What program should I purchase?

Leigh0190

I am pretty new to all of this and only have a really old version of photoshop elements. I don't really even know how to use that very well, but have someone that is willing to teach me. I am ready to buy a professional program, but would appreciate advice on what to buy and how, other than the manual to learn it?

Thanks!

greenpea

Leigh0190 wrote:

I am pretty new to all of this and only have a really old version of photoshop elements. I don't really even know how to use that very well, but have someone that is willing to teach me. I am ready to buy a professional program, but would appreciate advice on what to buy and how, other than the manual to learn it?

Thanks!

my .02...

If your new to all of this, then consider spending $100 and getting Photoshop Elements 5 (for a PC) or Photoshop Elements 4 (for a Mac), and then get Scott Kelby's "Photoshop Elements 4 Book for Digital Photographers" or "Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers".

Photoshop CS3 has a steep learning curve and isn't that user friendly. If you don't know why you need Photoshop CS3, then its hard to justify the $630+ you would pay for it.

Leigh0190

Thanks for the advice! I am not to great at manuals but will give it a try. Also, in photoshop elements can you do things like fix acne, stray hairs, black and white w/ color showing through, etc.?

One more question. Where can I go to learn about basic photography editing. I just shoot the pictures and hope everything comes out good. The only editing I do is with iphoto. VERY BASIC. I don't even really know where to start though to learn about getting my images looking more professional.

Thanks for the help!

Btw, here's my site for sample work: www.olivialeighphotography.com

moose135

Elements can do much of what the full-blown PS versions do. If you are just starting out, I'll agree with greenpea, Elements is your best bet. I used it for over a year before upgrading, and still use it (it's installed on my PC in the office). And like greenpea said, Kelby's books are a valuable resource on how to work these programs.

Don't forget, you can always ask here at DGrin, and get 87 opinions on what you should do


You have some very nice work on your site, looks like you have some great potential. Keep up the good work!

Artur C.

Leigh0190 wrote:

I am pretty new to all of this and only have a really old version of photoshop elements. I don't really even know how to use that very well, but have someone that is willing to teach me. I am ready to buy a professional program, but would appreciate advice on what to buy and how, other than the manual to learn it?

Thanks!

Hi Leigh,

Depending on your budget, there are many choices for both operating system platforms. While I've not used the newest version of elements, I have used all the ones previous to the latest release, and can tell you that they are very capable editing programs.

If you want to take a dive into the full version of Adobe Photoshop, then please don't let people discourage you because of "skill level". It's a professional app, but it doesn't mean that a non professional can't learn it. I've been learning CS2/3 via tutorials + experimentation + books and just advice I get from others, and within the last few years have become very capable at it from the photo editor perspective. Photoshop takes on a whole new life as a graphic design program.

Just as an aside. There are some major advantages from the get go to the full version of PS. One is the raw converter, much more capable then the one in Elements, and I don't know about the latest version (of elements) but full blown PS gives you the ability to edit in full 16 bit color depth. Which ever you choose, enjoy it, learn it, and teach others... there are virtually unlimited ways to work with PS.

As far as buying. If you are a student, then purchase it via a student license, it's half the price. If not, any reputable online dealer or the Adobe website. I purchased the design premium... with some extra apps I really want to learn for $599 + Tax (University student store). Not a bad deal considering that PSCS3 is over $600 as a stand-alone app.

As a plug for another site... go to www.radiantvista.com to see PS in action via their tutorial page. Excellent site.

Good Luck...
-Art

greenpea

Artur C. wrote:

Just as an aside. There are some major advantages from the get go to the full version of PS. One is the raw converter, much more capable then the one in Elements,...

Not true. Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 is an upgrade for Elements 4 and 5, meaning Elements has all the raw capabilities of CS3.
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3647

Artur C. wrote:

As far as buying. If you are a student, then purchase it via a student license, it's half the price. If not, any reputable online dealer or the Adobe website. I purchased the design premium... with some extra apps I really want to learn for $599 + Tax (University student store). Not a bad deal considering that PSCS3 is over $600 as a stand-alone app.

Art does have a good point there. if you can qualify for the student discount you can save some serious $$$ on Adobe products. As a University employee that's how I got my copy of CS3 (and Elements before that).

jfriend

greenpea wrote:

Not true. Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 is an upgrade for Elements 4 and 5, meaning Elements has all the raw capabilities of CS3.
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3647

While I heartily recommend that users start with Elements because it's more capable than most users ever advance to, your statement above is not quite true.

Adobe Camera RAW 4.1 does work with CS3, Elements 4 and Elements 5, but in Elements it has fewer features. In particular some of the workflow features for efficiently processing lots of images and some of the more advanced tabs in Camera RAW are only available when used in CS3. The core RAW engine is the same though so you get the same image quality, just not as many adjustment features.

greenpea

jfriend wrote:

Adobe Camera RAW 4.1 does work with CS3, Elements 4 and Elements 5, but in Elements it has fewer features. In particular some of the workflow features for efficiently processing lots of images and some of the more advanced tabs in Camera RAW are only available when used in CS3. The core RAW engine is the same though so you get the same image quality, just not as many adjustment features.

I stand corrected. I actually haven't tried RAW 4.1 in Elements only in CS3, I just read (and was suprised) that you could get it for Elements 4 & 5.

Leigh0190

Thank you all for your help and advice. I am so new to all of this, I barely even no what RAW is. I know you can blow images up bigger when you shoot in it, but don't even really know the benefits of shooting in RAW, etc. I basically just started doing photography because I love people and loved how much fun I have when I do photo shoots. I want to learn a lot more, but feel so very green at all of this. I am a student so I could benefit from that discount.

I will be using all of these suggestions! Thank you all so much!

Art Scott

Leigh0190 wrote:

Thank you all for your help and advice. I am so new to all of this, I barely even no what RAW is. I know you can blow images up bigger when you shoot in it, but don't even really know the benefits of shooting in RAW, etc. I basically just started doing photography because I love people and loved how much fun I have when I do photo shoots. I want to learn a lot more, but feel so very green at all of this. I am a student so I could benefit from that discount.

I will be using all of these suggestions! Thank you all so much!

A "RAW" file is a type of digital negative or digital transparency .....It gives the photographer much more latitude in the processing of the file. It is also uncompressed....meaning it retains ALL of the information that the camera recorded at he exposure time.......also if you set up a camera to shoot a scene in jpg and then shoot that exact scene in raw and do nothing to the raw file but convert to a jpg you will see a world of difference between the 2 jpg files.....with the jpg from raw being the better of the 2 in most cases......

These are just my personal obsevations from personal unscientific testing.....so take it for what it is worth as an opinon.


Something that has not be suggest is Lightroom.....take it for a trial run and see if it fits your needs.

...also as far buying elem. 5 and the ndoqn the road buying a full version of PS......figure that $100 or so into the price of the full version......personally if I were even considering the full version.....then I would go full version from the get go.....it is only as daunting as you allow it to be....and there are tutotial videos out there if one just loks for them as well as the Kelby recipe books....his books are actually in a reciepe form and easy to follow......

Hope this has been some help....