Photoshop Elements 11 ~ First look
I’ve always had a soft spot for Photoshop Elements. It’s 90% cheaper then Photoshop, its bigger brother, and yet it still does 90% of everything I need Photoshop to do.
Traditionally Elements is updated every 12 months and in the past it’s fair to say some of those updates have been rather meagre… but not this one. From the moment you start Elements 11 it’s obvious things have really changed this time.
The first thing you’ll notice is the new light grey interface but look a little closer and you’ll notice a raft of other changes both big and small.
The default editing setting is now “Quick” rather then “Expert” (formally known as Full), the options bar has moved from the top to the bottom and many of your favourite features aren’t where you left them. These may be superficial changes but they all add up to make Elements 11 feel very different to Elements 10.
So what’s new?
Well, there are lots of new features in Organiser but the good news for me is that it remains totally optional and that’s the best thing I can say about it.
Moving into the photo editing section of Elements the star of the show in my book is the new Refine Edge feature which is shamelessly lifted lock, stock and barrel from Photoshop CS5. If you’ve never experienced Refine Edge before then you’re in for a treat. As of now making complex selections of things like hair in Elements is as easy as using a paint brush.
Elements has had a slimmed down version of Adobe Camera RAW for some time but sadly it’s never had the advanced tools of Lightroom and Photoshop like the brilliant Adjustment Brush. There’s no change on that score but Elements 11 does get the update to Adobe Camera RAW 7.1 which has all the latest and greatest adjustments like the wonderfully enhanced Clarity slider… have I ever told you that I love a bit of Clarity?
It would have been great to get some form of local adjustments in RAW but maybe that’s asking too much. On the plus side the noise reduction options in Adobe Camera RAW have been brought up to spec with the same options as Photoshop and Lightroom.
Guiding lite
The biggest number of changes in the editor can be found in the guided section. New step by step effects include creating the “perfect portrait”, adding vignettes around photos and creating a reflection below a photo.
As with all the guided techniques these are not new tools but they’re designed to remove the skills barrier required to achieve the effect and to that end they’re very successful.
My favourite new guided effect has to be Tilt-Shift. The whole effect can be created in just two clicks and on the right photo, it’s very convincing.
Other new guided edits include Hi-Key and Low-Key effects and worthy of a mention is the new Actions panel which makes loading and playing (still no recording) actions a whole lot easier.
Not in Photoshop
Yes you read that right. Elements 11 gives you not one but three new filters that you won’t find in Photoshop. If you don’t like filter effects you may say that’s a good thing but I know from experience that filter effects are always popular with a large number of Elements and Photoshop users alike.
The three filters are all found under the Sketch section, which gives you an idea where these are heading. They are Comic, Graphic Novel, and Pen & Ink filters and although they are all different the effects are all variations of a similar style and are a welcome addition
Conclusion
From the moment you launch Photoshop Elements 11 it’s clear Adobe have worked hard to make this version appeal to it’s target market of amateur and serious amateur photographers. Anyone moving up from a previous Elements will find the changes take a little time to get used to but before too long you’ll feel right at home.
The new and improved features of Elements 11 are all very welcome and whilst it would have been nice to find a few more of Photoshops newer tricks filtering through to Elements it’s really not missing that much.
You can try it yourself right now for free by downloading the 30 day trial http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop-elements.html
Nice review! I am one of the (few?) people that hasn’t worked a lot with Photoshop or Elements at all. As a beginner, is it hard to get into the software without previous experience or is the versions nowadays fairly user-friendly that i with some practice and some tutorials will be a pro (oh well) in no time?
There’s always a learning curve Mathias but it seems Adobe have worked hard with Elements 11 to get you up to speed mach quicker. For example, the guided section has written steps and often video tutorials to help you along.
I found the best way to learn was just to jump straight into a trial version and play with EVERYTHING. Click all the buttons. 😀
Gavin’s online resources here and on YouTube are second to none on learning Photoshop!
I think I still prefer the full version of Photoshop, you should really try out the Topaz plugin’s sometime, Gavin they are really good.
You can check them out here:
http://www.topazlabs.com/
I’ve been thinking about paying into some form of Photoshop. I’m definitely going to purchase Lightroom 4 as it’s the one I use the most and my trial is coming to an end. But I always knew there’d be some jobs I needed Photoshop for. CS6 is way too expensive for me, so I think Elements may be a good compromise.
As you guessed, Lightroom 4 and Elements 11 are indeed the perfect partners.
Hi there. I am a learning photography hobbyist and as such haven’t touched an editing program other than iPhoto but I am wanting to purchase an advanced program. I am unsure whether I should get Lightroom 4 which I have heard great things about, or Elements. Which would you recommend I get as I can only justify (financially) the purchase of one of them. Thanks for your help!
A tricky one to answer as there are a few variables but in general, if you can only have one, go of Elements 11. Lightroom 4 is great for processing many photos quickly but offers a smaller range of tools then Elements.
Thanks Gavin. I appreciate the help, both in answering my question and for all your tutorials.
i think you just persuaded me to try out Elements. Thank you for the input, Gav!
Gavin,
You say Elements does 90% of what Photoshop does for you. What is in the “missing” 10% that you, personally, need from Photoshop?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Hugh
As I do most of my editing in Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) it’s that area that I’d miss. In Elements 11 ACR is missing things like the local adjustment tools and presets. I’d also miss the ability to record Actions in Elements. Perhaps the biggest draw back in Elements is that it’s still a 32bit program. That means it can only access 3GB of RAM even though I have 24GB in your PC, so it’ll never be as fast as 64bit Photoshop.
Another great review, Gavin. I like your presentations a lot. I was an Elements user and converted to CS5 a while back. In Elements I had thousands of images neatly tagged and organized, in, well, Organizer. I never found a way to get PS to take advantage that organization. Perhaps there’s an opportunity for one or more articles on moving up from PSE to PS. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Gavin, a helpful review. However, whatever filters they add in, or however they may reshuffle the layout, it simply doesnt make up for the camera raw. In my oppinion they have crippled the software by not including the full ACR, especially local adjustments. I would be happy to purchase the full ACR on top of the normal PSE cost, but that isnt available! Maybe you could put a word in Gavin…!
Hi Gavin,first can I say thanks for inspiring me to persue my photogaphy and push the limits. Your videos are brilliant ,very easy to understand and I love the clarity ! Having tried to understand ‘Silkypix’ with a Panasonic camera and Canons ‘Digital Photo professional’ I am now useing Elements 11 on the free trial. I could realy do with a basic whats what and how to use it tutorial but its great fun just trying things out and doing some of your projects, you learn a lot from your mistakes! Keep up the good work.
…than…
gavin,
just using Elements 11 for the first time and very pleased with it. As I have a back catalogue of jpeg images, I would very much like to be able to process jpeg in the raw editor – but cannot find any means of opening them in raw. Is there a solution to this?
Cheers
Try this…
File – Open As
Change the Open As type to CAMERA RAW
Find your JPG and click open 🙂
Hi Gavin and thanks for your work. I tried every new version of Elements that came out and it never fulfilled my needs. This time…. well I bought it as it does everything I need and, as metionned earlier, combined with Lightroom 4, it makes a very good “photo Suite” at a very affordable price.
I learnt on CS4, then really liked Elements 9 and the Organiser. Now, I’m almost using Elements 11 exclusively. It’s got more than enough for what I need to do which is to make nice, more than decent photobooks. Will you make more tutorials and freebies for Elements? Hope you will. Thanks for your generosity in sharing your talents.