PSE6 vs. Photoshop CS2

[garyb]

I took up photography during the summer and must admit I wasn't too bad. Got some interesting pictures of my dog and of the sites around the city I live in (Toronto, ON Canada)
I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 6.0 but I also have a copy of Photoshop CS2. Do i need both or will PSE 6 do all the things that i need? I am very amateurish when it comes to fixing and changing pictures, so any feedback or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Wendy]

Hi Gary ...

CS2 is aimed more at the pro market and will do a lot more that PSE6 will (and the price reflects that :) ) ... but PSE6 has the organiser which many hobby users like to use to organise their images.

The deeper you dig into using this sort of software and the more you realise that Photoshop has a lot of advantages over Elements.

Wendy :)

[garyb]

Thanks, Wendy. I have had CS2 for quite a while and rarely used in in spite of all the manuals that are available. I was looking for something relatively easy to learn and use and that's why I turned to Elements 6. When it comes to using these programs i am a complete "n00b", so the easier the better for me.
Thanks for getting back to me.

[Wendy]

Hi Gary ...

I donlt thing that the learning curve is actually much less in Elements ... but donlt worry about it we will all help you :)

Wendy

[NickLewis]

Hi Wendy,

Is that entirely fair? In Elements you've also got the Quick Fix and Guided Edit modes, which ease a new starter in to the package. And provide an awful lot of all many people ever want to be able to do to photos. Plus all the pre-packaged creations etc. I didn't think those were in its big brother.

Granted, once you make the transition into Full Edit, then you're talking about a more similar environment and learning curve. But I know I've not got anywhere close to reaching my limits in PSE, so I've not been tempted any further.

Nick

[Wendy]

Hi Nick ...

Apart from guided edits you can use Photoshop at just the same level as Elements ... you don't have to use all the extra flexibility. In fact for a while I didn't ... I used it in just the same way as I used to use Elements.

So instead of creating my own layer styles, custom shapes, etc etc I used premade ones just as I used to do in Elements.

Instead of initially learning how to use the pen tool I stuck with the familiar lasso ...

Photoshop does have lots of extra flexibility but you don't have to use it ... you can start off simple and then learn the extras later. If you use Photoshop in this way then apart from things being in different places in the menu it is remarkably similar to Elements :)

Wendy

[NickLewis]

Hi Wendy,

I take your point, but I wonder whether Elements doesn't have a more appropriate feature set for a beginner, who may never progress to the rarefied heights.....like me.......

It just disturbs me slightly how many relative newbies come along wondering whether to spend money on CS3, Lightroom, etc etc, when many of them would never really exhaust Elements.

(Admittedly Gary's case is slightly different as he already has CS2)

Nick