Photoshop

John

Right, I've spent the last seven months or so getting to grips with my 400D. Now I think I'm ready to move on to the other side of digital photography, namely postprocessing. Prior to having a decent digital camera, I have used both Photoshop and GIMP for various uses in the lab and for creating logos, etc. for my band. I never found GIMP as intuitive to use as Photoshop so I'm leaning significantly in Photoshop's direction.

Now, I'm not sure what version of Photoshop the lab I was in used but looking at it now there seems to be two versions. Photoshop CS3 (or 4 coming soon) is the high end one and Photoshop Elements 6 (or 7 coming soon) is the one aimed at the unwashed masses. Considering there is such a huge difference in price, what is the budget version missing? Is there anything significant that an amateur photographer might need that's not included? Or is the high end version really only if you work in graphics design or a related area? Finally, can Elements process RAW files (or am I wrong in thinking you use Photoshop for this?)?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions!

thebaz

i'm no post processing expert, but i'd say go for elemnts and lightroom , for what you need that should be fine

5uspect

Try out the free 30 day trials before you decide what you like most. Elements should see you through easily enough but if you want to go for full photoshop you might be able to get an old licence for Photoshop 7 or CS1. There's also student rates available.

Dragan

Up until about 2 months ago i was using Elements and i liked it. Sure, it lacks some of the dept of CS3 but until you are ready to move on past simple things like levels etc you won't really need it.

Lightroom i can't say enough about, i love it.

PaulieC

the only things (that I know of or would use) that is missing in Elements are masks and curves. It you got Elements and Lightroom2.0 you should be covered in 99.99% of situations

dakar

John wrote: »

Finally, can Elements process RAW files?

Yes, RAW files are handled through Adobe Camera Raw which works with Elements, I can't remember if you need to download this separately (its free anyway) or if it is installed automatically as part of Elements.

Bottom line is it works fine.

John

Thanks for the advice guys, as usual you point out the wood amongst all these pesky trees. Student prices seem very reasonable too, may as well make the most of my student card

dakar

cambo_gueno wrote: »

the only things (that I know of or would use) that is missing in Elements are masks and curves.

True, but there are work arounds for both.:)

There are a couple of different plug-ins that replicate curves, or you can use levels. As far as I understand it, curves and levels are two different graphical representations of a similar way of manipulating the data (open to correction here) and although curves can be an easier interface, most of the same effects can be achieved with levels.

For masks, you can open a new layer eg levels or hue/saturation, not make any changes, and use it as a mask layer.

I'm only learning this stuff myself, and am about to invest in Lightroom 2.