Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

From time to time remarks are made, both here on the Hog and by people I know, that the way to go to edit your photos is Photoshop. As soon as I mention Photoshop Elements, I am sometimes ridiculed, usually with statements that PSE is just a watered-down version of PS, or it's a Mickey Mouse program and there's not much you can do with it.

Now, while it is true that PSE does not have as many features and possibilities as the full-blown PS, but not all those features have actually been removed from PSE, the program just doesn't offer a way to access them.

Some years ago I discovered an add-on, called Elements+
It accesses these hidden features. Have a look here to see what Elements+ can do with what version of PSE:
http://elementsplus.net/
The documentation for the add-on is accessible on this page as well, through the green bar at the top.
There also is a demo-version, not the entire add-on that expires in a month or so, but a few of the features that I believe do not have an expiry date.
The price of this add-on is a shocking $12.00.

Other offerings by the same developer on this page:
http://video-books.net/

I have found Elements+ to be fun to work with and when I recently lost it, I really missed it. Got it back now!!!

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

Although I'm an avid PS and LR advocate, I got PSE for my wife. I figured the learning curve would be better for her, since she has no desire to get into post as much I do :-)
PSE does more than most people will ever need, but I'm of no help to them, I'm a hindrance :-)
LOL

GT

smith934 Loc: Huntsville, Alabama

Thanks for the info. Only one thing bothers me about E+, it's requirement to have Java enabled. Still, for the feature set it enables...

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I've seen/read the people slamming Elements. I own it, but learned on PS, so to me PS itself is easier than elements, so that's what I use. Personally, I think the end result is what is important, not which program you used.

There will always be people saying that if you don't spend $X amount, then you have "junk" or if you don't shoot with Canon or Nikon, then you aren't a "real" photographer. Take an excellent image with any camera, even an old Kodak 1mp camera, do a bang up job with Elements, then tell people that you used a D4, and the newest version of PS CC, and people will ooh and ah. Those same people will criticize an image actually taken with a D4, and PP'd with PS CC, if you claim that it was taken with a smart phone and edited with instagram.

Do what you do, with the equipment that you have, and programs that you like, and just enjoy. Don't worry about the trolls that just want to brag about how much money they spend.

GTinSoCal Loc: Palmdale, CA

Here, here!
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

if it ain't broke, don't fix it :-D

GT

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

Does the demo version have a limited amount of add ons/features compared to the full version?
I was looking at all the "wonderful" stuff the full version has, but I downloaded the demo and it seems to be missing a lot of the features the website lists in their chart.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

As I said in my initial message:
"The documentation for the add-on is accessible on this page as well, through the green bar at the top.
There also is a demo-version, not the entire add-on that expires in a month or so, but a few of the features that I believe do not have an expiry date. "