Problem with PSE 7 help

[nancyw39]

Hi,
I've just installed PSE 7 on my vista pc. The installation went flawlessly. The program is running fine. I decided to use help to find out how the new features work. So I went to Help - Photoshop Elements - Help and instead of getting the normal help I was directed to
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshopelements/. I tried the F1 key and the same thing happened. Is anyone else having the same problem or is this something new?
Thanks
Nancy

[genevh]

On a lot of programs nowadays your help files are no longer built into the program but instead send you to the company's help pages on their web sites. I have LR2 and CS3 and both of them do that, as do some other programs I use. And I haven't used it in awhile, but I think PSE5 may have done that also, but don't quote me on that one. With the prevalence of the internet nowadays you are going to see more and more of that.

[TonyW]

That's the way it is supposed to work although I'm not sure it's working quite right and it can be a pain if you don't have a good fast internet connection. When you are connected to the internet it should go to the on-line help which is supposedly up to date and comprehensive. If you aren't connected it goes to an abbreviated version on your computer. My personal preference is to download the help file in pdf form from here:

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/PhotoshopElements/7.0_Win/photoshopelements_7.0_help.pdf

and use that when I want help on things as it's easy to search and contains more detail than the other sources of help.

Tony

[nancyw39]

Thanks for your quick reply. I checked PSE 5 and it does not take you to the Adobe web site.
Anyone out there with PSE 7 please try your help and let me know if this is a feature or a bug.
Thanks

[nancyw39]

Thanks Tony,
I don't think I'm going to like this. I like being able to search the help. I don't even like the looks of the Adobe Help site.

[Sepiana]

Nancy,

I've just tried PE7 help and it's exactly like you described -- it takes me to Adobe website. I then, clicked on "Photoshop Elements Online Help," and, voila! finally reached Help -- Using PE7 (http://help.adobe.com/en_US/PhotoshopElements/7.0_Win/).

[TonyW]

Nancy: PSE6 was the same way and I'm not sure I like it. You can look at the help file on your computer by making a link to:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\PhotoshopElements\7.0\index .html

That's with XP - likely a bit different with Vista but you should be able to find it. I think what I did with PSE6 is tell my firewall always to deny PSE6 having access to the Internet which forces it to use the computer help but I haven't done that yet with PSE7.

Must admit that I find the pdf file the most useful source of help.

Tony

[johnrellis]

Actually, Help behaves a little differently in PSE 7 than in PSE 6, and believe it or not, it's actually a distinct improvement:

In PSE 6, Help always takes you to the abbreviated Help content installed with the program. It has a number of problems: It doesn't clearly indicate that the content is abbreviated, and for many users, the Help command often simply fails to open any content.

In PSE 7, if you have an Internet connection, Help always takes you to the Adobe Web site. If you don't have a connection, Help takes you to the abbreviated Help content installed with the program on your local disk. The content more clearly indicates that it is abbreviated.

[ricklepage]

I too think it's an improvement over v6, and I concur with Tony that downloading the PDF documentation is a really good way to go. It's searchable and quite extensive, and, assuming you have enough toner or ink, can even print the whole thing out to keep on the side of the desk.

I don't understand why it's not on the disc - or linked to off the download page. I think it's one of those ludicrous, "our program is so simple you don't need help" type of things that many developers seem to fall into.