photoshop vs. elements?

maddogldr

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no need to explain how im new to the scene..as you can tell from my question..

anyways, what are the main differences between photoshop 7, and elements 4? or photoshop/elements in general. ive been bouncing around between the two, i know photoshop 7 has alot more features, but why even use elements? is it more a general user friendly photoshop?

thanks
 
How about $550 difference in price plus 7 is not being sold anymore unless it's used. You have CS2 at $649 vs $89 for elements.

Just my two cents worth but I think elements is a pretty good program for the cost. I have used 7, CS2, and Elements 3. I have not seen 4 yet.

I think if I was new to photography I would start with Elements for under $100, master it, and then move on if you need to.
 
Photoshop is always talked about in terms of photography (and it's called Photoshop for Pete's sake) but it is actually digital imaging software, and not only about photography. You can also do a lot of graphic design with it.

PS Elements is an effort to bring the most pertinent photography tools to a consumer-oriented product. As such, Elements is a lot more affordable than the professional-level product.

I'm always surprised how powerful Elements ultimately is. 90% of what I do in PS CS2 (the newest version of the pro application) is doable in Elements.

I've never done a real feature comparison, but I bet you will find Elements sufficient for a while. It's also a nice way to ramp up on the surprisingly steep learning curve that is required to master the big application.
 
I've used both, although not the current versions. The biggest difference for me was that certain adjustment layers aren't featured in Elements, particularly Curves and Channel Mixer. This may have changed, and there are always workarounds (Google is your friend...). If you are really new to photography I'd suggest you get Elements. You can always download a demo version of the full product when you are ready to try it.

Thomsk
 
Price is a big factor, when I got back into photgraphy last year it made more sense to buy Elements than any of the more professional or business orientated software. So far I've not wanted to do something that Elements can't manage.
 
I started using Elements about a year ago when I decided to seriously start investing into digital photography. At a time when just using the camera was enough work I found elements to be easy and give me everything I needed. Now I use Photoshop because I want to explore the extras it offers but as a start I'd recommend Elements.
 

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