bit-tech Shopping: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6

• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Microsoft Windows XP

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3

Strengths: Comes close to actual Photoshop in its power; more than enough for a serious amateur

Weaknesses: Crammed with features that you will never learn to master unless you get some actual teaching

Summary: I like the charcoal-colored background when in "light table" mode, but beyond that cosmetic change, I don't see any earth-shaking feature upgrade compared to version 5. Still the most full-featured, widely supported and affordable alternative to Photoshop proper.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Much simpler user interface (compared to Elements 2.0); guides available to assist you with common image issues (red eye reduction, sharpening, etc.); Magic Extractor function is neat

Weaknesses: Runs more slowly than earlier version; still some complexity associated with certain program functions

Summary: I bought Photoshop Elements 2.0 when it first came out and found that it was quite powerful but had a steep learning curve. With Photoshop Elements 6.0, Adobe has greatly simplified many of the program's more common functions to reduce that learning curve significantly. Adobe has really improved the functionality of Photoshop Elements, and I strongly encourage those of you who are still using PE 2.0 (as I was) to pick up this version. You won't be disappointed.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3

Strengths: Easy-to-use interface. Intuitive.

Weaknesses: Slow start-up time.

Summary: I recently upgraded PC to Vista and, like everyone else, I was surprised to realize that I needed to upgrade all my software. This upgrade was relatively painless, though. This newest version of Photoshop Elements is quite similar to my previous 3.0 version. I am not a photo software expert. I purchased this primarily to enable loading my photos on my iPod. This program does fine in that respect and has more than enough functionality for what I use it for.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 10 Days

Strengths: Best photo software in its category

Weaknesses: lacks user manual

Summary: It is my first photo software and it seems to have about everything a home user would need and then some. However, since it is not really intuitive a user manual should have been included. Learning curve is quite steep. A separate manual beefs up the price by about 20-30 dollars, depending upon the place of purchase.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: Good imaging editing options for the money.

Weaknesses: Online help files, some learning curve issues if not familiar with Adobe Photoshop.

Summary: If you don't want to spend upwards of $600 for the full Photoshop product, but want some good image editing options, this is probably all you need. Integrates well with my Canon scanner software.