Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

I love this Forum! I am somewhat new to Digital Photography, but have been a student of the art of photography since I was a kid. (50yrs. ago) I have Photoshop Elements 8 and have yet to find a good book that makes the program (PSE8) more user friendly. Two questions: 1) Is there a good book out there that is worth buying for PSE8? 2) I see that PSE 10 is on sale, is it worth my time and money to upgrade (given the fact that I am new) and is PSE 10 that much better than PSE8? I appreciate all that I have learned in this Forum, may I ask for your help again? Lost in Punxsutawney Pa. "Groundhog Town USA"

Tea8 Loc: Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.

Well for now I would think that PSE8 is fine. I have it myself and I am not looking at upgrading anytime soon. I just got The Photoshop Elements 8 book written by Scott Kelby and Matt Keslowsky and I find it very user friendly. I love the book because it breaks things down into easy to understand steps and I don't have to read the whole thing to understand one little part of it. I can look at the index and say hey I would like to apply this to one of my photos and I can do it. (I tried using the PSE8 book for dummies and it was bad. I would start to read a topic to learn somthing in say chapter 1 and then it would say this will be explained more in depth in chapters 12 and 15 and you should also read about this part of the technique in chapter 10. It was not a user friendly book.)

As far as upgrading goes that is something that is personal preference. I am just a beginner and so I find that 8 is enough for me. I hear that there are several things that have improved between 8 and 10 but I haven't looked into what all that covers exactly. I think Elements 11 is set to come out sometime in late October or early November and from what I have read you should upgrade every 2 or 3 versions. Again I think it's more of a personal thing, but if it were me I would buy the Kelby book for now then if I mastered a few things on it I might consider upgrading when 11 came out.

Hope this helps you out!

Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

Thanks for the advise. I am sure you are right! I am glad you rcomended that book because I have heard allot about it. I will order the book today. Thank you again! TOP OF THE HOG TO YA!!!

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Unless I'm mistaken, there was a MAJOR overhaul between v8 and v9...like night and day.

v9 uses layers just like it's big brother Photoshop. (among other major improvements)

If it were me...I'd get v9, it's inexpensive due to it being a version back but it's very similar to v10.

On the other hand...v10 can be had for under 80.00

http://compare.ebay.com/like/150757919485?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y

Adirondack Hiker Loc: Southern Adirondacks

Elements 8 will serve you just fine, as I still use it for sharpening and printing. As a side note, Lightroom 3 can now be had for about the same cost as Elements 10, and it has a very powerful raw processor. As for a good book, I have my doubts. I got Philip Andrews Elements 8 for Photographers, and for over 500 pages, it is severely lacking. For example, no mention of high pass filter, yet it is one of the better sharpening tools in Elements. It appears to be not for teh more advanced user. Too much is spent on the organizer, and not enough on the editor.

Billybuzz Loc: Whiteford, MD

I have Element 9 and it is vastly improved over previous versions. One of the new features is the content aware feature on the healing brush. It also features masking layers on the adjustment layers. The Organizor is also much more powerful thanon previous editions. The Kelby books are great and you can always use You Tube for on-line tutorials.

MaggieR. Loc: Illinois

I agree 100% about Scott Kelby's book on PSE. He keeps things really simply and easy to follow. That's the route I'm going.

MtnMan Loc: ID

You should upgrade. PSE 9 introduced some powerful new features including "content aware" on some of the tools.

Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

Much thands to all for the advise. I ordered the book and kept PSE8. THANKS FROM HOGTOWN USA! Some time I wll post a pic. of Phil. (the groudhog)

Tea8 Loc: Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.

You are very welcome for the advice. I thought I might add that maybe this time next year when elements is on sale I will look into buying Elements 11 and upgrading finally. I just want to get some basics down good with what I have and build up a photography budget for myself to upgrade and things. I think you will be very happy with the Kelby book.

Meredith Images Loc: Stratford, CT

There were some big upgrades to 9 from 8 (masking); not as many from 9 to 10.

The above mentioned Kelby/Kloskowski book is EXCELLENT -- I have been using it for several versions and recommend it to my students when I teach Elements classes.

Amazon has the best price: http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Elements-Digital-Photographers-Voices/dp/032180824X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329607366&sr=8-1

And they still sell the versions for 8 and 9.

shirl2sg Loc: Northern Minnesota

http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Visually-Photoshop-Elements/dp/0470566906/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329618575&sr=1-6

I like the Visual Books that you can follow step by step. The one above for Photoshop Elements 8 is now on sale. I upgraded to 9 and bought the Visually book for that software.

robertperry Loc: Sacramento, Ca.

Check out this web site photoshopelementsuser.com. I also use elements 8.

eornoc

Would these books be what I would need for a Mac???

MtnMan Loc: ID

The K&K book does both.