Review of Photoshop Elements 10

Each new update to Photoshop Elements has always brought strong new features to the program. Photoshop Elements 10 is no exception. However, the last few releases seem to be continually more unstable as well and I have to wonder if the continual quest for bells and whistles is causing reliability to be sacrificed along the way. The attempt to put CS power into Elements but having that power accessed with ever more "one click" controls sometimes leaves Elements looking like a Frankenstein's monster. Perhaps it is time for Elements to become two programs - one for low volume pros or semi-pros and another "Elements Lite" for scrapbookers and casual photographers.


Still, in spite of this split personality, Elements remains an extremely powerful and useful photo editing program for anyone who doesn't need the graphic editing feature of CS or its high price tag. Whether you are a beginner or "old hand" at photo editing, Photoshop Elements 10 offers strong tools for a very reasonable price.

Organization

The included organizer can now find photos by similarities in colors, shapes, or faces. This is a huge help, especially if you chronically mislabel photos as I tend to do.

Text on a Shape

Text can now follow a custom path, the outline of a shape in a photo, or the shape of one of the predefined Elements shapes. Aimed mostly at scrap book enthusiasts, the feature will also be hugely helpful to photographers working on logos, watermark designs, or promotional materials.

Smarter tools

Many tools seem to handle better in this new version of Elements. Color controls seem more precise and selection tools have fewer errors when finding edges.

Lots of Power for a Low Price

Elements is still the strongest software out there in its price range.

Choice of Edit Mode

With three editing modes to choose from (Full, Quick, Guided), Elements offers users the equivalent of a camera's Auto, Program, or Manual shooting modes. This lets beginner users and advanced users both benefit from Elements wide range of tools.

Layers from Guided Edits

Guided edits now show the editing layers when you finish the edit. This allows you to easily tweak the computer edits.

Lack of Stability

- Glitches are becoming more prominent in Elements. They are still mostly just a minor annoyance but even occasional program crashes can be a real issue for those with complex edits to photos. Remember to save your work often.

Reliance on Guided Edits

- Guided edits are great to a point but the continued push towards more and more guided edits being the only way to access certain features is troublesome.

Slow

- If you work with multiple large files, expect Elements to bog down occasionally.

Composition Guides in Crop Tool

- Chose from the Rule of Thirds grid or the Golden Ratio overlay

Paint on Filters

- Selectively apply any of 100 filters and effects to specific parts of a photo

Curved Text

- Add curves to your text. Text can now follow shapes, objects, or custom paths

Friends Tagging

- Use your Facebook Friends list to tag photos in your collection

More Templates

- Additional new templates for online photo albums, including Flash-based animation templates

Guided Edits

Simulated Depth of Field

- Modify focus zones through guided edits to create differing depth of field effects

Orton Effect

- Quickly create an Orton Effect for a fairytale glow

Collage

- Break a single photo up into a collage that looks like a stack of photos

Organizer Features

Object Search

- Search for photos containing specific objects (like your dog, your house, etc)

Duplicate Notification

- automatically detect duplicate or near-duplicate photos for grouping or culling

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