Do I need Photoshop CS or Photoshop Elements?

[h0kie99]

I downloaded the trial version of photoshop last night and began playing with it. WOW, it's complicated. I used a tutorial for adding a text layer to a digital picture and it looked really cool. I had no idea I was capable of actually creating a logo for myself! I figured I'd have to contract that kind of work out!

Anyway... I spent about an hour just playing with that one feature. The things I'm interested in involve editing images, creating pretty looking text images, and definitely adding interesting borders around images. Are these "the basics?" Can I get away with Photoshop Elements or do I need the full fledged version? What is the difference?

help!

 

[neilrobinson]

hi,

i am a digital printer so i have my own very personall likes and dislikes,

you my want to have a look at illustrator instead as it allows vector (much better) insted of photoshops usual raster (bitmap) text.

also i would really recommend corel draw (11 is latest for mac and should be cheap cause 12 is out now) it has all the illustrator bits, a photo editor simular to photoshop and lots of extras. it also can read almost any graphic format in the world

it also depends what you finally want to do with it (professionally printed? if so check with printers around your joint of what they prefer)

neil

 

[wordmunger]

Basically, it comes down to what you'll be using the images for. For offset printing, you need the full photoshop, but for on-screen use or for printing on your inkjet, Photoshop elements has all the same features for much less money.

 

[h0kie99]

I won't need to print anything... this is strictly for creating web images.

 

[wordmunger]

Oh, yeah: full photoshop comes with Imageready, which allows you to optimize images for the Web. Forgot about that. You can do it with Elements, but Imageready slickens things up quite a bit. Personally I use Fireworks, which works well for what I do, but a lot of others swear by Photoshop/imageready. Since the price difference is so huge, you might want to start with Elements, and then just upgrade to Photoshop if you later realize you need more power.

 

[neilrobinson]

image ready is great for resizing images down for the web so they dont take so long to download it would really recomend it...

but the full photoshop is more expensive...

neil

 

[.Andy]

Hey h0kie99.
For what you're doing I'd suggest you go with photoshop elements. I'd used PS before for doing a bit of art, webpage, photo, and image manipulation but got PSE last year to save money. I was a little worried that it wouldn't cut the mustard but it definitely does. I can honestly say there has never been anything that I need to use that isn't there from PS. For a beginner it also has a load of 'hint' palettes as well as walk through recipes and tutorials which makes things easier and less complicated than the full PS. As neilrobinson said it is good to take a look at Illustrator to do vector drawing. It is very easy to use and gives very professional results.

ps if you're s student (or know someone who is)then check out the edu discounts. They really are amazing for most Adobe products.

Good luck.