Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 review

Scene Cleaner requires at least two shots of the same scene. Suppose you take a shot of your best friend in front of the Eiffel Tower, but just as you press the shutter a man on a bike cycles past. So you take another shot but fail to spot a small child in the background with a balloon.

No problem: screen cleaner automatically removes the offenders, replacing them with background detail from the photo in which they are absent. All you have to do is draw a line on them with the pencil tool. Detailed instruction on how to do this are provided in the Guided Edit panel and the quality of the guidance is generally much improved on version 6.

Other additions and enhancements include a new line drawing action, a surface blur effect for smoothing skin in portraits, enhanced photo books and extended camera raw support.

It's all good, but what both existing Elements users and those new to digital photo editing will really appreciate is the clever way in which Adobe has introduced new easy-to-use features while simultaneously extending its appeal to advanced users. In that regard Elements 7 represents a significant advance on 6 and, as such, it retains its place on our A List.

Author: Ken McMahon