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Previous versions of Photoshop Elements were pretty powerful already, with version 3 being a particularly large leap forward. If you’re an existing user, the extra organisational abilities are likely to be the biggest reason to pay the £57.57 upgrade price, which might seem a bit steep. But if you haven’t already got the Elements religion, or have a version prior to 3, now could be the time to become a believer.

The two applications mostly work independently, but if you have both then you should see an added option in the Photoshop Elements disc burning tool – the ability to create DVD slide shows. This supposedly purloins the authoring and MPEG-2 encoding engine from Premiere Elements 2 to create DVDs you can play in a set-top box. However, it wasn’t working in the beta software we had to review. We’d also have liked to have been able to load images from within Premiere Elements 2 directly into Photoshop Elements 4 via the Edit Original command.

But the major reason to buy the bundle is the price. Both applications are exceptional value on their own. If you buy both together, you get 50 per cent off one of them. It’s the kind of deal which would make Tesco or Asda proud.

Verdict

Adobe has addressed the needs of the average consumer, while maintaining enough functionality for the user to grow with the package. By pricing this bundle below the £100 mark it's an attractive option for anyone who wants to get more from their digital imaging. The lack of HDV support is slightly disappointing, but even this ommision can't change the fact that you're getting a great deal for your money.

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