Photoscape to GIMP to Elements?

[TiCoyote]

I've been using Photoscape for a few months. It's free and fairly feature-laden. I tried out GIMP. The interface is nice, and it allows me to selectively edit regions of the image, but I think Photoscape has a few nice features that I miss. Also, although GIMPs controls appear to be more delicate, I still find that I have more control with Photoscape.

What will Elements do for me?

 

[KmH]

You'd still be stuck in the 8-bit depth, editing world.

You would gain a richer online knowledge base that you could tap, like www.elementsvillage.com and a ton of online tutorials and books written by some of the top pros in the image editing world.

You would also be learning the basics of the industry standard image editing software, Photoshop.

RAW files are converted to a 16-depth, so edits have finer transitions.

Editing at the 16-bit depth level only happens with CS level applications of Adobe Photoshop products, like the current CS4 and Lightroom 2.

 

[ErectedGryphon]

I used to use Paint Shop Pro 4, then 5 came out and it was difficult to use, "what the heck did I need layers for?" is what i would say. So for 2+ years I continued on with PSP4, there is nothing wrong with sticking what you know and like, but you end up doing things the hard way. Learn new stuff, and eventually you will be able to get edits done faster than you thought possible.

Now I use Adobe Photoshop on my main PC and Elements on my laptop, and I update to a new version every 2 or 3 releases. I still use PS CS2, and will upgrade when CS5 comes out.

 

[TiCoyote]

If I want an introduction to how the pros do it, should I get Elements or Lightbox?

If it helps, I have a PC. I run XP with a Core 2 Duo 2.8 and I have 4 gigs of RAM.