PhotoShop 5 LE

PS 5 LE came with my G2. How does it compare with PaintShop Pro 7 and the current version of Phoshop Elements?

PSLE is quite good; stay with it if you got it free! One "weakness" is, it has only one undo step. Elements would give you several steps, also adjustment layers, but you would lose Curves, which is very useful. A weakness with LE that may or may not be important for you is that it doesn´t support color profiles; Elements does.

Any of them takes quite some time to learn; try to get a book or take a course! Once you get the hang of it, you can do almost anything with either.

Can´t comment on PSP; I´m on a Mac, and can´t run it. Would be surprised if it were worth the additional cost when you already got PSLE!

PS LE has some advantages over PS Elements, and vice versa. LE has curves, 16 bit image mode and fully fledged layer masks, all of which are extremely useful in image editing but which you don't have in Elements. You might as well use LE since you already have it. It will take a little while to learn how to use it (don't overlook the user guide on the CD).

When you have got to grips with LE, you can look around and find trial versions of Elements and PSP on magazine cover CDs and will be in a better position to assess them. You may find V5 of PSP for free. In the UK, you can get trial versions of Elements and PS V7 with the current Digital Photography Made Easy. (You can also download them from the Adobe web site, but they are somewhat large).

John

Thanks all. That is very useful. I have tried several early versions of PSP (off mag covers) and was on the verge of buying v7. Then PSLE landed in my lap so to speak.

PSLE is certainly the best "bundled" software I've seen in a long time.

One thing I would like to do but can't with PSLE is to correct converging vericals.

Graham

There's a free Photoshop plugin available to correct perspective. It's part of Panorama Tools from http://www.all-in-one.ee/~dersch/ . Use Filter->Panorama Tools->Perspective. You have to estimate the angle of tilt of the camera and try different values until it looks right. If you learn how to stitch Panoramas with Panorama Tools, you can also use PTStitcher to correct perspective in a more precise and automatic manner by marking vertical and horizonatal edges in the image. However, Panorama Tools is not easy to use - see beginner's tutorial at http://homepage.dtn.nt​l.com/j.houghton/pttut​e.htm .

There is also the LensDoc plugin from http://www.andromeda.c​om/ .

John