[Urban_Legend]

Hi everyone,

I have been using iPhoto to do basic corrections to photos. I have been interested in going beyond the basics and looking at Photoshop Elements 2.0. or Photoshop 7.0. What are some of the key differences with regards to iPhoto and Photoshop Elements? Will there be a Photoshop Elements 3.0? For the price Photoshop Element is good, but if it is only slightly different then iPhoto, then maybe Photoshop 7.0 would be better? Although that is at a much higher price. Right now I'm in between an amateur and professional when it comes to photography. I'm trying to find out which program will suit my needs along with the cost in mind. Any help would be appreciated

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[ June 13, 2003, 10:35 PM: Message edited by: Urban_Legend ]

 

[jfpoole]

Photoshop Elements 2.0 is quite different from iPhoto; it's more comparable to Photoshop 7.0. I've used both Photoshop Elements 2.0 and Photoshop 7.0 (albeit a demo version) for various bits of image manipulation, and I can't tell the difference between the two versions. Someone who works with Photoshop all of the time will probably notice the difference, but casual users (like me!) probably won't notice the difference.

 

[Mississauga]

Check my post in the Trading Post - have PS Elements 1.0 for sale - cheap.

 

[RicktheChemist]

PS elements 2.0 does everything I need it to do..

cheers,

RtC

 

[Rob]

I have used Photoshop versions 3 thru 6 as well as Photoshop 5 LE (similar to PS Elements). Photoshop 5 LE and Photoshop Elements have most of the features of the full Photoshop and are very powerful tools for image manipulation.

iPhoto is geared toward cataloguing your pictures in a simple way for the casual user. It's not a very good tool for doing image manipulation.

If you want to do some serious image editing on a budget, I would recommend PS Elements or a used version of the full Photoshop 4 or higher. Leave Photoshop 7 to the pros who need the few extra features.

 

[ram55]

If you plan on photogaphy as a profession ("somewhere between amateur and professional") then get into photoshop right away. I agree that if you want basics go with one of the other programs but if your serious about photography, photoshop is the way to go. I've been shooting professionally for 15 years now and wouldn't want to be without photoshop. Get into it and learn it right away its a totally invaluble tool in a photographers repetoire these days.

 

[elmer]

I recently bought Photoshop Elements 2.0, and I greatly prefer it over the Gimp; nicer interface, much faster performance, larger collection of filters, brushes, and on and on.
But I was surprised to find that there is no bezier select. Is that one of the things they leave out in Elements? Or is there some way of using the other select tools that makes it obsolete? I'm sure I've seen someone use bezier select in some version of Photoshop.
Anyone have any book or website recommendations for Elements?

 

[Brainstrained]

I agree with Rob, iPhoto is OK for cataloguing and tweaking your photos, not much more.

Photoshop Elements is a stripped down version of Photoshop, with everything most of us need to adjust and manipulate photos at a fraction of the cost of the full Photoshop program.

If you take snapshots, iPhoto is fine. If you're a hobbyist or interested in learning more about photography and enhancing your pics, go with Photoshop Elements. If you're a serious hobbyist or a professional photographer, go with Photoshop.

 

[jtmac]

I agree with most of the comments so far.
Elements is a great start, and more than most people need.

Remember that only Elements 2.0 is an OSX version.

I have copies of LE, Elements 1 and 2, unregistered original CD's if you're interested. It seems everything I buy lately comes with one.

 

[ehMax]

Here is a document from Adobe that answers a few of your questions.

 

[Urban_Legend]

Wow, forgot I had this thread going

Thank you everyone for your help once again on understanding things in computer land

I am now the owner of Elements 2.0 and I love it. Not too confusing just perfect for what I need now. I can see myself down the road advancing to the full version of Photoshop, but not for quite some time yet

.

 

[Moscool]

OK, so Elements does it. How easy is it to learn? I was given a trial copy of the real thing, got myself a book and ... immediately lost interest due to the complexity of the software in relation to my needs. [needs are to manipulate high def. pics but to do simple things such as stretch, add text and send to professional printer]

If iLife apps are a 1 on a scale to 10 and Photoshop is 10, where would you put elements?

 

[Gerbill]

One point that's worth comment - the full version Photoshop 7.0 also includes ImageReady 7.0. If you don't do any Web work, this isn't an issue. However, ImageReady is really the cat's whiskers for Web design - rollovers, animations, slicing, and so on. If you want to do Web graphics, cough up the extra for full Photoshop.

Cheers :-> Bill

 

[Lawrence]

GraphicConverter...The poor mans PhotoShop,
In some ways...It's better than PhotoShop:

www.lemkesoft.com

Dave

 

[hayesk]

Probably a 7 or 8 for the needs you described.

 

[Gerbill]

GraphicConverter...The poor mans PhotoShop,
In some ways...It's better than PhotoShop:

I respectfully disagree. Graphic Converter is better than Photoshop at exactly one function - converting graphics. I have also seen instances where GC would open a file that Photoshop rejected as corrupted. Other than that.....sorry, people who repeat the above are usually unfamiliar with Photoshop at any deep level, or are just consoling themselves for not being able to afford it.

Now don't get me wrong - I love GC - I paid my shareware fee many years ago. It's indispensible as a tool for converting between obscure formats. But Photoshop it IS NOT!!

Cheers :-> Bill

 

[Lawrence]

Graphic Converter is better than Photoshop at exactly one function - converting graphics

Oh...I don't know...
I like to use it for all my old PhotoShop filters that won't
work with the newer versions of PhotoShop.

*GraphicConverter saves me having to switch back and
forth between different versions of PhotoShop to get the
filters applied that I want for a desired effect.
(*Although...I have to use an older version of GC and
use it on a PPC in an older OS to get the effect I want,
My old filters won't work in OSX)
I also like to use it for batch processing of my finished
images before I burn them to CD's.

Dave