Should You Upgrade to Photoshop Elements 2021?
Should You Upgrade to Photoshop Elements 2021?
by Jen White
As of Thursday, October 8, 2020, Adobe officially released Photoshop Elements 2021. Now the question is, should YOU upgrade?
Let’s take a quick look to see what’s new and then you can decide.
The Home Screen
With each upgrade, Adobe works hard to make the Home Screen of PSE a more inviting and useful jumping off place for its users. So as expected, the Home Screen in PSE2021 has been updated.
- Q: Will this help the typical digital scrapbooker?
- A: No, but it’s fun to explore at least once.
Adobe Sensei AI Technology
Adobe is working hard to perfect automated edits for your photos. For PSE2021, new automated editing of images includes:
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Adding motion
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Fine-tuning face tilt
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Automatically colorizing
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One-click selection of the subject
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Adjusting facial features
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Skin smoothing
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Fun filters & effects
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Whiten teeth, make skies blue, remove haze, reduce camera shake, and fix tilted photos
Is this enough to make ME want to upgrade? No. Most of these things have to be edited after you automate them. For me, it’s easier and better to just do things the old fashioned way.
However, I do love that AI technology is greatly improving the performance of selection tools with each new version of PSE.
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Q: Will this help the typical digital scrapbooker?
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A: If you have a version of PSE that is a couple years old or more, you should notice an improvement in selections made with the selections tools, Refine Edge and Select Subject. You will not likely notice a difference if you have PSE2020.
Guided Edits
Here at Digital Scrapper, we do not currently teach using any of the 58 guided edits included in PSE2021. But if you are interested, here are three new features:
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Duotone Effect. Apply cool, custom duotone effects to your photos for a beautiful two-color creation. Choose from custom pre-set social sizes, add a gradient, and more!
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Perfect Landscape. Easily replace skies, remove haze, and erase unwanted objects to create epic outdoor scenes. Powered by Adobe Sensei.
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Recompose. With step-by-step help, it’s easier than ever to select an object and change its position, size, and more.
Want to learn more about the new features of Photoshop Elements 2021? Read the full Adobe introduction here.
Straight Talk — Should YOU Upgrade?
If you’d like straight talk and upgrade advice for digital scrapbookers, here it is.
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Do you own Photoshop Elements 2018 or earlier? Then I say upgrade now. You will have Adobe’s latest selection technology and stay current with our classes and tutorials.
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Do you own PSE 2019 or PSE 2020? Then my recommendation is to sit tight and plan to upgrade next year at this time.
ATTENTION MAC USERS: Adobe has announced that only PSE 2021 will run properly on the Big Sur update. Other versions are not optimized for this upgrade and you may or may not experience problems.
I would use virtually none of the so-called upgrades so will sit tight with PSE 2020 and maybe upgrade next year. Thanks Jen.
I have PSE 2019 and still find myself using 15 sometimes.
I’m updating. I still have PSE 13 and currently PSE 15. I do believe it’s time to go forward. LOL
GREAT plan, Cynthia!
Have you heard about any compatibility issues with Mac Catalina?
Hi Kelly. The general public is just now starting to use the program. But in my personal experience, PSE 2021 works great with Catalina. I would suggest downloading the trial version and checking it out on your computer.
Thanks so much for the information. I have PSE19 and went straight to the blog for your opinion on upgrading. I will take your advice and wait! Thanks again.
Does it have everything PSE15 has and just added new features or did it take anything out of PSE21 that was in PSE15
Great question, Genie. The one thing you’ll find missing is ELive. Adobe has discontinued that feature.
Thank you for answering, I was up in the air about upgrading… now I’m not!
Have PSE 2019 but have started PS and find it fairly easy to do but of course still much to learn. Wondering though if the past purchased classes of PS and PSE are good for the newer versions or will these be updated?
Thanks for all the wonderful info shared, you guys are great to learn from.
Great question, Barbara. We do our best to make sure our classes stay up with newer versions. If something big changes the instructor will make notes in the classroom. Hope that helps. Glad you’re enjoying Photoshop!
Thanks Jen!
Don’t we need to upgrade from PSE2020 to 2021 if we want to use MacOS 11 Big Sur?
Great question, James. Yes. Adobe recommends using PSE 2021 with MacOS Big Sur. I’ve amended the post. 😀
Is the upgrade a licence for one year or a lifetime?
Great question, Stuart.
Adobe Photoshop Elements is software program you own. You buy it and you own it forever.
Hope that helps.
Thanks Jen – I had had a very confusing ‘chat’ with their sales folk and the link they sent was for a 1 year licence. Thanks for your help – I think I have found they right page on their site for an outright purchase.
No problem. Make sure you’re not confusing Photoshop & Photoshop Elements. Photoshop is only available through a subscription. Photoshop Elements is only available through a download or CD purchase.
I have used Full Photoshop for years. I have CS3 on one computer since I really don’t want a subscription, I think I want PS Elements. Get 2020 or 2021?
Carol, I’d recommend getting the most recent version. I think you will like it!
I have PSE 2019 and after upgrading to Big Sur I have problems with some features editing in PSE 2019. I will try test drive 2021.
Why upgrade over purchasing the full package. I have PSE11 for both Photoshop and premiere, should i buy the full package or just pay for the upgrade. Does the upgrade expect previous versions to be installed or is it just a discount because you have previous versions. Also does both premiere and photo shop come with the organiser if you only purchase one.
Great questions, Mark. The upgrade and the full package have the same contents, so I would go with whatever is cheapest at the time. For the upgrade, you will need to prove previous ownership with a serial number. Organizer is included in the PSE only package. Hope that helps!
Jen, are you still doing anything like Sattgast was doing that ended in 2013? I really miss those monthly lessons.
Hi Diane. I miss those lessons, too! No, we have not done anything like Premier since 2016. We now only offer individual classes. https://QwikLearn.Teachable.com
I currently have PSE 2018 and have LOTS of actions loaded from Digital Scrapper classes. If I upgrade to PSE 2021 will I lose all those actions and have to reload them? Any pitfalls you know of? I want to stay current going forward with new classes, but I want the upgrade to be easy and not create a huge headache! Thanks in advance, I know I can trust your advice!
Great question, Christine. PSE is pretty limited in the area of Actions. My best advice is to always keep your favorite actions in a special folder on your computer. Then when you upgrade (or have to reinstall) your program, you can easily reload those actions in your folder. There really is no easy or brilliant way to migrate them from one version to the next. Sorry. 🙁
I use Elements 2018 for processing and editing RAW files. Are there improvements for this process in Elements 2021? Thank you.
Hi Lorne! Great question. If you’re using the Camera Raw editor to edit your RAW photos, the PSE 2021 version came with an upgraded Camera Raw interface. The interface is updated to work and operate like the full version PS users have. It also came with a MUCH better crop tool. The full version of Camera Raw is pretty amazing but if you’re wanting to stick with PSE, 2021 was a nice upgrade. That said, it will only be a few months until 2022 is out so you might want to wait for that. If you have any other questions about it, just email me. I hope this helps! 🙂
I lost my copy of PSE 12 and am currently trialing 2021 while deciding what to do.
One thing that seems to be harder is drawing an unfilled rectangle. I can’t find instructions on how to do this in 2021. It used to be under the Edit menu, Stroke/Outline or something like that. How far back in versions do I need to go to find one that can easily draw a simple rectangular outline around a selected area?
Hi Jen. I’m happy to help. Creating a stroke outline is the same in PSE2021 as in PSE12. You need to create a new layer. Create a selection. Then, go to Edit > Stoke (Outline) Selection. If you feel like you could use a refresher and an update, I recommend our QwikLearn Photoshop Elements class: http://bit.ly/QwikLearnPSE30
I’ve got a Photoshop starter edition that I used from 2009-2016 and can no longer access it anymore. I’ve also got PSE15 and haven’t used it at all. My question is if I upgrade to PSE2021 will it allow me to access the photos that I have on the starter edition (which I’m certain was a free trial that I used for years until it didn’t work in 2016)?
Thanks, Fred
Great question, Fred. Photoshop and Photoshop Element access photos from your computer’s file system. The software itself does not house any photos. So, as long as you can access the file on your computer where you store your photos (like a Pictures folder), then you can still access those photos and open them in PSE15. Does that help?
If I change to Photoshop Elements 2021 can I only save to my computer and NEVER use CLOUD?
This is a great questions, June. PSE 2021 does include the ability to save on the Cloud.
Hi How do I upgrade from202 to 2021
Laraine, Instead you should consider upgrading to Photoshop Elements 2022. Here’s how: https://www.digitalscrapper.com/blog/photoshop-elements-2022/