Affordable Photoshop
If you, friends or family don’t have the full version of Photoshop, check out Photoshop Elements for Mac or Windows. It’s a powerful image editor that uses the same engine as Photoshop, but with a simpler interface and a much lower price: $80.
Version 8 was recently released and includes Content Aware Scaling (called Recompose), a Smart Editing Brush for retouching and color effects, an enhanced PhotoMerge technology that includes Scene Cleaner (lets you remove objects across up to 10 photos), and Exposure (for merging shots with multiple exposures).
It also includes a limited version of Adobe Camera Raw as well as the full version of Adobe Bridge CS4.
(Note: Photoshop Elements does not let you edit images in the CMYK color space, but it does support RGB, Grayscale, Bitmap and Indexed Color images. It will open a CMYK image, but will convert it to RGB upon opening.)
Jeff Gamet is a contributing editor for Design Tools Monthly, the executive summary of graphic design news. He is also the morning editor and reviews editor for The Mac Observer and iPodObserver.com, and contributing writer for Layers Magazine and Photoshop User. He writes the InBrief column for InDesign Magazine, and is the author of “The Designer’s Guide to Mac OS X,” from Peachpit Press
When Jeff isn’t writing about the graphic design world, he’s talking about it on the Design Tools Weekly podcast with co-host Jay Nelson. He also talks about Apple and the Mac world every week on The Mac Observer’s Apple Weekly Report.
Jeff studies, tests and reviews new software and technologies for the Macintosh community as well as the design and print industries. He is a former Pre-press specialist, and has nearly 25 years experience with computer technology. Jeff trains, lectures and consults on techniques for more efficiently using Mac OS X in creative environments throughout the country.
In the rare moments when he can get away from his MacBook Pro, Jeff spends his time climbing and biking in the Colorado mountains.