There’s always a few surprise additions to Photoshop Elements and this incarnation is no difference, plus there’s enhancements to popular features that the home user and enthusiast will appreciate.
The Organizer
Elements’ Organizer has been updated to show where your images were taken, plotting images on a map that scales out when you zoom in. If you’re used to photos on iOS and Google Photo then you’ll appreciate then you may be familiar with this already. Of course this does depend on whether you geo tag your images, but in this edition of Elements there’s a real lean toward Mobile Image capture.
Face Recognition
Face recognition is updated with favourites added to the organiser for finding certain people more quickly. The demo I saw recognised the faces very quickly and accurately but I’ve not had a chance to try this myself, I’ll keep an eye on this one I think.
Auto Fix
Elements has had a great one click system for a while and this gets a facelift too. Included in this is a new Auto Analyze Fix. Elements will, as the name suggests, analyse the image and calculate what a good fix might be, but it doesn’t end there, it then gives various options based on the analysis too.
Elements will change the suggestions on an image by image basis and will determine skin tones, the greens of a landscapes and a whole host of other jiggery-pokery.
Guided Edit
Guided Edits are a great way to work through an image and now there’s 34 of them to choose from including a new Motion Blur filter The UI has been updated and the work though feels more intuitive and user friendly. As before, switching to the ‘Expert’ mode reveals all the layers and masks that have been added behind the scenes to allow tweaking.
Why Adobe still insist on keeping the ‘Expert’ tab in favour of the previous ‘Normal’ is beyond me. New users should not be intimidated by this, get stuck in!
Big Boy Toys
In each update of Elements Adobe swipe something from its big sister and in 14 Elements now includes Camera Shake and Dehaze.
It doesn’t seem that long ago I first saw Camera Shake reduction and thought it would be years before I saw it in Photoshop, and here we are in Elements! Elements will analyse the image and the direction pixels have ‘moved’ and then move them back again.
The dialogue box isn’t as detailed as that in Photoshop, but it really doesn’t need to be. The results are amazing and for those shooting hand held will truly appreciate this feature. Again, this has been added and advertised as something mobile images will benefit from, and I couldn’t agree more.
Dehaze is very new to Photoshop and Lightroom so this was the biggest surprise addition for me. Again, no mass of sliders or input dialogue boxes but this really doesn’t need it. An amazing addition to Photoshop and a joy to behold in Elements!
Refine Edge
Refine Edge gets a bit of an update and power and is more capable of picking out fine hair and fur with the minimum of pre-selection.
Exporting
Sharing images is another key area for this update, mobile images in mind again. There’s direct uploading to Facebook, Smugmug and Twitter with, I believe, others to follow. If you’re struggling to get the right size, and many of us do, then you’ll love the Size Export that guides you through getting the exact size you want for sharing or printing.
Conclusion
As with previous updates to Elements there’s ‘just enough’ to make you want to update. The price is going to be around $100 for Photoshop Elements or $150 for the Photoshop Elements and Premier Elements bundle which for many makes this the affordable option to Photoshop.
There’s so much here now that unless you want to get stuck into some deep retouching this will do for many amateur and semi pro photographers, especially if you add Lightroom into the mix.
More Information
Find more on this release at the official Photoshop Elements Webpage
System requirements
Windows
• 1.6GHz or faster processor with
SSE2 support
• Microsoft Windows 7 with Service
Pack 1, Windows 8 or Windows 10
(32-bit versions will be installed on 32-bit systems; 64-bit versions will be installed on 64-bit systems)
• 2GB of RAM
• 5GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation)
• 1024×768 display resolution (at 100% scale factor)
• Microsoft DirectX 9 or 10 compatible display driver
• DVD-ROM drive (for installation from DVD)
• QuickTime 7 software
• Internet connection required for product activation and content download*
Mac OS
• 64-bit multicore Intel processor
• Mac OS X v10.9 or v10.10
• 2GB of RAM
• 5GB of available hard-disk space (additional free space required during installation)
• 1024×768 display resolution (at 100% scale factor)
• DVD-ROM drive (for installation from DVD)
• QuickTime 7 software
• Internet connection required for product activation and content download*
This Post Sponsored by:
Perfectly Clear for Photoshop or Lightroom is all about saving you time so you can focus on doing what you love best. Get a free trial of the award winning plug-in here.
The HDR Learning Center. Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDRsoft
Arizona Highways Photo Workshops. For more than 30 years, Arizona Highway Photo Workshops has been committed to helping photographers find inspiring destinations, quality education and spectacular images. Get more information (and enter our contest) at http://www.ahpw.org/FindIt/
Platypod Pro™– the world’s most compact camera support. Use it with your ballhead in place of a tripod. Click here for more info — http://bit.ly/platypodpro
Creative Cloud Photography plan. Take your best shot and make it even better with the Creative Cloud Photography plan. Get all the essential tools, including Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Photoshop, to craft incredible images every day, everywhere — whether you’re a beginner or a pro. It’s all your photography. All in one place.
lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/Photofocus
Filed under: Adobe, Software Tagged: Adobe, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Elements 14, new, new features, photography, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, review 
