Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 Vs. Roxio Easy Media Creator Deluxe Suite 9

Recently I found myself in need of new photo editing and archiving software, so I asked around to find what updated technology would help me make the most of my extensive collection. After a number of responses from friends and family, I narrowed down the selections to two choices: the Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and the Roxio Easy Media Creator Deluxe Suit 9. These two programs were mentioned more often than any of the others, but rather than making my decision based on the opinions of others alone, I decided just to purchase both and discover for myself which one is better. After judging each program based on a variety of factors, I finally came to a decision.

1. Price

Both programs are competitively priced for the features each has to offer. I paid $130.00 for the Adobe Photoshop Elements, and the Roxio Media Creator sold for $118.00. This was no surprise for two mid-range software programs made for amateur photography enthusiasts, so neither product stands out in this category.

2. Features

The Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 program has many more specialized features than the Roxio Easy Media Creator 9, but that's mostly because Roxio's program doesn't limit itself to photo editing; it also focuses on music media and DVD. I tried Adobe's software first, quickly adapting to (and enjoying) the various tools available to retouch my photos: contrast and color are more easily controlled with the Elements' new "Color Curves" option; the "Healing Brush" can remove wrinkles and other undesirable objects from the photo; and scratches and other dust particles miraculously disappear with the assistance of the "Spot Healing Brush". Shadows and glare can be adjusted with the Shadow/Highlight tool to bring out the natural beauty of any photo. You can sharpen edges and remove blurring (even in low-lit photos) with the appropriate buttons, and switch photos from color to black and white for a more dramatic look. The Photoshop Elements' selection and layering options allow you to pick elements from different photos and put them together to form a composite picture (which comes in handy when you want to display a picture of yourself in front of the Eiffel Tower when you've never been to Paris.) I also love the various options for presenting your finished photos, from CD covers and album pages to a fun computerized "Flipbook" that lets you view your photos in a virtual photo album. You can even make your photos interactive by utilizing Flash technology to animate them with a variety of themes. Adobe's Photo Downloader allows you to send photos from your cell phone and digital camera and can visually tag your photos by who's in the picture or where it was taken. While some of these elements and features can be found in Roxio's program, the Easy Media Creator Deluxe Suite 9 is more basic as to what it can do with photos-cropping, red-eye reduction and the like. The Easy Media Creator also lets you transfer photos from your cell phone or other Bluetooth-equipped media and will organize them in a cohesive fashion, but its options are more limited than its Adobe counterpart. However, as I said earlier, Roxio's Media Creator branches out into CD/DVD burning, audio compilation and video editing as well, choosing to give its user the option to complete a variety of tasks satisfactorily rather than doing a single task very well.

I highly recommend the Roxio Easy Media Creator Deluxe Suite 9 if you have a lot of media needs and not a lot of time to spend on each project. If you mainly want to concentrate on photo editing, scrapbooking and sharing, Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 is the software program for you.