Need help with choosing a Photo eding program..

[Bianca.Tarleton]

Hello everyone,

I "inherited" Photoshop Elements 5 from a friend, and now am looking to upgrade my software, but just don't know where to begin. I've looked into CS4, but its $599..just for a program? I'm not sure if I understand what it all comes with.

So I'm left with several questions...

-Can anyone explain to me what is the reasoning behind why the program is so expensive? It seems like its a suite of programs, but all I really need it photo-editing.
-Are there any major differences between CS3 and CS4? Is CS3 old enough that it will be severely outdated in a few years?
-Is Photoshop Elements 8 the last updated "stand alone" photoshop program? (as in, can you now only buy the suite for $599?)

Also..
-What is Adobe Lightroom used for? How is it different from Photoshop?

My intent is to get an updated version of the PS Elements 5 that I have right now, and I'm willing to spend around $200 (a better deal is always appreciated!).

Thank you in advance!

[OKuma]

Adobe Photoshop is considered "defacto standard" in photo editing. It does some amazing things, but it is very complicated. Why is it so expensive... well, they dominate the photo editing and graphics market, they invest a lot of resources in to making this product, and it's Adobe.

I'm not at Photoshop user, so I can't comment on what the difference between CS3 and CS4. If I were a Photoshop user, I'd get CS4 because it newer and will take advantage of the newer hardware on the market.

Photoshop Elements 8 is the current version. There is also Photoshop Elements 8 Plus.

Now, Adobe Lightroom is a photo editing software, not as powerfull as Photoshop, and it also does image management.

You might also want to consider looking at ACDSee 3.0 Pro.
They have a free trial so you can try it out.

ACD Systems International Online Store - ACDSee Pro 3 Photo Manager

Hope this helps-

OKuma

[PhotogChic]

I started using PSE 5 about 3 years ago, upgraded to PSE 7 last November and got a great deal last December on Photoshop CS4 (just Photoshop...not the suite) for $299 since I owned a copy of photoshop elements (the promo reqs).

Photoshop Elements and Photoshop come with Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) with is a photo editing program within the Photoshop programs (has the exact same controls as Lightroom).

The reasons for my upgrade from PSE to PSCS4 had more to do with the ease of installing/using 3rd party actions and layer styles (more to do with digital scrapbooking than photography). I love Photoshop and will never go back to using an Elements product.

If you are a Costco member, you can get Photoshop Elements 8 (PSE 8) for about $50. It has ACR so you will have the photo editing software as well as the layers (comes in really handy for improving brightness and contrast and curves adjustments).

[Quo Fan]

On the blog, there was an article about Lightroom and when and where it should be used.

Linky dink

I use Lightroom for cataloging and most of my batch editing. I also use CS4 when I need to work a particular image "hard". You could get by with using Elements, since CS4 is rather non-intuitive about where tools are and what they do. If you are used to a chemical darkroom, then the naming conventions used in CS4 will make sense.

[Shokinen]

I'm a Lightroom user and I love it. Photoshop is too powerfull for the type of photography I'm doing. I like picture as they are taken, try to spend more time on the field, and I rarely modify anything else than exposure, whitebalance, curves, sharpening and crop. I found Lightroom much faster for what I'm doing.

I also like how you can manage your librairy (Lightroom calls it a catalog), how you can create different pictures without touching the original. I always shoot in RAW and Lightroom creates "virtual" copies without touching the original. Once the pictures is set the way you like it, you click export and it converts it into a JPEG. That's probably my favorite feature.

[Bianca.Tarleton]

Originally Posted by PhotogChic

If you are a Costco member, you can get Photoshop Elements 8 (PSE 8) for about $50. It has ACR so you will have the photo editing software as well as the layers (comes in really handy for improving brightness and contrast and curves adjustments).

Luckily, I am a Costco member! I didn't even think about checking their prices. I saw the upgrade features, but being that I have PSE 5 it would have been a $599 upgrade..so on benefit there. I think I'll get PSE 8 and look into upgrades. Thanks so much!

[PhotogChic]

Hey Bianca! One other thing I want to mention....Lightroom can be a stand-alone program but it is meant to work in conjuction with a Photoshop or a Photoshop Elements product for the more challenging fixes or if you want to be more creative with your photos than what Lightroom can do.

There is a great article on Lightroom in the DPS newsletter today! It might be helpful!

I think you will be quite happy with PSE 8 to start with....you can alway upgrade!

[T.S.P.]

I so needed to find this thread! I have Corel Paintshop pro photo x2 now.There is an upgrade but it doesn't look too promising.LOL.I wish I could afford Adobe Photoshop CS4 & Lightroom.I'm not a pro but I do spend hours @ the desktop editing my lil heart out.I'm not too bad...Although with some time and better equipment,I think I could do better.I'm working for a small paperback magazine (for fun of course/low pay).

[theArchitect]

Originally Posted by Bianca.Tarleton

So I'm left with several questions...

-Can anyone explain to me what is the reasoning behind why the program is so expensive? It seems like its a suite of programs, but all I really need it photo-editing.
-Are there any major differences between CS3 and CS4? Is CS3 old enough that it will be severely outdated in a few years?
-Is Photoshop Elements 8 the last updated "stand alone" photoshop program? (as in, can you now only buy the suite for $599?)

It's expensive because it's aimed at imaging professionals and is the industry standard - the majority of images seen in magazines, news papers etc. will have gone through photoshop at some point. However, if you are a student (or have one in your household) you can buy at a much discounted rate.

Photoshop can be bought as stand-alone app (just PS and Bridge - an image organisation app); or as a suite of programs (there are different suites containing different apps such as inDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash...)

There are also 2 different editions - Standard and Extended. Extended as a few extra features for spe******t applications - see John Nack on Adobe: What's unique to Photoshop Extended?


CS4 has some new features (see PhotoshopNews: Photoshop News and Information » What’s new in Photoshop CS4 by Martin Evening). I'm still using CS3 and don't plan to upgrade any time soon but if I was buying from scratch, I'd get the latest version. Although rumours are going round that CS5 will be launching in spring 2010 so you might want to hold out until then.

[SRenfrow]

A friend at work told me his wife just gave him the thumbs-up to go out and buy Photoshop CSx (whatever the latest version is). I asked him a question about neutral density filters and if it could be simulated in Photoshop. He said he didn't know, he had never used Photoshop. Huh. Next I asked, well then what do you need Photoshop for? He replied that he though that since it is the "grandaddy of photo editting software", that he needed it. Of course that begged the question, um, just what is it that you need to do with photo editting software? And he said, oh, straighten, crop, adjust contrast, that sort of thing. So I had to tell him that he could do that (and much more) with Elements, or even with (free) Picasa. I also told him about Gimp, which is a FREE Photoshop-like application (just google it). Lots of people love it. It does have a somewhat steep learning curve, as does Photoshop (Elements is easier), but for the price? Definitely worth taking a look at. Anyway, in summary, depending on your needs, there are such price differences in photo-editting software, if you don't need all the bells and whistles (which add to the learning curve), save your money and frustration. I've used all of the above applications quite a bit (for both photo-editting and digital art) and find that Elements will do just about anything I need. But if you don't mind the learning curve, do try Gimp since it's free!