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September 27, 2005 – Adobe announced two additions to its hobbyist product line for photo and video editing today. Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 for Windows and Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 both offer ease of use as their main selling point. The software programs retail for $149.99 bundled together or $99.99 for each. They will be available in stores in early October.
According to the NPD Group, Adobe Photoshop Elements is the No. 1 selling consumer photo editing software. The 4.0 version enhances the software with one-click fixes so users can be creative without spending six hours on one photograph. The new program automatically removes red-eye as images are downloaded from a digital camera. A Magic Selection Brush easily highlights areas of a photograph for simple lighting and contrast adjustments. If skin tones look a bit off, a new Skin Tone Adjustment button will take care of that. And if an ex-girlfriend is in the photo, oust her with the new Magic Extractor. But Adobe hopes to market its product to more than just a point-and-shoot audience.
"As the top-selling consumer photo editing product, Photoshop Elements 4.0 continues to push the envelope with innovative features that allow digital photo enthusiasts to do it all," said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president of Digital Imaging and Digital Video Products at Adobe. "With digital imaging capabilities turning up everywhere from cell phones to disposable digital cameras, it’s easy to develop a click-and-forget habit. Our software unlocks the potential for people to get more enjoyment out of their digital photos, whether they took them on a cell phone, a point-and-shoot or advanced digital SLR camera."
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 also boasts impressive organization features such as classifying photos by date, folder, and even face. A new Face Tagging function helps group images of one person together.
To edit all those video clips from a digital camera, Adobe released Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 for Windows. This software program offers streamlined importation, hundreds of video transitions and effects, and simple DVD burning. The Premiere software combined with the Photoshop software should make multimedia slide shows very interesting – and easy to make. Adobe is banking on the influx of digital imaging products to fuel the need for its easy-to-use software programs.
"With so much freedom to capture any moment at any time, our customers need software that allows them to edit and share this unique content from any device, quickly, easily and in ways that are truly all their own," Lamkin said.