What do I mean by this title? Well, I'm not exactly the most computer-literate person out there, and I don't have a career in graphic design or anything like that. On the other hand, I'm your typical amateur that enjoys taking photographs with my digital camera, and occassionaly having some fun by creating some fun-filled images. Well, I used Adobe Photoshop 6.0 during a summer internship that I worked at, and then after, I decided to buy Adobe Photoshop 7.0 (7.09), here's what I found with it.

-Price-
*Economically speaking, this program can do a lot more than you can imagine, even at a hefty price tag of $600. I found that Adobe's products such as PhotoDeluxe Business Edition, Adobe Illustrator 9.0, and other programs are very feature-packed and are easy to get used to. Also, I joked around with my co-worker about using Microsoft's MSPaint to create some of the amazing images I've seen on the net. Well, I personally think that Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is worth the price. It is a very efficient program to use. It's not easy, but it is possible to get a hang of things quickly. What I love most about Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is the fact that it has many features such as layers, and what I like is that unlike 6.0 which I used before, 7.0 automatically makes new layers once I paste new things into a picture, such as when I'm doing extreme picture editing, I don't have to worry about manually making new layers all the time. Also, the filters make Adobe Photoshop 7.0 very worthwhile. You can make a very cool work of art in minutes, whether you really know the program well or not. This is one thing that I've always admired about Photoshop and Illustrator. So overall, you're getting a lot for what you pay for.

-Other Purposes-
*Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is what I use for leisure purposes. However, it can be used very effectively for work-related things. It can be used if you're into graphic design, and also it proves to be excellent for website graphics. You can make very nice looking buttons with Photoshop that you obviously wouldn't be able to make using an editor such as Microsoft Frontpage, or even with Macromedia Dreamweaver MX. Also, you can adjust images and make them better. I have been able to get poor quality pictures of myself, and modify them to look good. I have also been able to crop small parts of images and make them their own large high-quality images. Wow, you can just do so much with Adobe Photoshop.

-Ease Of Use-
*I didn't find Adobe Photoshop 7.0 difficult to use after a while. Well, if you can learn to use things quickly, then it should be a breeze getting used to most of Adobe Photoshop 7.0's features. You can get right onto the filters with just about not knowing anything, and you can turn images you already have into works of art. The toolbar is very easy to use. If you just sift through all the buttons, you can pretty much tell what they are supposed to do. If you have trouble, you can always look on the internet for help, friends, books, oe where ever else you'd like to find it. But Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is by no means impossible to use.

-Useful Features-
*Adobe Photoshop 7.0 does have some useful features. One thing that I love a lot is the filter feature. There are so many filters available for use that can do really neat things to images. It can turn your average Joe Shmo into Picasso. Also, if you like creating your own images based into new ones, you can use the magic wand feature which will get rid of the background and unwanted parts of an image so you can make your new ones seem life-like! Also, the history feature is great. It's very useful, especially if you messed up a few steps ago. You can undo just about anything. Try using that with MSPaint, hahaha. Also, you are able to work in layers, so it's very difficult to mess up an image that you've added a lot to or have been working on for a long time. Then, Adobe Photoshop 7.0 finally lets you save it in many different formats. All my projects are done in the standard Photoshop mode, but I save all my final images as JPEGs. Wow!

-The Verdict-
*Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, programs ever made. I have always had a preference for Adobe products. They are very powerful and incredibly efficient. Whether you're into having some fun with pictures, or doing graphic design for a living, Adobe Photoshop 7.0 will offer so much for you with its powerful capabilities. Believe me, you won't regret this $600 investment. It's one of those few times when I can say that the product is worth every penny.

Recommended: Yes