Photoshop vs Elements6

[Yellowhead]

I am curently using Elements 5 and I'm thinking about moving up Elements 6 or Photoshop. Has anyone switched from 5 to 6? Are the differences great enough to justify going to 6 or should I just bite the bullet and get photoshop?

[Dbl]

I still have a copy of Elements 4. There have not been a ton of changes. I don't think I would spend the money on an upgrade especially since you are running version 5.

Photoshop is one of those programs that will take a long time to work with and learn. It is not easy, but there is a ton of reference material out there to help you through. Not a week goes by that I don't learn a new technique to use in Photoshop, the possibilities are vast!

I don't think I would spend the money on Photoshop unless you starting to get serious about working with your photos. If you are just processing a few pictures a week, Photoshop my be overkill and many times more difficult to work with.

In the end it is up to you. Having switched to Photoshop about 3 years ago I will never use something different. I used Elements with very good results for about 3 years prior to that. Good luck with you decision.

[eyesorbust]

where can you find materials that can give some help

[Dbl]

What type of help are you looking for? Elements, Photoshop, which versions? What specifically do you want to accomplish? Use a popular search engine and with those specific questions and you will find a lot of help.

If you have an issue you are looking for answers to someone here may be able to help or point you in the right direction. I hope that helps.

[MN Shutterbug]

Personally, I try to do as little PP as necessary, and for what I do, Elements suffices. All I do with the vast majority of my photos is crop, shadows and highlights tweaking, levels adjusting, saturate or desaturate and unsharp mask. Occasionally I may have to clone something out or dodge a shadow, but if a person needed or desired to do more, Elements has most of what a photographer really needs including being able to work in layers. My Elements version (3), didn't come with curves but I was able to add it as a plugin. Many of the plugins for Photoshop are also available for Elements. Elements will also allow you to do batch processing. Heck, there are tons of commands and tools in Elements that I still have never utilized. I just learned about the magnetic lasso a couple weeks ago. Basically, unless you are a pro, I don't think you'll get your money's worth out of Photoshop. Then again, I have a fairly narrow field of view and only shoot birds and mammals. If I was into landscape photography, sports or portraiture, maybe I'd feel differently.

[Yellowhead]

Ya,Tackleman, I don't do a lot of PP either. The one thing I worry about the most is printing. It took awhile But I finally established a good relationship with my printer (a Canon pixma pro 9000). Right now based on the paper I use I get what I want first time (almost) every time. I remember the struggle I went through when I first got it, wasted a lot ink, paper, time and dollars. Maybe I'll just stay with 6 for awhile