Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 is now available for enthusiast photographers to help in organizing and editing photos but for an upgrade from a previous edition you may want to wait for more new features.
Ease of Use, Performance: 5/5
Look & Feel: 5/5
Features 4/5
How much I enjoy 4/5
Total: 4.5/5 Stars
Photoshop Elements 11 has hit the streets once again for another try at interesting consumers with the photo and image editing software that works well and is probably one of the best software packages you can buy under $100. Photoshop Elements 11 is your all in one organizer and editor that has two main sections for keeping your photos organized and for editing them.
Instead of the two year cycle that Adobe’s professional level of software uses their Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements comes out every year with a few new features and tweaks to the main programs. Every new release of Photoshop and Premiere Elements has a few tweaks and additions with an edition here and there offering a truly useful and unique tool but many of the editions can be skipped and not missed.
When getting around to buying a new software package for image editing and organizing you can go for the newest ones but even several of the older editions will serve you well if you can find bargains on the older editions. Photoshop Elements is not to be confused with Premiere Elements nor should you consider buying them together until you have looked carefully at both separate programs and have looked at both the pros and cons of each.
Photoshop is your image and photo editing while Premiere Elements is your video editing software and if you’re interested in saving yourself some money and getting both Photoshop and Premiere Elements together, don’t. Photoshop Elements 11 is a great piece of software and only has a few things that are annoying or troublesome that really do not make it all that much less a recommendation but I have hesitations at recommending a purchase for Premiere Elements.
Photoshop Elements 11 is probably the best image and photo editing software you can buy as it is user friendly and has simple to understand tools that don’t take hours of tutorial videos to find out how to use. New features include a few different effects and new filters but a couple main new features are the guided walkthroughs and a new look that does make the program a bit easier to use.
Photoshop Elements 11 is an easy to pick up tool for image editing once you have used it a few times but getting to know the various parts and little symbols means a tour is necessary the first few times you use it. Adobe has made this even easier with a guided button at the top of the newly styled interface of the image editor and can help you find the right way to use specific tools.
The Photoshop Elements package comes with two main sections that are somewhat interconnected but not as well as I would like that are called the Organizer and Photo Editor which are pretty self-explanatory. The two separate program areas are similar in design but the organizer only helps you keep your photo catalog organized or it can help you find specific types of pictures like people or events.
Photoshop Elements opens in either a splash screen with your choice of Organizer or Image Editor or straight to the Image Editor or Organizer by setting the Welcome Screen Launch behavior. The image organizer comes with handy features like backup and category recognition that make organizing and sorting easy but the organizer is just part of this software package.
The Photoshop Elements 11 Photo Editor has a few new features but not enough to warrant an upgrade to this new edition in my opinion but you do get a new illustrator filter for various effects like a comic book, graphic novel and pen and ink. The main new feature for beginners is the guided tour that helps users with each feature and gives short explanations about what each one is doing and any specific settings to adjust on easy to use slider bars.
The image editor does an excellent job of keeping things simple enough for novice photographers to pick up and start using but it does give enough advanced features to keep that novice busy for years. Photoshop Elements is the best image editor and well worth the cost of an upgrade or full priced edition but do not buy this along with the Premiere Elements 11 video editor unless you fully check that out as well.
I have had no lack of problems with Premiere Elements and really do not recommend you buy it as a combined software package with Photoshop Elements but I do highly recommend Photoshop Elements 11 by itself. Photoshop Elements 11 is a full-fledged photo editor and will also help you keep those hard drives that are clogged full of family photos, vacations and other events organized and searchable after a bit of work on your part.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 continues to be an excellent image editor and photo editor that can also help organize your photos that I can easily recommend for novice and enthusiasts alike.
