The interface, which will feel immediately comfortable to Mac users, is full of hints and helpers. By default, the workspace contains a dynamic hints window that displays nuggets of data and links to more detailed help for each tool your mouse cursor passes over. Tabs displayed above the workspace function similarly to pull-down menus: clicking on one opens a window which covers functions such as file browsing, displaying image revision history, applying effects and filters, and so on. Some even act like Windows-style wizard tutorials.

The most wizard-like among these is the Recipes window, which walks users through the software's hundred or so image editing options with step-by-step instructions. Recipes included with the program deal with the most pedestrian of tasks like color correction and image rotating, all the way up to daring endeavors like colorizing black-and-white photos and creating animated GIF files. More recipes are available via download.

Behind all of these simplicity-centric goodies is a powerful and feature-rich image editing program, and it's crammed with every bit of functionality we've come to expect from Adobe. Ready to deal with every image file format one would likely encounter, its layer management is topnotch (even compared to Paint Shop Pro 7). Photoshop Elements is also able to pare image file sizes down and prep them for immediate Web posting, and its real-time, text-on-image editing is second to none.

Granted, the application lacks some of Photoshop's functionality, such as the ability to output files in CMYK format, although it is able to read CMYK files. Alternately, some of its unique features will make Photoshop owners jealous--like the incredibly smooth Photomerge, which creates a single panorama out of a series of overlapping photos.

If you're looking for a comprehensive, intuitive, and affordable photo editor, Elements proves it can play with the best of them. --Joel Durham, Jr.

Elements is not a limited version of big brother Photoshop--in fact, there are very few Photoshop features that Elements doesn't offer, and it has been redesigned to include plenty of straightforward editing tools suitable for the novice or business user. To aid people who are less familiar with image editing, the new Recipes palette provides step-by-step tutorials to guide you, allowing the user to grow increasingly adept. A "do it for me" button accompanies some of the steps, bringing up the tool in question for each process.

Many features will be familiar to Photoshop users--the floating toolbar with brushes, the background eraser for removing background details while leaving your foreground image intact, and the Save for the Web command, which generates just the right-size GIF, JPG, or PNG image for your Web page. Each of the vertical toolbar tools in Elements is accompanied by a unique set of options below the main menu bar that relate to the selected tool. Select the Clone Stamp, for example, and the toolbar offers choices for changing the clone stamp's size, tolerance, and more.

Adobe has added several appealing tools. One such item, PhotoMerge, lets you stitch multiple shots of an area into a single panorama. You can also straighten and crop photos that are scanned askew, auto adjust for brightness and color saturation, and brush away red eye. These added features make it ideal for users with digital cameras and scanners. There are other additions, too, like the new File Browser tab that shows a thumbnail of all the images in the current folder, in addition to displaying examples of filters and special effects on your selected image. A nice update to the Undo command is the History palette, which tracks each step in your editing process. A slider bar lets you move backwards or forwards incrementally through the history, letting you decide which steps to keep.

You won't find color separations, CMYK, or other acronyms and functions meant only for publishing pros. On the other hand, Elements offers plenty of exporting and printing options for sharing your photos in print or on the Web, such as a Picture Package feature that automatically generates multiple versions of the same image on a sheet of paper, with 20 layouts from which to choose. You can also generate a contact sheet for printing thumbnails of all the images in a folder. You can also send images directly to Shutterfly.com via the program's new Online Services wizard. Shutterfly lets you create glossy prints of your images, e-mail them to your friends, or print them on greeting cards. Because of the ability of Elements to download new services in the future, other Adobe partners may eventually appear in this wizard. All in all, this is an extremely good value package, and one that, unless you need professional-level color separations for printing, should provide all you need for digital-image editing. --Simon Priestly

Capture photos from digital or traditional cameras and start working with your images immediately. Quickly straighten and crop your scanned photos, remove red eye, and fix overexposed areas with a few clicks of the mouse. Adjust the tone of a specific area of your photo using the dodge, burn, and sponge tools. Eliminate the guesswork from color correction.

Adobe Photoshop Elements can automatically create several color-adjusted versions of your image for you to choose from. Merge and blend multiple images into a seamless panorama. Combine multiple images, text, and graphics on layers. Easily move or modify the layers at any time. Twist and pull your images for surreal effects or subtle enhancements. Magically erase the background in your photo to help you create realistic compositions. Create Adobe PDF files that you can easily share with colleagues. Upload your photos to shutterfly.com to share photos, make personalized cards, or print 35mm-quality photos that are then mailed directly to family and friends.

Fast forward about six months: I decided to open the program once again and narrowed down the problem to the "eyedropper" or the "color picker". After checking the help menu, there is a tiny paragraph tucked away that says something like "If you're using a Windows machine, change the default Adobe "color picker" to the Windows "color picker". Sure enough, the Abobe color picker was causing the program to crash on my WinXP machine! Seems to me, that there should have been a note somewhere on the outside of the CD warning about this, considering Windows machines are used by at least 80% of the world.

Then...it also took me forever to figure out how to go about outlining objects/selections. Instead of keeping the name "Outline" (like in PhotoDeluxe), Elements changed it to "Stroke" and took it out of the effects list (it's now banished to one of the other drop down menus). Why?

Other than that, it's a great upgrade to PhotoDeluxe that includes a GIF animation maker, a "liquifier" effect (same thing as Kai's "Goo") and tons of other stuff you'll probably never use.

I use it OFTEN and REALLY LIKE the feature that let's you save an image for the Web. It's saved me much grief and lots of hassles.

Unfortunately the help on the program stopped working and a fresh installation didn't fix the problem. Now the crop box no longer follows the cursor. (NO, I don't have a virus present.)

I'm hoping that if I update the V 2.X these problems will disappear but not counting on it.

I recommend this program if you want some reasonable power and ease of use.