Catching up..what to?

[Peter Anson]

I've been using PS 6 since 2004 or thereabouts. I've never used it to anywhere like it's potential. My editing needs have never ever touched the full extent of what was offered even then. My needs for an editing program are still basic. I currently use AftershotPro for my raw conversions and minor tweaking and for any serious manipulation PS6. I've been thinking that the latest PS elements might be a one stop shop....Can anyone shed some light on this?

[HMW12]

I would recommend upgrading PSE to a later version . Starting in v9 you get the benefit of layer masks which I find quite helpful and some of the new cloning features like content aware fill are also quite useful. I use a combination of LR 4 and PSE 9 so not the latest and greatest versions but more than I will ever master fully.

[Shadowman]

I've had PSE for over a year, I have a good reference text (Scott Kelby's) and I still haven't used it to its potential. There were a couple of methods shown in the text, such as dodge and burn) that required using a series of key strokes, background layers, and then utilizing a brush. I tried it a few times and gave up initially, I later returned and it worked flawlessly so now I can use the technique when needed. I think each specific program PS, PSE, or LightRoom requires some degree of patience in order to master all of its potential. Just don't give up to soon, and sometimes more than a 30 day trial is needed to fully grasp the software capabilities.

[Manfred M]

If you are using PS6; then I would not bother the Elements at all; it is a subset of PS with a thoroughly amateur user interface. I'm trying to figure out why you would use AftershotPro, when with PS6, you have ACR built in for your RAW conversions.

[dje]

Hi Peter

When you refer to PS6 I assume you are referring to Photoshop Elements 6, not CS6. You should find that the latest version of Elements has a version of Adobe Camera Raw which is significantly better than that in PSE6. How it compares to AfterShot Pro I don't know. Why not try the free trial and see for yourself ?

Dave

[Peter Anson]

Thanks for the help. The PS6 I use is the one dated 1989-2000 and so has no support for raw that I can find. The fully blown CS models are way more than I need. I'll give the free trial of the latest Elements a go. Again, thanks for the help.

[inkista]

Ah... Photoshop 6.0 (CS(1) was 8.0). One thing you might want to consider if you don't do much work with masks and layers might be getting Lightroom--although given that you have AftershotPro (aka Bibble), which is like Lightroom only with layers & masks, it sounds like PSE might be the better path for you. I would also disagree with those saying you don't need AfterShotPro if you have a version of Photoshop that can use ACR (Adobe Camera RAW), since I'm a Lightroom/Photoshop user who does 90% of her processing in Lr.