diced my clips into such shreds that I needed to shoot most of the footage over and re-edit it manually to get the product I was after. The Audio Integration feature is nice but does not make up for the additional twists, turns and intermittent instabilities in this new version.
  
  Most certainly, Version 7 is better integrated with the Photoshop website, for those who choose to take advantage of that capacity. I don't.
  
  As a somewhat experienced home and family videographer, I chose to uninstall Version 7 and returned to Version 4 which, though a tad less technically sophisticated, I found easier to use and a more reliable program for creating videos as I really wanted them to look. Less automation can equal greater control and choice. That is the case here.
  
  There is no doubt but that there are improvements in this version. Personally, I found too many of the new `features' to be unnecessary hurdles rather than helpers to me.
  
  Video software is a VERY subjective experience. There is hardly a program out there that is not both sworn by and sworn at. In this particular instance, I think that someone new to Premiere Elements might be entirely satisfied with Version 7 while someone else (more like me) might well prefer to stick with the reliably stable and comparatively straight forward Version 4.
  
  I definitely prefer the Adobe programs to any of the other video editing software I have tried, but in this rather unusual instance, newer and more features do not necessarily equal a better product.
  
  
  
• The older versions worked better
  By ATERWDY018N97 on 2008-11-29
  I have upgraded every version of Photoshop Elements as they became available. I use Windows XP with plenty of memory, and Photoshop Elements 6 was much slower than the others. I recently installed PhotoAdobe Photoshop Elements 7shop Elements 7, and every time I try to use it my computer freezes. I am am not even able to exit the program, but have to unplug my computer and restart. I reinstalled Photoshop Elements 5 and am again editing my photos without any problems. I do not recommend the upgrade to Photoshop Elements 6 or 7 even thought they offer a lot of extra features. If it isn't broken, don't try to fix it.
  
  
• Adobe quality with clunky user interface
  By AN81JUYW2SL24 on 2008-11-30
  Adobe Photoshop Elements 7
  OS Environments evaluated: XP Pro / Home SP-2 and Vista Home Premium SP-1
  
  This was my first time using Adobe Photoshop Elements and I was intrigued because I have heard so much about Adobe Photoshop in the past. I was not entirely sure what Elements was comprised of other than the tidbits I picked up off Wikipedia and other web resources. My previous experience with raster image software (basically simple programs to edit/crop/adjust images) had been with MS Paint, Office Image Editor, Paint Shop Pro, and even the open-source program GIMP. They are all generally the same because they offer layers, different selection tools, color and brightness/gamma adjustments, and resize algorithms. The biggest differences are in load times, application size, resource usage, interface usability, and overall speed.
  
  The system requirements include Windows XP SP-2 or SP-3, or Vista with at least 1GB of RAM, 2GHz or faster processor, and at least 1.5GB of hard drive space. Of course, if you are going to be working many photos, then you will want a much larger hard drive especially with 1 TB (terabyte) drives dropping in price!
  
  Some of the new features advertised on the box are a scene cleaner where you can use multiple shots of the same scene to create a composite image, eliminating crowds or other elements that you want to remove. The same theory applies to the group shot feature and panorama. The problem with this is you must take multiple images and there is no easy way to determine if you took enough photos from the right angle to get the images to lineup. It is an interesting tool, but unless you are using a tripod in a relatively controlled environment, the final product is not going to be as clean.
  
  The more interesting features were the teeth whitener and bluer sky touchup filters. In the past, I simply created a selection on teeth and adjusted the brightness, contrast, or gamma to create the right shade of white appropriate for the photo. I wanted to give Adobe's built-in functions a try, but I found Photoshop Element 7's teeth whitener to be extremely clunky as it kept creating a larger selection rather than increase the whiteness. The user must select "New Selection" to increase the whiteness each time. Locating this tool was already a pain, as I had to consult the help, except F1 just activates your web browser and takes you to Adobe's website. After I quizzed the query box about whitening teeth and wasting 15 minutes trying to find a dodge tool, I discovered that the help site also links regular Photoshop content with Photoshop elements. I also found out there is no dodge tool in Photoshop Elements. Eventually I did find the teeth whitener, blue sky, and some other touch up tools located under Quick Fixes -> Touch Up.
  
  The opening screen for Photoshop Elements reeks of a simple idiot-proof program as it allows you to Share, Create, Edit, or Organize. The option to create an account at [...] and signing-in is very annoying. It is very simple and cumbersome at the same time, since if you choose one option and decide to do something else, it requires more menu navigation. Bottom line is that it overcomplicates something simple by making it appear simple, sort of like Windows Vista and its Aero interface. What Adobe should have done is use a simple screen asking if the user wants to use a wizard or the base program and to remember this selection in the future.
  
  My biggest gripe with Photoshop Elements is how clunky the user interface is and how it does not allow the use of the scroll wheel for zooming. In almost any web app (Google Maps) or application, the scroll wheel defaults as a zoom tool for convenience. It is either that, or the user can hold Ctrl and use the wheel as zoom. Neither of these commonly used options works in Photoshop Elements. The user must use the magnifying glass tool to "Zoom In" or "Zoom Out." It is extremely awkward, clunky, and inefficient.
  
  Not all is lost as I found that Photoshop Elements offers an extremely flexible print interface. The options are extremely flexible (choosing scaling, centering, etc...) with real-time feedback and direct scaling of the photo with the mouse. Every application should allow this, including Acrobat and Microsoft Applications. I find it disheartening that many modern applications, such as IE7, FireFox, and even Acrobat 9 do not allow direct scaling of documents ready for print. Many web pages use obscure coding or framing to make them feel "unique" but produce the worst printouts (empty pages or frames that cut into half the document). Paint Shop applications often allow some degree of tweaking during a print-preview session but do not offer the same flexibility and real-time feedback as Photoshop Elements.
  
  Pros: Decent load times on modern laptops and PCs, flexible print-preview and direct scaling of photographs prior to print outs, has all of the basic features an average photo enthusiast needs without the full cost of Photoshop.
  
  Cons: The zoom feature should have been linked to the scroll wheel for easier zooming while performing other tasks. Many of the touchup tools are "hidden" away and requires some time to locate them. The usability of Photoshop Elements 7 needs improvement.
  
  Overall: There are many options in the basic to intermediate level raster/vector photoshop app market, even some that are very robust and free like GIMP. I do like the Adobe interface but it is often difficult to do the simplest tasks because the user has to find the right button or find the right menu that has the button. Power users would not like Photoshop Elements since it lacks many of the professional level tools from the regular Photoshop CS3-CS4. However, Photoshop Elements costs 1/10 that of CS3 or CS4, which is astounding since I feel it is still quite expensive for the simple features it offers. I would recommend looking at open-source alternatives such as GIMP or less expensive but more popular options like Paintshop Pro (before Corel bought out Jasc in 2004).
  
  
• A good photo editing program for beginners
  By A11OTLEDSW8ZXD on 2008-12-02
  I ordered this product as an upgrade for my Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 program. This is an improvement over the older program and one I would recommend to anyone who is starting out with digital photography.
  
  I like the more eye-friendly editing page. Icons are easier to read. More room is used for the actual work space for editing.
  
  There are some pitfalls, if they can be seen as pitfalls.
  
  Elements 7 requires more memory. Elements 7 takes up 383MB whereas my Elements 2 takes up only 88MB. People with older computers should take this into consideration; for owners of newer systems this should not be a problem. (Microsoft Vista, for instance, takes over 4000MB).
  
  I enjoy the added features listed in the quick-fix pulldowns: sky editing, erase features and other useful enhancements. I am more of a photojournalist rather than an artist and don't need some of the features. However, I do enjoy the quicker availabilty of these options. The skin tones come out looking more natural than on my older Photoshop version and I don't have to do as many steps to achieve that natural look.
  
  One thing about Photoshop, though, that may irritate some people is that the owners manual that comes with the product requires thorough familiarity. The icons alone may not explain well enough how the step-by-step options work. For new owners of this system I highly recommend you read this manual from cover to cover and then practice some of the features. Those with older programs this is easier done as the layouts haven't changed much from older versions. Users of Elements 7 may find an additional purchase of an "Idiot's Guide" book to be more helpful than the enclosed manual.
  
  I would recommend this program for beginners and those looking for a good, basic, affordable photo editing program.
  
  
  
• compare softwares
  By AXUFR72XEKSJP on 2008-11-17
  I was seeking info on Elements 7 vs. 6--per posts last evening and in comment to Ms. Daneman's review, and any help would be most appreciated, but thought anyone thinking about first time purchase might want to check out a site called Top Ten Reviews (reliability unknown as first time seen)which has a piece and chart comparing several dozens of features/components between 10 different editing softwares (Top Ten reviews/software/photo editing software-- Corel, Serif, ULead, acdsee, phot suite, foto finish, photo explosion, picassa, and photo impression). True enuf that Elements comes out No. 1 but a few others are very close. I checked out the comments on Corel, which altho apparently not the Professional version still seems too difficult/time consuming. But a couple of other come close. I asked Ms. Daneman whether she or anyone reading this, aware whether they have better tutrials/easier learning curves.
  
  
• Photoshop Elements
  By AOUD0TBFMAKZH on 2008-11-22
  I love this product! They have made some major improvements with it and I don't have to get the full version of photoshop to do the things I need to do for my photography business!
  
  
• Photoshop elements
  By AHJ6IUEATWNUM on 2008-11-22
  Quite a disappointment after trying the real photoshop for a while, but still has a lot of the essential functions.
  
  

• Photoshop Elements 7: The Missing Manual
• Photoshop Elements 7 For Dummies
• The Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
• Teach Yourself VISUALLY Photoshop Elements 7
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007