I am looking at buying new software for my photographs. I am thinking of Adobe Elements 9. I would like to know if anyone is using this software and how they like or dislike it. If you have any other ideas about different software, I would really appreciate the help. I like Photoshop CS5 but can not afford it.
May God bless the trails you take.
Thank You.
Kathy
PS: I do have editing software that came with my camera (Canon Rebel xs) but it does not everything I would need to do.
BYRON
There are many many options for post-production siftware. if you can answere these questions for you, I may be able to give you some specific advice:
1. Are you particularly committed to Photoshop?
2. What are your intended uses / what do you want to be able to do?
3. How experienced are you at digital post-production work?
KatsEye:
1. No I am not committed to Photoshop. I have Photoshop 7 and after tring Photoshop CS5 I would like to change.
2. My indended uses would be adjust exposure, tone, contrast and the sort.
3. I am no expert at it but have the willingness to learn.
Thank you so kindly Byron. I really appreciate your feed back.
InPort
Just to add to your confusion:
Lightroom is a cheaper option than Photoshop.
GB
D!
KatsEye:
Thank you for your opinion. I really appreciate the help.
barnsis
Gimp is a photoshop clone program that was created by a college professor and his students. It is nearly as good as Adobe Photoshop. It is a free program and several program here on RB us it. Google Gimp, there is a learning curve that you have to go through to learn all the tools and techniques that are available but it will do almost every thing that Adobe Photoshop will do. I have elements but didn’t find it adequate for my photo edit needs.
KatsEye:
Thank you for your opinion. I really appreciate the help.
barnsis
Opps. sorry several people here on RB use it not several program here ☺
Bellavista2
I use Gimp because I do not have the funds for Photoshop and it is the closest editing software to Photoshop. I also use I am very impressed with is “Photoscape”, it is basic editing, but I have been using that for years. I have used Photoshops Elements 9, it is impressive, however, alot of the features you find in “Elements” you can get in free editing programmes…..I was more blown away by “Lightroom 3”, which I had until my old computer crashed, that is the same cost as “Adobe Photoshop Elements 9”….Also, be careful there is alot of free trail ware out there for editing but they come mainly with a virus, however, there are virus scan checks you run on trail ware programmes, so it gives you a thumbs up. Plus, “Adobe Elements Photoshop 9” trail ware from Adobe site has a glitch at preset, alot of people who do not want to purchase it, have extreme difficulty removing it from their computer.
Kaspersky Programme virus Checker
Kaperskyviruschecker
Photoscape
Photoscape
Gimp
Gimp
Adobe
Adobe
Love to know how you go..“Goodluck!” and Have fun.
TomBaumker
I use elements 8 works great and you can afford it..Hugs..Tom
KatsEye:
Thank you very much Tom. I really appreciate your help.
Linda Sparks
At about $70, Elements 9 is a steal, in my opinion. However, it is a RAM hog, so you MUST have at least 4 MB of RAM to run it fully. Check your computer to be sure. That said, I teach basic PSE 9 at our Camera Club and I’m not sure I’ll live long enough to learn everything that it’s capable of doing. You’ll just have a blast with the layers, enabling you to not only improve your photos, but create digital art from those same pics.
KatsEye:
Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
rjcolby
I use Photoshop Elements 9 and it is perfectly adequate for nearly all photo needs. The addition of layer masks to this version is most valuable. Yes it needs a good powerful computer, but the learning curve is much easier than Gimp and generally more users about, so helpful hints are easy to find.
I use Lightroom 3 for cataloging and “developing” images from RAW, PhotomatixPro for HDR processing and Photoshop Elements for nearly all the editing finish work. I also assist in a series of three Elements classes taught by my friend here in Western Colorado. Nearly every image posted here is via the latest PS Elements at the time, 9.0 now.
So shoot the very best image you possible can and use Elements for the finish work. You would do just fine.
Dick
KatsEye:
Thank you very much. I really do appreciate your help. But I do not think Photoshop Elements will work on my computer.
Here are the specs to my computer
Pentium® Dual-Core CPU E55400 @ 2.7GHz
3.00 GB RAM
32-Bit Operating System
What do you think? Will it work?
rjcolby
My system is just a little better
AMD Dual core @ 2.99 GHz
4 GB RAM
and 4 GB memory, with Windows Vista which is itself a real hog.
You do need working room on the hard drive as well for both images and virtual memory.
When ever a computer nerd gives an absolute number for minimum requirements, it is most likely wrong. It is not an on off switch kind of thing, but either an opinion or from the software developer maybe an minimum for optimal use. The degradation is somewhat gradual. I’m not sure how effectively Adobe uses the 64 bit processing in Elements. I don’t think the full and latest Photoshop CS would do well on your system but Elements might be fine. Would be better, faster on a bigger faster system…
For me, I would, do, use Elements and Lightroom 3 on this system and am working toward an upgrade to bigger/better system. If you wait till everything is ideal then you just never get there.
KatsEye:
I did the trial of Photoshop CS5 and it worked just fine. I also have Windows 7. Not sure on how things work. I am no computer expert. But I do thank you for all your help. Maybe I will do the trial version and see how it works on my system. I can always take it off. The minute you upgrade it is out of date already. This machine is maybe a year old. I like it for what I do. Just looking at different software.
BYRON
Sorry I haven’t replied sooner.
I nwould recommend starting with GIMP.
It is free to download, and will do almost everything that Photoshop, Lightroom, etc will do.
If you find that GIMP doesn’t suit your needs, at least you haven’t paid $$$ to learn that, AND you will have a better idea of what you are needing in a software package.
I use GIMP for everything. I have even used it to publish a kids book.
In the world of post production software, there is Photoshop and all its variants… and there is GIMP.
Its free, its as powerful as PS, and I contend it is more user-friendly.
KatsEye:
Thank you so much Byron. I just want all around that I can do most anything with. Sometimes I get creative and change the whole capture and sometimes I want to make something even better. I really liked Photoshop CS5 but it is just too damn expensive. I do not think it is worth what they are selling it for. I will have to check into GIMP more. Again thank you for your time and advise.