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6269 Adobe Photoshop Elements is one of the core suite of applications that I use on a regular basis for both production and hobby work, and it's an application that continues to improve and evolve. Photoshop Elements 2.0, which came in both Mac OS Classic and OS X native versions, was an able and powerful tool, but it was never one of my favorite programs to use, being big and ponderously slow both in starting up and in opening files.

However, with the release of OS X - only Photoshop Elements 3 in late 2004, Adobe's consumer version of its Photoshop application went from being a good program that I used frequently but wasn't especially fond of, to one of my favorite software tools.

The third edition of the Elements series (which was preceded by Elements 2 and the relatively mediocre Adobe Photo Deluxe and Photoshop LE) is based Adobe's expensive professional image editing behemoth, Photoshop CS, and largely succeeded at providing the eponymous elements of Photoshop CS that would be of interest to non-professional users (and a lot more) in a leaner, more user-friendly package.

Photoshop Elements is intended to be a complete, end-to-end software solution for anyone using digital photography, whether they be a consumer amateur or even many a professional. It is designed to offer a user-friendly approach to fixing common photographic flaws and in enhancing digital images by way of a few mouse clicks. So don't let Photoshop Elements' relatively modest price of $89.99 scare you off. Being as it has a great deal of the features and functionality of Adobe Photoshop CS2 which sells for $649.00, Photoshop Elements has to be one of the greatest bargains in Mac OS X commercial software.

Richard Lynch, author of "The Hidden Power Of Photoshop Elements 3," had been using Adobe’s Photoshop for a dozen years when someone asked them to check out Photoshop Elements. Lynch was a bit reluctant, presuming Elements by reputation to be a dumbed-down version of Photoshop, something he wouldn’t find very interesting and a waste of time.

However, However, instead of being bored, Lynch says he found himself fascinated with Elements. There seemed to be a lot more to it than he had expected. In fact it turned out to be a pretty powerful image editing program “Within a few days,� says Lynch, “I had discovered ways to either use for imitate every feature I’d heard was missing.� Elements could not only do much more than most people thought, more than even Adobe let on, “it got to the point,� says Lynch, “where I began wondering what Photoshop Elements COULDN’T do.�

Further investigating whether there were any resources documenting the hidden power of Elements, Lynch discovered there were not any that he could find, so he decided to write a book about what he had learned experimenting with Photoshop Elements, instructing others how to take advantage of what the program can really do. You can find more information about that book here:
http://www.sybex.com/sybexbooks.nsf/booklist/4385

I anticipate that a new edition will be forthcoming, because Adobe released Photoshop Elements 4.0 for Windows last year, and a Mac version in February. When my review copy arrived, I was eager to see first if all the good stuff was still there (it seems to be), and what the new version has to offer that version 3 didn't.

My first impression, upon opening the box, is that Adobe has continued with what I hope is a nascent trent to include decent print manuals with software applications. The pamphlet that shipped with Elements 3.0 has grown into a very nice, profusely illustrated, 118 page perfect-bound book that comes with Elements 4. Bravo Adobe for that. Of course there is extensive online help and tutorial material with the program itself, as well as tips dialogs.

My second impression was that this puppy takes a good, long time to install, much longer than Elements 3 did, and this is on my new-to-me 1.33 GHz 17" PowerBook with 1.5 GB of RAM. The aforementioned Help and tutorial files seem to be the biggest slowdowner.

Once Photoshop 4 started up I was relieved to note that the interface hasn't been changed very much. It still looks more Windowsy than I would prefer, but it's clean and functional, and anyone familiar with Elements 3 should feel right at home.

Familiar appearance notwithstanding, there has to be a lot more going on "under the hood" because the application has grown in size enormously from Elements 3's already portly 55.3 MB to a whopping 88.3 MB.

The top new features in Elements 4 are:
• Quickly retouch specific areas
• Get realistic skin tones
• Easily isolate objects from backgrounds
• Order prints online
• Fine-tune your camera's raw files
• Make quick fixes
• Know where your photos are
• Share photos online

Elements 4.0 for Mac includes:
• Magic Selection Brush
• Skin Tone Adjustment
• Magic Extractor with Defringe
• Online Printing & Creations
• Non-destructive Camera Raw processing with DNG support
• Enhanced Quick Fix
• Enhanced File Browser

In more detail, Photoshop Elements 4.0 features some new and enhanced fast fixes for the most common problems in photography, plus advanced editing options for better creative control. The most dramatic change in Elements 4 as compared with Elements 3 is that the File Browser has been superseded by the Adobe Bridge feature from Photoshop CS.

Finding your photos is now faster and more flexible with features like ranking and labeling, and filmstrip and slideshow modes for quick review of images. You can also apply a four-star rating system for your photos, configure color labels, and add keywords to individual photos or batches for more efficient sorting and searching.

The Elements Quick Fix feature has also been enhanced in PSE 4.0. A single click now adjusts lighting and color, with a comprehensive set of simple editing controls, gathered in a window on the right, and side-by-sad before and after views. You can use the new Magic Selection Brush to quickly and easily select specific areas of a photo for correction, and correct any ‘red eye’ instantly - with no need to even look at the photo. One click of one button will analyze the open photo, and cure any red eye that exists.

Your photos will often have specific areas you want to correct - a single object or a set of objects that are dull or off-color compared to the rest of the photo that’s just fine. In the past, correcting this has required careful, painstaking use of the Photoshop Elements selection tools in the Standard Edit workspace. However, in Photoshop Elements 4.0, precise area selection is easy enough to include in Quick Fix, with the new Magic Selection Brush. As little as one click can select an entire object, without selecting surrounding areas, while quick brush stroke selects multiple objects.

The new Magic Selection Brush is also available in the Standard Edit tools palette, and the Auto Smart Fix command is also available in the Enhance menu. The Magic Selection Brush lets you Quickly select specific parts of your photo for easy color, lighting, and contrast adjustments. Just make a few random cursor strokes on an object you want to select, and if there's sufficient contrast between it and its background, the program will select it for you.


With PSE4 you can also Quickly crop out unwanted photo areas.

If Quick Fix does not quite facilitate the level of precision and features that you need, Elements 4's standard editing workspace provides advanced control for more complex editing of photos, including some new tools and feature enhancements.

With photos of people, realistic skin tones are of paramount importance. Photoshop Elements 4.0 makes achieving accurate skin tones quick and easy, with advanced control available for even more precise correction when required by manually adjusting the sliders in the dialog box to further correct the skin tones.

If you're like me, straight horizons can be a challenge. I often will be concentrating on the main subject so intently that I forget to make sure the horizon is horizontal. Happily, Photoshop Elements 4.0 makes straightening any image as simple as one stroke, with no measuring or trial and error.

Once the image is straight, you can crop out your final composition.

The Spot Healing Brush and Healing Brush are two of my favorite Photoshop Elements features, providing a slick and fast fix for picture flaws. With the Spot Healing Brush, you can simply click on flaws or unwanted objects to remove them from the photo. For extra control, use the Healing Brush to manually sample a clean area of photo, then paint across the flaw�the technique is similar to how you use the Clone Stamp, but with the original texture and shading preserved.

Elements 4.0 features enhanced Camera Raw support. Many newer digital cameras are capable of storing their photo data in an unprocessed ‘raw’ format that is the digital equivalent to the film camera negative. Traditionally, you had to process this data into a format such as JPEG or TIFF before you could edit it�in effect, you were “printing� the negative and then editing the “print.� With Camera Raw, you take control of your photos at the “negative� stage, which means having command of the processing of the photo, for the maximum quality possible. Plus, your digital “negative� is preserved in its pristine original state, in case you choose to “print� it differently another time.

Adobe Camera Raw is compatible with most raw-capable digital cameras, including models from:Canon, Contax, Fujifilm, Kodak, Konica, Minolta, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Sigma, and Sony

For an up-to-date list of supported camera models, visit:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

No matter how carefully you place a photo in a scanner, they have a maddening tendency to to slip out of alignment as you close the lid. PSE4's Divide Scanned Photos feature takes the hassle out of scanning multiple images at once. Elements 4.0 examines the scanned image, locates the edges of each individual photograph, crops each to its logical edge, straightens any skewing of the photos, and opens each one in a separate window, named for the original file, with “copy� and numbers following.

Photoshop Elements 4.0 greatly facilitates creating scrapbook pages. With PSE4, you can quickly separate an object in a photo so you can combine it with a new background in a fun composite, even in complex, textured areas - and with instantly sharpened edges - using the new, intelligent Magic Extractor.

The Magic Extractor pulls objects away from their backgrounds for composites. Again, make a few cursor strokes on the area you want to extract with the Indicate Foreground Brush, and then do likewise on the area you want to exclude from your copy with that Indicate Background Brush.

There is a preview function so you can check your selection before accepting it.

You can also crop fun, new shapes with the Cookie Cutter tool. The Cookie Cutter crops photos into new shapes. The new live preview Font menu lets you easily pick just the right typeface for captions or headlines. And Divide Scanned Photos makes quick work of getting photos and printed pieces into Photoshop Elements so you can include them in your scrapbook pages.

A common problem in photography is shooting a photo with a perfectly exposed background, but a foreground subject that is either too dark due to excessive backlighting, or too bright because of too much front lighting. The Photoshop Elements Shadows/Highlights adjustment, which may well be my absolute favorite feature in this program (at lest it's the one I use most often) lets you selectively adjust the lighting of your photos, without affecting properly exposed areas.

When you take photos in low lighting conditions or using high ISO (ASA) ratings, the result can be pictures with a substantial amount of color or pixel distortions. PSE4's Reduce Noise feature can greatly improve these photos, including low-resolution photos from mobile phone cameras and video cameras, and JPEG artifacts from highly compressed Web images.

PSE4's Filter Gallery. lets you experiment with a complete set of included special effects filters, with large, live previews. You can create unique combinations by stacking as many as you like, in whatever order you choose.

If yant to order professional-quality Kodak prints or photo books online, Adobe Photoshop Services gives you fast, convenient, photo printing, calendars and even photo books. When e-mailing photos, you can easily make it more fun for your friends and family by sending pre-optimized photos that download fast, and look great.

Things that I don't like about Photoshop Elements 4.0? One thing that really bugs me about this program is that the dialogs revert to default after you perform a procedure, and it would be nice if you could specify a default save format other then Photoshop's proprietary PSE.

If you're at all serious about digital image editing, you simply can't go wrong with Photoshop Elements 4.0. Photographic and Graphic Arts Pros and vary advanced amateurs might miss some of the ultra high-end features of Photoshop CS, or like Richard Lynch they may discover that Elements offers all the functionality they require at a fraction of the price and in a leaner package. At $89.99, it's worth a shot trying Elements first. Highly recommended.

Photoshop Elements 4 System Requirements

Mac OS
• PowerPC G3, G4 or G5 processor
• Mac OS X 10.3 or 10.4
• 56 MB of RAM
• 750 MB of available hard disk space
• Color monitor with 16-bit color or greater video card
• 102 4x768 or greater monitor resolution
• CD-ROM drive
• For handhelds: Requires Palm OS 4.0, 4.1, or 5.0 and Palm Desktop 4.0 or 4.01

Compatible File Formats
JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PDF, BMP, GIF and additional file formats

For more information, visit:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelmac/main.html


Charles W. Moore