Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 [OLD VERSION]
by Adobe
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Software Reviews of Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 [OLD VERSION]
Customer Review: Definitely, positively upgrade from Elements 2
Summary: 5 Stars
Although most of the reviews of Elements 3.0 are positive, the minority of negative reviews here seem to be unfair criticisms either from people who are disappointed that Elements (which sells for $60) is scaled down from Photoshop CS (which sells for $600) or people who think Elements is too complicated. I personally think Adobe solved the Goldilocks problem and Elements is just right, especially for the money! It delivers lots of editing and organizing power but is simple enough to use if you invest 10 minutes in reading a manual or watching the enclosed DVD.
The most wrong-headed criticisms are those that claim Elements 2 was better than 3. Wrong! The newer version adds lots of editing tools and makes them easier to use. And the Organizer can't be beat. After reading some of the negative reviews, I put off upgrading for several months. What a waste of time! I experimented with several different programs and none approaches Elements for ease of use, power and value.
Customer Review: Fabulous! Definitely upgrade.
Summary: 5 Stars
I read some of the reviews on Amazon, so when I bought my scanner and it came with Elements 2.0 I figured it was 'good enough.' Then I took a short class on Elements 3.0 and I saw the Photo Album and how that worked. I was totally hooked. I knew I needed it.
Do you store lots of jpegs or digital images? This organizer makes it so totally easy to flag your image with all kinds of categories (inluding the date). My photos are organized by location, people in the photograph, the event the photo was taken etc. Also, I had loads of little categories including Favorites, smiling (as in, this is a great smiling shot), Family Fun activities, Outdoor, pets or animals etc.
Now when I want a shot of Jason with our pets, or a favorite shot of my husband, or any shot of the two boys in California...all I do is make a few clicks and there they all are, sorted for me. So incredibly powerful for digital picture takers. And yet, so easy to manipulate. I do not feel it 'needs work' as someone reviewed.
Now on to Elements 3.0 verses 2.0. The healing brush alone will totally sell you. Got a zit on your forehead? Sure, you can clone it away and mess around trying to get the shadows to match. Or you can take 2 seconds and use the healing brush. It's magical! The cookie cutters are fun, too.
I went ahead and purchased the Premiere Elements package added on to 3.0 so I can buy a digital camcorder and edit that. My package came with a free month's trial to adobephotoshopelements.com which has been absolutely golden. I LOVE their tutorials (video clips that show you step by step). I would watch a tutorial and do the item just after it on my own elements so I wouldn't forget. Great way to remember! I learned so much in a small amount of time.
This product has so much to offer at such a reasonable price. I knew I needed to take the time to review this in case you have any doubts. It is a totally power-packed little program at a steal compared to Photoshop CS.
Customer Review: Good, but organizer needs work
Summary: 4 Stars
This upgrade to Photoshop Elements adds important functionality in handling raw files from digital cameras; this was the reason I upgraded from version 2 (FYI, the rebate process was reasonably smooth.) I like the image controls and capabilities on the raw file upload window much more than what comes with the Canon FileViewer (I have the Canon Digital Rebel/300D.) Nonetheless, I think that the uploading, viewing and editing of raw files can be done much better. The only issue I have on the editor side of the software is that when I upload multiple raw files, I have to do the settings for each one before the next one comes up. This prevents easy batch loading, but worse, if I decide I don't want one of the pictures, hitting cancel cancels the remaining uploads as well.
My bigger issues are with the organizer side of the software. The small LCD makes it so that I can't weed out all the shots I want on the camera. After making a first round of cuts on the camera, I need a larger view to make a second round. There is no easy way to do this with the organizer; I can upload from the organizer just fine, but it doesn't fully delete the files from my card when I tell it to. As a result, I have to do my second round of cuts using jpeg preview on Canon FileViewer. I then convert the CRW files to Adobe's DNG format using a separate program, DNG Converter (I think the successful adoption of DNG as a global standard will be a huge benefit to digital photography,) before going into Elements. My second beef with the organizer is that it begins by trying to load new files on its own, but always hangs, forcing me to cancel the automatic load and then manually load new photos.
I didn't expect to use the organizer at all, but with the exception of the mentioned problems with adding new files and removing files from my CF card, I found the organizer suits my needs as an amateur quite well.
Customer Review: Organizer is a big disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
I already use Photoshop, so I was looking for a lighter weight version with a great organizer for my 20,000+ images.
1. Elements may be a lighter version, but it seems to take longer to start and using it turns out to be less intuitive than Photoshop. I find myself turning to the (very poorly organized) Help for answers to basic issues.
2. The Help is terribly organized. For example, I needed information about adding folders to my collections. Searching on "folders", "adding", "import", "organize", provided no usefull information.
3. The Organizer is supposed to automatically add images that I place in its "watched folders". It does not, and the Help is no help.
4. The worst problem is moving files with the Windows Explorer instead of the built-in Organizer. It loses track of the files and will ask you to locate them manually one by one (all 1000 files I moved). Trying to move the files within Organizer is a major pain. Completely non-intuitive. You are supposed to be able to drag-and-drop, but the Help says that an alt-drag is required. Niether worked for me.
5. Basic commands are hidden in unexpected places. To see the "organize bin" you have to click on a arrow at the right-bottom. I would expect it to be in the "view" menu.
I could go on and on, but the list is too long. Prepare for a major time waste learning to use a program that is supposed to make your work more efficient.
To summarize - this may be a great program, but the interface and controls make it too frustrating to use. Add the inadequate support and/or Help, and you have a program that barely deserves 2 stars.
All the above are even more frustrating when you compare it to a free program like Copernic that makes locating images fast, easy and painless.
Customer Review: Good product suite - OK upgrade if you already have 2.0
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading the reviews on here, I was undecided on whether to upgrade from Elements 2.0 or not. I was swayed by two rebates offerred by Adobe and Amazon, and now that I've used 3.0 for a while I would say it is worth my (discounted) upgrade price.
Big Plus - the Healing Brush is great, and has make working with damaged photo scans much easier for me.
Big Plus - the Red Eye removal tool is much improved from earlier versions. Since I'm not an "image professional" I really don't want to spend 10 or 20 steps to remove red-eye, and this version of PE does a good job almost every time with a single click.
Don't Care (for me) - not interested in the Organizer tool.
Minus - PE 3.0 forces install of Organizer whether you want it or not. Once installed, the Organizer assumes that any file you edit is to be added to it. This tool simply gets in my way, and there is no way to disable the Organizer tool or prevent it from being installed.
Overall, I am happy with PE 3.0. But the high upgrade price and forced Organizer tool prevent me from giving this product the best rating.