Help choosing post processing software...

[Alec006c]

Im looking into purchasing post processing software to use with my new S400, and was wondering what the best route to go is. Ive obviously been looking for a deal on Photoshop CS, but since im a student its hard to come up with the money for the full version. I have found academic versions online for around $275, and was wondering if theres any difference between that and the retail version. Also i saw someone mentioned that its possible to upgrade from Photoshop Elements 2 to CS, and was wondering how much that costs...anyway, any help would be appreciated, im starting to think elements might be the best way to go on my budget, but if anyone has any ideas, theyd be appreciated. thanks in advance for any help.

[Vegas Poboy]

If you planning on photography being a major part of your life then I would recommend going with CS the educational version is the same as the full retail product. If you plan on just point and shooting then I would stay with PE2. Both products can be purchased @ 1/2 price on the student discount. I have both educational versions and never had a problem with either one of them. They take all the plugins etc. that the full version uses.
Hopefully this info will help.

[Conk]

I too am a photoshop user but if you were looking at purchasing something cheaper then Paintshop Pro might be something to consider. There are many psp die hards out there and from what I understand it is the next best thing to PS.

[Jack W.]

I have both, but use Paint Shop Pro 90% of the time. It's a terrific program.
Here's a link to the Adobe page with info on upgrading from Elements to CS:
http://www.adobe.com/store/products/special.jhtml?id=catMicrotek&sourcecode=112300
Although it says upgrade from Elements bundled with a Microtek scanner, others have posted that it applies to any version of Elements. The price is $299, and it's the full version. If you can find Elements on sale (I've seen sale prices of $50), your cost would be $299+what you paid for Elements+shipping. That's a great price for the full version of PS CS. But Paint Shop Pro can be had for $80-$100. It probably has about 90% of the functionality of PS, and customer support is absolutely top notch. You can download a trial version at the Jasc web site.

[bobdf]

I have used Corel PhotoPaint 8 and previous versions for quite a few years, but have always found the layers and masking tools very difficult to master. And my old copy doesn't handle RAW very well and has no EXIF readout. A search on the Internet came up with Elements II as a really good program and I realized I already had it as a freeby with an Epson 2400 scanner I bought last year.

It is true that Elements II has about 85% of a full Photoshop (and Adobe, I discovered, handles layers and masks a lot better than Corel, though the instructions are almost non-existent). However, that missing 15% in Elements II includes some essential photo tools such as Curves and Channel Mixer. Again, I looked in my bag of freeby software that I rarely open and found a limited edition PhotoShop 5. It doesn't have much but it does have Curves, Channel Mixer and Quick Mask. It is a pain to jump between these two programs but, together, I can get a lot done. BTW, PhotoPaint also has Curves.

I think the Photoshop 5.0 LE came with my HP Photosmart 7960 printer (which is a wonderful machine). So, if you need a new scanner and printer, you might want to check the bundled software. You'll never get Photoshop CS this way, but you won't shell out megabucks either.

[MH]

I'm a dedicated (but not expert) Paintshop Pro user and updated last year to version 8, after being impressed by the trial version. For those with no technical skill whatsoever, the "one step photo fix", fixes a multitude of usual exposure problems, etc. Plus there are all the usual tools for more complex manipulation which I'm working through bit by bit. PSP 8 can be bought for around £50 in the UK (half retail price) but if you do get it, make sure that you download the free upgrade to 8.1, as it has a lot of bug fixes. Download the trial version and see for yourself from www.jasc.com