Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements 11: An Overview
Adobe is offering special holiday pricing on Adobe.com for Lightroom 4, Photoshop Elements 11, Premiere Elements 11, and the Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 11 bundle, now through November 28. As such, I've taken this opportunity to have a look at the new and exciting features in the Photoshop and Premiere Elements 11 packages.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 boasts many new and enhanced features this time around, as well as sporting a renovated interface that is much simpler and a breeze to use. While it's not the full-featured, industry standard Photoshop, it's not really a lite version either. There is much more to it, and you might be surprised at everything it is capable of. And with the current special holiday price of $59.99 (through November 28), now is a great time to consider Photoshop Elements.
Organizer
When you first launch Photoshop Elements 11, you are greeted with a splash screen that asks you to choose whether you want to edit photos, or open the organizer. The organizer allows you to import, tag, and organize your images. While in the organizer, you can also perform quick, automatic edits, or choose to open images in the editor for further work. The organizer is now much easier to use in version 11, and allows for more options to keep track of your images, including the new map feature which allows you to tag your photos by location on a map.
3 Editing Modes
There are 3 editing modes in Photoshop Elements 11: Quick, Guided, and Expert, which are available to you based on your comfort level with the software and the level of editing you wish to do. While this is not new in this version, it has been enhanced with new features, and it's a unique approach that I really enjoy in Elements.
- Quick mode allows you to make quick, visual edits, whether you are adjusting exposure, balancing color, or just want to apply a quick Smart Fix.
- Guided mode walks you through some common image editing tasks, like cropping, or getting that perfect portrait, with step-by-step instructions right along with the tools for the job. And in version 11, you now have new guided editing tasks, like getting the perfect tilt-shift effect, or high key and low key effects, as well as vignettes.
- Expert mode provides the fullest toolset for fine tuning your images. You can even use Quick mode first for general adjusting, and jump over to Guided, or Expert mode to fine-tune.
Photoshop Elements 11 also includes new Comic, Graphic Novel, and Pen & Ink filters for creating illustrations. And, if you are looking to design printed materials, like cards or calenders, there are new templates included for these tasks. Also, with social media in mind, there are plenty of ways to share your creations easily with the likes of Facebook, or even using the included animated templates for uploading to Vimeo or YouTube.
Adobe Premiere Elements 11
With Premiere Elements 11, you also get the Organizer to keep track of all your photos, and video as well, with all of the same great features. And, like Photoshop Elements, you also have different editing modes: Quick and Expert. In Quick mode you have easy features for quick video editing, and in Expert mode you can use more advanced features. Also, like Photoshop Elements 11, you can get Pemiere Elements 11 now at the special holiday price of $59.99 (through November 28).
You can quickly adjust colors in video footage just like you would in your images, and you have plenty of new looks, effects and themes in version 11 to make really engaging videos.
Now in Premiere Elements 11, you have the new FilmLooks, where you can quickly apply various cinematic styles to your video footage, including Old Film, Horror, etc.
Also new in this version is the Time Remapping feature, where you can slow down or speed up your footage in key areas for great effect.
Another great new feature in version 11 is blending modes, where you can combine and blend certain aspects of your footage.
And, finally, once you've finished your video projects, you can easily burn to disc, or quickly share via YouTube or Vimeo.
Endnotes:
Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements products have continuously improved greatly with each new version, and the new features in version 11 are once again astounding. The user interface is unique with the different modes available, and you have a very robust toolset in each product to work with. The Elements packages may not be as equipped as their professional counterparts, Photoshop and Premiere Pro, but they are not merely just watered-down versions either. The tools and features that you do get with Photoshop and Premiere Elements 11 are outstanding and may just be all that you need for your own work. But, more than that, you just cannot beat the price of Adobe's Elements products, especially when you consider the amount of features available in both, and their incredible ease of use.
Be sure to check out this version comparison guide, which shows just how far these products have come and what you can do with them.
System Requirements (check the following links):
For more information on these and other products in the Adobe Photoshop family, click here.
Adobe is offering special holiday pricing on Adobe.com for Lightroom 4, Photoshop Elements 11, Premiere Elements 11, and the Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 11 bundle.
Holiday Pricing: Valid Nov. 22 through Nov. 28
- Photoshop Elements 11 — Available now for $59.99 (originally $99)
- Premiere Elements 11 — Available now for $59.99 (originally $99)
- Lightroom 4 — Available now for $119 (originally $149)
Nick C.
Sorbin is a digital artist, sculptor, writer, and
Managing Editor for Renderosity's CG Industry News.Renderosity Homepage
Â
Â
Â
Please note: If you find the color of the text hard to read, please click on "Printer-friendly" and black text will appear on a white background.
|
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
|
Comments