Photoshop’s little brother has grown, and a lot. Formerly known as Adobe Photoshop Elements and now called Adobe Lightroom. It is a program that exclusively allows us to edit photos, in a simple and fast way.
It manages to be among the best home design programs, focusing on the edition, organization and presentation of photographic collections. The integration of the Photoshop Album software, introduced as the new Elements image management window, is a fundamental factor in the transformation of this solution, which manages to distance itself from its previous version, breaking its limitations.
However, Photoshop CS goes beyond the capabilities of Lightroom, leaving the competition marked by Ulead PhotoImpact and Jasc Saint Shop Pro, among other applications.
The program interface is divided into two scenarios: edition and organization. In the first case, the user finds himself with powerful utilities and more than 100 filters, so that the photos look their best. The support of RAW cameras and 16-bit images stands out, functions that have been in the news in Photoshop CS.
The filter gallery, whose purpose is to quickly show the result of mixing different effects on the same image, is another practical utility. The new Reduce Noise filter allows you to improve the quality of the photographs, being just one of the many options that are presented to you when it comes to retouching your work.
Correction brushes are used to eliminate defects in images; a complex option to create dynamic presentations, in such a way to expose one photo after another in an impressive way, applying transition effects; a comparison utility allows the designer to choose the best photograph among all those that are similar; and more.
However, the main novelties of the third installment of Photoshop Elements are the result of the incorporation of the new organization window that we mentioned before. Thanks to this, it is possible to directly obtain photos from digital cameras or from the hard disk, and then immediately apply categorization systems, either by entering keywords or directories.
Likewise, from this screen the user can share his gallery by sending images by email (in the body of the message, and not as an attachment), making adaptations to Palm, starting DVD recordings, or simply printing. An interesting viewing modality shows a calendar, in which the photos appear according to the date they were obtained.
The product doesn’t look complex, but it still features a number of state-of-the-art panels, probably far more than a beginning designer will use. The selection of features is just perfect, accessible from a nice environment.
It’s important to note that the software is available for both Windows and Mac, and puts a lot of demands on the machine that wants to run it. In the case of the Microsoft operating system, at least a Pentium III or 4 (or compatible) processor is required, at 800MHz (minimum), 600MB of free disk space, and at least 256MB of RAM, although suggests working with 512. On the other hand, on Macs, the hardware needs are a PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor, 256 MB of RAM, and 200 MB of space. Probably many homes still do not meet these specifications.
Adobe has once again surpassed itself, taking advantage of its experience, to bring a product made up of the best of its family, in order to bring the average user closer to advanced design possibilities according to their knowledge. An all-in-one solution for the home, with an amazing feature/price ratio.
Facebook Comments
Disqus