Expert: Glen Demers - 9/7/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have been using Adobe Photoshop Album Starter edition 3. I really like it,but I would like to upgrade to an easy edition where I could edit photos and change backgrounds in photos. This is for home use. I am not good with computers so I need something easy. I have a Dell computer that has Windows XP. Any suggestions?

ANSWER: Hi Patricia,

Photoshop Elements is the program I will recommend. It is a stripped down version of Photoshop without a lot of the professional features but is still better than a lot of the bundled photo editing programs out there. It will let you do more advanced editing like changing backgrounds.
Because I have Photoshop, I have not tried a lot of the other smaller home programs out there, my wife uses Kodak Easy Share and likes it but I don't think you can change backgrounds. It has the standard buttons for crop, rotate, brighten and remove red-eye that are in all those programs.
Plus, with Elements you have all the resources online that are there for Photoshop, in addition to Adobe's site and NAPP there are tons of sites devoted to Photoshop users with tips, forums, galleries and tutorials.

Hope this helps,
Glen Demers
Adobe Certified Expert, Photoshop 7
Prepress Technician, Best Printing Online
www.bestprintingonline.com

For more Photoshop tips please visit our help pages here


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Do I need Photoshop Elements 7 or an older version? My main use would be to crop,edit,and change backgrounds on pictures. Remember,as simple as I can get.

Answer
Hi Patricia,

Elements 6 or even 5 would work for you, earlier than that may not mesh properly with your system.
The newer versions seem to offer more bells and whistles that allow you to work with movies, slide shows, and the web. The basic editing functions are basically unchanged.

Glen Demers
Adobe Certified Expert, Photoshop 7
Prepress Technician, Best Printing Online
www.bestprintingonline.com

For more Photoshop tips please visit our help pages here