Software Reviews

A useful application that combines image editing, drawing tools, web graphics, Flash animation and desktop publishing.Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 is an update to an application that has been popular in Europe and North America because it combines a suite of useful functions at an affordable price. Providing integrated bitmap and vector handling, it enables users to edit image files, create publications for printing (cards, calendars and photo books for example), develop Flash photo galleries or multi-page websites and produce simple animations for exporting as GIFs, SWF or AVI video files.

The latest version of a popular and accomplished image editor for photo enthusiasts.Adobe’s Photoshop Elements is now in its ninth edition and each version has provided incremental improvements on its predecessor. In Photoshop Elements 9, Mac users gain access to the Organiser cataloguing function, which Windows users have had since Elements 8, while users on both platforms benefit from additional functions and special effects.

The latest version of Adobe’s popular consumer image editing application. Adobe’s Photoshop Elements has been a popular image editor since it was introduced in April 2001 because it offered many of the features of the professional application (Photoshop) at roughly one sixth of the cost. Version 10, which was released in September 2011, maintains the key elements of the previous versions but updates or fine-tunes some of them and adds the ability to share images and video clips via popular social networks.

We focus on new apps developed to integrate Photoshop with mobile devices like tablets and smart phones. Photoshop received a minor revision when Adobe upgraded its software suites to Version 5.5 in May. The new version (12.0.4) was so slight as to be barely noticeable but included changes to the internal scripting engine to enable users to integrate Photoshop CS5 with new companion apps as they become available for mobile devices like tablets and smart phones and access added connectivity between Photoshop and these devices.

The release of Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 updates a number of popular applications and adds new facilities that will make is easier for professionals to ‘design and deliver’ across different media. The entire suite is available as a Master Collection, which contains Photoshop CS5 Extended, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat 9 Pro, Flash Catalyst, Flash Professional, Flash Builder, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Contribute, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Soundbooth, Encore and On Location. Additional components include Bridge, Device Central and Dynamic Link. All products also integrate with Adobe CS Live online services.