DocLotus
January 30th, 2005, 05:02 PM
LOVE Photoshop Elements 3.0; it is a major upgrade to Elements 2.0. It has some very nice improvements and new features.
There are however, many things that I do not like and find to be very distracting…
1. Menu Font Size…
• Is much too small for my Samsung 243t 24 inch 1200 x 1920 LCD monitor.
• I can not change the menu fonts like I could with Elements 2.0 using the Win XP Advanced Appearance settings. The drop down menus do however, change with Win XP Advanced Appearance settings. It is just the main menus that can not be enlarged.
• There needs to be a separate font size adjustment or go back to the way it was done in Elements 2.0.
• SUMMARY… There needs to be automatic font resizing for various monitor resolutions or at least a user choice in the Preferences.
2. Background Color…
• Is not the same for Quick Fix and Standard Editor… why is that?
• Quick Fix has the same background color as the Photo Bin background… light grey, kind of hard on the eyes as it is overly bright and usually too contrasty with many images.
• Standard Editor background color is easier on the eyes as it is a darker grey.
• There needs to be a user definable background color to resolve this issue. I usually like a very dark or totally black background so all of my attention is on the picture and not distracted by an overly bright background surrounding the image.
• SUMMARY… There needs to be a user choice of all background colors in the Preferences.
3. Icons on the Left Border…
• Are too small. There needs to be automatic icon resizing for various monitor resolutions or at least a user choice of icon size in the Preferences.
• All icons need to be in color… they are all the same drab grey color. A little color would go a long way towards helping to more quickly identify each separate one.
• The hover text is too small and too hard to read and is partially obscured by the mouse pointer. The text should be farther from the mouse pointer to prevent the pointer from obscuring part of it.
• SUMMARY… There needs to be automatic icon and text resizing for various monitor resolutions or at least user choice in the Preferences.
4. Icons on the Top (below the main menu)…
• There is no way to customize the top icon list like many other programs allow the user to do.
• I have absolutely no need for the Photo Browser, yet I use the File Browser all the time, so why can I not add it to the icon list?
• There is a LOT of blank space to the right of the Date View icon (another icon that I never use and would like to get rid of) so why can I not add my desired icons there?
• SUMMARY… There needs to be a user definable icon list.
5. Invisible Curser…
• On many pop up screens the cursor is only visible while it is on the pop up. As soon as the cursor goes off of the small pop up window it becomes invisible. It is often very hard to relocate the missing cursor under such conditions. I often have to resort to the Ctrl key that produces the BIG white circle around the cursor to relocate the missing cursor so I know which way to go to get it back into the small pop up screen. Needless to say this is totally stupid and should not be. Why is that?
• SUMMARY… the curser MUST remain visible at all times except when viewing a full screen image.
6. Right Mouse Click…
• I should be able to select many items from a menu with a mouse right click like I can on many other programs.
• An example would be a simple right click and select a command such as… copy.
• This would be nice to help speed up many functions.
• SUMMARY… Add right mouse click to almost all screens for better user interfacing.
In conclusion, let me say that generally I like many of the new features in PE3 but find it to be an unfinished work in progress that should still be in BETA as it can be very irritating at times to use.
Some things that were under good control are now hard to see or read (Fonts, Icon sizes and colors), some things that are common practice on many other programs are missing (right mouse click, invisible curser, background color, etc).
All in all I believe that PE3 can be made into a GREAT product (when it is completed).
Thanks for you time and consideration on this subject;
DocLotus
There are however, many things that I do not like and find to be very distracting…
1. Menu Font Size…
• Is much too small for my Samsung 243t 24 inch 1200 x 1920 LCD monitor.
• I can not change the menu fonts like I could with Elements 2.0 using the Win XP Advanced Appearance settings. The drop down menus do however, change with Win XP Advanced Appearance settings. It is just the main menus that can not be enlarged.
• There needs to be a separate font size adjustment or go back to the way it was done in Elements 2.0.
• SUMMARY… There needs to be automatic font resizing for various monitor resolutions or at least a user choice in the Preferences.
2. Background Color…
• Is not the same for Quick Fix and Standard Editor… why is that?
• Quick Fix has the same background color as the Photo Bin background… light grey, kind of hard on the eyes as it is overly bright and usually too contrasty with many images.
• Standard Editor background color is easier on the eyes as it is a darker grey.
• There needs to be a user definable background color to resolve this issue. I usually like a very dark or totally black background so all of my attention is on the picture and not distracted by an overly bright background surrounding the image.
• SUMMARY… There needs to be a user choice of all background colors in the Preferences.
3. Icons on the Left Border…
• Are too small. There needs to be automatic icon resizing for various monitor resolutions or at least a user choice of icon size in the Preferences.
• All icons need to be in color… they are all the same drab grey color. A little color would go a long way towards helping to more quickly identify each separate one.
• The hover text is too small and too hard to read and is partially obscured by the mouse pointer. The text should be farther from the mouse pointer to prevent the pointer from obscuring part of it.
• SUMMARY… There needs to be automatic icon and text resizing for various monitor resolutions or at least user choice in the Preferences.
4. Icons on the Top (below the main menu)…
• There is no way to customize the top icon list like many other programs allow the user to do.
• I have absolutely no need for the Photo Browser, yet I use the File Browser all the time, so why can I not add it to the icon list?
• There is a LOT of blank space to the right of the Date View icon (another icon that I never use and would like to get rid of) so why can I not add my desired icons there?
• SUMMARY… There needs to be a user definable icon list.
5. Invisible Curser…
• On many pop up screens the cursor is only visible while it is on the pop up. As soon as the cursor goes off of the small pop up window it becomes invisible. It is often very hard to relocate the missing cursor under such conditions. I often have to resort to the Ctrl key that produces the BIG white circle around the cursor to relocate the missing cursor so I know which way to go to get it back into the small pop up screen. Needless to say this is totally stupid and should not be. Why is that?
• SUMMARY… the curser MUST remain visible at all times except when viewing a full screen image.
6. Right Mouse Click…
• I should be able to select many items from a menu with a mouse right click like I can on many other programs.
• An example would be a simple right click and select a command such as… copy.
• This would be nice to help speed up many functions.
• SUMMARY… Add right mouse click to almost all screens for better user interfacing.
In conclusion, let me say that generally I like many of the new features in PE3 but find it to be an unfinished work in progress that should still be in BETA as it can be very irritating at times to use.
Some things that were under good control are now hard to see or read (Fonts, Icon sizes and colors), some things that are common practice on many other programs are missing (right mouse click, invisible curser, background color, etc).
All in all I believe that PE3 can be made into a GREAT product (when it is completed).
Thanks for you time and consideration on this subject;
DocLotus