Product review
Executive summary

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 3

The Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 is a comprehensive software package for editing images, managing photo albums, displaying slideshows and sharing them. Its vast number of functions won't leave any expert or beginner empty-handed when there's a photograph that needs to be fixed.

Key functionality: The Photoshop Elements 3 comes with the most extensive feature set for digital imaging for home users that we have come across. It is really a collection of several applications that run either inside the main window, or in a separate window. There's the Standard image editor (including all the advanced functions), the Quick fix image editor (a straightforward editor that guides the user), Photo browser, Organizer, and Creator that's used to make slideshows, web pages, photo collections and plenty more.

It is possible to launch, for example, only the Quick fix, or the Organizer module and preserve some computing resources for other necessary applications. Each module, however, must be separately learned, and those who are familiar with other versions of Photoshop will find their home in the Standard Edit mode and learn other modules when they need them.

Despite its numerous features, the software is pleasant and logical to use. Wizards help complete tasks in many cases, but the photo Organizer module has an unfortunate design flaw: it assumes that we would want to import every single photo into the Organizer, even though they’re already on the hard disk.

The slideshow module lets you create fancy slideshows with transitions, audio and other options. The slideshow can be saved as a WMV or PDF file to be viewed in Windows Media Player or in Adobe Acrobat.

The Photo Review function is an excellent innovation for quickly viewing and marking photos. It is well laid out: one photograph fills the screen except for a small vertical section on the right hand side where you see thumbnails of next and previous images. It is easy to categorize, rate and move photos to albums using the Photo Review.

There are several options for sharing photos on the Internet: save images as web pages and upload them to a web site, save as PDF documents, or copy your photos to Kodak Easy Share online service.

The Photoshop Elements 3 is such an extensive software package that you must have a powerful computer and generous amount of RAM memory for the software to run properly. For anyone who is new to digital imaging, or unsure about his computing skills, the learning curve for Photoshop Elements can be steep.

Who likes this product: Digital photographers who need an extensive feature set to edit, manage and share their photos. It is one of the best products in the market, but you have to be ready to invest the time to learn the product and make sure you have a reasonably powerful computer.

System requirements: The software runs on Windows 2000, or Windows XP computers and requires 800 MB of hard disk space, 512MB of RAM, and a CD-ROM drive. It runs on Macintosh computers as well, and the hardware requirements are: 200MB disk space and 256MB RAM, and Mac OS 10.2.8, or 10.3.

Value for money: The Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 is very good value for money: you get several imaging applications integrated in one powerful product. Regardless of how advanced an expert you intend to become in digital photography, Photoshop Elements 3 will keep you going for a long time.