All articles on this site are by Harry Skevington unless otherwise noted with another byline

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Adobe Acrobat 9
Pro Extended


Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0

Adobe PhotoShop Elements 6.0

Adobe Photoshop
 Elements 7


Adobe Premiere
 Elements 7


Aegis mini 120 Gig
Hard drive by Apricorn


Animoto.com
Free Video Creation


AT&T SYNC by
Samsung SGH-A707


AT&T Blackberry Curve

AT&T Blackjack II
by Samsung


AT&T Video Share Phones


Audible.com

AverTV Cardbus

AVG Security Internet
Suite Version 8.0


Backup-Pal Backup
 Cell phone Contacts


Blackberry Storm
from Verizon Wireless


Brookstone Earbuds

Buffalo DriveStation
Combo


CardScan Executive

Casio Exilim Z22 - 7.2 MP
Digital Camera


Casio Exilim EX-Z80
Digital Camera


Casio Exilim 10.1 MP Digital
Camera EX-Z1080


Casio Exilim EX-S10
10.1 MP Digital Camera


Cingular 3125 Phone

Cingular Blackberry 8800

Clear Harmony Headphones
Ableplanet


CyberDefender
Service Call


Dymo LabelWriter
400 Turbo


DISKGO 1 MINI HD

DiskGO 3.5 DRIVE

Diskeeper Pro Premier
2007


DocuPen RC800
Executive Kit


Duracell PowerSource
Mobile 100


Dymo Discpainter

ETON Red Cross Radio
FR300


Energizer Energi To Go

Franklin Speaking
Global Translator
TG-490


Franklin USB Dictionary
& Thesaurus


Genius Bluetooth Stereo
Headset BT-03A


Genius Look 313 WebCam
5 in One


Genius 10 inch Photo
Frame PF-A01


Genius PenSketch
 9by12


Genius SW-T2.1 1800
Speaker System


H2 Handy Recorder
Samson


i2! Stream Two Pack

Jaybird HB-200
Bluetooth Stereo Headset


JVC GR-D750
Mini DV Camcorder


Kingston DataTraveler
Mini Thin Thumbdrive


Kingston DataTraveler
150 32 Gig USB Drive


Lenovo IBM ThinkPad

Lenovo 22” Wide Monitor
 L220X


Lenovo THINKPad
 REVISITED


Lenovo Thinkpad
R400


Lenovo ThinkPad
Bluetooth Laser Mouse


LG enV2 Phone For
Verizon Wireless


LG Dare Phone From
Verizon Wireless


LG Decoy Phone
Verizon Wireless


LG Voyager in Titanium
for Verizon Wireless


LITE-ON LightScribe
External Drive


Logitech QuickCam
Ultra Vision SE


Logitech X-240 2.1
Speaker System


Love Hate Relationship

MagicCables From
Data Drive Thru


McAfee Internet Security

NETGEAR Travel Router

OPEN IT!
CUTTER TOOL


Panasonic PV-GS31

Panda Security

Pictureal

PictureITPostage.com

Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 11

Plustek Mobile Office D28
Corporate


Plustek OptiCard 821

PowerDVD v7 Max

Proshow Gold

PUROSOL CLEANERS

RCA JETSTREAM
MP3 Player


REBIT EXTERNAL
Backup Appliance


REBIT 500 GIG EXTERNAL
Backup Appliance


RoboForm

SAITEK

S. beat MP3 Swiss Knife

SandiskSansa Clip
MP3 Player


Sandisk Sansa Fuze
Mp3 Player


Sandisk Sansa
slotMusic Player


Sennheiser CX300

Sansung NV10
 Digital Camera


Samsung L77
Digital Camera


Samsung L830
Digital Camera


Samsung Glyde SCH-u940
Touch Phone


Samsung SGH-339 Cell Phone
For T-Mobile


Simply Audiobooks

SPRINT ACE PHONE
FROM SAMSUNG


StealthSurfer

SuroundX Portable
Speaker System


Targus PR700 Easy
Roller Notebook Case


Targus WiFi Scanner
ACW20US


Targus Wireless
Laser Mouse


The Tornado
USB FILE TRANSFER


Verbatim Store “n” Go
12 GB USB hard drive


Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless FlipShot
by Samsung


VideoStudio 10 Plus

Warranty Thoughts

WebEasy Pro 6.0

Western Digital
My Passport Elite 320 Gig


Western Digital
My Book Studio Edition II


ZONET USB Firewire
 

 

Photoshop Elements 7

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7
& Adobe Premiere Elements 7
A package for Photo and Video hobbyists

Box Photo from AdobeIt seemed like just yesterday that I wrote an article on Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. I looked it up and it was December 6, 2007. My life is going by faster than I can live it. So here I am writing about the latest package duo: Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 and Adobe Premiere Elements 7. It makes sense to buy this two-pack as the two programs provide the photo/video hobbyist one source for working with their family history. Both are similar as far as layout and now can be linked with Photoshop.com the on-line version of Photoshop with a twist. Photoshop.com allows you to upload, store, and share you photos and some VIDEOS (AVIs) from these two applications.

Adobe is now offering its online site Photoshop.com as an add-on to these two products. Basic use of this site is FREE with a 2 Gigabyte storage limit. If you really want to get with it as far as storage (20 Gigabytes) and get access to all the Photoshop.com features you will have to pay an annual fee for Plus membership ($49.95 Per Year) or purchase the product with the first year upgrade cost included. (LINK TO INFO) After looking at the site and the added features I feel it is well worth the money. Try the free basic membership first to see if it works for you.

I tested Photoshop Elements 7 first. The Premiere Elements 7 article will follow.

Here is a list of the new and enhanced features as stated by Adobe:

Easily find and view all your photos and video clips

1: Search quickly and conveniently by typing keywords for tags, dates, and file information into the Text Search box.

Get the results you want—fast!
1: Apply multi-step Actions in just one step.
2: Create artistic line drawings.
3: Go from modern to Old Fashioned in just a few steps.
4: Deliver big results with new one-step Quick Fixes.
4 a) Whiten teeth with a brushstroke.
4 b) Create bluer skies instantly.

Make all your photos extraordinary
1:
Select and apply cool effects with a single stroke of a Smart Brush. 
2: Ready for more? Easily edit adjustment layers separately to achieve just the right look.
3: Clean your scene of unwanted moving elements from a series of two or more photos.
4: Create amazing portraits by softening surfaces, while keeping edges and details crisp.

Do more with your photos
1:
Tell your story in creative ways, with new themes, backgrounds, and art.
2: Easily use camera raw in creation workflows.
3: Instantly add cinematic flair to your slide shows with Adobe Premiere Elements
4: InstantMovie feature.

Share your photos in exciting ways
1:
Provide an interactive sharing experience with new Online Album templates,
including World Travel, Newsreel, Winter, and Scrapbook.

Let’s see what happened!
When I started Photoshop Elements 7 I found the opening screen to be somewhat different than version 6. On the left, after you have opened a free or paid Photoshop.com account, is information about that account and direct access to it and the various options. On the right are 4 links to the major areas of Photoshop 7 There is also an ad for Photoshop.com that I have not been able to get rid of so far.

webopenscreen

Organize
Helps you sort, tag, and search your photos from one convenient location

Fix
Offers quick fixes, access to guided step-by-step editing, and more advanced photo adjustment options

Create
Allows you to create slide shows, dynamic online galleries, print creations like Photo Books and digital scrapbook pages, and more

Share
Provides fun ways for you to entertain family and friends by sharing your photos and imaginative creations in a variety of exciting and inspiring ways.

Since I now have a Photoshop.com subscription I was greeted with a Backup/synchronization choice before I could move on. I decide to turn on Backup/Sync to protect my photos and albums. That sounds really good to me! NOTE: Adobe is working on expanding the current limit of 200 MB video files at this time.

Opening the “Organize” area allows you to find any photo or number of photos you want. There is a text search box on the upper left side of the screen. If you have diligently created Keyword Tags this is really great feature. Since I am a slob of a filer I would have to sit down and create and apply thousands of tags. I like to think I will do this but my hopes are bigger than my will to do so. I do not quarrel with the idea. I just need to take the first step and find a day or two to actually do it. Since Adobe kindly supplied some samples I used them to test the Keyword tagging system and it worked fine. The samples had tags like People, Places, events, other, Architecture, Beach, Cruses, Dancing, Flowers, Halloween, Sports, Wedding, Ship Cruise, Etc.. clicking any one or several of these brought up only the photos so tagged. It seems that you can create new tags and then drag the tag to the photo you wish to relate it to instead of typing each photo tag. That seems much more palatable. I like it. We will see if I use it.

The Guided edit feature has been expanded to “Automated Actions” for multi-step results with a few clicks and the much more robust “Photographic Effects” that will help you through more editing sequences. I tested one of these and here is the result. It was easy.

webclorobeachbefore1

webfadedcolor-photo

I created a line drawing from a sample photo of Big Ben in seconds. Then I clicked “Adjust Layer Opacity” to bring forward a little of the photo’s color. To make the lines on the drawing about 10 percent clearer I clicked “The “levels” adjustment button. (See results below)

BIG BEN COLOR OR PENCIL DRAWING

It was fairly easy to use Instant Movie to create an old time movie newsreel with a few photos and an Adobe theme in less than 2 minutes. (LINK TO SLIDE SHOW)
webswimmingslideshowsscreen

I also was able to make a clear digital photo look like it was taken years ago, fix Red Eye and skin tone, Whiten teeth, and make the sky more blue all using Quick Fix.

There are more new options in Photoshop Elements 7 than I have time available to test. I will say I was impressed. Like many others I have only scratched the surface of previous versions of Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements 7 has made me think and work beyond the basics. I now have a better feel for what is under the hood than I ever did before.
For more details on this and other Adobe Products Click Here.