Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 132
 Amazingly good value for money April 21, 2009
Triestino (Trieste, Italy)
253 out of 257 found this review helpful
I switched to Photoshop Elements 7 from Corel Paint Shop Pro X, mainly because most of the digital photography textbooks that I have been reading (and their attached tutorial DVDs) seem to use Photoshop Elements as their photo manipulation programme of choice. I was also looking for a programme a little more advanced than Corel Paint Shop Pro. Photoshop Elements is not for the faint hearted. It is a big, powerful aid to photo manipulation that contains lots of hidden depths, and ideally you need some training to get the best out of it.
That said, for most elementary tasks the software is straightforward enough, and it makes a doddle of jobs such as red-eye correction, image rotation, cropping, and sharpening. Side-by-side "before and after" images greatly simplify the task of applying changes in lighting and colour. Entering text on the image is remarkably easy in comparison with Paint Shop Pro, and the clone stamp tool seems a lot more effective in Photoshop Elements than in other photo manipulation programmes that I have tried. Photoshop Elements allows the user to quickly magnify the image almost to individual pixel level, and this allows images to be altered with as much subtlety as the user desires. There is a huge Adobe user's guide available as a downloadable PDF file, and there are plenty of tutorials available free of charge on the Internet.
I found Photoshop Elements easy to install on my very basic Asus Barebones desktop computer. It opens up quickly, runs smoothly, and doesn't seem to have had the slightest effect on the computer's speed or efficiency. One is frequently aware of the programme's very considerable hidden potential, lying just below the surface. With the assistance of tutorials, I have already enjoyed exploring some of this potential, and I look forward, when time permits, to further experimentation. In short, amazingly good value for the price, and highly recommended.
Excellent beginners tool, with powerful experienced user tools June 2, 2009
CjW (England)
39 out of 39 found this review helpful
I use Adobe Photoshop CS4
My daughter wanted to do some basic manipulation of images, but CS4 is a really steep learning curve, not suitable at all.
I got Elements 7 for her as the simpler interface and helpful starter screens direct users to the section they need; with hand-holding for usage once there.
I tried it and found that by going straight into the program, its still had the really powerful tools that Photoshop has, just not all the advanced and extra tools - which were of no interest to most users anyhow!
Installation was painless, the program is very able in setting itself up and runs well on a medium powered machine, no hassles.
Compared with the competition at this level, Photoplus and Paint shop pro
It far exceeds the capabilities of the first and is far less crash prone than the (at times) painful paint shop, which I used for 10 years until it got bloated and unreliable.
So far my daughter has had no problems using Elements, its intuitive and simply to use for most effects and she loves the extra levels of 'undo' and 'effect previews' - always a good thing when experimenting.
Amazon reduced the price dramatically-prompting me to buy it immediately;
well worth the investment and I'd say good for starters, intermediates and experienced users that don't want to pay hundreds more (literally) for the full blown Photoshop.
Just buy it . . . . . . March 12, 2009
Take Five (England)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful
No question it's the best. However unless you're a genius you'll find yourself needing far more than the minimal 'Help' supplied to get the best out of it. There's nothing it can't do, but a lot you may be unable to do as yet, so it can be frustrating. If you have limited previous experience 'Photoshop Elements 7 in easy steps', Nick Vandome, is a good jumping-off point; 'How to Cheat in Photoshop Elements 7' David Asche/Steve Caplin a useful follow-on to this.
Great Software, but check your system specs first. January 25, 2009
A. Stevens (UK)
50 out of 52 found this review helpful
Having used Adobe's earlier versions of PSE, version 7 was an improved version of version 6, with a lot more added menus. Installed quick and had no problems running programs. I've read and heard of some people finding this latest version a resource hog. Well, it is. So check your system specs before you buy. As my machine is well specced, I've had no problems at all. Plenty of RAM is required. Only thing that I found not to my liking is the print options, as I use an Epson R1800. Rather confusing if you intend to use the ICC profiles. I found it easier to edit in PSE 7, then save as TIFF lossless and print using Epson's own EPP module. Gives brilliant results. If you have never used Adobe before, unlike earlier versions, this version has a guided section, which is helpful if you find it hard to understand. Some of it is!. In summary, if your PC has the software requirements, then this version of PSE is one to look at.
Why get Elements 8? December 11, 2009
Mr. Kevin Ward (Gainsborough, Lincs United Kingdom)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I downloaded a trial version of PS Elements 8 to have a play for 30 days free. I noticed so many reviewers of Elements 7 said it was silly to upgrade as there was little new in Elements 8. I got Elements 7, at a bargain price from one of the independent sellers at Amazon for a fraction of the "Boxed" version price. I must say it is a high spec piece of software for the cost! I have used Adobe CS for a few years and have not found much missing that 95% of users need to enhance and edit photos and images. There are just slightly different ways of doing your tasks in Elements. The online tutorials will help enormously with anyone new to this type of software. I have also just upgraded to Windows 7 and it seems to work fine, on my PC anyway. So I would say save some of your hard earned cash and get PSE 7 unless the few upgrade items on PSE8 are just what you need.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 132
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