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| Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 (PC) | 
 enlarge | From: Adobe Systems Inc.
Category: Software
List Price: £66.99
Buy Used: £19.22
You Save: £47.77 (71%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 45
Platforms: Windows Xp, Windows Xp Professional
Media: CD-ROM
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 7.7 x 2.1
MPN: 1262638
EAN: 5051254032366
ASIN: B000IB9QXI
Release Date: October 6, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Original/Genuine CD only Still in plastic wrapper.Immediate first class dispatch from The UK
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| Customer Reviews:
 De facto photo editing software for amateurs October 6, 2007
38 out of 39 found this review helpful
Photoshop Elements 5 is targeted at a wide range of photographers covering everything from the very new to the experienced amateur (for professional photographers and amateurs with cash to burn Photoshop CS3 at about 500 is the product of choice).
With such a wide target audience there is the risk that the software can try to do too much and Elements certainly does have a lot of features and components. For example, the photo organiser, quick fix features and album generator may not be of interest to the keen amateur. Adobe has been clever in the usability that these features can in effect be hidden away - the organiser is a separate program, and the quick fix features have a different menu.
From that perspective I think Adobe has done a great job in producing a very feature rich product which can do most of the things anyone would ever want to do with a photo editing piece of software. This is particularly true if you are looking to do relative minor changes - for example:
- remove blemishes from the image
- change perspective to avoid having buildings which do not appear straight (this is really good in version 5)
- sharpening part of the image or perhaps bluring the background for things like moving cars
- changing the colour (levels), brightness and contrast to make the image more life-like (or perhaps less life-like)
- combining images
For less experienced users the menus are reduced to make it easy to control the photo - the idea is to get good photos, not have to use the software the whole time. I think Adobe has got it spot on!
Having used Photoshop Elements 3 I felt it was time to upgrade to 5. When looking at the features, there is not actually that much difference and certainly the user interface from 3 is pretty much identical in 5 (although the unsharp mask has moved). What I really noticed though is that the product has matured a bit more and things like the unsharp mask, perspective control, b&w image creation (this is much more functional)
The only disappointment is the RAW image control which is still a little limited (notably no control of vignetting) - this is only available in the professional CS3 series, although addins such as BibbleLabs can be used with Elements to achieve that.
 Realistically, it`s only for the experts September 4, 2007
16 out of 31 found this review helpful
This program can be fun, ammusing, serious and tricky all at the same time. Being no computer geek myself I had trouble using it to the optimum of its capabilitys. It can do just about anything if you take the time to learn how to use it, but I myself preffer to just sit back and watch someone else do all the tricky stuff. It can be useful for modifying photos in a countless variety of ways, as well as acting as a substiute to the juvenile `paint` program in many ways. It is certainly a great tool for doing just about anything you can imagin to photos hence its popularity. I will say that the installation of it proved to be suprisingly easy. So I say that if you are a geek or any good at computers or photo modifying get it, but otherwise forget it!
Elements 5 VS Photoshop CS3 August 22, 2007
59 out of 62 found this review helpful
I bought Elements 5 upon release last year, I have now upgraded to CS3. Elements 5 is far simpler to use than CS3 and rather oddly comes with a decent handbook where CS3 comes with nothing. Elements is easy to use straight from the box where CS3 requires a huge amount of knowledge. Elements has tools that I can't seem to find in CS3 such as straighten tool, magic extractor and adjust colour for skin tone.
For your average user (I am a professional) Elements batch processing is simple where CS3 requires pre-saved actions by the user. For the price, there is no comparison however the advantages of CS3 will only be appreciated in high-end work e.g. colour profiling, pre-press work and for those seriously into re-touching.
For the time being, I will be doing most of my work with Elements, however with CS3 classroom book by the Adobe Creative Team on order I hope to eventually learn CS3 and use it for all of my editing.
One thing I will recommend, is looking into purchasing an older version of Photoshop and upgrading as this may be cheaper.
Conclusion, if you are a high-end user CS3 is definitely for you, if not enjoy Elements 5 it will certainly do you. I have had none of the "problems" mentioned by other reviewers except my machine at 256MB of RAM sometimes struggles, however CS3 needs 512MB of RAM and a new machine was purchased for that.
Very powerful for the price August 12, 2007
31 out of 32 found this review helpful
It is important to note that the Elements cycle is approx 1 year, so it is not long before another version is due, if not already announced.
This software is very powerful, essentially a cut down version of the full photoshop. For the ameatur photographer it's perfect. It has a RAW converter, image manager, quick fixes and full blown editing. There's not much you can't achieve.
However unlike the full photoshop you will struggle with using the application for design, print or web work, it's not designed with those in mind.
I've got it and use it and enjoy it and unless version 6 has massive upgrades I'll be sticking with it for another year.
 Disappointing June 15, 2007
33 out of 47 found this review helpful
I was forced to use this at the school where I work and hate it compared to other versions of this and similar software. The front end is confusing offering lots of different options but which one is best? Files are sometimes not save properly, tools aren't where you expect them to be and compared to the full version some things I want to do simply can't be done.
If you want photoshop and cant afford the full version go for elements V2 instead. My recommendation though is Paint Shop Pro 7 through 9 if you can find a copy. Far more tools, easier to use and a good price.
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