At the end of September, Adobe released a new version of its introductory photo editing program Photoshop Elements 14. Reviews are mixed on whether or not you should upgrade if you have an older edition of the program. Most agree that the improvements are minor, so if you already own Elements 12 or 13, you may want to wait for the next version (probably within a year).
For the $99.99 price tag (on sale for $69.99 at Adobe until October 26, 2015), Elements is a great value, capable of many advanced editing tasks. Also, Elements is still a perpetual license product, so if you buy it, you can use it as long as you want.
However, as several reviewers have pointed out, for that same $100 price you could be subscribing to the Photography Bundle of Lightroom 2015 and Photoshop 2015. These are more advanced programs and take more time investment to learn to use well. In addition, since it is a subscription, if you stop paying, you stop being able to use the software bundle. So it depends partly on your philosophy about software subscriptions. (Note that Lightroom 6/2015 is still available with a perpetual license.)
For a more detailed discussion of the new features in Elements 14, see this article.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 14 Review by James Paterson
For the $99.99 price tag (on sale for $69.99 at Adobe until October 26, 2015), Elements is a great value, capable of many advanced editing tasks. Also, Elements is still a perpetual license product, so if you buy it, you can use it as long as you want.
 |
| Raw image straight from camera Nine Pipes Wildlife Refuge Charlo, Montana |
 |
| Image after editing with Elements Nine Pipes Wildlife Refuge Charlo, Montana |
However, as several reviewers have pointed out, for that same $100 price you could be subscribing to the Photography Bundle of Lightroom 2015 and Photoshop 2015. These are more advanced programs and take more time investment to learn to use well. In addition, since it is a subscription, if you stop paying, you stop being able to use the software bundle. So it depends partly on your philosophy about software subscriptions. (Note that Lightroom 6/2015 is still available with a perpetual license.)
For a more detailed discussion of the new features in Elements 14, see this article.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 14 Review by James Paterson