{"id":1621,"date":"2012-09-26T08:28:41","date_gmt":"2012-09-26T07:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/test\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2013-01-13T14:36:59","modified_gmt":"2013-01-13T14:36:59","slug":"photoshop-elements-11-first-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/?p=1621","title":{"rendered":"Photoshop Elements 11 ~ First look"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always had a soft spot for Photoshop Elements<\/a>. It\u2019s 90% cheaper then Photoshop, its bigger brother, and yet it still does 90% of everything I need Photoshop to do. <\/p>\n

\"Elements-1\"<\/a>Traditionally Elements is updated every 12 months and in the past it\u2019s fair to say some of those updates have been rather meagre\u2026 but not this one. From the moment you start Elements 11 it\u2019s obvious things have really changed this time. <\/p>\n

The first thing you\u2019ll notice is the new light grey interface but look a little closer and you\u2019ll notice a raft of other changes both big and small. <\/p>\n

The default editing setting is now \u201cQuick\u201d rather then \u201cExpert\u201d (formally known as Full), the options bar has moved from the top to the bottom and many of your favourite features aren\u2019t where you left them. These may be superficial changes but they all add up to make Elements 11 feel very different to Elements 10. <\/p>\n

So what\u2019s new?
<\/u><\/b>\"Elements-2\"<\/a>Well, there are lots of new features in Organiser but the good news for me is that it remains totally optional and that\u2019s the best thing I can say about it. <\/p>\n

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\u2019ve never experienced Refine Edge before then you\u2019re in for a treat. As of now making complex selections of things like hair in Elements is as easy as using a paint brush. <\/p>\n

\"Elements-3\"<\/a>Elements has had a slimmed down version of Adobe Camera RAW for some time but sadly it\u2019s never had the advanced tools of Lightroom and Photoshop like the brilliant Adjustment Brush. There\u2019s 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\u2026 have I ever told you that I love a bit of Clarity?<\/p>\n

It would have been great to get some form of local adjustments in RAW but maybe that\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

Guiding lite
<\/u><\/b>The biggest number of changes in the editor can be found in the guided section. New step by step effects include creating the \u201cperfect portrait\u201d, adding vignettes around photos and creating a reflection below a photo. <\/p>\n

\"Elements-4\"<\/a>As with all the guided techniques these are not new tools but they\u2019re designed to remove the skills barrier required to achieve the effect and to that end they\u2019re very successful. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s very convincing. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Not in Photoshop
<\/u><\/b>\"Elements-5\"<\/a>Yes you read that right. Elements 11 gives you not one but three<\/i> new filters that you won\u2019t find in Photoshop. If you don\u2019t like filter effects you may say that\u2019s a good thing but I know from experience that filter effects are always popular with a large number of Elements and Photoshop users alike. <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/u><\/b>
From the moment you launch Photoshop Elements 11 it\u2019s clear Adobe have worked hard to make this version appeal to it\u2019s 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\u2019ll feel right at home. <\/p>\n

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\u2019s really not missing that much. <\/p>\n

You can try it yourself right now for free by downloading the 30 day trial http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/uk\/products\/photoshop-elements.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always had a soft spot for Photoshop Elements. It\u2019s 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\u2019s fair to say some of those updates have been rather meagre\u2026 but not … Continue reading Photoshop Elements 11 ~ First look<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1621"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2359,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions\/2359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavtrain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}