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GDHugh
7th of February 2008 (Thu), 06:57
Hey guys and gals,
I started with PSE3 the 4 then 5. Well now there is PSE6 and it looks pretty good. But, I also have PS6 and the upgrade PS7 which I haven't used just because I dread learning new software and PSE5 has done all I needed. Now, I see I have upgrade from PS7 to CS3 for $200. So, I am torn. The thing is, PSE5 is my comfort zone and I'm not and expert in all it will do. I do know PSE6 added some stuff I would like. One the other had, CS3 would take me into a real pro level and provide many years of learning. Do I need it? If so, do I need to add Lightroom, too? I don't really know so I am asking ya'll. The main thing I do is adjust exposure and tweek pics that are already pretty good in ACR. That part would not change. Every now and then I get one that is a great composition but the exposure is really bad with blow highlights or it's blurry. I am not good enough to fix those.
My goal in PP is to make my photo's look there absolute best without having them look processed. Now that's not to say that I might want to venture into some more artistic stuff toward the other end of my rather long learning curve. With CS3, do you have to learn a whole new and different work flow? Does it look totally different? What will it do that Elements 6 won't do and do I really need (as an advanced amature wanting to grow into something more) to learn to do all the stuff it will do? If I take the same image and tweek it the same way in PSE6 and CS3... will the CS3 image look $200.00 better?
OK your thoughts? Thanks for taking the time to have the conversation.

Roach711
7th of February 2008 (Thu), 10:05
The updated Adobe Camera Raw in CS3 by itself was worth the price of the upgrade to me. I can do most of my tweaking in ACR and use the Photoshop interface for the more involved post processing. I can also open .jpg and .tif files in ACR now. It's a real time saver. Going from Elements to CS3 can be a shock but once you learn Photoshop you won't go back. CS3 has a LOT of nice enhancements. However, it will take a lot of time to wrap your mind around them.

PhotosGuy
7th of February 2008 (Thu), 10:18
I'm still using PS7 too, & ordinarily wouldn't recommend CS3 over PSE, but for only $200? It's probably worth it.

GDHugh
7th of February 2008 (Thu), 10:19
The updated Adobe Camera Raw in CS3 by itself was worth the price of the upgrade to me. I can do most of my tweaking in ACR and use the Photoshop interface for the more involved post processing. I can also open .jpg and .tif files in ACR now. It's a real time saver. Going from Elements to CS3 can be a shock but once you learn Photoshop you won't go back. CS3 has a LOT of nice enhancements. However, it will take a lot of time to wrap your mind around them.

Boy, you said a mouthful! LOL
What version is ACR? I upgraded to the current ACR and really love it. I think it's 4.3.1. Is it different RAW converter if you have PSE vs CS3? Why would it not sorta just be separate. I havent tryed to open any JPEG files with it. I think I will try that when I get home.

GDHugh
7th of February 2008 (Thu), 10:24
I'm still using PS7 too, & ordinarily wouldn't recommend CS3 over PSE, but for only $200? It's probably worth it.


ONLY!!! Only, he says. I'm just a poor dirt farmer with twelve childrenand the wife dune run off with the rodeo. ;-)

But seriously, PSE6 I can get for about $70. that's why the deli-ma. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the extra $130. After all, that's a good down payment on a 580ex II

chrisvl
7th of February 2008 (Thu), 10:28
I asked this yesterday in another thread and didn't get any replies.

Is it worth it to upgrade from PSE5 to PSE6 or should I go straight to CS3? Can PSE6 create actions? If not is there a cheaper alternative to creating actions without going to CS3 as that's the only feature I'm missing that I think I need.
I have a watermark that I would like to apply to batches of pics.

GDHugh
7th of February 2008 (Thu), 11:07
chrisvl,
You might find some help here.... http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/learningcenter/

I know it does not answer the question about CS3 btu, maybe it will help.