Photoshop 0.7 or Elements

blackstone

Established Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2003
Messages
127
Reaction score
4
Points
60
Location
Glasgow
:lesson: Just starting out and as you can see I don't know the difference between the two. Is elements a cut down version of photoshop ?
 
blackstone said:
:lesson: Just starting out and as you can see I don't know the difference between the two. Is elements a cut down version of photoshop ?

Yes it is, tho not sure what the main differences are.

Sure somebody will know :)
 
Hi Joe

considering the price difference is about £400 there is quite a lot that Elements can't do,saying that, I use version 3 and It's very good.
John.
 
blackstone said:
:lesson: Just starting out and as you can see I don't know the difference between the two. Is elements a cut down version of photoshop ?
Depends what you want to do .If you have money to burn and are experienced in image editing get 7. If neither, then elements would probably do all you need. Get it on ebay.
Jay
 
I use Paintshop Pro 8 (I haven't got around to upgrading to 9), but I find most things I need are in there. I'm definitely not in the market for "Full" Photoshop, but does anyone know if "Elements" would add much over PSP?

PSP is very easy to use once you get over the initial "how-things-work" hurdle and is surprisingly versatile, don't rule it out of your software options.

Mark.
 
depends on what you want it to do with. There "isnt a lot that that it cannot do". In fact there are some features of elements that the full photoshop does not have. I have both but now seldom use the full version.
It is aimed at the noobie to intermediate user market which has become quite lucrative since the explosion of digital photography
To prepare professional output for commercial printing and "layer masks"- whats that you ask? (If you need to know forget photoshop): Get Photoshop only if you need those high end features. Seriously I would start out gently considering how expensive Photoshop is and how much you can actually achieve with APE :hiya:
I believe its a toss of the coin with Paint Shop Pro although that program (PSP) has a little bit more in absolute terms and specifically , I know its noise removal filter is much better
Although Photoshop Elements ( now on version 4) costs much less than its big brother it probably has 70-85% of its funtionality and less that 1/4 of its learning curve for simple photo editing ( i assume thats what you want it for)
If you are new to photoediting or have not previously had formal or informal
Photoshop training, Consider Elements as an easier to use software based on Photoshop and not a cut down version ,There are many workaround solutions for the supposed omissions from the full version.
 
Thanks for all that info. I am new to digital photography and high on the agenda is to seek out membership of a camera club. I have an olympus mju 410 and guess that for 7x5 shots it should be adequate and perhapse with some photo editing I can improve the images. Apologies for any offence to more expert users.
 
blackstone said:
Thanks for all that info. I am new to digital photography and high on the agenda is to seek out membership of a camera club. I have an olympus mju 410 and guess that for 7x5 shots it should be adequate and perhapse with some photo editing I can improve the images. Apologies for any offence to more expert users.

I have Elements 2 (bundled with camera), and CS.

I only use CS if I shoot in RAW. When using jpeg for what I need, Elements is fine.
My normal jpeg 'Workflow' as below, and only if required. USM at the end will always be needed.

1. Rotate if unlevel
2. Crop to remove borders/re-compose subject.
3. Resize if required, ie reduce to 1024 x XXX for www.
4. Check/adjust hue/saturation.
5. Check/adjust brightness/contrast.
6. Clone tool to remove dust spots.
7. One or two passes of Unsharp Mask (USM)

Only takes 2 or 3 mins per picture when you get the hang of it... :D

DON'T FORGET to work on copies of your pics....ALWAYS back up before you play..... :smashin:
 
Johndm said:
I have Elements 2 (bundled with camera), and CS.

I only use CS if I shoot in RAW. When using jpeg for what I need, Elements is fine.
My normal jpeg 'Workflow' as below, and only if required. USM at the end will always be needed.

Can someone tell me in simple terms what "Unsharp Mask" is and what it does to the pics?
Reading a few of the posts on here I see it gets mentioned quite a lot.
Having recently got myself an EOS350D (which I haven't really used a lot yet due to the poor weather up here in Lanarkshire) I installed Google's "Picasa 2" but like the poster of this thread I'm thinking of getting "Elements 4"
 
JayCee said:
Can someone tell me in simple terms what "Unsharp Mask" is and what it does to the pics?
Reading a few of the posts on here I see it gets mentioned quite a lot.
Having recently got myself an EOS350D (which I haven't really used a lot yet due to the poor weather up here in Lanarkshire) I installed Google's "Picasa 2" but like the poster of this thread I'm thinking of getting "Elements 4"

Far too complex to go into detail.....

But ALL pics from DSLR's/Compacts will require differing amounts of Unsharp Mask or USM (most compacts will sharpen by default) depending on what you want to do with the pics...ie just view full size, print or upload to the www.........

Load a pic up in PS, apply Unsharp Mask at 500% .2 radius 0 threshold, and you'll see what happens..... :smashin:
 
Johndm said:
Far too complex to go into detail.....

But ALL pics from DSLR's/Compacts will require differing amounts of Unsharp Mask or USM (most compacts will sharpen by default) depending on what you want to do with the pics...ie just view full size, print or upload to the www.........

Load a pic up in PS, apply Unsharp Mask at 500% .2 radius 0 threshold, and you'll see what happens..... :smashin:

Thanks John, I don't have PS.
Would it be possible for you (or anyone else) to upload two pics here...1 with and 1 without USM and point out to me the differences?
 
First pic just resized to 800 wide...

Second resized to 800 wide, one pass of USM applied....

See?.... :smashin:
 

Attachments

  • NOUSM.jpg
    NOUSM.jpg
    100.6 KB · Views: 122
  • USM.jpg
    USM.jpg
    112 KB · Views: 107
Don't forget the GIMP ! Probably between PSP / Elements and full Photoshop in capabilities, with the advantage that it's free, so unlike Elements 4 or PSP 10 you're not going to waste money giving it a try. (You can normally find it on magazine coverdisks if you're not yet on broadband to download it).

If you're saving your images as RAW when you shoot and aren't happy with the supplied RAW software for your camera then you might need to invest in a 3rd party RAW converter to get the images into a format GIMP can understand, but GIMP is great unless you absolutely need to be able to handle high bit-depth (greater than 8bpp) for images with high dynamic range.
 
JayCee said:
Can someone tell me in simple terms what "Unsharp Mask" is and what it does to the pics?
Reading a few of the posts on here I see it gets mentioned quite a lot.
Having recently got myself an EOS350D (which I haven't really used a lot yet due to the poor weather up here in Lanarkshire) I installed Google's "Picasa 2" but like the poster of this thread I'm thinking of getting "Elements 4"
Take a look at the link below and see what you think. Despite not being free like the GIMP or Picasa I rather think Money spent on Photoshop Elements is money well spent . Infact ,I use it virtually everyday having aquired a 350D as well, in April and just shooting away
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/videotips/#

This link http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/
takes you to a page which on the right has tips and techniques, scroll to the bottom for a short video on sharpening pics by using the unsharp mask(USM) although reffering to raw files can also apply to jpegs.
To the left is a wealth of online tutorial material on how to get the most from your 350D
have fun :)
 
Johndm said:
First pic just resized to 800 wide...

Second resized to 800 wide, one pass of USM applied....

See?.... :smashin:

Thanks John,
Maybe it's my 56yr old eyes but I don't see a lot of difference...the second pic with the USM looks slightly sharper...the decals on the chopper body look a little clearer to me.
Maybe it's my monitor......a 3yr old HP 15" TFT resolution set to 1024x768, don't get me wrong the pic on it looks fine, nice and contrasty but would I be right in saying you guys prefer crt for digital work?
 
...............Ha Ha gotcha: You didnt go to Specsavers did you? :rotfl:
I have a high resolution 17"Sony Trinitron CRT and a 17" Sony Flat panel TFT (1280x1020)and must say I prefer the CRT for videos and for video editing ( marginally) but for photography my 43 year old eyes dont see much difference.
Seriously, TFTs have come of age and a well set up one should serve you well. BTW your observation that pic on the right certainly looks sharper is true ;) .
 
Johndm said:
I have Elements 2 (bundled with camera), and CS.

I only use CS if I shoot in RAW. When using jpeg for what I need, Elements is fine.
My normal jpeg 'Workflow' as below, and only if required. USM at the end will always be needed.

1. Rotate if unlevel
2. Crop to remove borders/re-compose subject.
3. Resize if required, ie reduce to 1024 x XXX for www.
4. Check/adjust hue/saturation.
5. Check/adjust brightness/contrast.
6. Clone tool to remove dust spots.
7. One or two passes of Unsharp Mask (USM)

Only takes 2 or 3 mins per picture when you get the hang of it... :D

DON'T FORGET to work on copies of your pics....ALWAYS back up before you play..... :smashin:
Thanks Johndm, has a poll been conducted before re workflow.
 
JayCee said:
Thanks John,
Maybe it's my 56yr old eyes but I don't see a lot of difference...the second pic with the USM looks slightly sharper...the decals on the chopper body look a little clearer to me.
Maybe it's my monitor......a 3yr old HP 15" TFT resolution set to 1024x768, don't get me wrong the pic on it looks fine, nice and contrasty but would I be right in saying you guys prefer crt for digital work?

I prefer TFT.....colours are better..yeah I know the blacks are a bit mushy, but a nice flat screen is much better for pics....well I prefer one anyway... :D
 
blackstone said:
Thanks Johndm, has a poll been conducted before re workflow.

There are dozens of differant ways to make a cake....my workflow posted is for web display as in my link below.... :smashin:
Others use USM differantly to achieve the same results, then there's layers...not been there yet though.

Yeah, it would be interesting to see what others here do...
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom