Adobe Photoshop Elements Tryout:

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Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements.

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ok....
didn't download it, so anyone who did can give a short review??

but from the looks of it, i'll just stick with photoshop

Short review....


Its another "watered down" version of a great program, and I don't find all the little -BS- functionality that handy.... Photoshop is for creating art.... Elements seems to be heading toward MS Word.

I ran the beta, and hated it, as I hate Word

so much for creating professional images, etc ...
PS all the way... although i hate v6

it is a kiddies version of photoshop

i don't like it, it is slow, shortcuts have changed, effects have been deleted, it is rather instabile

i'm sticking to my old PS 6

Very belated reply.

I tried the software out myself.

With Elements, you lose the CMYK mode, LAB color mode, curves adjustment (although I've read its still in Elements, but called something different), vector pen tools, channels, masks, and the quickmask bar. You also don't get any imageready functions. Those are the biggies. The rest of the changes are small things that remove some of the effects control you had over layer styles and other presets. The only true layer masking present in Elements is in adjustment layers, and all they do is affect color.

Masking was possible in Photoshop LE, but apparently it has been restricted in this latest incarnation.

Overall, if you are broke or just want an adequate graphics editor, I actually found it quite capable. It didnt run slower on my pc (though Im using a monster of a machine). You can also "emulate" masks by drawing on physical layers and doing the old ctrl-mouse click on a layer and cut pixels out. The side effect is that you lose whatever data you cut away. But it is possible to create images just as you would in photoshop, you just have to be a bit more careful. All the methods to emulate the full version of PS in Elements are destructive techniques that require you to duplicate your layers to preserve them if you mess up.

At the price point its offered at, I suppose there are also the other options of graphics editors like Paint Shop Pro and Ulead Photoimpact. Paint Shop Pro, I've read is very capable, and probably moreso than PS Elements, but Elements is incredibly familiar to anybody who has used Photoshop before. And Elements is the better choice for those wanting to practice or try-out Photoshop before buying the full thing.