If you’ve ever wanted Photoshop Elements to change a subject’s expression, or had trouble using it to convert one of your photographs into a painting, does Adobe Systems Inc. have an update for you.
An “adjust facial features” tool that turns frowns upside down; a step-by-step guide to converting photographs into works of art; and a manual for users who would like to incorporate one of their landscapes into a title font are just three of the eye-catching features being added to the latest versions of Adobe’s popular cloud-based Photoshop Elements picture editing software and Premiere Elements video editing software, the San Jose, Calif.-based software giant announced today.
“For this release we focused on further automating the organization and editing process so that Elements does the heavy lifting and you can focus on creating and sharing,” the company said in an Oct. 4 blog post.
While the most groundbreaking new Photoshop feature is probably the “Adjust Facial Features” tool (below) – which in addition to changing the direction of a subject’s mouth can widen squinting eyes, among other changes – Adobe has also added five new “guided edits” to the program that allow users to easily take advantage of previously known, but potentially intimidating features such as motion blur and collage effects.
The “photo text” guide, for example, lets users create a title font with block letters carved from a picture of their choice:
While the “painterly” guide shows them how to convert photos into the type of image you’d find at a gift shop by painting an effect over the picture’s subject, then adding texture and colour.
And the “speed pan” shows users how to add motion blur.
Premiere, meanwhile, now includes a video collage feature, a “remix” function that allows users to easily match a sound file with a video clip, the “haze removal” tool from Photoshop (below), and a guide to applying video effects across multiple clips.
In addition to these new features, Adobe has added touchscreen support to its Elements Organizer program, so that users can now simply tap to perform basic finding, sorting, and quick editing functions; enhanced search capabilities, so that users can find photos and videos based on places, events, and picture subjects; and a “smart tag” feature that automatically tags them.
The company also enhanced Elements’ “instant fix” feature, so that it now lets users quickly edit several photos at once.