(Adobe says a fix for Acrobat Reader is coming soon.) Something BorrowedĮlements 1.0 introduced the File Browser, an iPhoto-like palette that displays thumbnails of the image files in any given folder. The PDF Slideshow command lets you easily turn a group of images into a slick presentation, though the promised flashy transitions are incompatible with Acrobat Reader 5.0.5. And Frame From Video lets you import stills from precaptured QuickTime files or even raw iMovie footage. With just a couple of clicks, Attach To E-mail shrinks your image, turns it into a JPEG, fires up your e-mail program, and creates a blank e-mail with the JPEG attached. Selection Brush aside, there are plenty of useful new Elements-exclusive features. Newcomers will immediately see an improvement in their images, but for advanced users, Elements also has more-powerful ways, outside of Quick Fix, to accomplish many of these tasks Two large previews show the before and after states of your image, and a Tip section gives you pertinent advice as you go. Quick Fix lets you quickly adjust an image’s brightness, color, focus, and rotation, all from within one window. But the centerpiece of Elements’ new easy-to-use features is the Quick Fix com-mand. Like the first version, Elements 2.0 offers standard Photoshop features such as a History palette, adjustment layers, the Warp Text and Liquify commands, GIF animations (actually inherited from Photoshop’s significant other, ImageReady), and a full complement of effects filters.

Elements 2.0 is also fully compatible with OS 9 and OS X, making it the ideal companion for anyone who owns a digital camera and is looking for an inexpensive and easy-to-use, while at the same time sophisticated, program for sprucing up photos. Elements’ successor, version 2.0, is even easier to use, and it introduces powerful new features.

Because Elements was intended for digital-imaging newcomers, Adobe tacked on several help-related features meant to alleviate Photoshop’s notoriously strenuous learning curve. When Adobe Photoshop Elements debuted last year, many longtime Photoshop users–including this reviewer–were amazed at how much of Photoshop’s power Adobe was offering at a fraction of its price (Reviews, August 2001).

Adobe photoshop elements 2.0