adobe photoshop, which one?

[Bushman]

Good day!
I've strated to shoot in RAW format. I currently have Photoshop Elements 2.0, but it seems that some of the newer versions of PS might be better.

Any suggestions as to upgrading?

Thanks!

[viczig]

Elements 3 is raw capable and you can also download trial versions of Elements 3 and CS2 from the Adobe web site.

[jimsolt]

Good day!
I've strated to shoot in RAW format. I currently have Photoshop Elements 2.0, but it seems that some of the newer versions of PS might be better.

Any suggestions as to upgrading?

Thanks!

If you want to stay in the Elements bracket, get Elements 3. It adds an Organizer function which many like, and it is of course a newer version. If you are shooting RAW from some types of cameras (Digital Rebel XT for example), you will need Elements 3 and the latest free downloadable plugin ACR 3.1. You will find many third party plugins for Elements 3 that add to the features that come with the program. Many are free. Some aren't.

If you want the extra bells and whistles (and they are many and they are good) and you want to pay the price for them (and it is considerable, about $500 additional), go for CS2. Again for RAW support for the Rebel XT and other newer cameras, you will need CS2 and the same plugin as for Elements 3. The older CS will not handle RAW for these cameras.

I'm an Elements guy. Sometimes I wish I had the CS2 version, but for me the extras cost too much for the limited usage I would get.

Good Luck,
Jim

[EOSAddict]

From what I have seen so far (only had PSE3 a couple of weeks) it covers all the bases and has the best organizer and you can add a lot of the CS functionality such as curves, channel mixer using free plug-ins. If you are shooting RAW suggest you look at Raw Shooter Essentials first.

[hobkkop]

I don't know if the offer still stands or not. If the Photoshop Elements 2.0 came bundled with a canon product you may be able to upgrade to Photoshop CS2 for $299. I did it a couple of weeks ago and the link below worked. You have to enter the serial number for the PSE 2.0 to be able to buy at the discount. If you are interested in the full Photoshop give the link a try.

http://store.adobe.com/store/products/master.jhtml?id=catCanon

Pete

[gsniegow]

What about 7.0? I don't follow the software so I have no idea if 7.0 is way out of date. Will it work RAW files as well? Or is there a plug-in / update that I need?

Thanks!

- Gene

[Bushman]

HOBKKOP:

Thanks for the tip! I'll check it out.

[Longwatcher]

With PS 7.0 you get cloning (this is common on photo software these days)
With PS CS you get healing (this by itself made it well worth the effort)
With PS CS2 you get spot healing (By itself I can live without this upgrade, but it will save some time as apparently I don't need to find a source point any more)

Just for this tool alone makes a huge difference and then there is RAW support.
with PS 7.0 you can get to 10D, 300D, 1D, 1Ds
with PS CS you can get to 20D, 350D, 1DM2, and 1DsMkII (plus the ones in PS7)
with PS CS2 you can get to he RAW file of any camera Canon already out and comes out with after CS2 came out but before CS3 comes out. The big RAW reason to upgrade at this time is if you have new Noink cameras.

This is my one true annoyance factor with Adobe is apparent complete lack of support for previous versions of Adobe PS immeadiately after the new version is out.

So it is best if you get PS CS2 at this time (and upgrade as needed). I just budget for a PS upgrade about once a yearish.

Now back to the point. You might want to just get and use a copy of Canon's DPP 1.6 (it is free) and with PS elements will do most of what PS CS does from a intermeadiate user standpoint. PS CS2 is of course better, but is the extra cost worth it to get new. That is the descision you need to make.

Just my opinion,

[gsniegow]

Thank you LongWatcher.

I actually have access to many versions of Photoshop. I will need to see if I can get my hands on CS2 then! =)

[Bamamike]

I did it totally different. I bought an old OEM version (7.0) for $74, this made me eligible for an official upgrade for $149 to CS2. That's it !

[Jesper]

What about 7.0? I don't follow the software so I have no idea if 7.0 is way out of date. Will it work RAW files as well? Or is there a plug-in / update that I need?No, Photoshop 7.0 does not work with RAW files. Before PS CS was out, Adobe used to sell a plug-in (Camera Raw version 1.x) for Photoshop 7.0, but since CS came out, they stopped selling the plug-in.

Here's an overview (at least, this is how I think it is, correct me if I'm wrong...):

With Photoshop CS, Camera Raw version 2.x is included. For support of the most current cameras, you can download the latest version of Camera Raw 2.x (I believe version 2.4) from Adobe's website. With regard to Canon DSLRs, Camera Raw 2.4 supports the 20D, but not the 350D / Digital Rebel XT.

With Photoshop CS2, Camera Raw version 3.x is included. It supports all Canon DSLRs including the 350D / Digital Rebel XT.

Photoshop Elements 2.0, as far as I know, does not support Camera Raw, so you can't open RAW files directly in PS Elements 2.0.

Photoshop Elements 3.0 supports Camera Raw 2.x as well as 3.x, but the functionality is limited (not all of the options of Camera Raw are enabled / visible when you use it in PS Elements 3.0).

Conclusion: If you have a 350D / Digital Rebel XT and you want to be able to open its RAW files with Photoshop, you need either PS CS2 or PS Elements 3.0 with Camera Raw version 3.x. Bad luck if you have Photoshop CS.

[PhotosGuy]

With PS CS you get healing (this by itself made it well worth the effort) PS7 does have Healing & Patch, too. If you're on a budget, I'd stay with PSE3 & get RawShooter.

[CyberPet]

I think Adobe might have an upgrade scheme for Elements and LE users, although not as "cheap" as the upgrade from Photoshop 7, it's at least cheaper than to buy a completely new license.

If it's still expensive, look at eBay and similar and for a Photoshop license (make sure it's not someone selling the box cuz they've upgraded, then you can't upgrade) and get it cheap. Then go with the "regular" upgrade scheme that Adobe has for the full Photoshop. I think it's valid from version 6.0 and up to get CS2 for instance.

[Bushman]

Thank you, all, for your input!

i ordered cs2 and got the $300.00 credit for canon customers!

Feel free to check out my ebay store at:

http://stores.ebay.com/natural-inspirations-photographs

Any feed back is welcome!

[Headcase650]

I have been bothered by Adobe's marketing the last few years. Lets say you had PS7 and opted for the ACR 1.0 for an additional $100. Now you have $700-$750 out of pocket and you can manage raw files. A few months later you upgrade your camera only to fine out adobe isnt going to support your $100 plug in and now you have to upgrade to CS for an additional $150 because it comes with ACR 2.0 included in the package and this version supports your new camera so you buy it for the raw support only but dont need the additional features. Less than a year later Adobe anounces CS2 with ACR 3.0. You consider it but dont need the new fetures. Guess what, Adobe is only going to offer updates to ACR for CS2 and Elements 3. So if you buy the next great canon digital you are going to be forced to upgrade to CS2 for another $150.

What the hell,

We pay enough for this product already with out getting corn holed out of $150 every 8 months.

[rfreschner]

We pay enough for this product already with out getting corn holed out of $150 every 8 months.

I agree that it stinks. However, there's now an option of using the free DNG converter and editing that.

[PhotosGuy]

Headcase650, I tend to agree with you. PS is the industry standard & you will never go wrong if you learn it. It does have a lot of features that you will probably never use though.
OTOH you could try GIMP.org for a free & excellent software pgm. It has layers, lots of excellent .doc, tutorials, & forum help, too. It has plugins to let it open Canon-RAW files directly, much like Photoshop (although not quite as slick).
There's also a gimp-fork called "Gimp-video" for video-editing, which is used quite a bit in hollywood.
There's some things you'll miss from photoshop, but none of the "important" ones. Layer effects, filter-previews on most (if not all) filters, a good filebrowser are some of them. These may have been added since I used it last.
NOTE: The latest version only works with Linux, but the pre version that works with Windoze is also available to download. I last used a pre-pre-pre version & it was great! I teach PS sometimes, which is thats the main reason that I use PS now.
Getting and Installing the GIMP for Windows:
http://www.gimp.org/windows/