Customer Ratings & Reviews

Bought this boxed item thinking I was getting a CD version. It isn't, just a code in the box for downloading. Not once, but twice Best Buy failed to activate the code meaning I couldn't download it. Adobe finally fixed it so I could download it. Software works great!

Absolutely the worst purchase ever, ordered it online went to the store the next day and picked it up in person to find out there is no physical disc in the box followed the instructions from the silly cardboard box, open a account with Adobe and after wasting my time ....... guess what the registration code does not work DO NOT BUY

Just purchased and it won’t let me redeem code messages says Oops! This code doesn’t seem to be active

Video/photo apps and software are a dime a dozen. You’re likely to have used some version of photo editing, maybe even video editing, on your phone. For me, Adobe is still the gold standard. I’ve used the Elements software for years now and I love them. They’re made for beginners, but certainly have “pro” features for those with experience in the area or after you’ve made yourself familiar with the tools available. I’m speaking to those that are interested in video/photo editing but are turned off by the complexity of some software (which includes Adobe’s other offerings). I’m no pro, but I’ve used both Photoshop and Premiere Elements to create home videos over the years and find them easy to use. There’s still a little learning curve, but each year’s iteration of the software gets better and better at teaching you the basics as well as incorporating smart and simple ways to make basic edits (i.e. removing background). This years version even incorporates AI (whatever that means in practice) to help curate videos which is extremely nice if, for example, you simply want to make a video slideshow of pictures to music. First, a few things. You’ll need an Adobe account if you don’t already have one. Once you have one, you download the software and enter in your registration/serial number to activate the software. Honestly, this doesn’t take long at all. You’re given two downloads, meaning you could in theory have the software downloaded on 1 desktop and 1 laptop. (or another combination of the two). Also, once you pay for this software you own it. Full stop. This is not a subscription based service, which gets awfully expensive and can really only be justified for those that use these programs on a somewhat daily basis (IMHO). Second, and importantly, system requirements. My desktop is a bit older, I’m operating an older 10 series NVIDIA GPU with 32 GB RAM and an upgraded SSD drive. My laptop is much more powerful, rocking a 30 series NVIDIA graphics card with 32 GB RAM. Both have Intel processors. I had no performance issues on either device - although my desktop does seem to take longer to render videos and older versions of Elements has frozen on me (but not the 2024 version … yet). But the recommended requirements are Intel 7th gen or newer, or AMD equivalent. You’ll need at least 16 GB of RAM when working with HD files and 32 GB when working with 4K media. You’ll need a dedicated graphics card with at least 4GB of VRAM. To translate, most machines built in the past few years will have no issues. The biggest issue is making sure you have a dedicated GPU and ample RAM. After the software is on your computer, whenever you open one or the other (Premiere Elements or Photoshop Elements), you’ll be taken to what I see as a “hub.” From there you can select which program you want to open - including your organizer. Think of the organizer as a way to organize all your photos. It will even recognize faces - not unlike Google Photos. I don’t typically use the organizer (maybe I should) because I save all my photos and videos to Google Photos. But it’s a nice feature to have for those that like to organize their photos/videos - versus keeping them in random folders throughout your computer. It basically finds all of them on your computer and you can look at them from one location. Whether you open Photoshop or Premiere Elements, you’ll see in the middle of your screen towards the top an option for “Quick”, “Guided” or “Expert.” You can think of these as knowledge levels, where being in the Quick screen allows for basic editing - for more common edits like trimming videos, changing colors in photos. Guided actually walks you through, teaching you along the way, different types of skills. For example, in Premiere it will walk you through how to create transitions or add text to your video files. There’s even fun edits like bounce back, slow motion, etc. The UI is clean and easy to follow. I like the 2024 version much better than 2018. The icons are bigger, and they’re easier to understand which is especially helpful for newcomers. In Premiere, most of the time, this is all I need as I am typically just trimming video clips, adding transitions and maybe some background music. You can of course use your own audio files, but there’s also a decent collection of musical scores available to download within Premiere itself. But as you gain more familiarity with editing photos and videos, you can move into the “Advanced” view which gives you even more control - what I would describe as more fine tuning. And obviously you’re able to perform more advanced video/photo editing techniques like having additional layers of photos or different video/audio feeds overlaying in your video. I will say, some of the built in graphics options are a little lame. For example, you can insert stickers into your videos. These are usually pretty corny graphics - most of which I personally wouldn’t use. But admittedly, to add anything similar to my video (outside of having this feature built in) is beyond my expertise. So I guess in some ways, the tradeoff is the easy ability to add certain types of graphics, effects, etc. to your videos/photos, but you’re limited to what Adobe provides - unless you’re smart enough, already know how, or are willing to figure it our, how to create such graphics and import them. AI features. I admittedly use GoPro Quik. It’s an app that curates and automatically creates short video clips of my GoPro footage. What I don’t like is that you can only use that on your phone (I prefer working on a larger screen). But the new version of Adobe Elements has something similar. Under Create, you can create a highlight reel, video collage, or video story - with the help of AI. Basically, you pick one of those categories, select the photos/videos you want from Adobe Organizer or your computer, and it processes it to create an automatic video to sound nd transitions without you having to do anything. Once it creates it, you can still go back and tweak it to make it just right. For me, making family videos and editing family photos, this is awesome. While I enjoy making my own videos from scratch, it requires much more work. If you simply want to make a video story of a recent family trip on the fly, you can upload your photos/videos and have a video made quickly. While the videos I create don’t always come out perfect, it’s great to have something to start with that I can then tweak. To me, this feature is one of the biggest selling points of the new version of Elements. This feature did not exist in the older versions I’ve used. I should also add, when making these videos, when you are first creating it you can tailor the output or size of the screen to whatever social media app you want to use (i.e instagram, YouTube, Facebook). At the end of the day, if you have a passing interest in organizing and editing your own videos/photos, Adobe Elements is the way to go for the newcomer. It has really helpful guides to walk you through what will seem like an impossible task. It teaches you the basics while making videos and photos. You can then utilize the skills you learn to apply more and more advanced techniques. While I can’t say Elements has all the pro features of Adobe Photoshop and Premiere, I think you’d find it has about everything the novice and amateur would need. Top that off with some smart features to create videos for you - that you can still tweak - and software you actually own without paying a subscription for, and you have a pretty good combo.

Although the Photoshop Elements 2024 bundle isn’t a giant leap forward in the series, it contains some cool new features. The biggest change for both programs is the refreshed user interface, which now includes a new dark mode. It’s not hugely different from 2023 at first glance but a good look reveals a cleaner, more colorful interface that now provides instant access to quick actions. Other new noteworthy features include stylized text in Photoshop, highlight reels in Premiere, one-touch quick actions, and color matching. There are numerous additional new features, but these were the most intriguing to me coming from version 2023. The Premiere highlight reels is one of the cooler new features for video creation. It curates the best footage from a batch of pre-selected media and creates a highlight reel using Adobe Sensei AI. It works pretty well for putting together the best moments of several clips without manually sorting through and selecting footage myself. It also has a fair selection of effects and music available to jazz up a presentation. However, like the slide shows and other projects, the music is mostly bland and generic. I suggest importing your own tunes if you prefer your finished project not sound like an infomercial or timeshare presentation soundtrack. The new stylized text in Photoshop is another neat new feature. I’ll admit, my initial attempts at “stylized text” looked more like the results typically produced by cheap office store flyer software. But after tooling around with the feature for a while and getting fully accustomed to it, I was quickly able to create some truly impressive titles and captions with zero cheesiness. I’m also getting plenty of mileage out of the new color matching filters in both Photoshop and Premiere. Like most of the other features, stylized text and color matching are both easy to use regardless of skill level. Standard features in both apps include tools to create collages, slide shows, artistic videos, social media content, and of course, performing photo and video editing and enhancement. The AI enhanced organizer is one of my favorite tools for keeping my media organized and easily accessible. It can help tame a disorganized drive full of random photos and videos. I’m running the Elements bundle on a gaming laptop with 32GB RAM, upper tier CPU, and latest gen discrete GPU. I can make quick problem-free edits in both apps, even with several media files and/or layers open. With Premiere, I get fast rendering and export, even in 4K. So far, I have not encountered any problems with freezing or crashes. That’s not to imply that everything has been perfect. I was a bit underwhelmed with the object removal tool recently. It works fine with easy to detect obvious differences in brightly lit photos, but struggles with dim lighting and more subtle differences. I needed a piece of paper removed from a photo taken in dim light. The exposure was dark but the paper was obvious to anyone viewing the photo. Elements struggled mightily with removing the paper and was unable to correctly remove it automatically without leaving obvious distortion and artifacts behind. I eventually gave up and removed it myself the old fashioned way, manually. Thankfully, this is more exception than rule and most of the quick action and automatic tools work fine. To wrap up, the 2024 Photoshop/Premier bundle doesn’t really offer a slew of compelling new features for those who already own the 2023 version. The new interface and features are nice, and Stylized text could potentially be a helpful feature for content creators and other creative uses, but are they worth a full upgrade? It really comes down to individual need. On the flip side, for those with versions older than 2023 or those new to the platform, it’s a much easier choice.

I also had the previous version for 2023, so this was a bit of a familiar ride for me. The install is fine. You get the link for their downloaders, and you download a 4 MB or so file for each, Premiere and Photoshop. That installer then goes and does the major file download during the install. Once that's been done, you get a page that opens when you try to open EITHER app separately, their combined window that has a lot of stuff I really don't need or want, and then two buttons to launch either Photoshop or Premiere. This was annoying with last year's install, and unfortunately it hasn't changed. I want a shortcut on my desktop or task bar that opens SPECIFICALLY the program I want to launch. This front end launcher is just annoying. And now it's worse than it was last year since it isn't sized right. So I can't even SEE most of the button to launch one of the programs. Check out my screen shot I've uploaded. This window doesn't allow any option to resize either. And this is on a 4k system, so it isn't like my screen was too small of a resolution for it to properly display. And oddly each program makes its OWN shortcut on the desktop - but they both open the annoying front end where I have to select the program AGAIN. Once you get past this, though, you launch the program, it prompts you to log in if you already weren't, and then the initial running will require a serial number. I received a redemption code, and this page has a link to convert that redemption code into the serial numbers needed. No problems and the keys activated fine. First thing I liked was the dark mode notice. I switched to it immediately and restarted the app, and I'm much happier with a dark mode program. For me, things are much easier to see and read. Which translates to easier workloads for my simple needs. I'm not a pro, but I do digital photography. I've got a few higher end older digital cameras as well as a DJI Mavic 3 drone and my iPhone Pro Max. I don't remember the last time I pulled out the cameras, since the phone suits my needs 99% of the time and is just easier to carry and have handy. And these programs are well suited for me - I know there are more full featured versions of them available for subscription, but I'm a NORMAL kind of guy - I will only scratch the surface of what these apps can do as it is, and rarely will I delve into some of the deeper things they do. I've got no need at all for the full-fledged subscription solutions they offer. So while I won't be winning any awards for my work, I do like taking the digital things I create and tweaking and making them better. And for someone like me, these two programs are ideal. I've been using Photoshop for, wow, nearly 30 years. I started back around version 3 in the early 90's. So this is something that, even after 3 decades, I've not mastered. There's just SO much you can do in the full program, and that's why the elements versions are good for me, since I'm NOT a pro. But there's a lot of power even in this trimmed down version for someone like me. I'm mostly doing things like adjusting Photoshop elements offers "Quick" or "Guided" or "Advanced" mode. Advanced mode used to be "Expert" mode in last year's version, so I guess they wanted to make it feel more accessible to normal people. Quick mode is where I generally work, since I'm familiar with the tools I use. And if you've ever used photoshop, you'll feel at home in the UI. Still retains much of what I started working with in the 90's. There is an option for showing before only, after only, or before and after split either horizontally or vertically. I really like this option since you can preview things easily and be able to do a direct compare to see if what you're editing is giving you the results you want. And they still have the quick adjustment options for things like exposure, lighting, color, balance, sharpen, that you simply hover the cursor over to preview. No need to actually make the changes, then UNDO them if you weren't happy. This was how it worked with last year's version and I'm happy to see it persisted here. If you go with the guided option, you have the things that are common actions so you don't have to hunt for just what tool you want. You select what your GOAL is and it helps get you there. Adding text, brightness/contrast, skin tone correction, cropping, adjusting levels for brightness, contrast, tones, or lighten and darken. You can even move (or remove) objects here as the goal to get where you need to go. These guided options are great for people who aren't photoshop gurus. These options right here are what make this powerful tool handy for pretty much ANY skill level. These are handy for people who seem to always want the same thing - remove something from a photo. Whether it's an unintentional photobomb from someone (or something) or just rearranging people, this is what I see asked more often than not from friends and family. So here they offer a guided way to do it, and even make sure to focus attention on the spot healing brush then when you've removed something. And the ease of the other simpler things like brightness and contrast are well targeted to anyone who wants to tweak a photo. Advanced mode is where it's more like the photoshop I used to know. Everything down the left side for tools. If you're someone who has used a previous version of Photoshop, this will look familiar. Then there is the movie editing side of the house, with Premiere. As usual, I had some home videos and drone videos I tested with. This is the same layout basically as the Photoshop side of Elements was. Again, initially you're offered the preferences for how you want to view it. If you're like me and choose Dark Mode, you have to exit and restart again for it to take effect. Again, you have Quick, Guided, and Advanced. And it's the same concept as above. Quick gets you where specific things are bundled together for what you may want to do. Guided lets you start with what you're looking for as the RESULT and helps guide you there. And Advanced for people who know the software well. Now, the first thing I noticed was a HUGE improvement over the previous version. Last year, when I'd go to open something from external media (which is SO OFTEN the case when editing things), I found one I wanted, went to open it, and then learned that this won't open something on removable media. When I went to open a file, I browsed to my "Videos" folder which was on an external drive. And it didn't like that. I was able to browse easily and see thumbnails and previews when I was looking for a file to open, but when I tried to open it, I received the complaint that it has to use a video importer for an external source like this. OK, I told it to do so, and a bit later another window opened up. And unfortunately, that opened up EVERY FILE ON THE CARD, not just the folder I was trying to open something from. Since this card also had a photo folder AND a Music folder, that meant it was is giving me almost 21,000 files to select, without any file structure, without any preview. Just file names. This was a big fail. This did not happen now. I found an MP4 from my drone on an external drive, selected it, and it opened it up, not caring if it was external or internal storage. Glad to see Adobe addressed that from the previous version. Mixing audio, narration, even rotating the video - all easily done. There are smart fix options if you're not sure what to do, even things like shake reduction. Pan and Zoom, motion tracking, time remapping, noise reduction, and tons more. Even things like changing it with artistic settings for Neon, modern, mosaic, pastoral, etc. Just SO many ways you can get creative with your files on here. And like in Photoshop Elements, here you'll get a guided option which will walk you through step by step for the most common things people do. Splitting clips, adding transitions, animated titles, and all the normal color and brightness adjustments. Again, you don't need to be a pro to get some of those really great looking videos you may want to post. I was impressed with their previous year's product, but it had some issues as I noted above for me. But this year, I'm totally pleased with this. My biggest issue was addressed and so this just works very well with no issues for me. And since I usually try to gauge things based on what members of my family would be trying to do, rather than myself, since I started programming back over 40 years ago and am quite the techie, I look for things that ANYONE can use to get results. And the simplicity here really is outstanding, and gives powerful results. For me, it's the best bang for the buck when it comes to manipulating digital media.

Adobe has released a new revision of Elements - the 2024 version. I used a download link in order to get the product. It came with a PRODUCT KEY so I could have a registered and fully active version. DISCLAIMER: I have used the 2020 and 2022 version of this software. I have years of extensive use of "regular" Photoshop and Premiere as well for comparison. I have included some examples of some simple creations to this review in addition to 1 extensive overlay project I created. PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS PROS: ---------------------------- * Setup for both was easy; however, you will want a fast internet connection as the downloads are quite big. * 2024 introduced a dark and light layout for the workspace. * Options available in PREFERENCES are plentiful. As this program advances each year, it seems to get closer and closer to a full-scale Photoshop. * It has the ability to show your original photo and edited photo side-by-side so you can see how the new version looks compared to the original. * When using the CROP function, you can maintain the original photo length ratios or change to 16:9, or even basic predetermined photo sizes. * Facial blemishes can be a thing of the past should it be needed. I was able to do this in regular Photoshop, but with Elements, it was easier. * A nice feature is the "B&W Color Pop" function where you can pick which color you want to see while everything else is black and white. You can pick from red/yellow/blue/green or your own custom color. It is nice functionality with more editing within this feature. * Double-exposure function works well with creating some interesting superimposed pictures on top of others. This feature may take a bit more imagination but I did one for my son's homecoming group/dates and it turned out great. Those may require a bit more planning to get the right double-exposure you're looking for. PREMIERE ELEMENTS PROS: --------------------------- * Easy to use, and not intimidating. * Video editing isn't very complicated - typically, you want to trim video, have audio or video overlay, edit brightness, or add transitions between scenes. Premiere Elements 2024 can do those things. * You have the option to add animated graphics to your video and even have the option to make still photos move in different ways in your video. * Like Photoshop Elements, some of those same options exist in Premiere Elements but in video form, like creating a mask effect, changing backgrounds, having video inside the letters of a title. And as most video programs go, you can also slow things down for slo-mo effect. I used this function for my son at the plate when hitting baseball so he could see his form in slo-mo in multiple angles. Some cell phones already have this function, but many times, you just want to take the video and deal with post-production later. PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS CONS: ------------------------- * I did have an issue with trying to remove shadows on photos. When I select the shadow (like on a wall behind the subject), I was unable to get the shadow to go away. Instead, the picture gets really distorted where the shadow was supposed to be removed. It's possible I'm not doing something right; however, to do something as simple as this shouldn't be complicated if it's possible. I was using the "remove object" GUIDED tab. * In a similar situation, when using the function to remove something in the picture you don't want, I found that if that image is touching part of the picture that you want to keep, this function doesn't work well since there is a bit of "what is behind this person" algorithming going on. Sometimes, I would try and remove another person off to the side of the main subject, but that other person is behind the target slightly, so the merging of colors didn't work well for the new background to be created. OTHER OBSERVATIONS: ---------------------- * The interface/layout of these 2 programs are a bit different this year. It looks like they are streamlining the look of everything to look like the latest interface of Apple and to some extent, Android. It has taken a little getting used to, but a change for the good. * If you are a novice at either photo or video editing, this is the program for you to get started. Both programs come with QUICK, GUIDED, and ADVANCED tabs of functions to work with. For the very basics and simple things, QUICK is great. For a bit more advanced function, but with the programs helping you, GUIDED works incredibly great. I spend more time in the guided section than the other two. If you go to ADVANCED, then you're getting more into the details of the picture and get a bit closer to how "regular" Photoshop and Premiere function. CONCLUSION: =================== Photoshop Elements is really more about special effects than real photo editing though it does have that capability to a lesser extent vs other more advanced programs. It has continued to evolve over the years in a good way. I found the ability to fix facial skin a huge plus as we have a teenager. Random days of a breakout can happen and this can help make the picture better. I can see where this would be good for creating a scrapbook or involved picture storybook for presentation purposes or for personal product creations (mugs, phone cases, etc.). Premiere Elements does a great job at the simple things and is easy to use. I'd continue to recommend both of these products if you don't need advanced editing capabilities. Will definitely recommend.

I call these two Adobe products "Smart Software for the Non-Professional" and have been using them for over eight years now, since 2015. Every year, I look forward to October when Adobe comes out with their next annual version with lots of new and interesting features. Once again, the 2024 versions do not disappoint. I am a retired software developer who knows good software when he sees it. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024: There's a lot of new and upgraded tools in the 2024 release of this photo editing software. Artificial intelligence (AI)is now an integral part of both the photo editing and the video editing software. For instance, something as mundane as adding text to a photo is now fun and exciting. The new ADD TEXT tool in Guided mode gives you complete control over every creative aspect of any stylized text you want to add to your photo. Now, you can create circular text, horizontal text, vertical text, type on a selection, type on a shape, type on a custom path, change color, font, warp text, add glow, shadows, bubbles, gradients, pattern, and overlays to your text. The list of customizations that you can make to your text goes on and on and on. OMG! I am in love with the Cloning tool. One of my hobbies is restoring/repairing old or damaged photos for myself, family, and friends. So, a cloning tool is something I use frequently. Until now, I have never seen a cloning tool that gives you a full preview of the clone target area before you click and commit the clone. You can move the preview around and position it exactly where you want it before you click and commit the clone. Now that I’ve used it, I can already see that feature alone will save me so much time in the future because I will no longer have to do, undo, redo, undo, redo,...until I get it right! Hands down, the most impressive new tool is called Quick Actions and it can be found in the bottom menu of Quick mode. Quick Actions uses Adobe's new Sensei AI to harness the power of artificial intelligence to create powerful 1-click edits to your photos. Currently, there are 25 actions available with literally dozens of options inside each Quick Action. I haven't used them all yet, but my personal favorites so far are Add Blue Sky and Ocean Sunset which I used to play around with a set of photos I took from my back deck of a double rainbow. I've uploaded that set of photos with this review to show you some of the possibilities. Photo collages have been enhanced for 2024 with many new layouts and patterns. To get professional looking collages all you need to do is to open all the pictures that you want included in your Photo Bin, then click on Create and select Photo Collage. Wait a few seconds while Elements 2024 creates a suggested collage for you. If you don’t like that offering, then you can choose preset collages in four groups: Horizontal, Vertical, Panorama, and Square. Then, depending on the number of images to be included in your collage, Elements 2024 will show you a half dozen or so predefined collage templates in each of the four groups. From this point, it’s just a one click operation where you click on the template that you would like to use and then wait until Elements 2024 renders the collage for you. Simple as that. It’s really very powerful considering the alternative of creating each one of those manually. As always, my favorite creative tool in Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024 is the collage tool. Many, many years ago I made collages the hard way, really the only way available at that time, and so I can very much appreciate the automation built into the Create, Collages tool. It’s one of the easiest features to use because it is very intuitive. The end result is professional looking collages of family events that look unbelievably good when printed, framed and hung on your wall. I’ve uploaded several different collages of the flowers that my wife received from me over the last year for a variety of life milestones including our 50th wedding anniversary. There are literally thousands of features and options and combinations awaiting your creativity in Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024. And the beautiful results are just a few clicks away. I do have three suggestions to improve Adobe Photoshop Elements' ease of use when editing large-format images. They are no big deal and just a matter of me wanting scrolling standardization across the three photo editing modes, Quick, Guided, and Advanced: 1. After eight years of using Adobe Photoshop Elements, I have concluded that the image editing window in Quick and Guided modes needs to have vertical and horizontal scrollbars just like it does in the Advanced mode. Currently, there is no horizontal scrolling capability at all in the Quick and Guided modes. You must use the black Handgrip move tool to navigate a large image horizontally. There is no other option and that is a problem in Guided mode. I occasionally work with very large images that may exceed 6 or 7 thousand pixels in either direction. When working with images that large, a mouse scroll wheel becomes tedious, fatiguing to the fingers, and is an extremely inefficient method of navigating around an image of that size. So, if I choose to use the black Handgrip move tool in Guided mode to navigate to the enlarged area of the image I wish to edit, such as adding text, as soon as I click on a Tool Type or the image itself, then the enlarged image will instantly and automatically zoom out until the full image is displayed inside the editing window (Fit on Screen view). I can rinse and repeat ad nauseam and I don't get anywhere. Basically, I am blocked from doing any editing on an enlarged area of my image. Strangely, it does not do that in Quick mode. 2. The vertical scrolling behavior in Quick and Guided modes should operate exactly like it does in the Advanced mode instead of the complete opposite. In Advanced mode, if you zoom in on an image and then rotate the top of the scroll wheel backward towards the back of the mouse, the on-screen image ascends, and your view moves downward towards the bottom of the image (i.e., scrolling down). Likewise, if you rotate the top of the scroll wheel forward towards the front of the mouse, the on-screen image descends, and your view moves upward towards the top of the image (i.e., scrolling up). The vertical scrolling behavior in Advanced mode correctly works the same as all the other image and document editing software in the world. However, in Quick mode and Guided mode, using the mouse scroll wheel will have the opposite effect on the vertical movement of the on-screen image. If you zoom in on an image and then rotate the top of scroll wheel backward towards the back of the mouse, the on-screen image descends as your view moves upward towards the top of the image (i.e., scrolling up). Likewise, if you rotate the top of the scroll wheel forward towards the front of the mouse, the on-screen image ascends as your view moves downward towards the bottom of the image (i.e., scrolling down). The mouse scroll wheel's vertical scrolling behavior in both Quick and Guided modes is the exact opposite of its behavior in the Advanced mode as well as opposite the rest of the computing world. 3. The Zoom slider just above the image editing window in both Quick and Guided modes is a very useful and intuitive tool for zooming in and out of an image. So why is there no Zoom slider in Advanced mode? There should be one. In fact, the image editing window in all three modes, Quick, Guided, and Advanced, should look, feel, and operate exactly the same. There should be no differences like what currently exists in vertical scrolling across the three modes. Adobe Premiere Elements 2024: I don’t edit videos nearly as much as I edit photos and that’s the reason, I love Adobe Premiere Elements. I don’t have to be an expert in video editing to produce a lovely, professional-looking video of a grandchild’s birthday or a loose pony in our front yard caught by our doorbell camera to send to family and friends. I used to use Premier Elements mostly for just trimming, splitting, transitions, and adding text to videos. But now Premier Elements 2024 has a new AI-driven tool called Highlight Reels where you drag-and-drop the best video clips and photos into Highlight Reels and then let Adobe’s Sensei AI create a Highlight Reel for you selecting the best of everything from the videos and photos you gave it. It makes me look like a cinematic superstar in front of my friends and family. My grandson loves to make stop action videos with his digital camera. And so, I told him about the new Stop Motion Video feature. He’s already told me that the next time he visits he wants to try out my Adobe Premiere Elements 2024. I see a Christmas present in his future. I’ve used both Adobe Elements photo and video editing software for eight years and love using both of them. As a retired software engineer, I’d like to say that it’s been a pleasure watching this software grow and mature slowly over that time. Adobe doesn’t seem to cram too many features into a product too soon, which can be overwhelming. Once again, I’m happy to say that I can recommend both Adobe Photoshop Elements 2024 & Adobe Premiere Elements 2024 to the most important people in my life, family and friends. This software is priced very reasonably and delivers a lot for the money.

Photoshop Elements: Adobe Photoshop Elements hits the right balance between professional photo editing and all the fun stuff that us non-graphics artists always wish we could do. For me, I want a photo editing application that allows me to create compositions with my fine scale models, make some funny photos, and create some touch up, or renovate, my family photos. Creating compositions is easy. I can import any photo, use magic wands to isolate my human or non-human subjects, and then combine those elements with backgrounds, special effects, words, and many other actions. I provided a photo edit that combines a war gaming figure that I cut from a photo, combined it with a random landscape photo I found on the internet, and then added fancy words. The whole edit took me about 10 minutes. Fun and corrective photos are super simple if you stick with the Wizards. For example, we have all seen the commercials where some random parent wishes they could capture the perfect, smiling family photo. Mom starts with Tom Foolery photo and ends with her imaginary perfect family photo. Elements does this by providing face swapping Photo Merging wizards that will allow single-subject and multi-subject photos: single or multiple head swaps. I did a test photo swap with some old photos of my daughter. In one photo she had her eyes closed, a goofy grin, and her head leaned to one side. The head I wanted was the same photo taken a few seconds later where she had her eyes open and a nice smile. But the image was not as cute because her head was not leaning to the side. The Photomerge Faces Wizard took the head I wanted and perfectly aligned it with my target photo. What I got was the photo I always wish I could have taken. It took about five minutes to figure it out and execute. I later imported the new photo in the Advanced editor, cut her out of the photo using the magic wand tool, and combined it with an Alice in Wonderland promo image from Disney using the background image as both the foreground and the background. This allowed me to create an illusion that she was interacting with the environment. Very cool. I did not upload a copy of this photo with this review. I posted an image of the Guided page which shows the Photomerge Wizards. All in all, I really like the wizards because they take the guesswork out of many of the advanced imaging techniques that we all see on TV and magazines but don’t have the time or means to learn how the pros do it. There is still a learning curve. And your efforts will be rewarded. Each wizard has instructions on what to do at each step. But the instructions lack context for the nuance of how each option within a step should be used for maximum effect. For example, the text I added to the Photomerge screenshot looks cool. Text follows a wavy line I drew on the screen. The instructions literally tell me to make a line, cover the line with the mouse arrow until it turns into the “text” icon, and then start typing. What it does not tell you is that placement of the Text Icon creates imaginary boundaries along that line that cannot be altered without undoing the line, redrawing it, and trying the Text Icon somewhere else. And Elements has little quarks like this littered all over the place. For example, if you screw up a wizard, there is no back button. Sometimes the delete button does not work. You must start from the beginning. I was fine once I figured out the nuance of the wizard I was using. Just know that there is a learning curve even with the wizards. Finally, Advanced editing looks like every other PC photo editing software I have ever used. All the basics are covered. Select, Move, Wand, Red Eye Removal, Text, Crop, Heal, etc… Each tool can have multiple features and sub-features. Pay attention to the bottom of the screen where those feature sets pop-up. Finally, the menu bar at the top of the screen is flush with features, affects, correction tools, and filters. Overall, I think this is a fantastic package. The more I use it the more I discover. It is what I’ve been looking for. Premiere Elements. This is my first-time using video editing software. I typically record, upload to my NAS or OneDrive, and then fast forward to the parts I want to watch. Video editing opens a whole new world for me. Premiere Elements is organized into three editing modes just like Photoshop Elements: Quick, Guided, and Advanced. Quick mode allows me to open a series of videos that I want to string together into a single video. It will then arrange them on a timeline with transition elements between them. I can then move different videos to different spots on the timeline, choose what kinds of transitions I want between each video, add text to each video, and add music. For a quick one and done solution this is pretty robust and powerful. This is truly click and drag object-oriented editing at its finest. I am not saying this is the best on the market because I really don’t know. I am just impressed with how simply Quick Mode is. The only caveat is that rendering the final video can take hours for very large video files. For me, I strung together four 15-minute quarters of a sporting event I recorded. At 4K, this was 14GB of video. The rendering took about 2 hours on a 24 core Ryzen processor with all cores running at or close to 100%. I included a screenshot of Task Manager during the rendering event for your reference. You will also notice that my nVidia 4700 is running at 56%. This activity is Premiere. Finally, I was surprised that Premiere, as well as Photoshop Elements, did not eat more of my 32GB of ram. Guided is a series of Wizards that will allow certain types of fun video editing such as adding video to words, animating the sky with your own videos, add music or narration, and add animations. Truthfully, I have not used these wizards yet because I am just getting into this. But I am planning on having a good time with these features. Advanced editing is the raw editor. This is where I jumped in. Don’t be me. Be smart and start with the Quick mode. My game footage has a lot of yelling, clapping, swearing, and other not so nice sounds that you’ll find familiar as part of most sporting events. I wanted to remove the audio track from all four videos, add fades between quarters, along with a title screen before each quarter showing the score. My advice, if you have never done video editing before, then don’t start here. It is not hard. Adobe makes it quite easy. But, without clear instructions, there was a lot of trial and failure involved until I figured out the boundaries of the timelines and of each tool. Within a few hours, I had a larger unified video of the game complete with title screen, fades, game score screens, and no audio. I do not have a video to upload simply because they are too big. Final thoughts: Both Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Elements Premiere are keepers. I know that there are similar products on the market. I own a few of them. Adobe does it better, provides some very helpful wizards that will satisfy most lay persons needs to be Hollywood producers, and, best yet, I don’t have to jump between 30 different applications to interact with all the wizards or the editors. The tools are well organized. I did run into some spots in Elements that could use an optimization or usability pass. But those were few and easy to overcome. What I like best about these products is that they put professional power in the hands of a father who wants to create the memorial moments that stand out years after experiencing them.

I am not a professional blogger or photographer but I have a lots of photos and videos taken from my iphone, drone, GoPro and my HD and 4k video camcorders. All these devices with differing formats and resolutions make it challenging to do any editing. Each device has its own software and app to help process and enhance the photos/videos so things can get confusing quick. I have found that Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premier Elements allows me to use a single app for all my videos and photos and this saves me lots of time and energy. The best part of this software is that it has guides for the items that I don’t use often enough to be very proficient at but also includes an advanced level that allows me to delve into all kinds of possibilities. Best of all if you have used Photoshop Elements or Premier Elements in the past the software although updated still has the same look and feel so its very intuitive. This new version has several features that are new or improved over my old 2021 version. The biggest changes that I have seen are in the Ai functions that make complex enhancements much easier. For example, I took a photo of our little one in his Halloween costume walking the sidewalk and merged it with the new free Adobe Stock photo included with the software of a forest. Then I used the new Color Match function to turn the forest from green to a fall brown. Lastly I used the Moving Elements to add leaves dropping all around him. So with a few guided steps I was able to take him from the sidewalk photo to an animated forest setting and the results were really good. Next up I am going to use the new Highlight Reels to enhance our beach vacation videos. Bottom line is there are so many features and options you are only limited by your imagination when it comes to enhancing your photos and videos. Once the software is installed the home page allows you to select the Photo Editor, the Video Editor or the included Organizer. In both the video and photo editor the main page allows you to select from Quick, Guided or Advanced project pages. The Quick page allows you to make the simple and fast edits that most people are familiar with. The Guided page allows you to select from multiple edit functions that are fully guided and use Ai to help you through the project. The other benefit is that it gives you ideas of what is possible and shows you examples of before and after projects. I like it because it also gives some artistic options that I would not consider if I didn’t see the examples first. The Advanced page gives you full control over all the edit features within the software and its quite extensive. The good news is that Adobe has detailed help files and demonstrations on how to use the various features in the software so you can always find help either in the software or on the web.

I decided to upgrade my Photoshop Elements & Premiere elements 2022 since there were new features I wanted. New features include change lighting from light to dark (like Lightroom), create reels for social networking, and instant selection tool allowing selection of either subject or backgrounds. Also there is access to a huge amount of Adobe stock photos. I purchased the boxed version with activation code. Installation requires going to an Adobe site (you must have an account created) and entering the redemption code. Then it will provide the serial numbers which is what you need to activate after install. I got an error message stating the product wasn't activated at the store (like a gift card activation). I brought it back and they swapped me for a fresh copy. I watched the CS associate as she scanned and activated it. When I got it home, same error message. I called Adobe CS and they got it straightened out and emailed me the serial numbers. The next step is to download the zip files at another Adobe website. This worked and during the install I got failures. After some research I discovered I had to uninstall the Adobe Creative Cloud left over from the previous version. Then both programs installed correctly. Also note Adobe Camera RAW which came previous versions didn't come with this version. Once in the program, you must go to help/install Camera Raw to install this plugin separately. I use Camera Raw to process DNG raw files from my drone and NEF raw files from my nikon DSLR camera. So if you process RAW image files you need Camera Raw. I'm still exploring the changes from the 2022 version. I hope it goes better than the installation.

First the product is fantastic (that's what gets the 5 stars). I've used Elements for years ... it's the only photo/video editing software I've ever used. Best Buy however sort of dropped the ball. The package was supposed to have a CD ... it didn't. Even the sales associate told me the UPC code indicated it had a CD when I purchased it. When I put the redemption code in to get my serial numbers, they didn't work. I took it back to Best Buy and they were awesome - gave me a new box immediately (again no CD) and said if this one didn't work bring it back for a refund. Took it home, and that number didn't work either. So I chatted directly with Adobe. They got me my serial numbers in the end and said it was an issue with Best Buy (how, they didn't say).

This was a Christmas gift. Adobe said it couldn’t be installed because it wasn’t activated. Ok, things happen. We took it back and they had to give him a new one because they couldn’t figure out how to activate one they had already sold. The second one also wasn't activated. He took it back but BB didn’t want to give a refund because it was software, even though they couldn’t activate it. They finally agree to refund to a Gift Card under duress.

It is a nice program, but I had to contact adobe and have them install it because the code numbers were no good. once I got thru all of that, it works pretty good. When I tried to contact best buy, all I got was lip service. Fortunately I am good with programs, I pity anyone who tries to install this on thier own

I got the boxed copy of this because it has both Mac and PC versions, if you buy the online version you can only get PC or Mac, not both. Inside is an activation code, not a SN. For whatever reason, mine did not work, getting an activation code error, and I had to go back to BBY and they said it WAS activated, but then required another extra step of getting help from Adobe chat to fix the activation problem. This is something to blame on Adobe, not Best Buy. This is something new since the 2023 version I purchased had the serial number in the box. Now you need to activate it first then you get a serial or registration code. The product itself is an improvement but the activation and registration process is very awkward and clumsy and that needs to be fixed by Adobe. For that reason minus one star! Be advised that you will need to download the software for installation, inside the box is the activation code that did not work out of the box as expected.

If only I could actually give a review of this product! Purchased as Christmas gift and then it wouldn't download via the scan code. Advised to bring back to the store for activation, a bit of an inconvenience however really wanted it. Got home and it still wouldn't work!!! Not sure where the problem is, just frustrated and returned for a refund...no hard disk everything is digital and downloaded on-line. There are other options weighing in on what to do going forward.

When i first got the product, I had to contact Adobe because the code provided disnt work. They resolved it quickly and I was able to download the program. The 2 for 1 photo and video editor is a plus and worth the one time payment. Its a learning curve but have guides to help you.

The product will get the job done but to me all the assistance built in the program restricts the user too much and you have to figure out a work around instead of having the freedom to manipulate your canvas. I will be looking for another option. Maybe if your already familiar with this software it’s no big deal but coming from photoshop I’m highly disappointed.

Very good product. Easy to use. I look forward to see what I can do next.

Excellent image software. Great for beginners like myself. More economical than full size programs yet still does everything I need.