princess

oh gosh, someone tell me what a plug in is, and why i'd need one for the brushes and excuse my ludditeness...

hairnet1948 Loc: Eighty Four, PA (South of PGH)

http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshop/f/elementscompare.htm

Here is a comparison of the 2 softwares. I use Elements 9 and usually you can find a work around for things not found in 9. The book that I teach classes from is: "Photoshop Elements - The Easy Way" by Peggy Krall from Lulu Publishing.

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Princess, just something to think about. I am not sure how elements keeps track of your photos with things like
1. keywords, 2. dates, 3. Metadata etc. In a few years from now if you have been diligently doing backups how would you locate say a photo of a particular subject matter, place etc?Would have to search through thousands of photographs? How would you do that search and how long would it take you?

In addition to photo editing for photographers, Lightroom3 is also a DAM(Digital Asset Management) program. I am currently using Bridge in Photoshop CS5 but will soon be converting to LR3 for that particular reason.

anotherview Loc: California

A user will sense when he has to move up to the full Photoshop.

Not sure if Elements can do Actions, but if it can't, then this powerful, time-saving feature can justify moving up, depending of course on the frequency of use of Actions.

I started out in digital image-editing with Elements, and it served my purposes for a while. I learned how to edit with this program.

One day I sensed the need to move up to the full Photoshop (now CS5), and never looked back. The editing power at my fingertips compelled me.

pigpen

I bought E9 last Oct. Since I was new to digital, I had no idea how to use it. I took a photoshop course @ the community college. I really can't think of a project that we did in class that I couldn't do at home. Granted, this was not an "advanced" class so I don't know what my limitations would have been.

Also, E9 cost me $90 @ wal-mart. The full blown version, $950!!! Here is a good tip: a student gets a huge discount (thru the school bookstore). My class cost $300. With the discount, I could of got the full version for $350. So take a class, get this discount and still save $300.

I also think this works at the high school level. So if you have a child in h.s. or college, buy it thru them.

Meredith Images Loc: Stratford, CT

My personal opinion -- Elements 9 or 10 will do 95% of what "Photoshop CS" does. I teach lots of Elements seminars and classes, and yes, you can do layering, masking (introduced in version 9), and just about everything else you can do in CS. You can do actions, plug ins, and more, with Elements. There are LOTS of tutorials out there on the web if you need help. And I like the book by Scott Kelby & Matt Kloskowski "The Photoshop Elements 9 Book" (Amazon is taking pre-orders for v.10 coming out soon). Another AWESOME resource is the Elements Techniques Magazine -- 6x a year with great tutorials; over 800 tutorials on their members-only website; member galleries and freebies when you subscribe. Reg. price is $59 for 1 yr; $99 for 2 -- use this code that I've set up for students and friends and save $10 (you'll see the discount appear when you click the button for 1 yr or 2); http://store.photoshopelementsuser.com/cart/checkout/subscription/HAZEL.

MtnMan Loc: ID

For light stuff and a tool that connects seamlessly to the internet you might try Picasa. The price is right: free.

Someone recommended it to me in a conversation here just the other day. In less than an hour I was able to vastly improve a whole album of pictures I took several years ago. They were taken with a very simple camera by today's standards and not all that well composed. The results were fabulous for me.

I mostly had to crop and adjust the color balance. I don't think it does layers.

Regards,
Larry Leach

hairnet1948 Loc: Eighty Four, PA (South of PGH)

Meredith, I agree with you completely and love getting my Elements Techniques Magazine every 2 months. Your Light house photo is awsome.

Chas

patsibley Loc: West of Spokane, WA

I have Photoshop CS5, and have to say that I use less than half of the editing powers it has. I use the Bridge much more (within CS5). I took a web design class that included Photoshop which is the only reason I could afford it as I got a hefty student discount. I am interested in Lightroom--can anyone tell me if it's easier to use than Photoshop?

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

As far as I know, Lightroom uses the same Adobe Camera Raw engine that Lightroom3 has. If you have ever opened a RAW image from bridge it would take you into Adobe Camera raw so that you could process the image. Lightroom has other redeeming qualities such as it does a better job of DAM digital asset management

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

i get let better idea on how to here

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Elements+9+or+10++tutorial&aq=f

MtnMan Loc: ID

Hi, Folks

We just got the Costco coupon mailer. It has $30 off of Elements 10 starting on Nov. 10. It is currently priced at $79.99 online (Costco.com), so if the $30 is off that its a great deal. At that price I'll learn about it after I buy it.

You don't need an actual coupon. It says you can also order online. I don't know if you need to be a member to order online.

Regards,
Larry Leach

gholmes1936 Loc: born,Two Harbors, Mn, living in Austin Tx

For all you apple computer users for just basic editing, cropping, saturation, brightness, contrast, sharpness, assign color profiles, exposure, temperature, sepia, tint, size, etc, all you have to do is open your image in either iPhoto or Preview. It will do almost everything you need until it's time to graduate to something that will allow you to do a lot of other stuff that has already been discussed here. There is no capability for layers however.

One other things is that if you haven't already gotten into Photoshop deeply, or at all, you should really check out GIMP.

A windows version is here:
http://www.gimp.org/windows/

And a Mac version is here:
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

Let me know if this helps anyone.

MtnMan Loc: ID

I downloaded the GIMP and am still fussing with it. I ordered a book on it from Amaozn. There are several. So far I haven't had much success with using it.

I am going for Elements as well when the Costco sale starts on the 10th. I'll be able to report on both in a month or so.

For the first couple of weeks the GIMP Help wasn't downloading. When it finally did I found it wasn't, uh, helpful. I then downloaded a manual. It wasn't much good either. I then found and downloaded another manual that looks better: color, etc. I haven't gotten into using it yet, though.

I tried a couple of you-tube tutorials and they were not of much use.

Of course the good news is that the GIMP is free. So we don't get to complain. The above are not complaints; just observations.

I downloaded two HDR tools. One worked for me and one did not.

I had MUCH better luck with PICASA. It is free also and very slick. I made a slide show from a vacation of several years ago, including dramatically fixing over 100 photos, in an hour or two. It is usually clear in a little while which one I am going back to all the time.

In the end PICASA and the ViewNX2 that came with my D5100 may be all I need...perhaps plus a few special purpose things like that Portrait Professional and an HDR tool. I enjoy fussing with different stuff before settling in on one or two. We shall see.

Regards,
Larry Leach

MtnMan Loc: ID

Hi, Folks

I guess I posted this info on another thread. Anyhow Costco has a special on Elements 10 starting Nov. 10: $30 off. Their normal price on Costco.com is $79, so if that's the starting point it will be a good deal.

I don't know if you need a Costco membership to use Costco.com. I have one so it doesn't matter to me.

I also found that you can download a free 30-day trail from Adobe. It actually came to me through downloading the HP Photo software for my printer. That offer said they had a good deal but it seems to start at $99.

You do need a bit of paitence if you go this route. I have reasonable fast DSL and the download is going to take around three hours.

Regards,
Larry Leach