Photoshop CS versus Elements 3?

[Luvwine]

I am sure this has been asked before. I have Photoshop Elements 3. I also use DPP 1.5 and I have started shooting only in raw. I have been trying to get a workflow that I like and have done some reading about what others do. I also like to use some Plugins (like the FM sharpening plugin for the 20D tho I have mixed feelings about it--I often prefer the results just using USM with some of the recommended values from Scott Kelly's Elements 3 book)). I was reading luminous landscapes and saw his essential 3 plugins, one of which was the photokit sharpener which works, naturally, only with CS. Most folks recommend the book Adobe CS Camera Raw. Of course, that assumes the use of CS. I know that CS is available for $299.00 with an Elements serial number. Is it best to just bite the bullet and get CS? Is CS much harder to use? I do kind of like the organizer that comes with Elements 3 as it conveniently automates my backups onto CD. The money is not the deciding factor, but I am torn between thinking that CS is more than I need (probably) but also that I will always be handicapped by not having the best tool for the job. I am a hobbyist and not a pro. Any thoughts/words of wisdom?

Best,

Luvwine

[Steven M. Anthony]

I've never used Elements 3 (I used to use PaintShop Pro V9.0). But I recently bought CS and it is awesome. They have a full version 30-day trial. So download it and give it a test drive!

[Dante King]

I have both. When I am tried and lazy I tweek in Elements, when a shot is a serious keeper and needs adjustmentor embelishment, I use CS. Much deeper levels of tools and functions in CS . I too am a avid hobbyist, but found the investment in CS was the right thing for me.

[Jesper]

I have Photoshop CS and I've never used Elements 3.0 (I did use Elements 2.0 though before I upgraded to CS - Elements 3.0 didn't exist yet at that time).

I think that you can do almost anything with Elements 3.0 that you need to do. Camera Raw in Elements 3.0 works almost the same as in CS, but some of the advanced functionality is not available.

In my opinion, the single most important feature that is missing in Elements 3.0 is the full support for colour management that CS has. As far as I know, the Assign Profile and Convert to Profile commands are still not available in Elements 3.0. This is only important if you want to have a fully colour managed workflow, however. Also, support for 16 bit per channel images is more limited in Elements 3.0 than in CS.

Like Steven says, download the tryout version of CS (it's a very large download...) and try it out to see if it has extra functionality that's worth $299 to you....

The tryout version is available from Adobe's website here: http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/main.jsp#product=39 (note, it's more than 150 MB for the Windows version).

[Reminisce]

I recently got my hands on PS Elements 3 and I must say its very efficient and tons better than 2. I agree with a previous poster in that if I need to do some quick tweaking and image adjustments, PSE3 will work very well with my workflow. So far, my FAVORITE part of PSE3, is that now with my 20D RAW files, if I just plug my CF card into my CF reader, Adobe Photo Downloader will pop up and automatically thumbnail and display a menu of all my CR2 files on the disc and prepare a folder by date for me. After that, it will ask if I want to delete the files on the card after download. I LOVE this feature.

CS, however, is more intricate still, though elements has all the bases covered. The RAW converter is the same, minus a few things like Resolution and DPI and such. Its a great program, but if you're real intricate about editing, I'd say PSCS and play around in PSE3