Photoshop Elements 6 vs Photoshop CS3

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sks77

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With regards to underwater photo editing, what is the main difference in the two? Am I going to be able to do what I need to do in Elements or am I going to be immediately disappointed with Elements?
Thanks!
 
For most people, Elements will be perfectly acceptable, and is much easier to learn and get power out of than the full CS3. It depends on how much you want to do with your photos how quickly you "outgrow" it. If you're just wanting to convert the photos, do basic color adjustments and sharpening, with perhaps some backscatter removal and other smaller edits, it'll be more than powerful enough. If you want to do more selective edits, including masks or advanced skills (such as what is taught in the Photoshop for Underwater Photographers DVD which has been discussed here before), then the full product will fit your needs better.
 
I agree with burbunny, I use photoshop elements 4.0 and it meets my needs. I have toyed with the idea of upgrading to the full product but the cost vs usefulness for me just wasn't there. Elements is a very powerful tool. I enhance most of my photos with elements and I think they look fine. Check out my pics in my gallery, they were all enhanced with elements.

Regards,

Bill
 
You may also want to consider Photoshop Lightroom which is a halfway point between the two. Here is a link to a great website that will give you an overview of this product along with some great tutorials if you feel so inclined: www.whibalhost.com/_tutorials/photoshop_lr/03/index.html . This is a stand-alone product. Lots of good reviews on various Photography websites.
 
Elements or Lightroom should work for you fine. Photoshop is more of a pro tool, it has a lot more depth, automation and works with other color models like CMYK and LAB for reproduction purposes.

Jack
 
After converting 16 bit RAW images to 8 bit to meet PS Elements limitations for editing, how discernable of a difference might there be in final prints, or is negligible? Thanks
 
I used Elements for several years, and converted to CS3 and Lightroom in order to take a Stephen Frink DSLR class. It took two to three weeks to get comfortable with CS3, but in my view there is no comparison with Elements. The spot correction (for backscatter) and other tools in CS3 are a mind blower.

I am still not sure about Lightroom. It is an OK work flow tool, especially on trips with a lot of shots, but most of the time it does not seem worth it for me. For me the slide show function is really weak and cumbersome.

One way of purchasing CS3 at a much reduced price is to take advantage of the up-grade offer that periodically appears in Elements. I think it was $350 or so.

Good Luck,

Dan
 
Hmmmm, danclem I am interested in your comparison between elements and CS3. Does CS3 allow you to enhance your pics much better than elements? Also, compared to elements how easy is it to learn CS3? I never considered upgrading to CS3 because I always thought that elements had all the tools I needed to enhance my pics; however, your comments are giving me a new perspective on that thought. Any info would be helpful. If you have a lengthy explanation you can also email me at jamescrew6@verizon.net

Regards,

Bill
 
Hi Bill:

I dropped you an e-mail that talks about my "conversion" in more detail.

Cheers,

Dan
 
With regards to underwater photo editing, what is the main difference in the two? Am I going to be able to do what I need to do in Elements or am I going to be immediately disappointed with Elements?
Thanks!

I started digital UW this past summer after spending 12 great years in 35mm(no editing--although I had some GREAT shots in 35mm).....I bought Elements 5.0 then AND use Picasa2(free upload) on all my editing---have been happy with both(actually a combination of them)...I have actually edited them in Picasa & then fine tuned some in PS, what I mean by that, the coloring turns out nice in Picasa, but I like the cropping and the de-backscattering available in PS...I reality, some are 100% from Picasa, some are 100% from Element 5.0, and some are from both, it's neat to be able to 'play around' with them.....Please see my pics in my sig(plus you can get to the entire photobucket site from these also).....good luck & start editing.....
 

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