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November 02, 2006
[ DUMBING DOWN & SMARTING UP ]
IMAGINE YOU ARE A SOFTWARE AUTHOR and the challenge is to create software that will keep everyone happy -- the dead-serious pro wanting the whole kit of bells and whistles on the one hand and the dabbling amateur who dreads a steep learning curve on the other. Is it possible to keep both ends of the user spectrum happy?
Adobe, with the latest release of Photoshop Elements version 5, comes pretty close to achieving the goal of creating an application that is smart enough for the pros and dumb enough for the computer-shy at the same time.
Previous versions of Photoshop Elements have favoured the end of the customer spectrum that wants maximum automation and the shallowest learning curve possible. Serious users of big Photoshop have tended to look with scorn on Elements because of its high level of automation, poor provision of user controls and missing features.
Not any more. Elements 5 preserves, and in some cases enhances, just about every desirable feature of Photoshop CS2 at a fraction of the price. Adobe have created an application with a dual personality. Users choose whether to open a photo in Full Edit mode or Quick Fix mode.
Full Edit brings up the complete box of editing tools -- virtually everything that is in Photoshop CS2 including the incredibly useful Healing Brush. Quick Fix, on the other hand, displays a palette of sliders for adjusting contrast, colour saturation, sharpening and for removing red eye with an Auto option for each of these controls.
Elements 5 comes with a reasonably comprehensive user’s manual but there is a lot more information in the Help files than in the book.
Elements now comes with Curves for making tonal adjustments. It doesn’t work in the same way as CS2 where clicking on the curves line creates a node that can be dragged backwards and forwards. In Elements the system is made a little easier by the use of sliders that reshape the Curve as they are moved.
If you have a photo of a cathedral taken from the ground looking up and you are offended by the converging verticals and would like to make the edges of the building parallel then Elements has a new trick up its sleeve. Simply click on Filter/Correct Camera Distortion and move the slider backwards and forwards until the walls straighten up. There is also an easy correction for pin cushion and barrel distortion which are easier to use than the similar controls in CS2.
The new routine for converting colour images to black and white gives some control over the mix of greyscale renditions of the red, green and blue channels. There is a choice of styles for portrait, landscape, urban snapshots and infrared.
Elements 5 continues to include a Create function for making calendars, greeting cards, CD/DVD covers, slideshows and web galleries.
What is missing that CS2 users find essential? Actions! Actions are macro routines that can be recorded and applied with a single mouse click.
Photoshop Elements on its own costs $190, an absolute bargain. It is also sold bundled with the video editing program Premiere Elements 3 for $260 -- an even better bargain. Premiere Elements would not install on the Imaging computer because we are not sufficiently cutting edge. Photoshop Elements installed on our slug without a hitch.
Posted by terry at November 2, 2006 03:14 AM
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Comments
Thankyou for a very helpful review - I believe Elements 5 is exactly what I have been looking for. I saw it advertised today for $121!
And on the subject of struggling computers, I was wondering if you had considered teaming up with your colleague Charles Wright in building a workhorse pc for amateur digital photographers. It would be very interesting to read about suitable monitors, graphics cards, storage, software etc. It could include peripherals you had previously reviewed such as printers and calibration equipment.
Posted by: Tony M at November 2, 2006 10:57 AM