One of the delights of finding a good product is the ability to return to it when new versions come out.
Photoshop Elements 3.0, from Adobe Systems Inc., is a good product that only gets better in each new version. Its $89.99 price tag ($20 less for those upgrading from an earlier edition) is a small price to pay when you want to make your photos look good.
It’s available in both PC and Macintosh versions. I tested the Mac version on both an IMac G5 at my home and a dual-processor Power Mac G4 at my office. The program is a solid performer, and I’m sure the PC version will not disappoint.
There’s this picture someone snapped of me about 18 months ago. It looks fine, except for the sense that a rather thin microphone is growing down from one side of my head. Photoshop Elements 3.0 offers a “healing brush” that lets you select a less-offensive item — in this case, the paint color on the wall in back — and brush that over the offending microphone stand. Result: I no longer look as much like a space alien, as I might otherwise.
Another friend has a photo on one of her Web sites that shows her as a victim of “red eye,” that annoying condition that occurs when people meet flash photography head on. Photoshop Elements 3.0 has a tool for that, too: aim the cross hairs on the eye, click, and the subject no longer looks like a space alien.
This software can do more than de-alienize. I’ve used it most often to re-size and save photos for use on a Web site to which I contribute. The “save for the Web” feature lets me scale the pictures to the correct size, save them under a new name and get on with my work. Best of all, any change I make to an “original” photo can either be saved or discarded when I am done with that picture and close the file.
Working with photos one at a time is easy for any program, but what do you do with a bunch of snapshots? With Photoshop Elements 3.0, you can have them in a mosaic of choices to open in the program’s file browser, and a bottom-of-the-screen “photo bin” lets you quickly shift among pictures.
The file browser, which does an excellent job of finding compatible photo files on a hard drive, now lets you add flags, keywords and editable metadata to each picture, or to batches of pictures. The “metadata” could group all photos from the family reunion at Harpers Ferry, let’s say, and while it’s not part of the file name, Photoshop Elements 3.0 can find those pictures in a hurry.
Those who want to do quick touch-ups on photos will find a “Quick Fix” feature that puts what Adobe calls “the most popular lighting, color, contrast and sharpness adjustment controls” in one spot, with large before-and-after previews that you can check to see if you want to make those changes. The improvements can be applied to a group of photos, if needed.
There’s also a “Smart Fix” feature that the publisher says will “instantly improve” such things as lighting, contrast and color problems in one click, although various “slider” controls, on screen, let you take a more nuanced approach.
This is not the full Photoshop that is used daily by professionals the world over. It’s not supposed to be. But it is a very, very useful program for those of us who want to take care of our vacation pictures, or touch up heirlooms from the family album. I highly recommend it.
E-mail MarkKel@aol.com or visit www.kellner.us.
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