August 26, 2008 - Adobe announced Photoshop Elements 7 and a significant enhancement to its Photoshop.com online offering today. The software additions include expanded quick-fix tools, such as teeth whitening and blue-sky tweaking, plus guided editing sequences that take users step-by-step through a variety of processes, including adjustments for levels and distortion effects, image cropping and adding artistic effects (pencil sketch, old fashioned, etc.). One feature guaranteed to bring a smile to travelers whose shots of their nearest and dearest are impaired by annoying locals wandering into the frame is the Photomerge Scene Cleaner. Take several photos of your subject in the same setting, load them all into Photoshop Elements 7 and roughly indicate the locals you want removed. The software then automatically compiles a final image, drawing from the series of originals to produce a photo of subject plus scenery minus distractions.
The other interesting new editing feature is called the Smart Brush, which lets users quickly select an area and apply an effect at the same time. The Smart Brush tool will be used for over fifty effects, including lighting enhancements and texture addtions.
Photoshop Elements 7 will be available for $99.99. As before, there will also be a combination pack with both Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements video editing software, priced at $149.99. Both products are slated to ship for Windows computers in the fall – no Mac version announcements have been made.
In addition, Adobe announced a tiered upgrade to its Photoshop.com web site. Purchasers of Adobe Photoshop Elements or Premiere Elements will be entitled to basic membership, offering 5 gibabytes of online storage for photos or videos, with the option to share your media with friends and family, and to have files automatically backed up onto the web account from your home PC. For an additional $49.95 annual fee users can step up to Plus Membership, which expands online storage to 20 gigabytes and includes access to tutorials, templates, downloadable clip art and other add-ons. The existing free Photoshop Express online product, which includes online editing and 2 gigabytes of storage, will continue to be offered.
