25 Days of Gadgets - Day 5

When you buy a new Mac, it will come preloaded with plenty of great software, one of which is iPhoto - part of Apple's iLife 08 suite. With iPhoto, you can save, organize, edit, and output your digital photos. While iPhoto is more than enough for most digital photographers, serious work need a serious tool, something like Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is the tool for professional photographers and is used in the production of newspapers, magazine, web sites, etc. Unfortunately, the newest version of Photoshop, Photoshop CS4, is $700. Fortunately, Adobe also makes a version more suited for digital photographers called Photoshop Elements. Elements is Photoshop but without a lot of the tools that only printing shops would need or use. Elements for Mac, Elements 6, is price under $100.

Elements 6 has the features and tools that made Photoshop famous. Elements allows you to edit and enhance your digital images beyond what can be done with iPhoto. Elements also lets you organize and share your digital images

Elements also allows you to be creative. It walks you through step-by-step, helping you produce photo creations like scrapbook pages, card, labels, catalogs, calendars, slide shows, and yes even just photographs that can be framed. It can do all this on its own, or for those who prefer, can integrate with iPhoto and essentially the entire iLife 08 suite. Elements brings the power of Photoshop image editing to the home by making image editing and creation easier.

Elements 6 is the obvious choice for any photographer, digital or film, who is looking for the next step up, or just to enhance, iPhoto. Elements has all the tools you’ll need to get the most out of your digital camera, and if, or when, you want to go further, the full Photoshop CSx will be waiting for you. The amazing thing is that you will know most of the tools already.