Photoshop Elements 7 & PhotoPlus X2

oldwiring

At present I have PhotoPlus 9 and Serif provide a [FONT=&quot]http://www.serif.com/photoplus/photoplus11/whats-new/ very good comparison with version 11 and a small list of wht also is added in X2. However most people seem to use versions of PhotoShop and Elements is the one for the ordinary bod on a budget. Disappointingly I can finf no full spec of what Elements provides, just a lot of waffle. Does anyone know whre there is a full spec as in PhotoPlus? Is perhaps Adobe relying on pps buying its products on name rather then content and abilty?
Gas anyone experience of the two products?
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isofa

Nothing can compare to Photoshop, it's in a different league to anything else, to compare Adobe products with Serif products is like comparing a Porsche with a Lada.

Elements is a very good application for the home user, it contains a cut down set of tools found in the professional Photoshop CS application.

I've been using Photoshop since v2, and I really couldn't manage without it, I occasionally try other applications for quick conversions, but Photoshop just works, and has so much power.

If you are on a budget, then the full or extended versions of Photoshop are a no-no, they are very expensive, if you are a student however you can get the Adobe CS suite for much less.

For a home user, who wants to use Photoshop, I'd recommend Elements, Amazon usually have good prices on it.

You can use some of the features of Photoshop, free online, via Photoshop Express.

However if you want some freebie applications instead, try Paint.Net or the GIMP both are more capable IMO than Serif software.

f1charlie

A review here:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/227004/adobe-photoshop-elements-7.html

but probably still not enough info for you.

oldwiring

Thanks guys for the replies:beer:

After I posted I found http://photo-editing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ this from a US site.Col 1 has Elements 6 and 3 PhotoPlus X2. Isofa is very encouraging of ELements and seemingly disparaging of Serif's product, but on first glance at the specs there seem few differences. What in particular of items mentioned uncder Elements, but not in PhotoPlus are those that bring the latter down to Lada level, or is it general ease of manipulation for the non tech bod?

Can anyone, particularly Isofa, enlighten me?

f1charlie

You could try posting the question on the Serif forums:

http://www.serif.com/forums.asp

isofa

oldwiring wrote: »

Thanks guys for the replies:beer:

After I posted I found http://photo-editing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ this from a US site.Col 1 has Elements 6 and 3 PhotoPlus X2. Isofa is very encouraging of ELements and seemingly disparaging of Serif's product, but on first glance at the specs there seem few differences. What in particular of items mentioned uncder Elements, but not in PhotoPlus are those that bring the latter down to Lada level, or is it general ease of manipulation for the non tech bod?

Can anyone, particularly Isofa, enlighten me?

It's the foundations that Photoshop Elements are built on that are important i.e. built from the key functions of Photoshop. I'm looking at this from a professional perspective, but evaluating it for a home user - and the case to say Elements is a superb application is a strong one. It brings Professional level editing, within easy reach of a consumer, and where possible, it "wizards" all sorts of complex adjustments, with levels and curves to bring out the best in photos.

I'm sure serif products are fine for that end of the market, and I've only ever had brief views of them, so it would be unfair for me to comment for basic use - of which I'm sure they are ok. But you really can't compare the professional power of Adobe with Serif, it's just not a comparison IMO.

I'm sure if you Google for long enough you'll find people that swear by one over another, but professionally based, you'll be hard pressed to find anyone not using Photoshop.

Photoshop Elements is always well received by the technical, home user and photographic press; the full version is always praised by design, high end users and photography.

But at the serif level, you might as well go for the free applications I mentioned.

Photoshop is just an incredible application, in all its incarnations.

Fifer

Elements 7 isn't available yet; later this month, I believe. You might want to have a look at the Gimp. It's free, can't do any harm to try it.

isofa

As per my second post freebie wise, I'd recommend Paint.net first, then the GIMP, as Paint.net is more user friendly...