# Photoshop CS2 vs Elements 4...



## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

If there are any PS gurus out there, I would like to know the basic differences between these 2 programs from a photographer's point of view, not a graphic designer. I know graphics wise, CS2 will beat the pants off most anything out there. But from a purely photographic viewpoint, if all you will ever do is basic manipulations and adjustments on your images, will Elements4 suffice? 

Along these lines, I have read conflicting info on whether or not Elements has 'curves'. Somewhere I found that Elements does have curves but they are buried, so as not to be user friendly the way CS2 would be. Can anyone chime in on this?

Reasons I ask is that I'm about to purchase a D30 (Canon), and would rather spend the money on a good wide angle zoom than on processing software. 

TIA.


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## 247Plants (Mar 23, 2006)

Hmmmm...Im a graphic desiger and I use Photoshop all the time...I think elements is a scaled down version and has a more basic interface....I think...


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## detlef (Dec 24, 2004)

And in addition to Bert I'd like to know if Elements can handle RAW files?

Regards,
Detlef


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## JoeHoetzl (Feb 23, 2005)

Bert H said:


> If there are any PS gurus out there, I would like to know the basic differences between these 2 programs from a photographer's point of view, not a graphic designer.
> Along these lines, I have read conflicting info on whether or not Elements has 'curves'. Somewhere I found that Elements does have curves but they are buried, so as not to be user friendly the way CS2 would be. Can anyone chime in on this?


With the comment below, I'd go for the glass first...
I am also one for trying to shoot correctly in the first place - almost no amount of PS is going to fix a poorly captured image, but it can help a lot.
That said...

http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/vs_elements.html
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/pselementsaddons/

One main issue might be in your RAW workflow. There are several camps on RAW processing/workflow, but that is a different topic altogether!

If you want to dive into it...
http://www.camerahacker.com/Digital/Shoot_In_RAW_Always.shtml



Bert H said:


> Reasons I ask is that I'm about to purchase a D30 (Canon), and would rather spend the money on a good wide angle zoom than on processing software.


Ummm, a 30D or a D30? Big difference!
A good wide angle zoom - Canon EF-S 10-22 is perfect for a 30D!


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I do alot of underwater photography (Nikon D70s) and am using Elements 4.0. I actually trialled both Elements and CS before deciding and found that the extras on the CS were not necessary for me at this time. I manage to output some pretty good stuff using Elements 4 and I've never missed not having the curves. So I'd also recommend spending the extra money on the glass.

As to the RAW processing, I use RawShooter Essentials which is the best Raw processor I've tried so far... and it's free (one can upgrade to Rawshooter Premium which has more functionality and I may be doing this soon).

And I'd also recommend iMatch Image Management as a great piece of software for organizing your images... top rate. The categorizing functionality of iMatch is fantastic; no keywords or tags necessary, multiple categories per image etc.

As you can see, I haven't yet found one piece of software that can do all three things well. The ones that try to do everything usually come up short on some (or all!) of them.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

> Ummm, a 30D or a D30?


Sorry, Canon 30D. I am definitely leaning to the glass vs the software. The 17-40L or the 18-55 IS USM. I need to be able to depend on sharp images for possible blowing up to a size of 20x30. Thanks for the link, Joel, about RAW. I have some learning to do.  I am a part-time photographer and have finally decided to go digital. The computer part is gnawing at me.

Laith, can you provide a link for info for Raw Shooter Essentials and iMatch? Why do you think the RAW converter is better than Photoshop's or Canon's proprietary software? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

RawShooter Essentials: http://www.pixmantec.com/products/rawshooter_essentials.asp

Look at the list of features on that page... the PS RAW converter doesn't have all those functionalities.

iMatch: http://www.photools.com/

Another point: if I remember correctly when I purchased Elements online, it is possible to upgrade from Elements to CS at a later stage if you want and not pay the full CS price. Don't remember the details.


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## JoeHoetzl (Feb 23, 2005)

Be careful of getting to comfortable with Rawshooter, or even buying the pro version of it. They were recently bought out by Adobe. There is a bit of debate as to why they bought them, since Adobe has Camera Raw, but Adobe do have a new product on the horizon. It is in Beta on Macs, not avail on PC's yet called Lightroom. It looks nice, but I fear the price.

I see many folks like Capture One from Phase One, but that is a pretty spendy little app!

As for the lens choices - what are you shooting that you will be blowing up to 20x30? The 18-55 IS USM is nice, but if you aren't totally sure, the newer Tamron 17-50 2.8 is a nice lens and is $730 cheaper than the Canon - but the Canon does have IS, but at those focal lengths, I'm not sure how much I would use IS. Also, if you are printing at 20x30, I would venture to say that you'd probably want to be on a tripod, so I'd go with either the 17-40 L or start out with the cheaper Tamron.


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## Rob G (Oct 19, 2004)

Bert, you may also want to consider whether or not the ability to record and play actions is important to you. When I was exploring processing software, I started with Elements and then upgraded to the full version of PS in order to have the ability to record and play actions. I find that they are very useful in processing multiple files in a batch. It is my understanding that Elements 4.0 does not provide the ability to record actions.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

> Be careful of getting to comfortable with Rawshooter, or even buying the pro version of it. They were recently bought out by Adobe. There is a bit of debate as to why they bought them, since Adobe has Camera Raw, but Adobe do have a new product on the horizon. It is in Beta on Macs, not avail on PC's yet called Lightroom. It looks nice, but I fear the price.


I just read that today. I will probably download the freebie version, while it's still available, just to have it. As you say, Adobe products tend to be $$.



> As for the lens choices - what are you shooting that you will be blowing up to 20x30?


I have a side business in photography. See here, so large enlargements are always a possibility. And yeah, if at all possible, I use a tripod. I'll check out the Tamron.

Rob - Good point, I have read that. For the time being, it will be a learning curve which I will have to climb. I can envision needing to batch stuff for time's sake in the future. Especially, since digital tends to free one up to shoot a lot more than film.


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## JoeHoetzl (Feb 23, 2005)

Nice shots over there! Really, if you are doing that caliber of work on film, RAW is going to be your friend.

I found another decent overall "Why RAW" type article...

And "Figure 2" on this page it a really clear example of why also.

Choosing a RAW converter...yeah, Grab RSE for now...

I've been trying out the demo's of DxO and C1, and might wait for Lightroom on PC for buying any of them.

Such fun...


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## detlef (Dec 24, 2004)

The "Why RAW" tutorials are a great series! That's what I was looking for. Thanks Joe.

Regards,
Detlef


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## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

If you're ever gonna mess around with RAWs (Canon's CR2 files), then stick with CS2, especially since you make some money on the side from photography. The advance masking with CS2 along with certain features in Adobe Bridge are great features (e.g. vanishing point, HDR, etc.) as long as your computer doesn't get bogged down by the system resources that these programs require (go with 2 GB of RAM and you should be moving along pretty quickly).

Capture One Pro is a nice program, but it's pricey (along the lines of CS2). Does a decent job with Canon RAW files once you get the hang of it.

BTW, here's the link to Lightroom for Windows, Joe. Just need an Adobe account and you can test it out. 

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=labs_lightroom


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