Adobe brings guided edits and AI animated photos to Photoshop Elements 2023

Ahead of its annual MAX event next month, Adobe has unveiled the 2023 version of its non-subscription Elements products. As with years past, the highlights are new AI features like animation for Photoshop Elements images and AI-applied art styles for Premiere.

For Photoshop Elements 2023, the most dramatic update is the ability to add motion to still photos. To do so, you just need to select the part of the image you want to move and indicate the direction of movement using the arrow tool. The AI will then do the rest, adding appropriate movement to water, fabrics, sand and so on. A bit cheesy, sure, but it could work in some situations. 

Another key tool for Photoshop Elements is guided edits. That lets you do things like “peek-throughs” or putting foreground objects in a photo, along with “perfect portrait” that lets you smooth blemishes, whiten teeth, adjust face tilt or make the subjects smile wider (or even change a blink to open their eyes). Another guided lets you replace an ugly background with, say, a sunset. 

The perfect portrait feature adds a touch of uncanny valley to subjects if overused, and the background replacement work can be a bit wonky, depending on how well the AI isolates your subject. Still, it could be fun for certain uses. Other features include new collage and slideshow templates, faster performance, Apple M1 chip support and a new Android companion app to upload mobile photos and videos to Elements on desktop (English-only beta).  

The key feature for Premiere Elements also revolves around Adobe’s Sensei AI. The “artistic effects” tool lets you add painterly styles to video including Van Gogh, DaVinci, Monet and so on. The effect takes motion into account for a consistent look, though again, this can get very tacky if overused. 

Adobe also added over 100 new audio tracks to give you some free music for videos, while boosting performance and stability and adding Apple M1 chips support. The Android companion app can also be used with Premiere Elements to make it easier to upload videos from your phone (again, only for the English-only beta). Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements are now available for $100 new or $80 as upgrades, or $150 for both products ($120 as an upgrade).