Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0

Reviewed by: danielbergman

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Fun, easy, powerful, and intuitive software with seamless integration between Photoshop and Premiere which share a user interface

Weaknesses: May be more expensive than other photo/video editing software products (but worth it in my opinion); as they say, you get what you pay for!

Overall Evaluation: This is high-quality software. The user interface is simple and intuitive enough that I was able to start creating a DVD from multiple video clips immediately. I didn't even need to use the help file; I just installed the software and went to work. I only needed to refer to the included written manual and/or help file for advanced functions. Speaking of advanced functions, I love the ability to create multiple audio and video tracks separately and then blend them together. I also love using Photoshop Elements 5.0 to create slide shows in my DVDs by importing them to Premiere Elements 3.0 with a click of the mouse. It is much simpler, cleaner, and faster than any other product. In addition, the DVD encoding process is simple and reliable. I have a relatively slow computer, and I feared receiving an error message several hours into an encoding job for an hour-long DVD. This never happens; it works perfectly every time. Finally, the seamless integration between Photoshop Elements 5.0 and Premiere Elements 3.0 is more than superficial. They share the same user interface, and you can send pictures and videos from one package to the other with great ease and speed. I highly recommend this software package to photo and video editing amateurs and professionals alike.