PE 4 vs. PE 3

[3dpg]

I have been evaluating a copy of Photoshop Elements 4 and have been very pleased. I have also been thinking long and hard about purchasing a Wacom tablet. However, the tablets are still packaged with Photoshop Elements 3. I called them last week and the have not heard any news as to when then will begin bundeling it with PE 4. I operate on a very limited budget and do not want to purchase both.
With this in mind, what are the biggest differences between PE 4 and PE 3? Will I notice any loss of functionality by going to PE 3? I have about 8 days left on my trial, so I 'm going to have to make a decision soon.


Thanks alot

[TonyW]

Welcome to the forum. IMHO if it came down to Wacom+PSE3 vs PSE4 I'd definitely spring for the first option - mind you, I'm biased - that's what I currently have :)

Tony

[Mary]

Hi and welcome to the forum

I decided to pass on PSE 4 for a couple of reasons. First of all I use the File Browser in PSE 3 a lot and it was removed in PSE 4. I do not use the Organizer at all in PSE 3 and I was able to disable it entirely. In PSE 4 you are forced to have the Organizer running in the background even if you don't use it and the other new tools in PSE 4 I found were ok but not as great as advertised. I understand the Organizer was improved in PSE 4 but I don't feel there still was enough to warrant paying another 60 or 70 or even 100 dollars.

Just my opinion according to how I use the program. :)

[Marvin Mitchell]

Hi, and welcome also. I had purchashed PSE-4 and got a Wacom tablet with
PSE-3 also with the tablet and some other programs. If you consider the cost
involed, with the differance between the two programs, you would probly be better with the tablet and PSE-3. If you have a camera that shoots in raw and will have alot of work with raw then you may use the plug-in upgrades.
The PSE-3 that I have came with a plug-in that would handle my Nikon D70
and therefore you would not need PSE-4 all though it is nice to have. The magic selector and brush, with other differances is nice, but the file folder in PSE-3 is easyier to use. Hope this helps, hey I new at this my self.......
Marvin and Ginger dog.................

[Ward Grant]

I am voting for Tablet + PE3 for the reasons stated previously.

[Wendy]

Hi there ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

I suspect that the reason Wacom tablets still come with PSE3 is that they haven't done a version yet for the Mac.

Wendy

[Carbone]

I would definitively go for the WACOM + PSE3. PSE4 has not enough new stuff to justify not using a Wacom :)

Ray

[Norm F]

I use PSE4 and am quite happy with it. Having said that, if a tablet is in the plans, I would certainly go with the bundled software. It looks like a good deal. I would love to get a tablet but I'm not paying for the software again.

[Pauline]

I agree with all of the above. Elements 3 and the tablet. It would be a waste to purchase the tablet and then another verison of elements separately. Personally I'm sticking with 3! The new stuff in 4 doesn't interest me enough to upgrade. It's just an endless cycle of upgrading, and I have plenty to keep me busy with this version!

[RandyA]

I went with the Wacom/PSE3 bundle and am not at all disappointed with my choice, although if you are wireless and have Bluetooth you may want to consider the wireless Wacom/PSE2 bundle. I would have gone that route if my piece of junk Dell (Hell?) laptop was working! I played with the trial version of PSE4 as well, and have found that I like the older versions better, from what I've seen so far as I'm a new user to PSE.

BTW, I've found the Wacom tablets on the Internet for less than retail. Check Nextag.com, but make sure you do your homework on the vendors before you decide.