PS Elements or Lightroom? (Page 2): It shouldn't be Elements OR Lightroom - it should be both. Or better yet, PSCC for $10/mo - he can use it just like Elements, and if he progresses...

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

It shouldn't be Elements OR Lightroom - it should be both. Or better yet, PSCC for $10/mo - he can use it just like Elements, and if he progresses quickly he can start using the more advanced features. Remember, 15-year-olds learn uber fast.

Giugly01 Loc: Woodstock, NY

Gene51 wrote:

Buy him the $10/month subscription to Photoshop/Li... (show quote)

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

sehrich Loc: Burleson, TX

Student today are so knowledgeable about computers I would recommend to subscription to bridge and Photoshop for $10. a month great buy and he will grow into programs.

Giugly01 Loc: Woodstock, NY

Gene51 wrote:

It shouldn't be Elements OR Lightroom - it should be both. Or better yet, PSCC for $10/mo - he can use it just like Elements, and if he progresses quickly he can start using the more advanced features. Remember, 15-year-olds learn uber fast.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Giugly01 Loc: Woodstock, NY

sehrich wrote:

Student today are so knowledgeable about computers I would recommend to subscription to bridge and Photoshop for $10. a month great buy and he will grow into programs.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

Picdude wrote:

At 15 and already computer literate, I agree with the consensus - go with Elements. Nothing wrong with Lightroom and it definitely has a spot in processing, but it can't do everything that Elements can and 15yr olds are very inquisitive and quick learners (when they want to be).

key words (want to be). how about having him download each for 30 day free trial. and watch lot of tutorials. lol

wish you both lot of fun and luck :thumbup:

Picdude Loc: Ohio

dirtpusher wrote:

key words (want to be). how about having him download each for 30 day free trial. and watch lot of tutorials. lol

wish you both lot of fun and luck :thumbup:

Well that's always a good recommendation. The only downside would be that as the OP wants to buy one of them for a birthday present, he may not want to give away the surprise. But can't fault your logic.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

Picdude wrote:

Well that's always a good recommendation. The only downside would be that as the OP wants to buy one of them for a birthday present, he may not want to give away the surprise. But can't fault your logic.

i had thought about that, but he big boy, prbly decide on it :thumbup:

Pine1 Loc: Midland & Lakeway

This is a great suggestion. I use Adobe Cloud and I really like it.

Gene51 wrote:

Buy him the $10/month subscription to Photoshop/Li... (show quote)

don26812 Loc: South Bay of Los Angeles, CA

FWIW

No one mentioned (unless I missed it) that PSE also includes an excellent, easy to use Organizer. It is far easier to use than Lightroom, contains many of the same features, and is robust enough to handle large Catalogs. I've used it for many years to manage my 40K+ image/video collection.

No matter what, with the interest he has shown so far, his image collection is going to grow rapidly.

Can you still buy a boxed version of LR5 now that it is included with PS CC?

I

Kristoes

Gene51 wrote:

Still the entry point of Photoshop/Lightroom at $1... (show quote)

Excellent comments, especially coming from someone who teaches photography! I am teaching my wife how to use a new camera (Pany FZ70 bridge) and new system (Raw in LightRoom) to work on an upcoming 2 year photo essay project for her post graduate work. I am having her learn from the get-go to use Raw in LightRoom, editing on a Retina screen 15" Mac laptop. Her only previous photo experience is a Pany "point & shoot" edited in iPhoto, but she handled that well, and LR is kind of a grown-up version of iPhoto with better organizing tools, etc. (I know that is an over simplification).

I have been looking for someone with your experience to give an opinion: My logic is that if she shoots both Raw and jpg, she can transfer both into LR and then "steal" the settings from the jpg photo, transfer them to the Raw photo as a starting point, then manipulate from there without having to go through the learning curve needed to start from an unprocessed Raw histogram and bring it up to similar settings. This is just a shortcut until she feels more comfortable with LR, since she really just wants to take the photos, not spend so much time in PP (but will need to eventually, due to the difficulty of properly capturing her subject matter; huge old evergreen trees on the South side of a mountain).

I'm really curious, what you think?
Thanks in advance

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Sannye wrote:

My grandson has become interested in photography. He bought himself a used Canon G10 and is loving it! I want to get him either PS Elements or Lightroom for his birthday the end of this month. But which one? He'll be 15 and is pretty sharp on the computer. I use CS6 which isn't a beginner program. Would appreciate you thoughts or recommendations. Thanks

I would go with CS6 for him as well, because in contrary to you, I think there is no better beginner program on the market. OK, you pretty much never stop learning new aspects about it, but to start and learn and to grow with it, is something that is hard to beat. And he is not an entirely newbie to computers, quite the opposite, according to you, so I think he'd be doing just fine with photoshop. You were thinking about Elements, a mighty fine program, but a shortcut when compared to it's big brother and my personal opinion, is that the full photoshop is a heck lot easier to learn and to get grips on, than Photoshop Elements.

Giugly01 Loc: Woodstock, NY

speters wrote:

I would go with CS6 for him as well, because in co... (show quote)

CS6. You obviously haven't been reading the rest of the thread. CS6 rather than CC? Check the whole thing out...

Ziza Loc: USA

speters wrote:

You were thinking about Elements, a mighty fine program, but a shortcut when compared to it's big brother and my personal opinion, is that the full photoshop is a heck lot easier to learn and to get grips on, than the full photoshop.

What was the last time you used Elements? Do you realize that Adobe overhauled this program with version 11 and the gap between it and Photoshop is becoming narrower and narrower? Do you know what Adobe has in store for us with Elements 13, which will be probably released in September? You could be in for a BIG surprise.

Which program is easier to learn? There is no question: Elements is. I should know; I have been using and teaching this program for about 10 years. And I also use Photoshop and Lightroom. I have hands-on experience as to which program is easier to learn.

Here are a few features Adobe introduced in Elements and which were brought over from Photoshop.

- Layer mask
- Text on a path.
- Content-aware setting for the Spot Healing brush.
- Content-Aware Move tool.
- Overlays for the Crop tool.
- Install and run actions just like in Photoshop.
- Add Layer Styles just like in Photoshop.
- The Refine Edge feature.
- Raw Converter (2012 Process); the same process as in Lightroom and Photoshop, with fewer adjustment sliders.
- 64-bit support (Elements 12 on a Mac). There is a 99.99% probability that Elements 13 will be a 64-bit application on Windows.

http://www.mattk.com/2012/09/26/why-photoshop-elements-11-is-the-best-version-of-elements-yet/

Sannye Loc: Oregon

Thank you everybody! I have decided to get him Elements. We'll see what the future brings. There's always Christmas.