Photoshop Elements 5 |
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A PSE5 review you can trust... |
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The other advantage of course is objectivity. The Adobe site is very good at selling Photoshop, after all
that's what it's intended to do. This review will inform you, and let you make up your own mind without the
sales-speak. |
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Note: Having said that, some people still like to take a look at the Adobe site. Feel free to take a look at the official
information using the links below, but if you can't find what you're looking for, come on back here and read my review.Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 for Windows Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 for Mac |
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At a Glance You may as well know my overall assessment right from the start. Photoshop Elements 5 does offer some improvements over previous versions, but all in all the new feature list is looking slightly bare for my liking. Compared to the difference between previous versions, the jump from Elements 4 to Elements 5 seems relatively small, but the price is no smaller! |
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| In my estimation, that's not a bad price if you're buying the software for the first time, having
not previously owned Photoshop Elements. If you already have the majority of the features in a previous version
however, then it seems a bit steep. New Features - The Short Story Photoshop Elements 5 does of course have new features, but Adobe often hide them behind general phrases and claims. I've tried to pull out here some of the concrete features that have been added to the software. These aren't all the new features of course, but no-one will know the full picture until the first trial versions come out. Organizing In Photoshop Elements 5, as was the case with its predecessor, a lot of the emphasis is on organizing your photos. Photoshop Elements 4 saw the addition of face-tagging for example, so that photos could be easily grouped by the people in them. Version 5 contains a new 'Map View', where photos can be categorized according to where they were taken, and these interactive maps can then also be uploaded to the web for sharing. Sharing Talking of sharing, this is another main focus of Elements 5. You can now share your photos on just about every medium imaginable using this one package. Share your photos online via web-album or E-Mail, or store them online simply as a back-up. View the photos on your TV, using CDs and DVDs, or on mobile devices like your phone or PDA. You can even order prints from the online service, so you can give people real copies of the photos! Creating Or perhaps you'd like to be a bit more elaborate. A lot more 'projects' are available in the new version to let you share your photos creatively. Make flip-books or animations from your pictures, or use a number of professional layouts to arrange them in attractive designs for sharing. Editing The editor upgrades are those that seem to be most 'under wraps'. Either that or there just aren't many! It's very difficult to say how the editor has changed, but from the information released it looks like a lot of work has been put into automating processes. The 'Quick Fix' features of Elements 3 and 4 have been improved on again, to make photo adjustments the easiest they have ever been. This is repeatedly demonstrated on the official site by the section for turning color pictures into 'vibrant black and white images', but presumably the same kind of changes have been implemented across the editor. 15 Minute Video! If you want a nice demonstration of these features, plus a few others, take a look at this 15 minute video! Watch Photoshop Elements 5 Video Technical Details A brief summary of the technical details is handy to have around, but I'll keep it short. Photoshop Elements 5 will be available in 8 languages: English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish and Japanese. The system requirements are as follows: Intel® Pentium® 4 or Intel Celeron® (or compatible) 1.3GHz processor Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional, Home, or Media Center Edition (SP2) 256MB of RAM (512MB recommended) 1.5GB of available hard-disk space Color monitor with 16-bit color video card 1,024x768 monitor resolution at 96dpi or less Microsoft DirectX 9 compatible display driver CD-ROM drive The Verdict So, the all important verdict? Photoshop Elements 5 is a fantastic package. As an image editor and photo management program I would recommend it to anyone. However, for someone who already owns Photoshop Elements 3 or 4, the benefits are reduced in my opinion. If you've never owned Elements, buy it! If you have Elements 1 or 2, buy it! If you have Elements 3 or 4 though, think a little about what benefits version 5 offers, and whether you are prepared to shell out for them. Take a look around the official website, or pre-order Photoshop Elements 5 here: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 for Windows Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 for Mac One Final Note Adobe are offering Photoshop Elements 5 bundled with the latest version of Premiere Elements, the video editing package. If you enjoy video creation, and looking at acquiring Premiere as well, then perhaps the bundle is a better value option. More information on the package can be found here: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 and Premiere Elements 3 |
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Kind Regards
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A page about Photoshop Elements 5
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