PSE4 vs PSE5, what's new?

[luxius]

Hello there:)
I am new member of this forum. I am going to buy PSE, but I'm not sure which version to buy. It's not so obvious that the newest is the best. It brings new features I suppose, but for me more important thing is : modification's possibility - with plugins, to get back tools I really need. Most of plugins are avaible for PSE4 only right now. So, can You tell me please what's the difference between 4 and 5 that makes the second one worthy to buy and wait for plugin's update.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

If you don't already have any version of Elements then I really would suggest that you get PSE5 ...

... not too sure what you mean about most plugins only being available for PSE4 at the moment. Which plugins are you interested in ??

Wendy

[Hatter]

Hi Luxius,
If you're buying for the first time, there's no reason not to get the latest version. All the add-ons/plug-ins you need will work with v5.

Gareth

[Hatter]

In fact - see here (http://tinyurl.com/omx89): certain tools work with v5 but not v4.

Gareth

[TonyW]

Gareth: You're right. There's more that works in V5 than in V4 and I've not found any of my plug-ins that I had in 3 or 4 that don't work in 5.

Tony

[luxius]

Thx a lot for your advices:)
So there is no reason to not to buy PSE5, I see.
I have been told that 5.0 ver was made to make modifications harder to do, to not let get back the tool f.e. like curves in easy way. But now I see there's nothing to worry about.

Wendy, I meant: most of them :)

[Wendy]

Me too ...

That was why the original message confused me a little ... I did wonder if luxius had perhaps heard of a commercial plug in that didn't work in PSE5 :confused:

Wendy

[luxius]

Well...
After a few days.
I've got 3,4 and 5 trials installed at now on my comp.
Most of my usage of PSE is "visual" editing jpgs. Croping, seting curves, colour balancing, sharpening, resizing, cleaning etc. I don't need (and use) organizer, frames, shapes, effects and the rest of those "wonderfull" things.
And finally the worst impression comes from using ver 5.
Reasons:
I've improved PSE3 in 5 minutes with free plugins,with all I really need, works really fast.
I can't find a free substitusion of /coluor balance/ for 4 and 5.
PSE5 - There is no simply sharpen filter in 5, there is no undo/redo, and it works much slower than earlier versions. (sempron 2800+,1GB)

Sadly, much newer PSE, much worse?

Would You please make me change my opinion once again?

[Spacecadetswife]

I've got 3 & 4 on my computer at the moment, and I think I'm receiving 5 for Christmas. I've also found Elements 4 to be slower, but I do like the straighten tool which comes with Elements 4. I'm curious about the plugins that luxius has added? I've only added one (purchased) plugin to Elements 3.

[Chuck S.]

Luxius - Just a couple comments re your findings on PSE5:

Simple Sharpen was never a very good feature; most of us have used variations of the Unsharp Mask Filter to do a better job of sharpening. In PE5, although it's not in the Filter menu, there's a substantially improved sharpening tool, along with the Unsharp Mask. I believe it's under the Enhance Menu but will have to check upstairs on the PSE5 computer
Undo/Redo is a bone of contention, but the Undo History view is available and is in some ways a smarter Undo/Redo, showing you exactly what steps you're reversing and allowing you to jump back several steps at once.Chuck

[TonyW]

Funnily enough I have PSE3,4,5 and CS2, CS3 still installed and for basic photo editing PSE5 is my first choice. The only add-on from PSE3 that doesn't work in PSE5 is color balance and it wasn't one I used - I prefer Variations for simple adjustments and levels and hue/saturation for trickier ones.

The two new PSE5 features I really do like for photo editing are Camera Distortion (which I use for levelling and perspective corrective more than for lens distortion) and Enhance Sharpen which, when set to Lens Blur, is way better than previous sharpening filters.

As for speed I've not seen any significant difference between any of them - I'm still puzzled by people reporting PSE4 and 5 being slower than 3 :confused:

Just my 10c but at the end of the day it comes down to what works best for you :)

Tony

[Chuck S.]

Tony, thanks for the insights. I, too, have a suite of choices and have used PSE3 and CS2 more than any others; PSE4 was wasted money for me. Based on your recommendations, I'll give PSE5 a more thorough testing, especially the sharpening features.

Chuck

[TonyW]

Chuck - totally agree with you about PSE4 and I did procrastinate for a long while until I got a deal I couldn't refuse :D . For me it's now PSE5 and the CS3 beta that get the most use.

Tony

[luxius]

I've got 3 & 4 on my computer at the moment, and I think I'm receiving 5 for Christmas. I've also found Elements 4 to be slower, but I do like the straighten tool which comes with Elements 4. I'm curious about the plugins that luxius has added? I've only added one (purchased) plugin to Elements 3.


So, I've only aded free Grant's Tools and SmartCurve to PSE 3. It is quite enough for me. These tools are very handy and work fast.

I can't agree that simple sharpen is not a good tool, for me it is, especially for the web pictures and for simply and fast operations, when all the pics come from one source. And when You need more - unsharp mask.

Some people uses Color balance, same don't, but I am the one that really do, well maybe I am a victim of selfteaching PS:)


I use PS's from years. Normally I use CS2 for my jobs at the office.
But now I need a software for my home comp. I don't want to spent to much many for that, that is why I won't buy CS2 for over 800 $.

Firstly I've tested a few free software like Gimp, GimpShop, Pixel but I didn't like it at all. They were not enough "clear" and rather slow.
I've tried PSE hopping for its similarity with CS. For a start tried PSE5. But my first 15 minutes impression was that this version of "my lovely program" has got... a radioactive sickness - really:) But step by step - I even liked it. Although it is still slower than even CS2 working on the same machine and still I don't know way.

So finally, after only a few days I know much more than when I've started testing PSE - mostly thanks to this forum, thaks the posts and links I've found here. I can have my own opninion now. So thank You people:)

[Chuck S.]

Luxius: Thanks for sharing your experiences with PSE5. I agree that the effect of opening PSE5 (or 3 or 4 for that matter) and seeing the rather cluttered view is certainly jarring for those used to the simplicity of the CS2 (or CS or PS7) GUI. There's still a simple heart underneath all that glitter, though - probably why I've learned to ignore the extraneous stuff and use PSE as my primary editor.

Have you decided to go with PSE5 or will your search continue?

Chuck

[luxius]

Chuck, I decided to go with PSE5 :) It is still the best photo editing aplication than all the rest of "this kind". But still I think, I'd have been more happy if I could buy PSE3.

And:
"There's still a simple heart underneath all that glitte" - I liked it very much, man You're a poet!

[Wendy]

Hi Lexius ...

You can make some changes to the layout ... I closed down the photobin first and then also closed some of the palettes. Just leaving open the ones I want :)

My PSE4 (I'm a Mac user) now looks much more like CS2

You can make some of the changes via the Window menu ..

Wendy

[luxius]

Thanks Wendy. I did it at the very first run. I left opened only windows I need.
But it makes no change with PSE working speed.
I can open a hundred 1,6 MB files at one session with CS2 and it works like a machine gun.
For PSE5 even 30 is too much, it's like a dripping tap, I think it's because of its interface - very voracious for system's resources or the organizer maybe - I'm not an expert so these are only my suspicions. Probably PSE5 loads too many things to RAM to be "so handy". It also can be an effect of closing /back doors/ for improvments. I'm going to mount second 1BG RAM to my comp, we'll see will it help or not.

[Chuck S.]

luxius: With PSE3 and 4, there were techniques to disable the Organizer; not sure whether anyone has tried to do that with 5. Perhaps someone will chime in later on that subject.

Chuck

[luxius]

Well, it would be nice to shut it down. I'll be grateful for any advices.

By the way Chuck, have You ever seen this. It seems to be almost a clon of PS. Looks surprisingly familiar...
http://www.kanzelsberger.com/pixel/?page_id=12

[Chuck S.]

luxius, it certainly looks similar, doesn't it?

Chuck

[luxius]

O yes, I've been told about this software by my friend who uses it successfully from some time. I've downloaded free demo, although it is really very encouraging , I found this very unstable for my machine, unfortunately. But for sure it's worthy to try it anyway.

[Wendy]

Ummm ... makes you wonder if Adobe have seen it :D :D

Wendy

[luxius]

Yes, I wonder too :D