Photoshop Elements is the version of the popular software that is intended for the amateur photographer, packing a powerful punch without being too sophisticated to overwhelm a beginner. It comes with an editor equipped with a guide to help a new user get the hang of it, and contains lots of automated tasks, simplifying things. It has a user-friendly user environment, which will also be suitable for most advanced users. The software comes equipped with lots of features geared towards the web2.0 experience, and basically is the photo enthusiast’s best friend.

That is to say, that is what it should have been. As a long time Photoshop user of all versions, I have had the pleasure to work with all its previous versions, so I have a lot of material to compare this new release with and I am sorry to say: Elements 8 will not stand up to the previous versions that came before it.

All the versions were absolutely fabulous until the dreaded version 7, with nothing standing out that would justify upgrading to it. The fact that a new version had so little real improvements made me fear the worst. Sadly, it appears I was right.

Version 8 also has many issues that need to be worked out better, especially the organizer feature which needs attention. Elements 8 has lots of new features that have potential, but they are implemented in a fashion that makes working with them a nightmare. The software is slow, it feels bloated, and I get the impression I spend more time waiting for things to happen, than I am actually working with the software. Needless to say I have grown a healthy dislike for the “wait” cursor.

The people recognition function was something I was especially looking forward to, but the way it is implemented proves to be entirely disappointing. Compared to similar functionalities in competing products, the version in Photoshop Elements cannot hold a candle to it, which is a shame. Some of the bugs encountered in Elements are the same as we saw in CS4, like the recompose function, which can produce unpredictable results when applied.

Does this mean that Photoshop Elements 8 is a bad product? Not at all, it is just not even close to what it could have been, if features had been implemented the right way as we have seen competitors do. Strong points in Elements 8 are the editor, which is easy to use, brings solid results and makes adjusting images a snap, and lots of other features like merging images work flawlessly, provided you have good images to work with.

The organizer (once you get it fully loaded) is designed well, and comes equipped with lots of handy features, so overall Photoshop Elements 8 is a decent product.

On the other hand, knowing the high standard the software used to have in the previous versions, I dare state that this version cannot even be called a shadow of its former self, which to me is a major disappointment, knowing what Elements was, what it is now and what it could have been.
M.A.H.

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