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Photoshop is the best there is, and the new version simply makes that more clear.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T e c h n o f i l e
Photoshop CS2 and Photoshop Elements 3.0: 2 splendid image editors, $500 apart


June 12, 2005


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard

   Why buy a $600 photo-editing program when a $100 program can do practically the same thing?
   That was the question I asked myself when I gave Adobe's new version of Photoshop a tryout. I knew after just a few hours that the new version of the world's leading photo software was the best thing to hit photography since the invention of light.
   But I also tried the more affordable version of Adobe's image-editing software, Photoshop Elements 3.0, to see how it compared. It is such good software -- equal in most ways to Photoshop itself -- that I had to wonder if Adobe is sacrificing sales of Photoshop CS2 to Photoshop Elements in an effort to keep its customers "all in the family." Photoshop Elements 3.0 seems to have only one competitor, Photoshop CS2.
   There's no question that Photoshop CS2 is better than Photoshop Elements 3.0, but it's surely not $500 better unless you're a professional photographer.
   I installed the Adobe Photoshop CS2 ($600 list price) and its sibling, Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 ($100 list), on my primary computer, an Apple OS X Macintosh. If you're a Windows user, you'lI be glad to hear that Adobe offers identical versions of both programs for Windows as well as Macs. Everything I say here applies to the Windows versions, too.
   I spent a few weeks of spare time editing my vacation photos. They included a hundred 5-megapixel digital photos and three dozen 16-megapixel scans of 35mm color negatives. (I had brought along my Nikon 35mm single-lens reflex camera on our trip to the south this year to supplement my Sony digital camera.)
   There's no question that Photoshop is the best there is, and the new version simply makes that more clear. Image editors don't come any better than this. There's a learning curve, but don't let that discourage you. After all, these days there are learning curves for cell phones and the CD player in your car. As my mother used to say, sometimes you just have to learn things the old fashioned way.
   In my case, learning what was new about Photoshop CS2 was all I had to do. I had taught myself how to use Photoshop many years ago, then caught up with what I missed by asking a lot of questions of the professionals who work with Photoshop all day long at my newspaper office.
   I like the latest Photoshop more than I can convey. I wouldn't consider doing image editing without it. It's faster than the previous version -- a sign that Adobe cleaned up the code a bit -- and it seems to have been programmed by people who can read minds. Amazingly, in this era of sloppy programs and leaky code, the folks at Adobe know how to do things just right.
   I love this software. As you'd expect, Photoshop CS2 comes with extensive features -- you can view a list at www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/newfeatures.html -- and it worked flawlessly with all my Photoshop plugins, too. Among the features I found essential is a brilliant but simple shadow-and-highlights adjustment that rescued scores of my photos from lighting problems the first day I used it.
   I found the Adobe Bridge image browser a delight. It's a separate program that springs into action when you want to view and manipulate an entire collection of images. I liked the way I could make the thumbnails larger or smaller by nudging a slider, just as I do in iPhoto, the pace-setting image software that Apple supplies with every new Macintosh.
   Best of all, the Adobe Bridge image browser takes over preliminary functions that previous versions of Photoshop either ignored or left you to work out in whatever way you could. Using the browser, you can now handle and process many images at the same time, rate pictures by quality for automatic arrangement (just as iPhoto does), preview images in slideshows and perform searches -- all without touching Photoshop itself.
   I tried the new Photoshop before I gave Photoshop Elements 3.0 a workout, and I'm glad I did things in that order. Deciding which of the two programs I'd recommend became much easier.
   Photoshop Elements 3.0 is a gem. It lacks some of the high-end features of Photoshop, such as advanced layering, conversion to modes used in print shops and a few automation procedures, so it's clearly not intended for anyone who edits images professionally.
   But it's otherwise a clone of the more expensive program. Except for advanced layering, color-separation print output and a few other things, what you can do in Photoshop CS2, you can do just as readily in Photoshop Elements 3.0. Nearly all my Photoshop plugins worked in Photoshop Elements, and the program handled immense scanned images with the same aplomb shown by its big sister.
   Photoshop Elements 3.0 even has the same shadow-and-highlight adjustment that captured my fancy in Photoshop CS2, and its other image-fixing functions worked the same way, too.
   Whether you're a photo beginner of a serious weekend photographer, Photoshop Elements 3.0 should be ideal for you. Even casual professionals might be satisfied with the features in the less espensive program.
   If you make your living editing pictures, look for a deal on Photoshop CS2; it's usually discounted on the Web, and upgrading from a previous version of Photoshop costs $150 or less. Otherwise, grab a copy of Photoshop Elements 3.0 and smile all the way to the bank.