Should I upgrade (Photoshop Elements)?

[momtutu]

I currently have Adobe Photoshop Elements 3. I'm doing fine with it and my new fun hobby here!! But as I'm looking through tutorials, it looks like the ones for PSE3 are becoming somewhat farther and fewer between vs PSE6. Should I take the plunge and upgrade? I know one thing 6 has over 3 and that's the ability to make text boxes - that would be sooo helpful!!

Any ideas?

[Megan Turnidge]

I highly recommend PSE 5 (you can find it for cheap on Amazon) because that's what I have and didn't really like 6 when I saw a friend using it.... but I know some love 6.

I can't believe you live w/o text boxes!!! :blink:

[meems]

What you could do is d/l the trial for PSE6 from Adobe and see how you like it. It's looks very different from PSE3 and installing actions is more time consuming. You can have both versions on your computer but you can only have one program open at a time (I think).

but you can do more with drop shadows. also I think you can preview fonts. can't remember if PSE3 has font preview . . .

[momtutu]

No, PSE3 does not have a font preview - that stinks too! I've been doing an online tutorial for digiscrapping and it uses PSE6. Many of the options are the same and some I just have to live without because PSE3 doesn't have the capability.

Ok, stupid question of the day...what are "installing actions"?

[Megan Turnidge]

Actions are written in Photoshop/PSCS2/CS3 and are a series of steps that do something... there are actions for all kinds of things.... and you just click a button and it does it for you. For example, I have an action that turns a shape into acrylic. As long as all the steps in the action are doable in PSE, you can install it and use it in Elements. Clear as mud, huh? lol

[Sarah8914]

upgrade to 5.0! you can get it here for $30!

http://www.clickcooldeals.com/show_detail.php?item_id=392

[Shawna]

I upgraded from PSE3 to PSE6 back in January and I have found it to be a fairly easy transition. Yes installing older actions is a bit more time consuming to start with, but once you figure it out it's really not that hard. And I've found a lot of places are offering self-installing actions for PSE6, like the Photoblast actions I have for photo editing or most of the newer actions include the necessary files to make the actions easy to install. PSE6 does have font preview, text boxes and more drop shadow options than PSE3 as well.

I got my copy for $65 through my local university bookstore since my DH is a teacher and qualifies for the education discount. You can also qualify for the discount through Academic Superstore if you have school age children or are a teacher or homeschool, you just have to provide proof of eligibility.

[momtutu]

Wow Shawna - thanks for the heads up on that website - I do have schoolaged kids so I can get the discount - $65.00 is great for PSE6! I may have to go ahead and do this.

I still don't understand about the actions though. Are you talking about stuff like cont-c to copy and cont-v to paste? Are those actions?

[Jennifer]

When I used PSE6, I loved it! I've since changed over to CS3, but still use PSE6 from time to time. If you can upgrade, go for it! :)

[scrapperjade]

Wow Shawna - thanks for the heads up on that website - I do have schoolaged kids so I can get the discount - $65.00 is great for PSE6! I may have to go ahead and do this.

I still don't understand about the actions though. Are you talking about stuff like cont-c to copy and cont-v to paste? Are those actions?

Actions are different than short commands. Let me see if I can help you...

You know when you want to add a shadow to a layer, you just have to click the drop shadow button? Well an action does something similar. There are actions that tear paper, turn stuff into chipboard, make something look acrylic, etc.

For example. I have an action that I downloaded from Atomic Cupcake that will tear my paper. I just use my marquee tool (marching ants), to select what I want torn, then click the "Wild Tear" action button (that I have installed). Then in a series of steps that takes about 1 minute, Elements basically takes over and starts creating layers, and doing all kinds of wierd stuff, lol. When its all done, I have a torn paper. Its really quite neat, and SO easy to use!

[Megan Turnidge]

Wow Shawna - thanks for the heads up on that website - I do have schoolaged kids so I can get the discount - $65.00 is great for PSE6! I may have to go ahead and do this.

I still don't understand about the actions though. Are you talking about stuff like cont-c to copy and cont-v to paste? Are those actions?


No, those are keyboard shortcuts. An action is basically a set of steps that you might do in Photoshop... some are to enhance a photo, some are to change a shape into an acylic element or into a metallic element.... you click a button and it does the series of steps for you.

[Brooke W]

I've got pse6. would someone be so kind as to explain what text boxes are and how to use them,lol?

[Megan Turnidge]

I've got pse6. would someone be so kind as to explain what text boxes are and how to use them,lol?


When you use the text tool, you click and drag to make a box to type your text in. In PSE3 you can't make a box, which makes it difficult if you need to type a paragraph and later need to alter the margins. Does that make sense?

[Shawna]

Wow Shawna - thanks for the heads up on that website - I do have schoolaged kids so I can get the discount - $65.00 is great for PSE6! I may have to go ahead and do this.

I still don't understand about the actions though. Are you talking about stuff like cont-c to copy and cont-v to paste? Are those actions?

No problem, glad I could help :)

Actions in PSE are different than keyboard shortcuts. I mostly use actions to enhance my photos, but there are tons of different actions out there (drop shadow actions, paper tearing actions, resizing actions, etc.). Hummie's World has a helpful tutorial on how to load them etc. if you decide you want to play around with some free ones, it starts on page 13 or so.

http://www.hummiesworld.com/Course%202%20-%20Playing%20is%20Fun/Plug-Ins%20Tutorial.pdf

[Paula]

I upgraded from PSP X to PSE 4, then when I switched from PC to Mac, I upgraded to CS3 and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

[MamaK]

I just switched from 3 to 6 this month. I am a die hard 3, I love it and nothing compares. 6 is pretty darn close but there are a few things I miss, one huge one being the easy-to-use nudge and undo without having to hit any keyboard buttons. but I say go for it if you want to upgrade. have you trialed 6 yet?

[momtutu]

What?? There's not a one button "undo" on PSE6? Yikes!!! That's my favorite button of all!

Now I get it - thanks for the info on actions. Makes more sense. I don't think I'm ready for them yet!

[Megan Turnidge]

CTRL+Z is the keyboard shortcut... I like it better than clicking undo anyways. ;)