elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

There are so many great suggestions. I'd like to add one more. Check out Affinity Photo. You buy, you don't rent. And I'm finding that it has nearly every function I'm used to from PS, and some additional ones too.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

As Paul mentioned, one of the key limitations of PSE is that most of the tools are 8 bit. Maybe OK if you shoot only JPEGs, but if you’re processing raw, it’s a major limitation in my opinion.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I use Elements 14 and am perfectly happy with it. It depends on whether or not you want to get finicky with your PP.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

"one of the key limitations of PSE is that most of the tools are 8 bit"

That is absolutely true. But, when you start sharing your work via the choices on the internet or with prints viewed with reflected light, the human eyeball may not get the 16 bit benefit!

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I agree, but you can certainly see color banding, even with 8 bit JPEGs.

bleirer

That 8 bit idea has been often mentioned, but it is only part true. Elements is kind of mixed in which tools allow 16 bit and which require 8 bit. There are some tools in real Photoshop that have the same issue, like the filter gallery.

I was looking for an Elements list of which are 8 and which support 16 with no luck. ACR supports 16 bit in Elements,with some missing tools, so the OP could shoot raw and recover highlights, etc. Once in Elements all the global adjustments support 16 bit, but when you get into layers or things like the spot healing tool, it's back to 8 bit.

So it is not as useless for raw as one might initially think, but it ain't full Photoshop either.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

It really depends on what stage of Post Processing you're at. Elements is quite sufficient for most post processing one needs to create a fine photo.
I was a professional for 30 years but have since retired. I switched from the full-blown Photoshop to Elements about 12 years ago and have never regretted it. The comparrison chart someone directed you to will give you an idea of what you won't get with Elements, and if those features are those you want/need... then the choice is simple.
Otherwise, for most photo adjustments, Elements fills the bill fine, and you don't get snagged into the 'rent' feature. Every three or four years I buy the latest version of Elements and enjoy its features. Good luck, with your choice.
Papa Joe

dick ranez

Consider two alternatives - GIMP, a free shareware photo editor or ON1, a one time charge (~$100) commercial editor. Both have more features than you'll probably use, but offer a complete alternative to Photoshop and/or Lightroom.

Bill P

When I first went to digital, well before the subscription days, I got PSE and used it for several years learning my way around digital editing. Not one client said "I can't use you any more because you aren't using PS." As I continued with PSE i like many others began to hit the walls, so on to PS I went. Many times I had to get a new version of PS to accommodate a new camera, but it was all a cost of doing business.

If you are earning your living, don't be cheap, get PS CC. If it's just a hobby to you, then carp about buying vs. subscribing all you want.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Of course. But the articles I posted links to cover this. I am not a fan of PSE, though many on this forum are. I find it frustrating to use.

JerryOSF Loc: Bristol, VA

It will cost you nothing to try GIMP. If you don't like it move on to something else.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

LR together with PS are intended to be connected at the hip (AKA ACR). Neither does everything you need sort of like PB & J.

LR has a world class data base to effortlessly manage your photos and is a slick interface to ACR.

ACR is, as its name implies, is an advanced raw processor that adjusts the rendering of your raw image on a overall basis. It also performs similar adjustments on camera processed jpeg or tiff delivered images to the extent possible as limited by the format. ACR is not sold as a stand-alone program.

PS includes the EXACT SAME ACR processing for raw images only before handing them off to the “traditional” pixel by pixel PS processing. ACR in PS has a single image PS style interface that looks and feels different from the LR interface.

IMO based on only my experience LR, ACR, and PS are the gold standard in their own class. Why doesn’t Adobe market them this way? Well they sort of do but that is another story.

PSE is a cut down version of PS aimed at a photographer market with an user interface aimed at a new user market. It was substantially cheaper than the full PS. I tried version 6? For that very reason. I never was fond of it. I went to LR during LR3 because of the database and installed each new version as it became available. I never used PS because it was so expensive but each new version of LR discovered PSE during install and the “edit in PSE” option appeared and worked. That situation persisted thru LR6 the last of the perpetual license versions.

Eventually, I reluctantly moved to the subscription license version to get PS at an affordable price. I make the following observations: 1. PS is sufficiently different from the old PSE such that The PSE experience was of no value. 2. PS is not easy but yields to some practice. 3. Anyone who tells you they have mastered PS is probably not telling the truth. 4. The subscription program works very well. And both LR and PS are being continuously improved at a steady rate. So when combined with seamless updates I am sorry I resisted.

Adobe’s marketing reminds me of a politician. The change their talking points so frequently that you can’t be certain what they are talking about. They seem to have a version of both LR and PS for both real computers and damn fool mobile devices. Plus Bridge which doesn’t appeal to me. I think it would be nice if they could append a dictionary of the names to the morning weather forecast. Maybe if the icon remains square that version is for old fashioned computers and the rounded corners for the newfangled devices.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

I *like* Elements.
Regular Photoshop is just too big and cumbersome for me. A lot of what it does, I don't do.
Kinda like taking the 20 foot box truck to the grocery store.
And Lightroom didn't do enough of what I wanted it to do.
They're both excellent programs- just not what I need.
PSE has worked well. Fully paid off, licensed, portable, standalone, no Internet required.
Photoshop Lite. Wait for coupons, sales, etc; I got mine (PSE 15) for $59 plus tax.
*THAT* said ... I'm learning Capture One right now. I may just switch over.

Harry13

[quote=Bill P]I suggest you skip LR and Elements and get PS, if you expect you will want to move beyond the capabilities of LR. You will spend a lot of time learning LR, and then you will need to spend months or years learning PS. Why not just use PS, where you will be learning it as needed, and then you save the extra time.

"Months or years learning?" I'm a hobbyist (and photography ain't even my #1 hobby.) S'why I don't use all that fancy stuff. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, not work imho!

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

[quote=Harry13]

Unless you think learning is fun like I do. Some old geezers work crossword puzzles, I work Photoshop puzzles. No one ever masters Photoshop, just certain parts of it.