Adobe released today its new applications, Photoshop Elements 7 and Premiere Elements 7 for Windows, developed as two cheaper alternatives for photo and video-editing enthusiasts to carry on with their activities, also benefiting from several new features and updates.

The new features include a Scene Cleaner which helps when brushing away certain objects that might distract viewers from the main subject of a photo, a new Smart Brush and a tool that combines several editing steps, an AVCHD support for the new HD video camcorders, a better Videomerge option and Smart Tags for video quality.

The two can be bought separately for $100 or as a set for $150. Apart from this offer, Adobe invites its users to register to its Photoshop.com Plus service, available for $50 a year. The basic membership is free and provides a 5 Giga Bytes storage space, tutorials and several other features. The $50 a year plan provides 20 GB of space, which is enough for about 15,000 photos or 4 hours of DVD-quality videos. The company considers the service extremely useful, as the online back-up can provide the much needed support for certain situations, keeping “memories safe from computer failure or natural disaster, with access from anywhere.”

"Our customers are spending more time online and we want to help them stay connected with their favorite people and memories," explained Doug Mack, vice president and general manager of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe, in a statement. "The introduction of Photoshop.com membership means photos and videos are accessible from virtually anywhere and we're no longer limited to what we can fit into 'the box.'"