Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 -Old Version Review

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 -Old Version ReviewPhotoshop Elements 8 consists of two different programs, the Editor and the Organizer, and the online photo-sharing service Photoshop.com, all only loosely tied together. I give the Editor 5 stars and the Organizer and Photoshop.com 1 star.
Adobe provides a 30-day free trial for PSE 8 - be sure to try first before you buy!
5 STARS FOR THE EDITOR
The Editor is a reduced version of the full Photoshop CS, but with most of the features that a serious hobbyist (and even many professionals) would ever want for editing photos. Since it's based on full Photoshop, the PSE Editor is robust and stable, with very few serious bugs. Considering that Photoshop CS costs about eight times as much, the Editor is an excellent value. Adobe's Web site gives a good, accurate overview of the Editor.
1 STAR FOR THE ORGANIZER AND PHOTOSHOP.COM
The Organizer is the program that lets you annotate and group your photos and quickly search them, and the online service Photoshop.com lets you share those photos with others on the Web. Despite Adobe's slick marketing, both the Organizer and Photoshop.com are slow, buggy, hard to use, and very poorly supported by Adobe. Adobe prefers to add a few glitzy superficial features each year, rather than make the core organizational capabilities fast and robust.
Think twice about whether you want to lock your collection of photos and videos into PSE's proprietary catalog. Starting with PSE 6, Adobe shipped development of the Organizer offshore, and there are well-founded rumors that Adobe is moving away from consumer products and focusing on their core competency, tools for professionals. So it's very possible that this is the last release of the PSE Organizer and that Photoshop.com will be shutdown.
Unless you've got a large catalog built with previous versions of PSE (like I do), there are better alternatives for organizing and sharing your photos. For casual use, there are the free programs: Windows Live Photo Gallery, iPhoto, Picasa, and online services such as Flickr. These are easier to use, faster, more stable, and can handle thousands of photos. For professionals and advanced hobbyists who want to manage collections of tens of thousands of photos, better alternatives include Lightroom, Aperture, ACDSee Pro, and Microsoft Expression Media. These cost about twice as much as PSE, but they're more reliable, faster, and much better supported.
Though PSE is intended for the serious hobbyist, Adobe has repeatedly introduced features that don't work well with more than a couple thousand photos, and Adobe leaves serious bugs unfixed for many years. The new features in PSE 8 have embarrassingly obvious, show-stopper bugs.
Some of the major problems with the Organizer include:
-Viewing photos in Full Screen mode is intolerably slow - 13 seconds to bring up a photo in a large catalog.
-The Folder view is not only extremely slow, but often shows the wrong contents of folders.
-The handling of multiple hard drives and network drives, essential for users with large catalogs, was seriously broken in PSE 6 and only partially fixed two years later in PSE 8.
-Upgrading catalogs from previous versions of PSE often fails with mysterious, unhelpful error messages.
-People who have archived their photos to CD/DVDs in previous versions have discovered that they can no longer access them from their catalog in later versions due to bugs in the upgrade process, and Adobe support has been unable to help them.
-The handling of metadata -- tags, dates/times, captions, notes, and star ratings that get written into the photos - is riddled with long-standing bugs. PSE can't even write the so-called sidecar files (.xmp) for Nikon raw files (.nef).
-The features for more advanced searching are inconsistent, confusing, and buggy.
-Map View, which lets you place photos on a map ("GPS locations"), is a bug-ridden toy that can't handle more than a thousand photos. It's based on Yahoo maps, unlike most tools which use the superior Google maps.
As an indicator of the quality problem with PSE 8, the few new features in the Organizer have blatant bugs:
-The keyword-tag text box, which allows you to enter tags by typing and very useful if you have dozens or hundreds of tags, crashes the program after a couple dozen uses.
-With larger catalogs, the face-tagging command locks up the program for 30 seconds after each use.
-The Auto-Analyzer writes a GPS location of 0,0 into photos' metadata, and it isn't possible to change the map location after that.
-The Auto-Analyzer takes over 4 minutes to analyze an 8 MB, 15-second video clip, hogging your CPU. Tracing tools show that the analyzer is re-reading files over 300 times, an indicator of poor engineering.
Adobe markets syncing with Photoshop.com both as reliable backup and for sharing your photos, but it does a poor job at both:
-The sync is slow, often uploading typical albums at 20% or less of your maximum upload bandwidth.
-The sync is buggy, sometimes mangling dates and photo rotation, and ignoring changes you've made to the order of photos within albums.
-The "backup" doesn't save crucial information from your Organizer catalog such as your tag hierarchy, projects (e.g. slide shows), audio captions, stacks, version sets, and folder structure, and it will mangle your dates.
-Photoshop.com is buggy and sluggish and lacks the rich features of other services like Flickr or SmugMug.
Adobe's customer support for PSE and Photoshop.com is like the products - very slow and buggy:
-You can wait on the phone for hours.
-The customer-service reps have only a rudimentary understanding of the product and often give out wrong information. They frequently tell people to reinstall Windows, and some users have lost their catalogs as a result of bad advice.
-The knowledge base of technical articles is rarely updated and doesn't include most of the well-known information and workarounds that are shared on the user-to-user forums. Searching the knowledge base is slow and inaccurate.
-Adobe consistently refuses to help customers with Vista 64, even though none of the product literature's requirements excludes Vista 64 and Adobe distributes PSE 7 pre-installed on Dell and HP Vista 64 systems. It's not clear yet whether Adobe will support PSE 8 on 64-bit Windows 7.
-Support for Photoshop.com is only available, sporadically, from employees who post on the user-to-user forum.
-Adobe support for all of its products is so bad that a VP posted an open letter to customers in August 2009, apologizing and blaming the problems on a poorly managed transition to an outsourced support provider. Two months later, there isn't much sign of improvement.
Adobe almost never issues a bug-fix update - you have to wait for the next version to come out (once a year) and pay full price for an upgrade (there are no real discounts for upgrading). The only exception is the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in, which has a new version once every few months.
My background: I've used all versions of the Organizer in Photoshop Elements (and Album) for my personal photos (currently about 17,000). I'm a major contributor on the PSE user-to-user forums, maintain a heavily used FAQ for PSE, and make freely available a utility for troubleshooting various catalog issues caused by PSE bugs.
KNOWN OUTSTANDING BUGS IN PSE 8
Below is a list of the known, reproducible bugs in PSE 8 that I've encountered and reported to Adobe. This list started with PSE 6, but I only include bugs still outstanding in PSE 8.
New Problems in PSE 8
* PSE 8 crashes or gets intolerably slow after using the new Keyword Tags text box a small number of times.
* If you use the new Keyword Tags text box to apply an existing tag name with a comma in it, PSE will silently create two new tags instead.
* After applying a tag, the Keyword Tags text box loses keyboard focus and you need to mouse-click in the box again to enter another tag.
* The Find > Find People For Tagging command locks up the Organizer for about 30 seconds after you click Done (even if you haven't made any changes), when using larger catalogs.
* In the Find > Find People For Tagging command, when you select Add Missing Person, you usually can't resize the selection box by grabbing the lower-right or lower-center handles, which are the handles that most right-handed people are likely to use.
* The Find > Find People For Tagging command doesn't do auto-complete on pre-existing People tags, making it very hard to use with existing catalogs.
* Full Screen view (F11) is much slower than in PSE 7 on larger catalogs, making it nearly unusable.
* PSE doesn't remember the settings if you toggle the Full-Screen Quick Edit Panel and Quick Organize Panel to disappear completely.
* The keyword tagging in the Quick Organize Panel doesn't auto-complete tags as you type, making it useless with more than a dozen or so tags.
* The Auto-Analyzer will set the EXIF GPS location to 0 degrees for files not currently having locations.
File Management and Tagging - Major Problems
* Folder Location view shows incorrect folder contents when more than one keyword tag is selected in the Keyword Tags pane.
* The Organizer fails very ungracefully when two drives have the same volume serial number, e.g. because of the use of a disk-cloning utility.
* The conversion of a catalog from PSE 6 to PSE 8 doesn't properly handle photos that are stored within the PSE 6 catalog folder (as occurs when PSE 6 was used to restore a...Read more›Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 -Old Version OverviewThe newest version of the #1 selling consumer photo-editing software, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 combines power and simplicity so you can easily tell amazing stories with your photos. Bring all your photos and video clips together in one convenient place where you can easily find, view, and manage them; protect them with automatic online backup and 2GB of free storage; and then dive right into a full range of creative activities. Make your photos look extraordinary with editing options that let you recompose photos to any size while keeping key subjects intact; combine multiple exposures into a single, perfectly lit shot; and quickly preview a range of adjustments before choosing the perfect one. And share your stories in unique photo books, scrapbook pages, slide shows, and interactive online experiences.


Top reasons to buy Adobe Photoshop Elements 8
Do it all with one powerful yet easy-to-use product Use Photoshop Elements 8 for all your photo needs. Manage, edit, and enhance photos; make unique photo creations; share in print, on the web, and on popular devices; protect photos with automatic online backup and 2GB of free storage*--enough for up to 1,500 photos or 24 minutes of DVD-quality video; and view photos anywhere you are.*
Experience the ultimate media management hub Bring all your photos and video clips together in one convenient place, and easily find your best stuff fast. Then dive into a full range of creative activities and start enjoying your memories.
Go from flawed to phenomenal in seconds Get just the photo fixes you're looking for with one-step shortcuts that whiten teeth and make skies a vibrant blue. And now, when you perform one-step photo adjustments--including color, contrast, and lighting--you can quickly choose the best result from a group of adjustment previews.
Dramatically transform your photos with easy-to-use options Convert your color originals to elegant, nuanced black-and-whites, or use color curves adjustments to get the perfect exposure.
Count on step-by-step assistance Want to touch up a scratch? Create a scrapbook page? Add artistic effects that make a photo look like a pencil sketch? Get help with key steps to get the results you want fast.
Easily create the perfect photo Take advantage of amazing Adobe Photomerge technology to easily remove distracting elements from photos in just a few clicks, create perfect group shots and seamless panoramas, and combine elements of different faces for entertaining results.
Get creative inspiration Bring your ideas to life with relevant tutorials that appear just when you need them. New tutorials help you explore creative possibilities.
Share experiences in fresh, exciting ways on the web Showcase your photos in one-of-a-kind Online Albums with your choice of animated templates, including all-new options for sharing photos and videos together. Adobe Flash technology lets viewers interact with your photos for an entertaining experience. And share via public or private galleries--friends and family won't have to register to look.*
Show off your creativity with flexible layouts Make amazing printed photo creations--like scrapbook pages, photo books, and cards--that you can customize to get exactly the look you envision. Get fun, fresh looks with new artwork and templates.

Top new benefits of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8
Recompose photos to any size--without distortion Ever want to change the size or orientation of a photo to fit a certain frame? Now you can quickly resize--even going from landscape to portrait or vice versa--without distorting key subjects like people or buildings.
Get the best exposure Want to capture all the details in a scene that includes light and dark areas? Snap one photo with flash on and one with flash off, and Photomerge Exposure will combine the shots into a single, perfectly lit photo.
Quickly find your best photos No need to click through dozens or hundreds of shots to find the good ones. The Auto-Analyzer automatically tags your media so you can easily find your most interesting, highest quality photos and video footage.
Find specific people in a flash Quickly find photos that feature specific friends or family members thanks to People Recognition, which automatically identifies the people in your photos.
Get the big picture See the full effect of your photos and video clips from within the Organizer with new full-screen previews, which let you make quick edits to photos while viewing them.
See the same photos and video clips on every computer Forget trying to manually maintain your photos and video clips across multiple computers. With automatic syncing, media added or edited on one computer will automatically be synced to another.*
Give your creations fresh looks Experiment with new artwork and templates to give your printed creations fun and stylish new looks.
Enjoy support for Windows 7 Take advantage of support for the new Windows 7 platform and the hands-on capabilities of Windows Touch technology.
* Available in the United States only. Internet access required. Also available at Photoshop.com; no purchase necessary.




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Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Elements 8 Review

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Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Elements 8 ReviewI installed this Adobe bundle on a brand new HP PC with a Intel 2 Quad processor and Windows 7, and, while I love Photoshop and some of the upgraded features, Premiere crashed twice the first time I used it and took forever to process. (More on preventing crashes later.) Photoshop is a must-have program. Premiere is a basic, no-frills program with some major issues, designed for composing movies out of digital video clips and still photos.
First, Photoshop: Photoshop Elements remains one of the most powerful image processors for the non-professional user. From special effects to simply improving the look of standard photos, the software can manipulate photos in almost any way you can imagine. Out of the newest features, the most interesting are recomposition tools, size presets, and facial recognition. In the first, the user can unlock the background from the foreground and bring foreground images closer or farther from one another, and can even remove unsightly objects from the photo altogether. With protect and remove brushes, you can even erase your ex from that family photo and bring everyone closer together to fill the empty space. Facial recognition, while quirky at times, works so you can quickly extract all the photos of an individual from your library -- say, you want to delete every photo that contains your ex or print them out for dartboards, and so you call them up to see them all at once. The quirky part comes when the software recognizes that a bird or a gorilla is not a person, but then asks "Who's this?" while pointing to a flower stalk or a print on someone's dress. The facial recognition feature works best if you take the time to fill out names on many photos. Eventually, it recognizes certain people, with or without sunglasses, in profile or full face. The size presets are the most practical improvement, as you can size your photos to standard sizes -- say, 4x 6 or 8x 10 -- simply by pulling down a window and selecting.
Now, Premiere: If you are just starting out or don't want to produce movies with a lot of editing and features, Premiere is an okay program, especially if you are buying Photoshop anyway. Those of us who have used Macs and its iMovie program will find this program comparable to what Apple was producing three years ago -- and that should tell PC users how behind Premiere is. The interface is somewhat clunky, and it lacks intuitive editing controls. You can drag and drop clips from your organized media center, add titles, adjust transitions, and use themed templates. The biggest problem comes with frequent crashes when the program simply fails to respond during an operation. Originally, I didn't install the content disk because I wasn't interested in all those templates; however, as soon as I did, the crashes became less frequent. If you plan on doing minimal video work at a leisurely pace, this program should be good enough for your needs. Otherwise . . . well, you might want to use Photoshop's remove brush to cut it out of your picture.
For any digital photographer and PC user, Photoshop is a must-have program. Premiere is another matter; it will frustrate anyone expecting a program as powerful as Photoshop. Take serious stock of your needs before you buy these two programs as a bundle.
NOTE: Because I used this with Windows 7, I cannot say how it works with earlier versions of Windows.
-- Debbie Lee WesslmannAdobe Photoshop & Premiere Elements 8 OverviewCombining the newest versions of the #1 selling photo- and video-editing software* at a great value, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere Elements 8 software gives you power and ease of use so you can do some amazing storytelling with photos and videos. Bring all your video clips and photos together in one convenient place where you can easily find, view, and manage them; protect them with automatic online backup and 2GB of free storage;** and then dive right into a full range of creative activities. Make your photos look extraordinary and show them off in photo books, scrapbook pages, interactive Online Albums, and more. Create incredible movies with professional-quality effects and sound, and share them on disc, YouTube, and virtually anywhere else. And combine photos and videos in cinematic slide shows and visually rich movies.


Complete photo and video editing made easy Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere Elements 8 software offers a complete solution for photo and video editing:
Make your photos look extraordinary, and share them in unique print creations and web experiences.
Create incredible home movies with professional-quality effects and sound, and share them on disc, the web, and virtually anywhere else.
Creatively combine photos and videos to tell amazing stories.
Manage and protect all your photos and video clips from one convenient place.
Enjoy automatic online backup with 2GB of free storage, and access your photos and videos anywhere you are.*


Top reasons to buy Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere Elements 8
Use photos and videos together in creative ways
Get the most complete solution so you can do more with your photos and videos Get all the powerful, easy-to-use functionality of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements software, and take advantage of integration that delivers even more ways for you to creatively use photos and videos together--all for a great value.
Experience the ultimate media management hub Bring all your photos and video clips together in the powerful, easy-to-use, fully featured new Organizer that's accessible from either product. Now it's easier than ever to find and view your photos and video clips and even protect them with automatic online backup and 2GB of free storage*--enough for up to 1,500 photos or 24 minutes of DVD-quality video.** Then dive into a full range of creative activities and start enjoying your memories.
Quickly find your best, most relevant photos and video clips Want to easily find your highest quality photos and video clips? The Auto-Analyzer automatically tags your media for quality and interest.
Instantly add cinematic flair to your photo slide shows Create a traditional photo slide show, and then let InstantMovie automatically add video-style effects, transitions, motion graphics, and more. Preview the slide show in full screen and then burn it to disc or upload it to the web to share with family and friends.
Do more with individual video frames Capture a single video frame; add text, graphics, and other enhancements; and then put the frame back in your movie for a fun or dramatic freeze-frame effect. Or use it to create a personalized disc cover for your movie.
Include treasured memories in your movies Add visual depth and variety to your movies by including digital stills and scanned film photos.
Share photos and videos in amazing ways on the web Share your memories in one-of-a-kind Online Albums with your choice of new, animated templates that let you showcase photos and videos together. Adobe Flash technology lets viewers interact with your photos and videos for an entertaining experience. And share via public or private galleries--friends and family won't have to register to look.*
Get help at the right time Get lots of help bringing your ideas to life--or just try new editing tricks--with relevant tutorials that appear just when you need them.***
Create extraordinary photos and tell amazing stories
Make all your photos extraordinary Easily get the results you want with your photos. Get whiter teeth and bluer skies in seconds; recompose photos to any size without distorting key subjects; quickly combine multiple exposures into a single, perfectly lit shot; get step-by-step editing assistance; and much more.
Tell your stories in unique photo creations Use flexible themed layouts--including many all-new options--to create everything from photo books and postcards to scrapbook pages and disc covers. Take advantage of online offerings to upload photos directly to the web to order greeting cards, prints, U.S. postage, hardbound books, and more. (Services vary worldwide.)
Share in amazing ways Entertain family and friends by sharing photos and videos in visually stunning Online Albums with one-of-a-kind, interactive templates--including all-new options. Share everywhere on iPhones, TVs, and CEIVA Digital Photo Frames. (Services vary worldwide.)
Easily create movies with incredible results
Make incredible movies with less effort Enjoy a smarter way to create movies, with powerful, automated moviemaking options that give you incredible results. Create movies instantly using creative techniques from Hollywood directors--just choose a theme, and InstantMovie automatically finds your best clips, trims away bad footage, and edits the clips together with coordinated music, titles, effects, motion graphics, and credits. Or customize your results with less effort using automated options that trim unwanted footage, fix bad footage, and intelligently balance your audio elements.
Add professional-quality effects and sound Add entertaining graphics, text, or effects that automatically move with the subjects in your scenes. Give your movies professional style with dazzling visual and audio effects, including many new options. Easily combine elements of different videos for entertaining results, or impress your audience by adding animated titles; rich audio; amazing special effects; TV-style transitions; and custom, professionally designed motion menus.
Share your movies virtually everywhere Easily share your movies on DVD or Blu-ray Disc; broadcast far and wide by uploading your movies directly to YouTube; share in dynamic Online Albums or on your personal website; or play movies on mobile phones and other devices.
* Available in the United States only. Internet access required. Also available at Photoshop.com; no purchase necessary. ** Photo capacity estimate based on JPEG file at 1,944x2,592-pixel resolution. Video capacity estimate based on DVD MPEG-2 video and audio. Actual capacity will vary based on your content. *** Available in the United States only. Internet access required.



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Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 Review

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 ReviewI 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.Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 OverviewAdobe Photoshop Elements 7 software combines power and simplicity so you can make ordinary photos extraordinary; tell engaging stories in beautiful, personalized creations for print and web; and easily find and view all your photos. New Photoshop.com membership* works with Photoshop Elements so you can protect your photos with automatic online backup and 2 GB of storage; view your photos anywhere you are; and share your photos in fun, interactive ways with invitation-only Online Albums.

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