Photo editing made simpler - but there's not much new
Photoshop Elements is related to Adobe’s top-end, image-editing program, but it’s not just a cut-down version. Instead, it focuses on introducing tools and techniques to beginners. That makes it worth considering if you’ve looked at more advanced software and felt lost. On the other hand, it’s expensive for a program you might grow out of.
You get a choice of Quick, Guided and Expert modes. Expert is like proper Photoshop, but with fewer tools. There’s help with tricky jobs such as cutting around people’s hair when removing backgrounds, and a new Dehaze function for shots lacking contrast. Quick is for simple one-click fixes. Guided walks you through more complex processes. There are lots more Guided options in this version, covering tasks such as adding a motion blur to suggest speed.
The results are mixed. Simpler examples don’t offer much you couldn’t have figured out, and more ambitious ones don’t always come out well. You’ll be happiest here if you’re looking for fun effects rather than professional results. A new tab - eLive - shows you tutorial videos, which are interesting and helpful.
As well as editing, Photoshop Elements can manage your photo collection. The Organizer lets you sort pictures in many different ways. Facial recognition automatically spots your friends and family in photos after you’ve identified them once, and you can find pictures by where they were taken. There’s now a quick way to set the location of batches of photos if it wasn’t recorded when you took them.
Photoshop Elements is a fairly capable creative photo editor with a useful, different approach. Its biggest problem is its price. Windows users can get more tools by buying Serif PhotoPlus X8 for the same amount or Corel’s PaintShop Pro X8 for less, so the only reason to consider Elements is for its teaching and hand-holding features. On the Mac, for half the price, Serif Affinity Photo is a more powerful image editor, though again a little more daunting at first.
Adobe itself sells full Photoshop, with the Lightroom photo-management program, on a subscription that costs £103 a year for both Mac and Windows. If you’ve already got Elements 13, there’s not enough to justify an upgrade, especially because it costs a ridiculous £65.
VERDICT
There’s not enough new in this upgrade, and Elements is beginning to feel like a starter program at a professional price.