Adobe shoots for midrange with Photoshop Elements

Adobe rolled out the $99 program for Mac and Windows at the Photo Marketing Association show in Orlando, Fla.

Unlike Photoshop LE (Limited Edition), which Adobe (adbe) product manager Mark Dahm described as "Photoshop cut off at the knees," Photoshop Elements has an interface and feature set tuned for midrange users: prosumers, photo hobbyists, business people and others who deal with images but don't need Photoshop's more-advanced prepress and Web-graphics functions.

Dahm predicted Photoshop Elements will appeal to artists who use Photoshop in the office but want to work with files at home as well. A few features in the program, such as a new red-eye removal brush and fill flash/backlighting functions, could find their way into a future version of the full Photoshop package, Dahm said. Adobe will continue to offer PhotoDeluxe as an entry-level image-editing tool.

Midrange capabilities
Photoshop Elements is limited to working in RGB and gray-scale color spaces and lacks such features as Curves, the Channel Mixer and many of the advanced layer-blending functions in Adobe's high-end package.

However, it does support layers and implements Photoshop 6.0's Layer Styles through a palette in which users select the style from a visual list. It doesn't let users create layer sets as Photoshop 6 does; to maintain file compatibility, however, Elements will retain layer sets in imported files. It also includes basic layer-blending modes, such as Normal, Dissolve, and Exclusion.

The Photoshop Elements interface resembles Photoshop 6.0's but adds a Microsoft Office-style toolbar to the Tool Options bar in the main program. The palette well in Photoshop 6.0, used to store infrequently used palettes, has been moved to the new toolbar and expanded to accommodate more palettes.

The program adds two new palettes designed to assist inexperienced users with common image-editing tasks: The Hints palette provides context-sensitive illustrations and tips for performing basic operations, and the Recipes palette--essentially combining Actions with tutorial information--guides you through common multistep tasks.

In addition, Elements' Quick Start screen appears by default when the program launches, allowing users to open a file, capture an image or perform other tasks to begin a project. Users can create a file with clipboard contents already pasted in.

Some of the tools and commands have been rearranged; most image-editing functions are now located in separate Image and Enhance menus. The former includes Rotate, Mode change, Resize and basic adjustment commands such as Invert and Posterize; the latter includes Brightness/Contrast, Variations and other commands commonly used to fix problems with color and exposure.

Other new features include:

PhotoMerge, a stitching technology that automatically combines multiple photos, horizontally and vertically, into a single, seamless image, automatically resizing, skewing and adjusting the brightness of the merged images. It won't create a navigable VR panorama, but stitching is often the most-tedious part of creating a panorama.

Filter Browser, a palette that visually depicts filter effects; dragging the effect to the image applies it.

An Effects Browser that automatically applies a variety of text and image effects, such as adding textures and beveled borders.

A Red-Eye removal brush that desaturates the areas over which you paint.

File Browser, which displays thumbnails of image files in the system.

Adjust Backlighting, which darkens overexposed areas of an image while leaving other areas unaffected; and Fill Flash, which similarly adjusts underexposed areas.

A color-cast tool, which automatically adjusts color cast when you click on a white point.

A Straighten and Crop command that automatically rotates a cropped image.

U.S. customers can upload images to Shutterfly.com, a photo-sharing service in which Adobe is an investor.

In addition, Photoshop Elements supports Photoshop's Save for Web feature--letting you create optimized GIF and JPEG files--and retains Photoshop's History palette.

Unlike Photoshop 6, which includes separate commands for Undo and stepping forward/back through recent commands, Photoshop Elements combines them, so Command-Z steps you back through previous commands rather than toggling Undo/Redo. However, you can restore the traditional Undo behavior through Preferences. You cannot create Actions in Photoshop Elements, but you can use the Recipe palette to apply many Actions created in Photoshop 6.0 (the exception would be Actions that include Photoshop 6.0 features not present in Elements).

Elements also provides limited batch-processing functions, allowing you to resize and rename all images in a folder or convert them to any Photoshop-supported file format.

Photoshop Elements retains most of Photoshop 6.0's text capabilities--you can enter text directly on screen and warp it--but the Character and Paragraph palettes are gone, and you thus lose control over features such as tracking and kerning.

The software is scheduled to ship in the second quarter in the United States, Europe and Japan. Adobe plans an aggressive retail marketing push, promoting the product at outlets such as Best Buy and Fry's with special in-store displays. "This hasn't been our classical area of expertise," Dahm admitted. However, he said that Adobe has hired new retail marketing personnel to help fill in the gaps. "We have some great experience now with the retail channel," he said.

OEMs still a factor
According to Group Product Manager Kevin Connor, Photoshop Elements will slowly supplant Photoshop LE as the image-editing package bundled with a variety of third-party scanners, digital cameras and other wares. "Over time, Photoshop Elements will replace Photoshop LE in all OEM bundles, but it is likely that some of the existing bundles will continue as-is for a number of months," Connor said. "Currently, bundling accounts for a significant percentage of revenue for LE.

"We will continue to build our OEM business, but we're also going to be putting a very big focus on retail sales for Elements. Thus, we plan to be somewhat selective in our OEM strategy. (As for Photoshop 6.0, we do continue to do OEM bundling on a selective basis, but the percentage of revenue from OEMs is a much smaller portion.)"

Adobe has posted an overview and several PDF files describing the program's features.

Matthew Rothenberg, ZDNet News, contributed to this report. In a drive to exploit the explosive popularity of digital cameras and other imaging products, Adobe Systems Inc., on Sunday unveiled Photoshop Elements, a midrange version of its Photoshop image-editing software that will replace Photoshop LE.

Adobe rolled out the $99 program for Mac and Windows at the Photo Marketing Association show in Orlando, Fla.

Unlike Photoshop LE (Limited Edition), which Adobe (adbe) product manager Mark Dahm described as "Photoshop cut off at the knees," Photoshop Elements has an interface and feature set tuned for midrange users: prosumers, photo hobbyists, business people and others who deal with images but don't need Photoshop's more-advanced prepress and Web-graphics functions.

Dahm predicted Photoshop Elements will appeal to artists who use Photoshop in the office but want to work with files at home as well. A few features in the program, such as a new red-eye removal brush and fill flash/backlighting functions, could find their way into a future version of the full Photoshop package, Dahm said. Adobe will continue to offer PhotoDeluxe as an entry-level image-editing tool.

Midrange capabilities
Photoshop Elements is limited to working in RGB and gray-scale color spaces and lacks such features as Curves, the Channel Mixer and many of the advanced layer-blending functions in Adobe's high-end package.

However, it does support layers and implements Photoshop 6.0's Layer Styles through a palette in which users select the style from a visual list. It doesn't let users create layer sets as Photoshop 6 does; to maintain file compatibility, however, Elements will retain layer sets in imported files. It also includes basic layer-blending modes, such as Normal, Dissolve, and Exclusion.

The Photoshop Elements interface resembles Photoshop 6.0's but adds a Microsoft Office-style toolbar to the Tool Options bar in the main program. The palette well in Photoshop 6.0, used to store infrequently used palettes, has been moved to the new toolbar and expanded to accommodate more palettes.

The program adds two new palettes designed to assist inexperienced users with common image-editing tasks: The Hints palette provides context-sensitive illustrations and tips for performing basic operations, and the Recipes palette--essentially combining Actions with tutorial information--guides you through common multistep tasks.

In addition, Elements' Quick Start screen appears by default when the program launches, allowing users to open a file, capture an image or perform other tasks to begin a project. Users can create a file with clipboard contents already pasted in.

Some of the tools and commands have been rearranged; most image-editing functions are now located in separate Image and Enhance menus. The former includes Rotate, Mode change, Resize and basic adjustment commands such as Invert and Posterize; the latter includes Brightness/Contrast, Variations and other commands commonly used to fix problems with color and exposure.

Other new features include:

PhotoMerge, a stitching technology that automatically combines multiple photos, horizontally and vertically, into a single, seamless image, automatically resizing, skewing and adjusting the brightness of the merged images. It won't create a navigable VR panorama, but stitching is often the most-tedious part of creating a panorama.

Filter Browser, a palette that visually depicts filter effects; dragging the effect to the image applies it.

An Effects Browser that automatically applies a variety of text and image effects, such as adding textures and beveled borders.

A Red-Eye removal brush that desaturates the areas over which you paint.

File Browser, which displays thumbnails of image files in the system.

Adjust Backlighting, which darkens overexposed areas of an image while leaving other areas unaffected; and Fill Flash, which similarly adjusts underexposed areas.

A color-cast tool, which automatically adjusts color cast when you click on a white point.

A Straighten and Crop command that automatically rotates a cropped image.

U.S. customers can upload images to Shutterfly.com, a photo-sharing service in which Adobe is an investor.

In addition, Photoshop Elements supports Photoshop's Save for Web feature--letting you create optimized GIF and JPEG files--and retains Photoshop's History palette.

Unlike Photoshop 6, which includes separate commands for Undo and stepping forward/back through recent commands, Photoshop Elements combines them, so Command-Z steps you back through previous commands rather than toggling Undo/Redo. However, you can restore the traditional Undo behavior through Preferences. You cannot create Actions in Photoshop Elements, but you can use the Recipe palette to apply many Actions created in Photoshop 6.0 (the exception would be Actions that include Photoshop 6.0 features not present in Elements).

Elements also provides limited batch-processing functions, allowing you to resize and rename all images in a folder or convert them to any Photoshop-supported file format.

Photoshop Elements retains most of Photoshop 6.0's text capabilities--you can enter text directly on screen and warp it--but the Character and Paragraph palettes are gone, and you thus lose control over features such as tracking and kerning.

The software is scheduled to ship in the second quarter in the United States, Europe and Japan. Adobe plans an aggressive retail marketing push, promoting the product at outlets such as Best Buy and Fry's with special in-store displays. "This hasn't been our classical area of expertise," Dahm admitted. However, he said that Adobe has hired new retail marketing personnel to help fill in the gaps. "We have some great experience now with the retail channel," he said.

OEMs still a factor
According to Group Product Manager Kevin Connor, Photoshop Elements will slowly supplant Photoshop LE as the image-editing package bundled with a variety of third-party scanners, digital cameras and other wares. "Over time, Photoshop Elements will replace Photoshop LE in all OEM bundles, but it is likely that some of the existing bundles will continue as-is for a number of months," Connor said. "Currently, bundling accounts for a significant percentage of revenue for LE.

"We will continue to build our OEM business, but we're also going to be putting a very big focus on retail sales for Elements. Thus, we plan to be somewhat selective in our OEM strategy. (As for Photoshop 6.0, we do continue to do OEM bundling on a selective basis, but the percentage of revenue from OEMs is a much smaller portion.)"

Adobe has posted an overview and several PDF files describing the program's features.

Matthew Rothenberg, ZDNet News, contributed to this report.