Adobe has announced the next version of the little brother to Photoshop, Photoshop Elements. Here's what John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe, had to say about version six.

"In this release, we've focused on going beyond the basics to make everyday and advanced tasks even easier to achieve. Photoshop Elements 6 for Macintosh allows people to organise and find photos quickly, unleash powerful editing tricks without any heavy lifting, and creatively share photos that give them all the bragging rights."

So what's new? Here's what we know from the press release.

Make photos look their best
Photoshop Elements 6 software helps photo enthusiasts achieve desired results quickly and easily. New features based on proprietary Photomerge technology let users easily combine the best facial expressions and body language from a series of shots to create a single, perfect group shot. The new Quick Selection Tool reduces a once time-consuming select-and-adjust task to a single click. Photographers beginner to expert can choose from one of three edit modes, each geared toward a different experience level. A new Guided Edit mode helps walk users through the steps of improving a photo. Photoshop Elements 6 software streamlines editing with clean, uncluttered screens that draw focus to the photos, with new tabs providing simple access to the many capabilities of the programme. Additional enhancements include an improved conversion tool that dramatically converts colour images into elegant, nuanced black-and-whites.

Create and share photos in fun, unique ways
Photoshop Elements 6 software offers creative options to tell stories in fun and engaging ways. Customisable layouts let users create scrapbook pages, photo books, greeting cards and burn to CD/DVD for high impact sharing which requires no previous experience. Additional sharing options include ordering prints, creating personal online albums for sharing photo creations on the web, printing photos into real U.S. postage stamps, and showcasing creations on a CEIVA Digital Photo Frame.

We'll know more when I get a chance to try out a beta next Thursday in San Francisco. The finished product should be shipping towards the end of February or at the beginning of March.