Customer Rating: 
Summary: Amazingly full featured
Comment: I have to confess that I haven't had access to the full version of either Premiere or Photoshop in 6 or 7 years, but this home version of Adobe's video and photo editing software is nothing short of stunning. I had needed for a while a better than the bare bones programs that came with my camcorder and digital camera and this considerably more than exceeds my needs. Frankly, both of these programs do vastly more than I need them to do. I've learned only a portion of what each program is capable of doing. Users with more advanced needs may discover a point where they are limited, but I can't imagine many users short of professionals sensing any sort of lack in the products.
My lone complaint is that when starting the software up, it takes you to an Internet interface. This is both undesirable and unhelpful feature. I wouldn't mind if you had the option of going online to use the product, but I don't want to start off there. I haven't bothered to think through the logic of it, but it may be a way of banning unauthorized installations. Whatever the reason, it seriously mars what would otherwise be a near perfect pair of programs. I dock the software a star for this feature.
Still, if the initial interface doesn't bother you, this is a surprising full featured pair of programs that should meet the need of all but the most advanced videographers and photographers.
Customer Rating:
Summary: For the beginner who doesn't want to buy the Pro Versions
Comment: I've used both Photoshop and Elements separately for years. I thought this would be an upgrade and in a sense it is - but it is more of a taste of what is available in the full blown Pro version of both products.
Premiere Elements allows video tweaking, but just very basic stuff. I expected more.
Photoshop Elements has most of the features I am already using in the older software, but it does include some more advanced features that look like I'll be trying - lots of effects that weren't available in older versions, but not as many as you'd think.
I'd recommend this for someone who wants to get into Adobe's software without spending a lot of money. But if you have the money, I'd recommend the Pro versions instead.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good product but it's no CS version.
Comment: For the price the Adobe Photoshop 7 package that comes complete with Premiere Elements 7 and standard Elements is reasonable for those who have yet to experience Photoshop for the first time. For the advanced user, however, it's somewhat basic. Starting at around $100 you get both video and picture editing software. While the Picture editing software can be very useful for not only pictures and drawing using you pen tablet, the video editing software dwarfs in comparison. It is nowhere near the quality you get from Adobe's more expensive Premiere Pro.
Premiere Elements:
Elements gives the user nothing more than just a taste a what can be expected from the Pro version. It's basically a much more stable version of Windows Movie Maker with a few extra features. The features range from better text effects to better video effects that Windows Movie Maker doesn't contain. That's about it.
Standard Photoshop Elements :
The picture version of Photoshop Elements does still offer most of its many useful features. You can still do many of the enhancements, like Levels, Contrast, Sharpness etc. Along with having the option for layers and some Filtering effects it still would be extremely useful on most occasions for advanced users as well.
In conclusion it's a really reasonable price for quality software so users learning and using photoshop for the first time can get a good feel for the program. It's also quite useful for anyone who wants stable and better video editing software along with getting regular photoshop too. Even if you're an artist, it's also extremely useful if you are looking for software to draw in with a pen tablet. Overall alright deal.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fun stuff for your photos
Comment: I recommend Photoshop Elements to friends and former clients who want something to edit and manage their digital photos for home use. I hadn't been using version 6 for very long and found v.7 has some nice improvements. Still, I'm not willing to give it 5 stars because each version of Elements seems to have a few more bells and whistles but just a little less substance in actual use control. I've been using this program since the very first version and at my former job I often directed my web clients to purchase it so they could edit photos before they sent them to me to post on their web pages. At that time, it was the perfect alternative to having someone without a computer graphics background trying to use the full Adobe Photoshop program. Elements was quick and clean and so simple to use that eventually -- it had all the functions I most often needed for quick photo editing -- I stopped using and upgrading my regular Photoshop and just went with the Elements. I still just use Elements but that's because I only need it for home use. Over the years, from one version to another, Adobe has quietly slipped some of the more powerfull and controlled editing featured out and replaced then with automated fixes that are heavy on gimmicks but don't allow the user as much control. Maybe Adobe did this based on their average user but overall I think the program is losing it's edge over competitors.
Bottom line: if you don't have Elements, and you don't need the full Photoshop capabilities (most people don't) then I would recommend this product over the other programs available today for home photo editing. If you already have Elements, though, you might want to download the trial version first and compare your current version with this one to see where the trade-offs are. Depending on what features are the most used (and useful) to you, you may find that your old version is better.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Photo Editor Available But Not a Must Have Upgrade
Comment: I use Adobe Photoshop Elements primarily to prepare images for my web store, so I'm not in a position to comment about some of it's more advanced features. What I can say is that for importing, touching-up, resizing and filing images, I think it's the gold standard.
I photograph many of the products I sell in a room adjoining my office using a Panasonic Lumix digital camera equipped with an Eye-Fi SD card, which sends images over my wireless network to my desktop computer. Upon returning to my desk, I open the photos in Elements, and in no time, my images are ready for web publication.
For my editing purposes, I tend to use Element's manual tools. While the Smart Fix feature might work well for family and vacation photos, I haven't found it to be all that useful for product photography. It seems as if the changes it makes rarely result in an improved, more accurate image. Instead, I frequently turn to the "Enhance" menu and manually adjust the lighting levels, hue, and sharpness, as needed. Sliding tools and graphs along with real-time previews of changes make such adjustments a piece of cake, and the multiple levels of undo are a huge convenience when changes don't produce the expected result.
Other frequently-used tools include the Clone Stamp and the truly amazing Spot Healing Brush. Removing dust specks or textural flaws is completely painless with this powerful tool. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it's almost like magic the way it can repair problem spots.
The Process Multiple Files feature is great for saving and naming a collection of images. For example, I might have six images of a product, and instead of saving each individually, the software will automatically save them in the format I select and name them with incremental numbering. If desired, you can include resizing and some automated enhancements as part of the process.
I realize I use only the most basic features of this powerful program, but it's good to know that as my experience level increases, I'll have what I need for a long time to come. My guess is, only true professionals requiring highly advanced image editing capabilities would ever need to move up to the full Photoshop program.
For me, Photoshop Elements is 5 stars all the way. There's one caveat, though. Prior to version 7, I was using version 5, and after using the new version for about a month, I can't see that it's a "must-have" upgrade. There have been some cosmetic changes to the interface, and it does seem that the program overall runs a little faster, but I think I could go back to version 5 and not feel I was losing any significant functionality.
Perhaps this really isn't a criticism, but a testament to what a great program Elements has become. It would be hard to improve on something that's just about as good as it gets, and for most amateurs and semi-professionals, you really don't need to look anyplace else.
Summary: Amazingly full featured
Comment: I have to confess that I haven't had access to the full version of either Premiere or Photoshop in 6 or 7 years, but this home version of Adobe's video and photo editing software is nothing short of stunning. I had needed for a while a better than the bare bones programs that came with my camcorder and digital camera and this considerably more than exceeds my needs. Frankly, both of these programs do vastly more than I need them to do. I've learned only a portion of what each program is capable of doing. Users with more advanced needs may discover a point where they are limited, but I can't imagine many users short of professionals sensing any sort of lack in the products.
My lone complaint is that when starting the software up, it takes you to an Internet interface. This is both undesirable and unhelpful feature. I wouldn't mind if you had the option of going online to use the product, but I don't want to start off there. I haven't bothered to think through the logic of it, but it may be a way of banning unauthorized installations. Whatever the reason, it seriously mars what would otherwise be a near perfect pair of programs. I dock the software a star for this feature.
Still, if the initial interface doesn't bother you, this is a surprising full featured pair of programs that should meet the need of all but the most advanced videographers and photographers.
Customer Rating:
Summary: For the beginner who doesn't want to buy the Pro Versions
Comment: I've used both Photoshop and Elements separately for years. I thought this would be an upgrade and in a sense it is - but it is more of a taste of what is available in the full blown Pro version of both products.
Premiere Elements allows video tweaking, but just very basic stuff. I expected more.
Photoshop Elements has most of the features I am already using in the older software, but it does include some more advanced features that look like I'll be trying - lots of effects that weren't available in older versions, but not as many as you'd think.
I'd recommend this for someone who wants to get into Adobe's software without spending a lot of money. But if you have the money, I'd recommend the Pro versions instead.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good product but it's no CS version.
Comment: For the price the Adobe Photoshop 7 package that comes complete with Premiere Elements 7 and standard Elements is reasonable for those who have yet to experience Photoshop for the first time. For the advanced user, however, it's somewhat basic. Starting at around $100 you get both video and picture editing software. While the Picture editing software can be very useful for not only pictures and drawing using you pen tablet, the video editing software dwarfs in comparison. It is nowhere near the quality you get from Adobe's more expensive Premiere Pro.
Premiere Elements:
Elements gives the user nothing more than just a taste a what can be expected from the Pro version. It's basically a much more stable version of Windows Movie Maker with a few extra features. The features range from better text effects to better video effects that Windows Movie Maker doesn't contain. That's about it.
Standard Photoshop Elements :
The picture version of Photoshop Elements does still offer most of its many useful features. You can still do many of the enhancements, like Levels, Contrast, Sharpness etc. Along with having the option for layers and some Filtering effects it still would be extremely useful on most occasions for advanced users as well.
In conclusion it's a really reasonable price for quality software so users learning and using photoshop for the first time can get a good feel for the program. It's also quite useful for anyone who wants stable and better video editing software along with getting regular photoshop too. Even if you're an artist, it's also extremely useful if you are looking for software to draw in with a pen tablet. Overall alright deal.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fun stuff for your photos
Comment: I recommend Photoshop Elements to friends and former clients who want something to edit and manage their digital photos for home use. I hadn't been using version 6 for very long and found v.7 has some nice improvements. Still, I'm not willing to give it 5 stars because each version of Elements seems to have a few more bells and whistles but just a little less substance in actual use control. I've been using this program since the very first version and at my former job I often directed my web clients to purchase it so they could edit photos before they sent them to me to post on their web pages. At that time, it was the perfect alternative to having someone without a computer graphics background trying to use the full Adobe Photoshop program. Elements was quick and clean and so simple to use that eventually -- it had all the functions I most often needed for quick photo editing -- I stopped using and upgrading my regular Photoshop and just went with the Elements. I still just use Elements but that's because I only need it for home use. Over the years, from one version to another, Adobe has quietly slipped some of the more powerfull and controlled editing featured out and replaced then with automated fixes that are heavy on gimmicks but don't allow the user as much control. Maybe Adobe did this based on their average user but overall I think the program is losing it's edge over competitors.
Bottom line: if you don't have Elements, and you don't need the full Photoshop capabilities (most people don't) then I would recommend this product over the other programs available today for home photo editing. If you already have Elements, though, you might want to download the trial version first and compare your current version with this one to see where the trade-offs are. Depending on what features are the most used (and useful) to you, you may find that your old version is better.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Photo Editor Available But Not a Must Have Upgrade
Comment: I use Adobe Photoshop Elements primarily to prepare images for my web store, so I'm not in a position to comment about some of it's more advanced features. What I can say is that for importing, touching-up, resizing and filing images, I think it's the gold standard.
I photograph many of the products I sell in a room adjoining my office using a Panasonic Lumix digital camera equipped with an Eye-Fi SD card, which sends images over my wireless network to my desktop computer. Upon returning to my desk, I open the photos in Elements, and in no time, my images are ready for web publication.
For my editing purposes, I tend to use Element's manual tools. While the Smart Fix feature might work well for family and vacation photos, I haven't found it to be all that useful for product photography. It seems as if the changes it makes rarely result in an improved, more accurate image. Instead, I frequently turn to the "Enhance" menu and manually adjust the lighting levels, hue, and sharpness, as needed. Sliding tools and graphs along with real-time previews of changes make such adjustments a piece of cake, and the multiple levels of undo are a huge convenience when changes don't produce the expected result.
Other frequently-used tools include the Clone Stamp and the truly amazing Spot Healing Brush. Removing dust specks or textural flaws is completely painless with this powerful tool. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it's almost like magic the way it can repair problem spots.
The Process Multiple Files feature is great for saving and naming a collection of images. For example, I might have six images of a product, and instead of saving each individually, the software will automatically save them in the format I select and name them with incremental numbering. If desired, you can include resizing and some automated enhancements as part of the process.
I realize I use only the most basic features of this powerful program, but it's good to know that as my experience level increases, I'll have what I need for a long time to come. My guess is, only true professionals requiring highly advanced image editing capabilities would ever need to move up to the full Photoshop program.
For me, Photoshop Elements is 5 stars all the way. There's one caveat, though. Prior to version 7, I was using version 5, and after using the new version for about a month, I can't see that it's a "must-have" upgrade. There have been some cosmetic changes to the interface, and it does seem that the program overall runs a little faster, but I think I could go back to version 5 and not feel I was losing any significant functionality.
Perhaps this really isn't a criticism, but a testament to what a great program Elements has become. It would be hard to improve on something that's just about as good as it gets, and for most amateurs and semi-professionals, you really don't need to look anyplace else.