PS vs. Elements

[Darton]

I have photoshop but I don't do any graphic design or things like that. I recently D'loaded P'shop Elements for the 30 day trial. THis software seems very user friendly and very capable. So my question is this. Is P'shop Elements just as capable for photo editing as P'shop for someone who only wants to edit photos and not do any graphic design or things like that? What are the pros and cons of using each??

 

[Dominic]

Photoshop has quite a few bells and whistles that Elements doesn't. Having both, I would say that Elements is more user-friendly, easier to learn and offers some very good and applicable solutions for photo editing. Do you want to straighten an image, color correct, have access to a RAW processor, sharpen and some filters, etc...? Elements can do it.

Photoshop gives you the ability to do HDR (though other programs are much better at it, for now) and a slew of other cool things. However, I think they are "cool" things and not necessarily required for great post-processing.

I find myself using both, though for home and hobby I stick with Elements. Maybe it's because after eight hours of screen time I am ready for something different...

 

[Chris of Arabia]

The only thing I really miss is the Channel Mixer for doing B&W conversions, but mostly I can get round it - I just don't think Elements has quite the finesse in that department.

 

[adolan20]

Yes there is plenty in Elements that you can do.

 

[Alpha]

I have photoshop but I don't do any graphic design or things like that. I recently D'loaded P'shop Elements for the 30 day trial. THis software seems very user friendly and very capable. So my question is this. Is P'shop Elements just as capable for photo editing as P'shop for someone who only wants to edit photos and not do any graphic design or things like that? What are the pros and cons of using each??

Photoshop is not simply "design" software. For that you can also look to Illustrator. PS has a lot of advanced tools that become indispensable to those who learn to use them well. Most of the features that make PS so good for composite design work are immensely useful for photo processing, particularly if your work involves skin retouching, layer blending, or extractions.