AppleInsider Staff
Adobe on Thursday released Photoshop Elements 2019 and Premiere Elements 2019, the latest installments of the company's popular consumer-oriented photo and video editing tools.
Along with the usual slate of new features, this year's updates focus on automating what would otherwise be complex workflows with the help of Adobe Sensei artificial intelligence. Like past Elements releases, Adobe is putting an emphasis on ease-of-use by wrapping powerful software features in an approachable user interface.
New for 2019 is a revamped home screen that provides a quick overview of available Photoshop and Premiere Elements features. A card-based interface announces new tools like fresh Guided Edits, tutorials, project ideas, help and more. Adobe says the content is customized to a user's level of expertise.
The home page also serves up Auto Creations, or photo and video slideshows, collages and other media generated by Adobe Sensei. Auto Creations sifts through user libraries for media from memorable events like birthdays, which is used to create composites complete with titles and special effects. Users can view and share generated creations from the home page or open them for further customization.
Also available on the redesigned home page are quick links to other Adobe apps and recently opened or created files.
Photoshop Elements features a redesigned photo collage tool with new social media-friendly templates. New collages are generated at the click of a button, while a wide variety of photo grid layouts, background colors and individual photo frames are available as customization options. Once perfected, a collage can be shared to connected third-party platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
Premiere Elements gets a redesigned Quick Edit mode that guides users through the process of trimming video clips or movies. A simplified Sceneline, or timeline, can also be accessed and provides thumbnail previews for easily combining photos, video, title screens, music, effects and more.
Both Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2019 benefit from new Guided Edits.
In Photoshop Elements, users can create multi-photo text, resizing and adjusting photos to fit into individual letters. One walkthrough offers instructions on altering an image to create the illusion that it was sketched by hand. A meme creation Guided Edit steps through the process of creating fun social media content with filters, borders, text and more, while another tutorial helps users decorate photos with text and border overlays.
New Guided Edits in Premiere Elements 2019 include walkthroughs for a glass pane effect and Luma fade transitions.
Adobe also expanded file support for its 2019 software offerings. Photoshop Elements 2019 now supports HEIF on macOS, while Premiere Elements supports variable frame rate (VFR) import and HEIF editing on macOS and HEVC video on macOS 10.13 and above.
Photoshop Elements 2019 and Premiere Elements 2019 are available for $99.99 each for new users or $79.99 for upgraders. Both products can be purchased together as part of a $149.99 bundle, or $119.99 for existing users.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
6 Comments
Adobe makes highly useful apps, but I stopped caring about what they do when they began using a subscription for software like Photoshop. I switched to other apps and don’t regret it.
I moved away from Adobe stuff years ago, but this does not seem to be the kind of stuff that people who buy this kind of SW would want. I am not a fan of automated processes for creative stuff and primarily because I find it tends to not be as good as advertised. This makes you work harder to undo what the helpers do.
Although I have never used Photoshop Elements I've read that many features are added each year and often are features which were added to Photoshop CC from the previous year. For most amateurs and casual image editors Elements is probably an excellent choice.