Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 plus Adobe Premiere Elements Description:

Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 plus Adobe Premiere Elements review:4 stars (NO editing software is easy; this is the best though) - I have used this software for several months now (am intermediate/adv. user) and have also recommended it to several novice friends. After surveying the novices, I can say we would wholeheartedly recommend it on the proviso you commit to taking the time to learning how to use it.

I've worked with a number of graphics packages, ALL have a learning curve to them. None can read your mind. It's the nature of the beast. Graphics editing is complex and resource hungry, though most contemporary PC's can handle it.

One nice utility is the periodic prompt to backup. As a network admin, I can tell you no one seems to backup. I love it, because even though it can take overnight for the 2000+ image backup, it's nice to know they are backed up to one DVD-R. Also available if you have the DVD burner is the ability to go from DV camcorder to editing to DVD movie, without any additonal software beyond this.

You will also have to commit to doing things "their way" to get the best utilization. (esp file management.) Some of this may be contrary to the way you've done it in the past, but it is best to just "let go" and adopt their methods. It will pay off in the long run.

This software is a bargain, even if you add the cost for one of the many books to the equation. (Adobe's website is also very useful.) It gives you decent photo organization and video editing capabilities at a fraction of the cost. Adobe's $600+ Photoshop photo editing software is probably the best out there, and some of that experience has trickled down into this package too. So for price performance, this is it. But if you are not committed to getting past the learning curve for this software, keep your credit card in your purse.4 stars (A Great Way to Start on Multimedia Presentations) - I bought this combo pack before going on a trip to Mexico. I wanted a way to combine both my pictures and video into a professional-looking DVD. After some searching on the internet, I found that Adobe seemed to have the perfect answer with this combination pack.

I edited my pictures with Photoshop Elements. It was extremely easy to make simple corrections and to crop the photos I took. I captured the video using Premeire Elements and quickly cut out the boring parts. After that was done, I imported the photos from Photoshop and added them into the video. I could do pans and zooms and integrate them into the video portions very easily.

When I was finished, I added some titles and some quotes from the trip. I put in chapter markers for the DVD and it let me test it out to see if everything worked. After everything looked good, I burned it to DVD and made copies for my family.

This is not a professional level program, but it has the best features of Adobe's professional series. I also think its easier to use and I like the way the two programs complement each other. It seems that whenever you take video, somebody else is taking photos. Now, with this program, you can put them together on a DVD very simply in a professional looking manner.

I gave it 4 stars because if you want more advanced features like music creation or more advanced special effects, you would have to get the professional versions. However, as it is Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements has a lot of features and serves their purpose well and is easy to use.4 stars (Adobe Premier Elements) - A very fine product, but extremely hard to learn to use. Nothing is untuitive. Very user unfriendly. Software is predominately for video editing and production, and I only use it for producing slideshows from digital stills. Tutorials and "Help" contain very limited assistance for creating still digital DVDs. Highly recommend buying Adobe Classroom in a Book for Premier Elements at the same time software is ordered.
Although creating my first DVD slide show was like "the cat eating the grindstone", the final results were worth the trouble. I would buy the software again.