By Joe Dolittle
In this all-new product review shootout, we put three products to the test. Read on to learn how Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 from Adobe, Adobe Premiere Elements 7 from Adobe, and Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 7 bundle from Adobe stand up to our editorial review.
This is a preliminary review of these very important products. We're giving the products point scores now, but they may move up or down over time as we get to know the products better. Honestly, based on our first impressions, we hope that more time with the products gives us a better impression than the one we've got today.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7
Make ordinary photos extraordinary with Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. Elements combines power and simplicity so you can tell engaging stories in beautiful, personalized creations for print and the web; and easily find and view all your photos.
Create a personal Web travelogue for friends and family, or view and share your photos on an interactive map based on the locations where they were taken. Create online with your choice of dynamic, animated templates.
Connected Photographer's evaluation
Elements is the entry-level version of the fabulous Photoshop. Our preliminary testing showed Photoshop Elements 7 to run a tad bit slower than Elements 6, but we'll explore that more fully over time. We were somewhat concerned by the overwhelming focus of Photoshop Elements 7 on the online Photoshop.com service, which has a subscription fee.
There are some new editing features, including one that removes unwanted elements from a scene and another than cleans up group shots, but our first impression is that Photoshop Elements 7 is really Photoshop Elements 6.1 with a pitch for an online subscription service. You can get Elements 7 for as low as $79, but we recommend getting the package we discuss further on in this article.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7, produced by Adobe, has a retail price of $99.99. We give Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 a rating of 3 out of 5.
RATING: 3 STARSAdobe Premiere Elements 7
Create incredible movies with Adobe Premiere Elements 7. Get started quickly with automated moviemaking options, add knockout visuals and sound, and share your movies everywhere.
Upload your movies to YouTube or your personal sharing page. Optimizing and formatting for the specific destination is automatic. Design custom disc menus, or choose from dozens of menu templates. Scene indexes or chapters for your menu are automatically created with links that correspond to your video clips.
Connected Photographer's evaluation
Like with Photoshop Elements 7, a whole lot of the product is oriented around a pitch for an online subscription service, which we again find disappointing from Adobe. This version has some better sound editing features, some Hollywood-style effects, and the ability to drop objects into scenes, but it doesn't reduce the overall feeling that this is just a point release in a new box.
Adobe Premiere Elements 7, produced by Adobe, has a retail price of $99.99. We give Adobe Premiere Elements 7 a rating of 3 out of 5.
RATING: 3 STARSAdobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 7 bundle
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 Adobe Premiere Elements 7 software combines two powerful yet easy-to-use products at a great value, so you can tell amazing stories with photos and videos.
Connected Photographer's evaluation
We've always found this bundle to be an astonishing deal, but you might be disappointed this time out. The Elements 6 bundle was a high-performance, sublime product at a great price, but Elements 7 seems to be that product wrapped in a lot of upsell. We hope that more time with this product will change our preliminary review ratings, but we're not sure.
We suspect the lure of an annuity from online service fees — and the valuations that went to YouTube and Flickr instead of Adobe — have been eating at Adobe's management for years and this is the result.
Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 7 bundle, produced by Adobe, has a retail price of $149.99. We give Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 7 bundle a rating of 3 out of 5.
RATING: 3 STARS