Adobe has unveiled new versions of its Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements software for both Mac and PC, allowing consumers a fun and easy way to have more power with their creativity.
Photoshop Elements 9 includes some of the massive features from the groundbreaking Photoshop CS5 released earlier this year, but in a package that makes it easy for anyone to use. Some of these additions include a de-clutter tool to get rid of things in an image you don’t want there, new effects, and a guided mode to make it easy for anyone to get into Photoshop.
The release marks the first time that Premiere Elements has been released for Mac OS, offering Mac users more control than just what iMovie provides.
Adobe has also been nice enough to include Camera RAW support, so enthusiast photographers won’t feel left out.
“For the first time, both Windows and Mac users can do more with their photos and video with Photoshop Elements 9 and Premiere Elements 9 bundle – a unified solution for all photo and video needs,” said Kevin Connor, vice president of product management for Digital Imaging at Adobe.
Premiere Elements 9 aims to offer the power of Adobe’s Premiere video editing solution in a streamlined and easy-to-use package. You can turn your videos into cartoons using a newly introduced effect, add titles, fix problems with the audio, and even export DVD and Blu-ray discs with menus.
We’ve been having a play here at GadgetGuy and have found out just how cool the latest release of Photoshop Elements is.
Design wise, the software is incredibly easy to use with enough versatility to let even the most amateur of Photoshoppers in. Users can choose between “Full,” “Quick,” and “Guided” depending on how much help they need navigating the program. While “Quick” has been designed to give you the simple adjustments such as saturation and brightness, “Full” gives you a lot of control with layers, effects, and smart brushes that let you change parts of the image without needing a graphic design degree.
But if you’re someone that doesn’t get Photoshop, you’ll be looking at “Guided,” a menu system that tells you exactly what you want in terms you can understand. Pick something you want done to an image and the program will teach you how, going through the steps with you slowly and making it easy.
One feature that we’ve fallen in love with is “Style Match,” a tool that lets you take the feel of one image and transport it to an image of your own. It’s not just colour, it’s also how the image looks. You can do it with just about anything you can think of. We tried it with the Obama “Hope” poster and got the above result.
We haven’t had much time with Premiere Elements yet, but what we’ve seen has impressed us. Support for video from Flip video cameras and digital SLRs straight off of the bat, with a system that can automatically scan and pick-up faces making it easier to organise those family videos.
