I want to buy Photoshop Elements 6 but...

[sumowski]

Well I've been waiting for 6.0 to come for a long time, it's even in my language (Polish), but the thing is...I HATE THE MENUS BEING BLACK.

Just because of the design I don't want to buy it, yeah call me weird, but I hate everything being black these days!

:(:eek:

[ATR]

I understand what you are saying.

I downloaded the Photoshop Elements 6 tryout last night and had a difficult time finding the play button for the slideshow. I rationalized. I can always use the spacebar to start, stop the playing. I did find the play button through the dark maze.

But, if the program features will increase your creativity and enhance your workflow, look at it this way. In reality, your projects will lighten up the interface.

ATR

[Wendy]

Ummm ...

... but why should we have to find a workaround because we can't see the controls ???

Wendy

[ATR]

Wendy,

I just came across this FAQ for Premiere Elements 4 at Adobe. Premiere Elements 4 as well as Photoshop Elements 6 share the same type of "new" interface. The article is titled "What's new in version 4?"

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3c034461

Note that it start off with "Richer interface .....".

I think that they call that "spin" in politics.

ATR

[Wendy]

Oh my ... :eek::D:D

Wendy

[sumowski]

Well yeah I won't buy it cause it tries to look like Vista. Besides why those black fancy menus? Can you turn that off or hack it somehow to see ordinary menus?

Really maybe for 14yr old kids it's cool and all, but I want it to be clear.

[joe_00]

To czarne menu nie jest takie straszne , można się przyzwyczaić ... :D

Pozdrawiam !


joe_00

[Wendy]

No hacks reported as yet ..

Wendy

[Rusty]

I don't have v6 so I don't know what you are talking about. But, I had a similar reaction to v5.

I have progressed from 1 to 3 to 5...

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1cPpwRCoH1kkOmI0SXzOjp1CLynvWe_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1cPpwRCoH1kkOmI0SXzOjp1CLynvWe)

The backgrounds for my first two versions (up around the menu bars) were light with black lettering. Then 5 comes out with a dark gray background and light grey letters. Really drove me up the wall; I hated it!

After a few months, I don't notice it anymore. I guess we are all creatures of habit and resistant to change :D

If you like the features of v6, I wouldn't let this push you away.

Rusty

[ATR]

Rusty,

I agree with your conclusion.

BUT, if you have the time, download the Photoshop Elements 6 30 day tryout and try to find some of the key controls buried in the black maze. Then post back and see if you do not think that this is taking "getting adjusted" to a new level?

ATR

[eudaimos]

You lucky guys, talking about menus and display colors; I have installed PSE v6 and don't even know how to start...because I can't find the menus!!! Can somebody help? Thanks

[sumowski]

lol, i need to get use to it i realize that but it's just awesomely black, seriously it's too black.

i still would like to have a website creation option, like in image ready, Save for Web option... is there anything like that in v6? i didn't notice it so i'm asking

[Wendy]

Hi ...

The only save for web option in PSE6 is the same one that there is in the previous versions of Elements.

Wendy

[Linda559]

As an elements user from v1, at least I know what I'm looking for on the menus, options bar etc., even if seeing it hard; but finding some important features on that dark background, for someone not as familiar with the Elements interface would be difficult I think.

It's so hard to see the little triangles that you click for the drop down menues! New users may not even know there are menus there.

[eudaimos]

As an elements user from v1, at least I know what I'm looking for on the menus, options bar etc., even if seeing it hard; but finding some important features on that dark background, for someone not as familiar with the Elements interface would be difficult I think.

It's so hard to see the little triangles that you click for the drop down menues! New users may not even know there are menus there.

well, I am a new user...and I`ll be damned if I can find menus anywhere!!! can somebody help me? thanks

[efarnstrom]

They are those things that drop down from the top of the screen; i.e., File, edit, etc.
On some of the ones on the next bar below those, such as Date (Newest First) with a dark down arrow and star rating (and higher), it is hard for some people to see the dark down arrow.

Hope this helps.

[Rusty]

Just for fun,

How about somebody with PSE6 making a screen shot of Editor so those of us that don't have it yet can see what you are talking about :)

Rusty

[GaryK]

Rusty

This shows a bit brighter than my actual screen..I cant tellwhich selection tool I am using on my monitor.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1Ay8E7kPdxxTgOCqel0AMkIfwgb0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Ay8E7kPdxxTgOCqel0AMkIfwgb0)

[GaryK]

Chuck

Good one..lol

[Goofup]

Here ya go:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v27/goofup/illistrations/pe6screen.jpg

I like the dark gray background. I don't have a problem seeing the menus, tools, etc. A calbrated monitor helps.

BTW, you don't have to click on the tiny black arrows next to the tool icons. Just click on the tool itself and hold the mouse down for a 1/2 second or so and the other options open up (see screen shot).

[Chuck S.]

Truth be told....I like the look. Reminiscent of Lightroom.

[GaryK]

Chuck

I like the look ..very slick. I just wish I could see everything.:D

[Rusty]

Oh my, that's pretty bad.

It's funny. As American business continues the quest for better and better productivity, companies spend huge amounts of money with specialized consultants. I'm not talking about somebody to tell me how to make widgets, I'm talking about people that know how employees physically and mentally perform work.

How do I design this work environment to be less fatiguing, more intuitive, less likely to make errors, less likely to be injured ... you get the picture.

For a software product, you have lots of high powered people making it work. I sometimes wonder if how it looks on the screen is just an afterthought. If, indeed, any thought at all is given.

Rusty

[troush]

Rusty,

Before I became a Stay-at-Home-Mom, I was a software engineer, studying to become a "Usability Engineer." I never really cared what colors things were, in general. But, I did some usability studies, and sometimes the first or second question from the users was "How do I change the colors?"

One of the reasons we didn't like letting the users change colors was if they did something rather silly, like assign the same color to foreground and background - then they'd blame us when it was really user error. All the extra code to go in to check for stuff like that can really slow something down and bulk up the code (especially when you are doing internet applications in Java). (I know, just excuses, but true.)

Anyway, from some of the discussions of the beta testers in these last two rounds (taking away "Global light" in PSE 5, and now background color in PSE 6) - sounds like Adobe's not listening to the details (which are very important).

-Trish

[Rusty]

Hey, Trish, I like that ... usability engineer
Cool Title :D

I had hopes that many/most companies would have somebody like that. This is exactly what we, and many others, were doing in a manufacturing environment with work flow and work cells.

For something like this, IMHO, the color is extremely important. Well, not so much color as in hue ... contrast is a better word. I don't care which colors are used, I care how easy it is to distinguish them. Look at my post #6 on the first page of this thread. See how readable v.1 and v.3 are in contrast with v.5 and, now that I see it, v.6. I threw out the comment ... oh, you'll get used to it. Well, maybe.

Adobe didn't run this one buy any usability engineers. Is it usable? - sure it is. Is it easily usable? - that's the question.

Rusty

[raindog]

I'm just starting to familiarize myself with PSE 6 via the trial as of a couple days ago. Regarding the tone of the user interface, I might agree that under certain circumstances, it might arguably be a little dark. For example, during the day, even though my monitor is near to, with its back to the only window in the room, a north facing window, with the full sun of the last few days, side light has a tendency to glare a bit around the outer perimeter, making some of the tools and buttons in those areas a little hard to see.

Mostly though, everything is easy enough to see. And images look good. At night, with my desk lamp nearby, it's not really a problem at all to see things. (I think what others have said about monitor adjustment/brightness setting might be relevant. People out there having a really hard time seeing things might should check their brightness settings.) And for daytime, I suppose I could makeshift a hood like some of those pro monitors for color work use, but I'm thinking it's not that bad.

I don't know that the gray really should have had to be so dark though. Alternating back and forth between Elements 6 and Picasa, Picasa has a really nice lighter gray, that would have been just fine for me had it been in Elements 6.

I've got a ways to go before I'm familiar enough with 6 to know whether it's going to do some of the things I need it to do. One thing I've discovered so far, is that it seems to suggest that it will print to file. So, if you want to print, say at Costco, using the custom printer profiles for their printers, you can download them to your computer, and then load them into the Element 6 print dialogue box. That's as far as I am right now....haven't yet saved a file for printing at Costco with their profiles, but I'm hopeful it'll all work out fine. If things go well, I'll be raring to go for b-l-a-a-ack fri-i-day deals on this software!

[eudaimos]

thanks for your help, guys, I found the menus...wow, it's a treasure hunt of some kind...and, btw, I do like the look but...they could have made the small triangles just a little more visible...

[troush]

Rusty,

One thing we discovered with our usability studies, is what is "usable" to one person isn't usable to another. Basically, we would take the "common feedback" and throw out the abnomalies. So, if 80% said, "Hey, we really like the dark on dark," then we'd probably take them and the 20% that said it was too dark would have to tough it out (not necessarily a nice answer). Adobe, hopefully, did a study trying to find out the average ages and ranges of the ages for the users, and then did their usability studies with participants who were in those different ranges accordingly. So, if 40% of users are 18 - 25, then 40% of their usability testers were in that range, etc.

I think adobe might not realize how many people are in the 45 and older category using their products. (That's when you start having problems with vision a lot more. You need more contrast, larger fonts, etc.)

-Trish

[Wendy]

Trish ...

If Adobe did a study like that then, sadly, I don't know of anyone who took part in it ... :(

Wendy

[troush]

A company like adobe *should* have Usability experts. If they don't, then they're going to shoot themselves in the foot. (Unfortunately, when it's time to cut budget, the first thing to go is often Usability. I should know ;) )

-Trish

[Barb O]

Trish ...

If Adobe did a study like that then, sadly, I don't know of anyone who took part in it ... :(

Wendy

Actually, I suspect that Adobe did some studies because I know that they did studies for prior versions of PSE. However, which age groups they chose to favor in the product they created for PSE 6 seems to me to be a different question.

I teach students who are 50 to 70+, so I am very concerned about the lack of contrast problem.

[Linda559]

Just another quick, but rather funny comment about the dark background, the other night I was working in Elements 6, then switched over to check my e-mail and was blinded by the white background of Outlook Express.

It'll take a little more getting use to.