Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Wile I still like the two Corel programs, although I have to admit that PSE is also very good. I certainly would not have wasted the money on Photoshop except Adobe made me a offer too good to ignore as an upgrade from PSE.

I have never had a problem with the organizer except when I want to move a folder from one drive to another. Then I found out the hard way that it loses the connection with the files. It is especially deficient when you try to reconnect them. Yes you can manually show it where a single file is but in order then it is not smart enough to find the other files in the same location. It is also painfully slow at moving files from one directory to another. I found it more expedient to just write the tags into the files, move them manually then delete the disconnected files and have PSE re-obtain the photos from folders.
I don't know if PSE 11 has improved on this as the last version I used was PSE 9.

The Missing manual series certainly is a great way to learn software. It is the manual that Adobe should have included in the box.

rob s Loc: La Mesa, CA

You're lucky. Check out the legion of complaints on the web. They go back a long way and are blamed by many on some aspect of the design of the program that I don't understand, not being Indian.

DaveMM Loc: Port Elizabeth, South Africa

I cannot speak for Ver 11 yet, but I have never had a problem with Ver 9 Organiser. Even when I deliberately fool it, by moving edited files to another directory, I just tell it to 'reconnect missing files' and leave it to do so.

BTW, Ver 9 Editor always annoyed me as it would always 'Save As' in the directory the original RAW came from unless you navigated to an alternative directory for every picture. Ver 11 now allows you to navigate once and then remembers the new directory. A small improvement, but very good for my blood pressure!

rob s Loc: La Mesa, CA

"I have never had a problem with the organizer except when I want to move a folder from one drive to another. Then I found out the hard way that it loses the connection with the files. It is especially deficient when you try to reconnect them. Yes you can manually show it where a single file is but in order then it is not smart enough to find the other files in the same location. It is also painfully slow at moving files from one directory to another. I found it more expedient to just write the tags into the files, move them manually then delete the disconnected files and have PSE re-obtain the photos from folders. "

.....and you wasted a lot of time figuring this out - and manually correcting it. I have just under 200,000 picture files on my primary drive and it didn't just throw up an error, it crashed each time it hit a file it didn't recognise. I gave up trying to load all the files in one go and had to load each directory manually. It still crashes on opening when it feels like it.
As I said as an organiser it sucks.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

If you can't get what you want out of Corel PaintShop Pro (I would hope you're using X4 or X5 when comparing features) you're not going to get it out of LR or any others either. I use Corel PSP for personal and business use and I wouldn't change to anything else at any price except full blown PhotoShop and I don't really need all the things it does so I can't justify the price. Many of those functions are in PSP as well and I don't use them even now.

Instead of wasting money on something else delve deeper into Corel PSP and tame the wild beast to do what you need.

rob s Loc: La Mesa, CA

The king of the hill is PhotoShop. I personally would rather put time into learning PhotoShop Elements, just in case, one day I want to move up.

mckinneylove Loc: San Diego

Thank you. I have X4 do you think I should upgrade to X5?

mckinneylove Loc: San Diego

Thank you all for the advice. I have been contemplating this for yrs. I guess the only way I will really know is if I try all programs to see what works best for me.

LensLady Loc: Dunedin,Florida

GIMP 2.0 is very nice and free. If you like that after a week or two buy Photoshop elements .You must get PSE 8 or higher (newer) for Windows 7 .Older elements will not work.I got Phototshop elements 8 for 6$ on Ebay. Also Lightroom 4 (not 3) 3 lacks too many features.You can get 4 as cheap as 3 if you shop....You will LOVE lightroom 4. I got mine for 40$ on ebay black Friday but I have seen it under 50 $ on ebay before....I also use Topaz plug-in filters ,this enhances LR greatly .You will love all these and use them when you go pro.Topaz filter bundle of 12 plus the new STAR filter. I got for 18 $ on-line best offer ,buy this after you learn LR.Google "Topaz labs" to learn more....

Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Lets be clear, Photoshop and Lightroom are entirely different programs and have different strengths.
Lightroom is RAW file processor and organizer.
Photoshop + Bridge + Camera Raw does the same thing but not as well. Photoshop's strength is manipulating the photo beyond cropping. tonal and colour adjustments or applying changes to part of the photo. Lightroom does not do that.

Corel's products are similar. AfterShot Pro fills approximately the same niche as Lightroom but it is a lot less expensive and faster. PaintShop Pro fills a similar niche to Photoshop but it's raw conversion is more primitive than Camera Raw, at least the X4 version. I have not yet upgraded to X5. You can have both AfterShot Pro AND
PaintShop Pro for less than the price of Lightroom OR PSE.
I have PS CS4, PSE 11, AfterShot Pro, and PaintShop Pro X4,
I use them all and can't really decide which one I would have if I could have only one. By waiting for excellent promotional offers, I have been able to buy all these at about half the regular retail prices. Since there has yet to be a half price sale on Lightroom, I do not have that product.
There is one distinct advantage to the Adobe products. There is a very rich ecosystem of third party support materials. The same is not so for the Corel products.

rob s Loc: La Mesa, CA

They may be good products but you aren't correct on the prices. Both After Shot Pro and Photoshop Elements are the same price on Amazon - $49.95. I don't believe PaintShop Pro is free.
The newly improved Adobe RAR editior that comes with PSE 11 is excellent. I've tried PaintShop - I have it on my computer alongside PSE 11.

IMHO PSE is hands down, a better editor.

ALYN Loc: Lebanon, Indiana

For a "newby" like you, I think there is only one choice," PICASA, from Google. I have used it for several years ( even before Google got involved.) And it is Free. ALYN

rob s Loc: La Mesa, CA

Remember if you use Picasa that all the pictures you post to albums, either directly or through Google G+ will be limited in size. They are better than FaceBook and some other sites but they will be limited in total size. The number you can upload is however unlimited through G+. I'm not sure if this is true with Picasa direct. The editor works well and the collage maker is excellent but if you get serious you will want to try layers. These let you make completely reversible and progressive changes. For a free editor that does this try Pixlr. It's online with nothing to download and as you get comfortable using this you'll find you've also learned some of the PhotoShop commands as well.

Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

I was comparing Suggested Retail Price not a sale price from Amazon
BTW I paid was able to buy both Corel products at half price or a little more direct from Corel during one of their special offers.

rob s Loc: La Mesa, CA

It's what you can buy it for that counts ;-)