Customer Rating: 
Summary: This is an upgrade of 2.0, but not by much
Comment: This review is written mostly for those who have been using Photoshop Elements 2.0 and are considering moving up to 3.0
I have been a long time Photoshop user (starting with something like 3.0) and have been using Photoshop Elements 2.0 since it came out a year and half ago. 2.0 was an efficient "lean machine". It can't do everything the full Photoshop can do, but for the average user, it is more than sufficient.
After I read some magazine reviews of 3.0, I decided to purchase it. But I am very disappointed with 3.0. It is a MUCH bigger program. It feels "clunky"--the organizer and the editor are two separate programs (and the calender/card creator is yet another program).
In 2.0, the photobrowser takes up most of the screen. In 3.0, it takes up about 1/4 of the screen--one can narrow the other windows, but can't really close them off to make room for the browser. For people who use the photobrowser frequently in 2.0, this can be very annoying.
3.0's new "tag" and "collection" features, which is supposed to make keeping track of photos easier, are part of the organizer program, not the editor. One cannot use the "tag" feature in the editor to find a tagged file.
Also, because the editor and organizer are not integrated at all, in order for files to be tagged and put into collections, one has to "import" one's image files into photoshop. Although this simply means that Photoshop needs to know where one's image files are (and no files are duplicated), it seems rather cumbersome that one has to go through all of one's files and import them all before tagging any of them. It would be vastly more convenient if one can do it all in the photobrowser.
Just my 2c.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful, easy to use, but watch out if you turn pro
Comment: We use a number of Adobe products, elements, photoshop, illustrator, and acrobat. I love elements, it is intuitive and has most of what you really use in photoshop.
However, the upgrade path with Adobe is pretty tricky. If you think you might want to turn professional consider going with the suite.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mail-in Rebate: Read the "Fine Print"!
Comment: It appears by the "Special Offer" for a $20.00 rebate that this is available with the purchase of the software. However, you must read below at the bottom of the page where it says a $20 rebate is for "upgraders". Very misleading to the buyer of new software!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Product for Organizing and Fixing Pics
Comment: I have only recently purchased PE3, and so far I am very impressed. To anyone thinking about purchasing this product, I recommend taking the FREE 30 day download from Adobe. For me, this helped confirm my decision to purchase PE3. My favorite part is the ability to keep my photos nicely organized. I have started working with some editing features, and have found I can get very creative with my pictures. For example, I made a picture look aged by adding sepia tones, and "noise" with some of the filters. Don't forget, test drive the program for 30 days free of charge at adobe.com before buying it. By the way, I found mine at Sam's club for just under $80.00
Customer Rating:
Summary: Triumph of Marketers over Programmers
Comment: Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 was a tremendous breakthrough for the casual digital image enthusiast. With a huge portion of Adobe Photoshop's functionality, it was for the average photographer all the program he or she would need. The weakest part was it's photo browsing and library management. These failings were addressed with the release of an ancillary program, Adobe Photoshop Album. While not to everyone's liking, Photoshop Album was powerful and very well designed, and together with Elements made a comprehensive set.
With the release of Adobe Photoshop Elements 3, Adobe has pulled a fast one on its customers. Instead of adding significant functionality to PE, it has given it lots of what programmers call "chrome" - the shiny bits of the user interface. It has merged in the features of Photoshop Album, but this is useful only to those who don't already have Photoshop Album.
For your money, the upgrade to Photoshop Elements 3 offers, essentially, one new tool: The healing brush introduced in Photoshop 7. While the healing brush sounds great, I found it to be inferior to careful use of the 'good old' clone stamp tool.
Given that I was not won over by Photoshop Album, was unimpressed by the healing brush, and don't care much about chrome, I found the net advantage in this upgrade to be nil.
On the downside, however, users get plenty. For one thing, each time you want to edit a photo (Photoshop Elements) or work with a library of photos (Photoshop Album), you must load both programs. Remember, in version 3 they have been combined. It would not be accurate to say this adds twice the load time and overhead; it seems to have added more than that. Photoshop Elements 3 is slow where 2 was fast, bloated where its predecessor was lean. It is, however, very, very shiny.
I have tried Photoshop Elements 2 and 3, Photoshop Album, and Photoshop 7. Having tried all these, I now use Photoshop Elements 2. For managing my library I rely on ACD System's ACDSee, far faster and more flexible than Photoshop Album.
I can't recommend this upgrade; it offers almost no real new features, and the addition of Photoshop Album is only of interest to Photoshop Album fans. The programmers at Adobe must have been working on other projects; this upgrade seems to be the work of the marketing department.
Summary: This is an upgrade of 2.0, but not by much
Comment: This review is written mostly for those who have been using Photoshop Elements 2.0 and are considering moving up to 3.0
I have been a long time Photoshop user (starting with something like 3.0) and have been using Photoshop Elements 2.0 since it came out a year and half ago. 2.0 was an efficient "lean machine". It can't do everything the full Photoshop can do, but for the average user, it is more than sufficient.
After I read some magazine reviews of 3.0, I decided to purchase it. But I am very disappointed with 3.0. It is a MUCH bigger program. It feels "clunky"--the organizer and the editor are two separate programs (and the calender/card creator is yet another program).
In 2.0, the photobrowser takes up most of the screen. In 3.0, it takes up about 1/4 of the screen--one can narrow the other windows, but can't really close them off to make room for the browser. For people who use the photobrowser frequently in 2.0, this can be very annoying.
3.0's new "tag" and "collection" features, which is supposed to make keeping track of photos easier, are part of the organizer program, not the editor. One cannot use the "tag" feature in the editor to find a tagged file.
Also, because the editor and organizer are not integrated at all, in order for files to be tagged and put into collections, one has to "import" one's image files into photoshop. Although this simply means that Photoshop needs to know where one's image files are (and no files are duplicated), it seems rather cumbersome that one has to go through all of one's files and import them all before tagging any of them. It would be vastly more convenient if one can do it all in the photobrowser.
Just my 2c.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful, easy to use, but watch out if you turn pro
Comment: We use a number of Adobe products, elements, photoshop, illustrator, and acrobat. I love elements, it is intuitive and has most of what you really use in photoshop.
However, the upgrade path with Adobe is pretty tricky. If you think you might want to turn professional consider going with the suite.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mail-in Rebate: Read the "Fine Print"!
Comment: It appears by the "Special Offer" for a $20.00 rebate that this is available with the purchase of the software. However, you must read below at the bottom of the page where it says a $20 rebate is for "upgraders". Very misleading to the buyer of new software!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Product for Organizing and Fixing Pics
Comment: I have only recently purchased PE3, and so far I am very impressed. To anyone thinking about purchasing this product, I recommend taking the FREE 30 day download from Adobe. For me, this helped confirm my decision to purchase PE3. My favorite part is the ability to keep my photos nicely organized. I have started working with some editing features, and have found I can get very creative with my pictures. For example, I made a picture look aged by adding sepia tones, and "noise" with some of the filters. Don't forget, test drive the program for 30 days free of charge at adobe.com before buying it. By the way, I found mine at Sam's club for just under $80.00
Customer Rating:
Summary: Triumph of Marketers over Programmers
Comment: Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 was a tremendous breakthrough for the casual digital image enthusiast. With a huge portion of Adobe Photoshop's functionality, it was for the average photographer all the program he or she would need. The weakest part was it's photo browsing and library management. These failings were addressed with the release of an ancillary program, Adobe Photoshop Album. While not to everyone's liking, Photoshop Album was powerful and very well designed, and together with Elements made a comprehensive set.
With the release of Adobe Photoshop Elements 3, Adobe has pulled a fast one on its customers. Instead of adding significant functionality to PE, it has given it lots of what programmers call "chrome" - the shiny bits of the user interface. It has merged in the features of Photoshop Album, but this is useful only to those who don't already have Photoshop Album.
For your money, the upgrade to Photoshop Elements 3 offers, essentially, one new tool: The healing brush introduced in Photoshop 7. While the healing brush sounds great, I found it to be inferior to careful use of the 'good old' clone stamp tool.
Given that I was not won over by Photoshop Album, was unimpressed by the healing brush, and don't care much about chrome, I found the net advantage in this upgrade to be nil.
On the downside, however, users get plenty. For one thing, each time you want to edit a photo (Photoshop Elements) or work with a library of photos (Photoshop Album), you must load both programs. Remember, in version 3 they have been combined. It would not be accurate to say this adds twice the load time and overhead; it seems to have added more than that. Photoshop Elements 3 is slow where 2 was fast, bloated where its predecessor was lean. It is, however, very, very shiny.
I have tried Photoshop Elements 2 and 3, Photoshop Album, and Photoshop 7. Having tried all these, I now use Photoshop Elements 2. For managing my library I rely on ACD System's ACDSee, far faster and more flexible than Photoshop Album.
I can't recommend this upgrade; it offers almost no real new features, and the addition of Photoshop Album is only of interest to Photoshop Album fans. The programmers at Adobe must have been working on other projects; this upgrade seems to be the work of the marketing department.