Sbly1

I use sns hdr pro to process raw files (without the hdr look) many options for controlling highlihts, shadows, etc. And paintshopX9 for finishing touches,layering,...

dave_roe Loc: Rome Italy

I have used Paintshop Pro X9 and it does well. Have used it since version 1. While not photoshop it does as advertised.

Can be purchased for under your budget. Look around they do discount it.

Like all pp software it has a learning curve. They do have tutorials worth watching.

rudyp16 Loc: Toms River, NJ

Check out Affinity PHoto. You will be pleasantly surprised. They have a Trial period.

don26812 Loc: South Bay of Los Angeles, CA

PSE 15 and earlier versions can edit 16-bit RAW images in Adobe Camera RAW. See the attached screen shot. The Expert mode of the Editor can open 16-bit images, but its editing them is very restrictive.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Add me to that affinity list ... Lightroom... big steep learning curve. If struggle is you fun.. sure... but if image is your fun... no LR. The more I play with Affinity... the more powerful it is.

Go to search at top of UHH page and type Affinity.... lots of info

4bcsmith Loc: Portland, Oregon

I use Photoshop CC (creative cloud). It's $10 a month and you get full functionality of the program. Included with your $10, you also get bridge and light room. You can find out more about it at Adobe.com

PattyBWest Loc: Jacksonville, FL

I have never used Photoshop Element, but I have used PaintShop Pro since before it was a Corel Product. It edits both my jpg and raw files and is relatively inexpensive. I just upgraded to X9 for $49.00 and now I own it. It does not make sense to me to rent a product online for $10.00 a month when I can own my copy and move to a new computer without worrying about how to do so online. As for editing, there is a little bit of a learning curve, but if you are familiar with Picasa you will have no problem following PaintShop Pro.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Elements is designed to work with 8 or 16 bit jpeg images, not RAW files.

choiahn

Oh.. I didn't know it.. Thanks for the information.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

The context menu (Right click on Windows) should have an "Edit in" line that will do this. If not, you can easily add it. Ask Google how.
Also, I use FastStone viewer to be able to choose what image I want to edit. Very much like Adobe Bridge.

chevman Loc: Matthews, North Carolina

I'm sorry that's what I meant, and yes you can't do much in 16 bit. Have been using elements sense version 2 I have no problems with it. But I find LightRoom does most if not almost all PP editing and keeps all of my photos organized and easy to find. I had a photo .jpg that I polished up in LR but it was hazy and I don't use the CC version so I opened it up in Elements and it has the de haze I used the automatic and like magic it was perfectly clear. So I'm nor knocking Elements. But with that being said I am in the process of learning Affinity Photo and also Affinity Designer because I'll be darned if I'm going to pay a monthly rent charge do do something that is just a hobby. If I was a pro and getting paid for this I might reconsider but with Affinity Photo I doubt that would be necessary and I think that Adobe Systems may find they have shot themselves in the foot, although their programs are very good, but can be quit complex.

don26812 Loc: South Bay of Los Angeles, CA

I can't comment on Affinity. I haven't used it. And I was about to say that I do not use a Mac. But then I discovered that Affinity also runs on Windows. Interesting.

That being said, I just want to mention that PSE also has an Organizer mode, that like LR, is a database. In fact, it has most of the features of Lightroom's Library module.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

It is my understanding from reading.. yes I can read... that Adobe PS is built on old code... just keep stacking on what excists. But Affinity for Windows is new and fresh code and not full of fixes and bloat.

Affinity has some free brushes that were mentioned two days ago when Affinity was discussed.
https://affinity.serif.com/blog/page/2/

The price of PS got too high and so they went to life long billing. Bet the fine print say your estate will pay after you die!! Both the church and Adobe expect a regular contribution.

Edia Loc: Central New Jersey

I have PSE and Paintshop Pro. I use both for PP. Paintshop Pro Ultimate is as powerful as PS and Lightroom. It does 16 bit color and takes all the PS add-ons. Aftershot is like lightroom and also takes all the add-ons. I find that PSE is easier to use for bringing my raw photos into my computer and for sending the finished photos to social media and email. That being said, I would still go with Paintshop Pro Ultimate because of it's power in post processing.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

This is incorrect.

Elements is fully capable of handling a RAW file and does so with the same Adobe Camera Raw converter that Lightroom and Photoshop use. When you're working on a RAW file in Elements it's in 16-bit mode.

The only difference is that Elements cannot SAVE a converted file in 16-bit mode (such as a TIFF). For most peoples' uses, this doesn't matter. They don't really need a TIFF (or other file type that supports 16-bit). The 8-bit JPEG that Elements is able to create is fine for printing or online display or sharing via email, etc. etc. In fact, many printing services prefer an 8-bit JPEG... some even refuse to work with TIFFs or anything else. An sRGB color space is also what's normally used (recommended for online display).

A pro might need TIFF for a customer and/or CMYK color space for commercial printing purposes (i.e., printing presses of various types). But many of them still work with 8-bit JPEGs a lot of the time, to saves space and makes for faster image transfers. And, at times it might be desirable to save a file in 16-bit form, to come back to and do additional editing later.

Many inkjet printers can handle 16-bit files... but the only difference is that the print job will run slower than an 8-bit file. The end result won't be any better.

Your eye can't distinguish the difference in a finished image. 8-bit is already more colors than you can distinguish visually.

16-bit is important while doing image edits and adjustments. And Elements can and does do that, same as Lightroom and Photoshop. As with them, you simply work with your camera's RAW files (note: most DSLRs shoot 14-bit or 12-bit, but the files are interpolated as 16-bit by the software). The reason is a much greater range of colors to work from. 8-bit's 16.8 million colors seems an awful lot, until you consider that the 16-bit palette has 237 trillion discrete colors to work with.

So, for most people the "8-bit limitation" of Elements is actually a non-issue.

In a lot of ways, Elements is also more of a stand-alone, complete organizer and editor than Lightroom. For example, Lightroom cannot work in layers, such as might be used for selective edits. Photoshop and Elements can.... it's sort of a light version of Lightroom and Photoshop combined. Elements and Photoshop both have much more precise clone and healing tools than Lightroom, too. If you want to remove a complex object or combine multiple images in any way, it's impossible in LR. You'll need Elements or PS. There are other things that the editing programs can do, that Lightroom can't.

Lightroom is a powerful organizer and archive management tool... with minimal, quick image editing features. Photoshop is a powerful image editor... with little or no organizing and management capabilities. The two are designed to complement each other and - although some people manage with just one or the other - most people who use them need both. Photoshop is now only offered via subscription. Adobe no longer supports CS6, the last version of Photoshop that was available with a perpetual license. This means it won't be updated with new features found in PS CC and that it cannot support RAW files from newer cameras. That's no problem if you don't need the new features and use an up-to-date version of Lightroom 6 to convert the RAW, prior to passing it off to PS CS6. But if you don't already have PS CS6 (or an earlier version of PS CSx) that is adequate for your purpose), you pretty much have to subscribe to the package that includes both LR CC and PS CC.

Or, just buy Elements 15, if you don't need or want the extensive capabilities and the steep learning curve oof the LR and CC combo. Elements also has built-in learning modes for beginners. It offers three user-selectable interfaces: Beginner, Intermediate and Expert. You can start with one and advance to the other or switch back and forth any time you wish. Neither LR nor PS has any sort of built in support... so figure on taking classes or a series of online tutorials and buying a bunch of books to learn to use them well. There are "how to" books for Elements too, that might help initially, although you may be able to just jump in and start using it in one of its more supported modes.

There are many online comparisons of Lightroom versus Elements versus Photoshop.... Beware though, that they are talking about current versions. For example, https://photographylife.com/lightroom-vs-photoshop-elements/ is discussing Elements 11... and a heck of a lot has been added since that version (Adobe has a side-by-side comparison of version features on their website). Elements 15 is far cry from versions five or more years ago.

Photoshop is now available by CC subscription only.

Lightroom is available either by CC subscription or as a perpetually licensed version ($142).

Elements is only available as a perpetually licensed version ($80.... currently there's an offer that included Premiere for videos at no additional cost).

Any of them can be downloaded free from the Adobe website, for a 30-day trial. That might be enough time to test drive Elements or Lightroom (one at a time, I'd suggest)... but isn't anywhere near enough time to get started with Photoshop. I'd only suggest the Photoshop 30-day trial for fairly experienced users of earlier versions of PS.