Planning to purchase PS Elements 6

[C2S]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently using an ancient version of the Photoshop Elements, that was bundled with my Canon scanner when I bought it years ago. Probably the very first version, as there's no additional version number on the splash screen. Well anyway, I'm slowly getting annoyed to its limitations, and begun to think about if I should upgrade to the latest version: 6.0. After all, it would be only a fraction of the price of the CS2 or CS3.

I've gone through a few thread of the subject, but since I'm not sure how "professional" Adobe allows you to go with the "dumbed down" Elements-versions of PS, I would like a confirmation from you guys if the following features exist in Elements 6.0:

(If you can't / don't want to answer all, I've numbered each if you want to answer some of them)

1) 16-bit editing: I usually spend quite some time on PP, and my current version of Elements only supports 8 bits per channel. Does Elements 6 allow full color editing? Is there any kind of limitations to this? And I remember reading once that in some Photoshop versions, not all editing tools / filters supported 16-bits - any truth to this?

This would be very useful as I sometimes twist and tune the tones and colors in some images a lot, which leads to slight banding and graininess in 8 bit mode.

2) Color management: My Elements only has some kind of generic "color management"-setting, without any specific option for sRGB or AdobeRGB - so can you control these in Elements 6? Note that I don't need the "convert to CMYK"-option, as the lab can do that when I supply the TIFFs (I don't print home atm) - but I should be able to do the actual PP in Adobe RGB.

3) Layer masks: My Elements only supports grayscale masks for adjustment layers, that is, for levels, hue/saturation, brightness/contrast, and such adjustments - but not for regular layers. Does this restriction apply to the latest version Elements as well? (although I hear some plug-ins can work around this)

4) RAW-import: Well I'm sure this covered, as you can download updates to ACR that work in Elements too. But here's a question still: does it make any difference / is there any benefit whether I:

A. Import my RAWs into Elements using ACR, and do the normal global RAW adjustments it (probably) offers, or
B. Use DPP to open, edit, and transfer the image to Elements with full information, including colors?

5) Curves: Some say Elements don't have curves, some say it's been recently added... so has it been added?

6) Photomerge: If you can say a word or two about how well these are working in Elements, if at all, that would be great too.

7) WB adjustment: ...in case I want to tune it mid-PP... my Elements has click-something-white kind of WB correction - in addition to this, are there any other options including some kind of a slider or multiple sliders?

That's all for now. If I forgot something essential, I'll probably post it in a reply later on. And if you'd like to add something worth thinking about, that is missing above, go ahead.

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[blinded]

google searches find a lot, fast, than if you know how to use it rig

1) yes, PSE6 supports 16-bits, though not fully. There's no 16 bit adjustment layers. And if you use any filters, they have to be enabled for 16 bit otherwise they won't work. That is true. I have run across this in real life, many items on the filter menu will be greyed out. All normal heal/dodge/etc tools that photoshop should work though.

2) In my google search somebody said the cm is still inadequite, though I saw options and references to srgb and argb in dialogue boxes.

3) not sure. saw one link that said the were supported, then another on one that said it wasn't, then a link that said it enabled them.

4) ACR has more tools available, but BAD color. If you use it, find or make a camera calibration for it, unless you want red to be orange (with skin tones to follow). DPP is way limited in lots of areas so I wouldn't even touch it (unless you want to get results like in camera jpegs)

5) Curves: no idea

6) never used it

7) Couldn't find any screens of ACR via PS6. You should be doing WB adjustment in RAW, preferrable with a whibal or eyeing it with a preset. Or you can just tweak the temp/tint sliders.

[C2S]

Yes, Google searches can find a lot, but I would still prefer listening to the actual owners and users of the program here, to avoid confusion on some of the program's details. It looks like you answered based on Google searches as well, and there are a few "not sure" and "no idea" kind of replies, especially in your answer #3. That's what I'm trying to avoid with this topic - I do appreciate the help though. ;)

1) The limited 16-bit sounds bad, but could be expected. What does "no 16-bit adjustment layers" mean exactly? Does it mean that the grayscale masks will only use 256 levels, or that the whole adjustment layer works in 8 bit mode, destroying data / not using the full color/tone information for its effect, whatever the adjustment in question is?

And how large chunk of the filters are not enabled for 16-bit? Are gaussian blur, highpass filter, find edges, minimum, maximum, and median filters enabled, for example? (There are a lot of filter groups I don't care about, such "artistic"-filters and "brush strokes"-filters)

[Raivyn]

I use Elements 6 and I love it! It does have layers, and there are alot of work-arounds so you can have some of the functionality of PS3. I would highly recommend it if you don't want to spend the $$$. Since I'm a hobbyist, I don't know why this program wouldn't give you all the functionality you need.

I recommend you research your questions here: www.elementsvillage.com (http://www.elementsvillage.com)

It doesn't support Actions, which would be a turn-off for some, but I've downloaded several add-ons that have helped out alot.

[New Hobby]

No curves but one can download a free plugin to do 16 bit curves.

[malam]

I am looking at Capture One - downloaded the trial a couple of days a go. I like the fact that you can try more than one variation of the same photo you are working on, and pick the best one. I'll like to hear what others have to say about this software though.

[overclicker]

FWIW... maybe another option. You would have to do a little researching/Googling, but, maybe if you purchased a Wacom Bamboo tablet (http://www.amazon.com/Bamboo-Small-Tablet-Graphics-Software/dp/B000V9NU2A), which includes PE5, you could kill two birds with one stone here. Hopefully, others here could tell you if it would be worthwhile to use PE5 or upgrade to the latest PE6, or if it would be worth the hassle.

[Glenn NK]

I'm using PSE 6.0, and it's weakness for me is that it is only 8 bit when it comes to air-brushing or cloning. This seems to produce some posterization.