PSE 7 VS. Photoshop CS3

[ronniehollowell]

New member and I need some advice. I am changing my operating system to Vista and wanting to buy PSE 7 or PS CS3. I have done a lot of work on PS 7.0 in the past and really enjoyed using it. Only problem with PS CS3 is the price. I have not worked with PSE 7 and was wondering if it will do all that I need it to do like: clone stamp, sharpen, layer style, editing color/contrast, special effects, paint bucket, etc. I do not get into much creative work so I do not need a lot. Your advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

[lisabee]

Hi Ronnie,

Welcome to the Village :)

One thing you could do is download the trial version of PSE7 and see if it has everything you need,

Lisa

[jo]

The Elements version of Photoshop does all the things you mentioned at a considerably lower price. I started out with PSE2 and it wasn't until CS3 came out that I decided there were features I was willing to spend the extra money for. But Elements did everything I wanted it to up to that point.

With the stock market down so much my retirement has taken a major budget hit and I won't be buying either upgrade right now -- not PSE7 or CS4. But that could change if there are some serious sales for Christmas.

[ronniehollowell]

Thanks for the info and I do understand. I will try the trail.

[MazG]

If you have a Wacom tablet, you can get the upgrade version of CS4 for $299.