Franku wrote:
Currently, I use Elements 8 and have interest in upgrading to Elements 12. I certainly am not an expert with Elements 8 and my greatest deficiency is with some of the advanced editing features involving layers. Suffice it to say I am looking for simplicity of applications.
I have read Elements 12 users' reviews and many refer to ease of use. There is no mention of their background or expertise and the brevity of their description leaves a lot to be desired from my point of view.
If possible, I would like if someone out there in Photoland who has used both Elements 8 and then upgraded to Elements 12 could give me a comparison regarding ease of use....if,in fact, Elements 12 layering is easier to understand and apply or has remained the same as Elements 8. Thank you in advance for your anticipated usually good advice. Frank
Currently, I use Elements 8 and have interest in u... (
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I started with PSE7, got 9 bundled with my scanner, got 11 for a Christmas present and shortly after 12 was released I bought the PSE/PrE upgrade bundle.
I never really got to know 7 or 9 for photo editing that much, as I used it mostly for scrapbooking. When 11 was released, there were many outcries about the different colours. It really was a love/hate relationship. Some people swore by the new colours (really only a different shade of grey/brown), others swore at them. Nobody seemed to realize you can set the working area to any colour you like (just right-click somewhere beside an image in the work area, select the colour you want).
I am now learning to use the Content Aware Move tool in version 12, to its fullest. I had a photo with a tree growing out of someone's head - used that move tool and extended the trunk back to Mother Earth, and nobody could tell the difference. Overall I am very pleased with both versions 11 and 12.
Hankwt wrote:
ok Dumb question of the day - Does the spyder work for a laptop monitor Ive heard conflicting opinions due to the variations in viewing angle of laptops . Thoughts ??
No dumb question, of any day!!! Only dumb people that don't ask the questions they don't know the answer to.
Yes, it does. At least for some laptops.
Mine is a DELL XPS.
Make sure the screen is always at the right angle for viewing (90 degrees from your line of vision), and use it in the same ambient light conditions.
When I get home, I quickly check the photos on my desktop before shipping the files off for printing.
redrocktom wrote:
1) Is calibration software/hardware advised?
2) If so, for those with Spyder4Pro, what's your rating?
3) How are O/S update versions, such as Apple's move from Mtn. Lion to Mavericks, handled. Is there a free update provision with the Spyder software for downloading , per the example, Mavericks compatible Spyder software? Or must you buy new Spyder software with each new O/S version that you install?
4) If anyone uses the Datacolor HDTV calibration add-on, what's been your experience?
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I use Spyder 4 Pro and am more than happy with it.
Yes, I very strongly advise using a calibrator, my rating for Spyder 4 Pro would be 10 out of 10.
I don't do my own printing, just send the images to a local lab. They do a good job, but if I checked "do not adjust" the colours always seemed a bit off. If I did not check that box when ordering, the colours were better, but I always felt that I had no control over the final product.
Since using Spyder, I check "do no adjust" and I get my pictures back as I made them and want them to be.
I was especially impressed when recently I had a photobook printed through Blurb. The colours in the book are exactly the same as they were on my screen.
Thank you for your welcomes!!!
MT Shooter, yes I am on the Canuck side of the border. And it's cold here... I guess there's some reason Americans think we wear toques and parkas and mukluks year-round ;-) Then again, from the news services, I gather that parts of the States don't fare much better at the moment.
PaulB, I love PSE 12, but the same could be said for 7, 9 and 11. Upgraded this time because I also use Premiere Elements (was on version 9), and the bundle was a good deal. I also purchased a plug-in for PSE 12, called Elements+
It unlocks some Photoshop features in PSE that are not otherwise accessible. I kind of know how to use Quick Mask, but there also is Smart Object and Curves and Channels and a whole lot more. So, when have an evening with nothing else to do (ha-ha!), I will be trying to learn all that new stuff.
I used Photoshop for the trial period a number of years ago, at the same time as Photoshop Elements, all the time comparing. Settled on PSE and have never looked back.
MtnMan wrote:
I was reading one of the recent Lightroom threads extolling the virtues of Lightroom not "corrupting" your original photos. (I searched and couldn't find which one so decided to start another.) There was great enthusiasm for this feature.
While I share that enthusiasm there is another point to consider. You can only see the Lightroom adjusted images in Lightroom. Should Lightroom no longer be a viable product all of your work on those images will be lost to posterity.
While you might argue that is also true for any file format and storage media as well, I suspect you are much more likely to enable access to your images once Lightroom has passed on (or simply to someone who doesn't have it) if you use a non-proprietary storage form, such as jpeg or tiff. If you don't do that your grandkids will not be able to look at what you leave behind.
So if you want to do that you need to export your images in one of those formats to some Archive media.
Just an additional thought on the topic.
I was reading one of the recent Lightroom threads ... (
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The way Lightroom does not "corrupt" your images, is that it creates a sidecar file that records the changes you've made.
Delete the sidecar file, and all your changes are gone.
I don't use Lightroom myself, but have "touched up" raw images in Photoshop Elements.
Even when I open that same raw file in Rawtherapee, the changes I made still are there, which means that Rawtherapee reads Adobe's sidecar file.
What I have done, is "archive" the Photoshop Elements installation file AND the registration key, on the same external drives where I back up my photos. With the introduction of a new operating system, I also update those installation files, if needed.
I have read a number of the messages in these forums for a few weeks now, and figures it's about time I joined all of you!
I am fortunate to live in an area with lots of photo-ops, both in nature and events.
I have been "into" photography what seems like "all my life" and the wonder of seeing in print what I saw with my eyes, has never left.
In the summertime my husband and I like to travel (by car), and my camera goes with me wherever we go. Grandkids are of course a favourite subject, but so are cities, mountains, prairies.
I do my own post-processing (PSE 12), but have my photos printed, either as individual prints, or (since recently) in a photo/storybook.