Adobe's lightweight photo editing tool just got more powerful. We reveal what's been added.
Photoshop Elements has just hit version 13
Love it or hate it, most creatives will at some point use Photoshop in their workflow. If you're a pro graphic or web designer, you'll no doubt have a subscription to Photoshop CC 2014, or at least the most recent boxed copy, Photoshop CS6.
But those packages do cost a fair bit of money. And so Adobe has always offered a 'lite' version of Photoshop called Elements for beginners, consumers and hobbyists who just want to make small tweaks to their photos.
As time's gone on, of course, Elements has got more and more powerful. And so depending on your needs, it can now be a worthwhile (small) investment even for working photographers who don't need the full-fat version of Photoshop. With that in mind, it's worth checking out the new features added in Photoshop Elements 13, which Adobe's released today...
Photomerge Compose. Used alongside the Refine Selection Brush, Adobe says this new tool - based on customer requests - makes copying people or objects as easy as copy and paste.
Three new Guided Edits offer a new way to add hits of colour to black and white photos.
It just got easier to add splashes of colour to black and white photos
New Effects Variations. These offer four additional options per look for a total of 50 ways to tailor photos in one click.
Intelligent Crop Suggestions is a new cropping tool that analyses faces, horizons and other photographic elements to then recommend four different crops based on the rules of composition.
A new tool to create matching Facebook cover and profile photos, customizable with text and graphics
Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 and Adobe Premiere Elements 13 (Mac and Windows) are immediately available to buy for £81.08 via the Adobe website and popular retailers. Upgrade pricing is also available for £63.43. The Photoshop Elements 13 & Premiere Elements 13 bundle is available for £122.11, with upgrade pricing of £100.61.
Tom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. Author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. Today, he is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq and its sister sites Digital Camera World, T3.com and Tech Radar. He also writes for Creative Boom and works on content marketing projects.
