Adobe Premiere Elements 7

By Jan Ozer

I liked the features and workflow in the last version of Premiere Elements, but the lack of AVCHD support and the inability to burn HD video onto DVD±R media cost it an Editors' Choice award. The latest version, Premiere Elements 7 ($99.99 list) has AVCHD support. It still doesn't burn HD video in Blu-ray format onto DVD±R, but that's far less of a problem now since it can burn to Blu-ray, and those burners have become less expensive. With Blu-ray recorders costing less than $200, that no longer seems like quite such a big deal—though BD media is still pricey. Furthermore, the new version squarely attacks the big problems facing home videographers, such as categorizing videos, quickly producing engaging movies, and storing and sharing videos at higher-than-YouTube quality. Finally, version 7 includes a sweet new chroma-key technology called Videomerge, as well as support for SmartSound background music tracks. The overall result is that Premiere Elements 7 is the most competent and complete consumer video-editing/DVD-authoring solution available today—and our new Editors' Choice.(pcmag)

• Price as Tested: $99.99 Direct
• Type: Personal
• OS Compatibility: Windows Vista
• Tech Support: Monday through Sunday; 6am - 8pm PST/PDT
• Notes: Adobe Premiere Elements 7 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 for Windows is available as a bundle for US$ 149.99, with Photoshop.com Plus membership, US$ 179.99.