It only seems like yesterday that Adobe announced version 9 of Adobe Premiere and Photoshop Elements but it was actually almost exactly a year ago and version 10 announced today marks the tenth year of the Elements product line that started with a cheaper and less powerful version of Photoshop. Adobe later added a similarly reduced feature and cheaper version of its Premiere video editing package. Over the years both have evolved to be increasingly sophisticated and more integrated. Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements are available separately or together in bundle package. We've spent some time exploring the new features offered in Elements 10:
Photoshop Elements 10
It has to be said that there are no obviously revolutionary new features in either Photoshop Elements 10 or Premiere Elements 10. In Photoshop Elements 10 there are some new brush effects, guided edits, tools to improve cropping, the ability to flow text around objects and paths, the ability to export images as PDF files and there are some internet connectivity bonuses, so you can tag your photos using your Facebook friends list and export slide shows to YouTube.
(Click image above to open a larger view in a new window) As before when starting PSE10 you get the choice of going to the Organiser or the Editor.
It's now also possible to attempt searching through your photos and videos using objects as the search criteria. It's a bit hit and miss but has potential. Duplicate images and other images with similar content can also be targeted in searches. Mac users get to search by colour or shape for the first time
(Click image above to open a larger view in a new window) The Organiser hasn't changed radically, although tagging of images has been tweaked.
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Perhaps one of the more useful new features in Photoshop Elements 10 is the ability to flow text along pre-determined paths. This can be done using selected areas, shapes, or by drawing a path. The flow text tools supplement the existing text tools in the toolbox.
(Click image above to open a larger view in a new window) In this simple demo we'll flow some text along the thread in this macro shot.
(Click image above to open a larger view in a new window) We've drawn a path along top edge of the blue thread using the Text on Custom Path Tool, then entered the text and rotated the text slightly to improve the fit.
Overall, Photoshop Elements 10 is a very powerful bit image editing tool for artists, designers and photographers who can't justify the considerable expense of investing in the full professional Creative Suite version of Photoshop. However, if you already have version 8 or 9, you may want to think hard before deciding to upgrade as version 10 is very much a mild evolution rather than a major update. Photographers may also want to consider if the Organiser aspect of Photoshop Elements is the best solution for managing their photos. Another Adobe solution, Photoshop Lightroom, in my opinion offers a better and more elegant way of both managing large numbers of photos and also making routing image quality edits. Photoshop, in either Elements or Creative Suite versions, remains relevant to Lightroom features for more intensive editing involving effects, layers and other Photoshop-specific tools. Even if you can't stretch to Lightroom, more affordable alternatives like Cyberlink PhotoDirector can be recommended.
Corel's latest release of PaintShop Pro X4 is also an attractive alternative to Photoshop Elements. It's less unwieldy than Photoshop Elements, which can feel power-hungry if your PC isn't highly specced, although the Elements Organiser is undeniably more powerful than the equivalent feature offered in PSP X4.
A very attractive facet of Elements is the bundling of Photoshop Elements with Premiere Elements. And here the Organiser, which works with both images and videos, seems better suited.
Premiere Elements 10
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Once again, the updates you will find in Premiere Elements 10 are incremental rather than fundamental. One shouldn't be too surprised as Premiere Elements 9 was already extremely capable. New features include the ability to export movies in AVCHD format, which is now much more widely supported. It's now easier to access clips and photos in the Editor's Project Bin. Photos can now be assembled in to movies, animated with zooms and pans, faster and more easily than before thanks to added automation and themes. A new feature for Mac users is the ability to enhance movies with audio sound tracks that can automatically fit the movie length. As with Photoshop Elements 10, the Mac version of the Organiser is now capable of searching media using colour and shapes as the target criteria.
(Click image above to open a larger view in a new window) It's now much easier to enhance the colour in your movies. You can make changes to colour in specific sections of your footage now, too.
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Although not new in Premiere Elements 10, it's worth reminding ourselves of the Auto-Analyser feature that can filter your photos and clips so you can find better quality examples more quickly.
Adobe is also flying the flag for its new feature that lets you burn DVDs with AVCHD movies, with the idea that you can watch HD quality movies with familiar DVD media and hardware rather than just Blu-ray. Meanwhile, on top of the familiar export to YouTube options, you can now fast track your clips to Facebook as well.
Well worth a look are Adobe's free training videos on Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements at Adobe TV.
Pricing
The version 10 Elements bundle Photoshop and Premiere priced of £119. Users of any previous version of the Photoshop Elements/Premiere Elements bundle can purchase Photoshop Elements 10 & Premiere Elements 10 for £98. Bought individually, Premiere Elements 10 and Photoshop Elements 10 are priced £79 and the upgrade price is £65.
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