Like PSE6, PSE9 it is a great overall photo editor. It does a good job of enhancing photos, either with a click of a button or just a few clicks if I happen to disagree with the Auto Smart Fix. It can process batches of photos that all need the same work done to them. And it has enough manual controls (histograms, contrast, brightness, shadows/highlights, red eye, color correction, layers, etc.) to do just about anything to a photo you can imagine.
Pros:
- It works smoothly with iPhoto; I could switch back and forth easily and quickly and open multiple photos at once for editing.
- It's fast on my MacBook Pro.
- The editor hasn't crashed yet, and I'm running through thousands of photos.
- All of the features that I'm familiar with from previous versions still work well, and some, like the magic lasso, work even better than before.
- Content-aware healing can perform minor miracles in my hands. In the hands of an expert, or someone with more patience, it can probably perform major miracles.
- The Guided Edits helped me visualize the steps involved for some of the more complicated features, which helped me make better use of the Full Edit.
- PhotoMerge Group Shot is incredibly easy to use. I had two photos shot at different distances, and PSE had no trouble making the necessary adjustments.
- Removing clutter from photographs is simple.
- Elements now has layer masks, a feature that used to be the domain of its pricier sibling. Now you can make parts of a layer more or less opaque, allowing for some really neat effects. I won't use this often, but a few of my photos are just crying out for it.
