Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021
Can Photoshop Elements still prove to be a tantalizing editing option in 2021? Find out
£90/$100
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021 is a cut-down version of Adobe Photoshop. To a novice photographer the full version of Photoshop can appear daunting, as it’s packed of potentially superfluous features, such as the ability to draw vectorbased shapes using Bézier curves, for example.
Elements cuts to the chase by focusing on overcoming common photo problems (such as removing tints or colour casts, or straightening tilted horizons). As Elements contains only the essential fixing tools it is far easier (and quicker) to master than the ‘full-fat’ version.
Elements’ useful Guided Edit modes give you access to the key tools required to help fix picture problems. Thanks to features, such as Adobe Sensei AI, it enables you to give your shots a creative makeover without needing years of photoediting experience.
The interface
We tend to shoot video and stills on the same device, which leads to the problem of organizing and editing our collection of clips and images. The Adobe Elements Organizer helps you manage clips and stills in the same workspace by enabling you to tag them with keywords or pop them into albums. You can then launch Elements from within the Organizer to work on your images or summon Premiere Elements 2021 to edit video clips together into a sequence.
The workspace is divided into three sections – Quick, Guided and
Expert. The Quick workspace features an Adjustments panel that lets you tackle exposure, colour and sharpness issues in a few clicks. In the Color section, for example, a grid of nine preview thumbnails display how the shot will look if you click on any of them. You can finetune the adjustments with a slider.
The Guided Edit workspace helps perform a range of practical or creative photo fixes by taking them step-by-step through a range of tools and techniques. Elements 2021’s new Perfect Landscape Guided Edit shows you how to wield all the key tools that will improve a landscape photo, such as straightening a tilted horizon, cutting through haze to reveal more distant detail and removing unwanted objects. Landscapes are a popular subject with photographers, so Perfect
Landscape is a valuable addition to Element’s 2021 toolset. You can then share your perfected landscape to Twitter or Flickr directly from the Guided Edit workspace.
Once you’ve completed the techniques demonstrated in a Guided Edit you can save the shot as a .PSD file and take it into Elements’ Expert workspace. Here you can continue to work on the image using a comprehensive collection of tools and adjust properties.
Key features
When shooting multiple subjects it can be a challenge to get everyone looking at the lens at the same time. The Adjust Facial Features command now has a handy Face Tilt tool that enables you to tilt an individual’s head up a little and also make them look more to the left or right. The results are subtle, but they can help fine-tune family portraits. This is a more useful tool than some of the older Adjust Facial Features commands.
Photoshop Elements 2021’s new Moving Photos tool is designed to take 2D static images and give them an eye-catching animated 3D look. This 3D motion effect is different from the standard 2D Ken Burns zooms or pans produced by apps such as imovie. The foreground subject (such as a pet or person) moves at a different speed to more distant objects in the photo’s background, giving the shot a sense of depth. You could create this moving photo effect in the full version of Photoshop, but it would be tricky and take a long time.
Quality of results
Elements 2021 can also deal with high-quality Raw files. These files open in an extra workspace – Camera Raw. Camera Raw places all of the most useful photo-fixing tools close to hand, enabling you to boost weaker colours and lighten underexposed shadows, for example. It also displays a handy histogram graph that enables you to understand (and correct) the spread of tones in your shot. Element’s Camera Raw doesn’t have the more advanced geometry correcting tools found in the full version of Photoshop, but it will still enable you to produce high-quality results compared to editing the more compressed JPEG files in the Quick, Guided or Expert workspaces.
Elements’ one-off price makes it an attractive alternative to the full version’s subscription. Novices can build their photo-fixing muscles with help from Guided Edits and then flex those muscles in the Expert workspace. However, it does feel somewhat underpowered compared to some other low-cost editing software options on the market right now.
VERDICT
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP Elements 2021 provides all the photo organizing and fixing tools that a beginner photographer will require at the start, plus it gives you in-app guidance on how to develop a more creative image-adjusting skills. Sure, the interface is a bit dated and it’s missing a few features that are included in the full version of Photoshop, but for building up your photo-editing skills, Elements 2021 is a good place to start.