Why Photoshop Elements Is The Best $99 Investment Any Picture Taker Can Make
Adobe just released the latest versions of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements. Last month we itemized what’s new in 2026 for both. Today we take a closer look at the former and explain 1) Why Photoshop Elements is the ideal photo editor for 95% of all people who take pictures, 2) How Photoshop Elements can play the principal role in improving and expanding your family relationships, and 3) Point you toward our earlier coverage of the upgraded features. Jump into the story at the point that matches your interests. This isn’t a news story, it’s an analysis.
As an Elements advocate since version 1.0 arrived in 2001, I recommend it wholeheartedly to friends who ask any questions about photo editing. I don’t care if they’re lime green beginners, jaded artists who are skilled in other fields but not photography, or just folks with beaucoup time on their hands who are looking for creative outlet. And because Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements get better every year, my recommendations grow stronger and more enthusiastic.
Before We Get Started
Try Before You Buy
You can cut the line by downloading the free, full-powered version of Photoshop Elements 2026 on a trial basis. Once the 7-day trial period ends, you can purchase it for $99 directly through the trial software—no need to download it again—or simply walk away without obligation. Click here to download.
Premiere
Photoshop Elements has a sister product for video editing, Adobe Premiere Elements. Both use the same Organizer for easy access to all photos and videos. We’re not covering Premiere Elements here but to say it’s packed with powerful features that enable fast and easy video editing, including special effects, professional-looking transitions, and motion titles. Premiere Elements also costs $99. And yes, you can download it for a trial period, same as with Photoshop Elements.
Save a Bundle on a Bundle
You can buy Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements as a bundle at a 25% savings. Individually, the Elements twins cost $99 each, but together they’re priced at $149. If you shoot video as well as still images, go for the package—and the savings.
Free Photo Editors
There are many free photo editors available, and some are good for occasional use. Personally, I’ve found all of them deficient in one or many areas. Furthermore, I don’t want to waste time learning how to use them without being sure they’re here to stay. Sadly, over the years I’ve become pretty good at using software that’s no longer available.
My photography is not important to anyone except me and my family. Nonetheless it’s important enough to us that I insist on using powerful and reliable photo editing, sharing and organizing tools to create and preserve my images.
If money is a major issue, make friends with Adobe Express. It’s a free online photo/video editor and it’s truly potent. And for your growing needs, it offers an upgrade path. Moreover, everything you create is seamlessly compatible with other Adobe editing products.
If you use a smartphone for everything except draining pasta, check out this story about the free mobile version of Adobe Photoshop (the big tuna, not Elements): Photoshop Phone Home. After the iPhone story was published, Adobe introduced the free version for Android phones.
System Requirements for Elements
If you have a reasonably modern Mac or Windows PC, your setup probably meets the threshold. But just to be sure, take a close look at the details on the Elements System Requirements web page.
Part 1, Why Photoshop Elements Satisfies
Photoshop Elements meets the needs of the vast majority of photographers, from the ranks of raw beginners to the legions of advanced enthusiasts, despite its reasonable $99 price tag. Here’s why.
1. Photoshop Elements performs every vital function the full-blown, Creative Cloud version of Photoshop performs. Of course, there are advanced features in full PS, but most of us don’t need the extra horsepower. If photography is your absolute passion, you want Photoshop. If you’re just getting your feet wet, or edit images only occasionally, Elements is all you need.
2. Photoshop Elements is an incredible learning tool. It offers three operating modes to match your skill level.
Unlike some software that’s too simplified or too complex, Elements users choose from three interfaces: Quick, Guided and Expert. Each has a range of tools appropriate to its label. Beginners can progress up the ranks from Quick to Expert within the same software version.
So whether you just want to enhance a cellphone snap or meticulously edit and refine a high-res image, you can do it in Elements. Want more? Any user anywhere with any degree of skill can make creative edits and adjustments in the Quick workspace, learn new tricks in the Guided GUI, and then fly solo in the Expert interface. In fact, they can do all three using the same image during the same editing session.
3. Photoshop Elements encourages you to try new things with your images. The Auto Creations menu on the Elements Organizer home screen pushes suggestions while the text input box at the tops asks you, “What would you like to do today?”
There’s an image slider at the top that displays a variety of different projects you can pursue, probably many you never thought about. It’s fun.
And to keep things clean and easy, Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements use the same home screen and the same Organizer, so you can switch between programs easily (assuming you bought the bundle).
4. Images you cannot find are lost, period. And it can be pretty hard to keep track of them, let’s be honest. Elements Organizer empowers you to find your photo and video imaging assets without anxiety.
5. Although some procedures differ slightly, basic editing tools and menu selections are the same in Elements as in full Photoshop. Stepping up to the advanced Creative Cloud platform after you’ve been bitten hard by the photography bug does not require a lot of relearning or unlearning.
Part 2, Family Matters
Even professional photographers who keep their pantry full via the camera, and fine art photographers who capture the beauty of images for its own sake, rejoice in pictures that rekindle family memories. For tens of thousands of years, including the periods when images were painted on cave walls or scratched onto totems, pictures have preserved the stories of our lives.
At my house, we have a longstanding rule. On every outing, everyone takes a camera. Back at home, everyone’s images are loaded onto one computer. We look at the pictures as a group. This does several positive things.
First, reviewing and discussing the images writes them a bit deeper into our individual memories. Second, it provides an opportunity to delete the shots that are real stinkers. But most of all—and I may be projecting beyond my scope here—for a moment, that computer full of images becomes the proverbial hearth where family and friends gather to discuss and share priceless moments together.
Taking this scenario one step further, Photoshop Elements can be the catalyst for family activities involving images—taking pictures, organizing them, and deciding with whom in the family (or circle of friends) to share them. This includes restoring old images and giving them a new, vibrant life as a digital file everyone in the family can enjoy for years to come.
In today’s world of everyone doing their own thing, snapping pics with their phone and immediately uploading them to Instagram, this may be a pipedream. I can assure you of one thing: it’s worth the effort.
Part 3, Top New Features in Photoshop Elements
Back in October when it launched, we reported all of the additions Adobe made to Elements 2026 in this story: Everything That’s New in Adobe Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 2026.
Additionally, Adobe does a terrific job of explaining the upgrade here: See what’s new in Photoshop Elements 2026.
Buy Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements or Bundle
Visit Adobe to purchase Photoshop Elements, Premiere elements or the bundle that includes both. It’s rumored that Adobe’s Black Friday sale offers some steep discounts, but I make no promises as I have no idea when you might read this.
Conclusion
Sometimes when friends and even strangers, ranging in skill from untalented through extraordinarily creative, show me images on their smartphones I almost want to cry. People have tons of really good stuff on their phones, or in the cloud, or languishing somewhere on a soon to be forgotten post on a social media site.
It’s sad because many of the images I see could become stunning artwork with just a tiny application of Photoshop Elements, time and attention. Sad, because in too many instances these images will vanish with the next smartphone upgrade.
—Jon Sienkiewicz
