Elements 2015

Mani Gill

Mani Gill

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Mani
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Hi all,

Just a query around Elements 2015, I'm not familiar with photoshop, I don't really know how to use it and plan on going to some college classes to learn from scratch.

I have recently purchased Elements 2015, I've been through the guided mode of photomerging and a few others.

I use Lightroom most of the time.

Would you recommend buying a CC subscription and going through a book learning photoshop or stick the basics with Elements?

As I understand it is a much more powerful piece of software.

Thank you,

Mani
 
Mani Gill said:
Hi all,

Just a query around Elements 2015, I'm not familiar with photoshop, I don't really know how to use it and plan on going to some college classes to learn from scratch.

I have recently purchased Elements 2015, I've been through the guided mode of photomerging and a few others.

I use Lightroom most of the time.

Would you recommend buying a CC subscription and going through a book learning photoshop or stick the basics with Elements?

As I understand it is a much more powerful piece of software.

Thank you,

Mani
Click to expand...

Given that you've already got lightroom I'd stick with elements until you find it limiting.
 
As Simon says, stay with E15 until it no longer suits your needs. Some users find that it gets to a point where E15 will not open new camera RAW files. Adobe will not update E15, they market E16 instead!
 
I've been using Elements for years, upgrading to the next version every so often. I currently have Elements 13 and can see no reason to want to upgrade any further, as I only really use a tiny percentage of its total capabilities. I particularly like the comprehensive section on RAW processing.

In terms of a tutorial, I don't know whether it's politic to recommend a particular book on here, but personally I've found the Elements books written by Scott Kelby to be excellent. With PSE13, which was the last version I bought, I purchased The Photoshop Elements 13 Book for Digital Photographers by Kelby & Kloskowski and it sits on the shelf above my PC as a permanent reference source when needed. It's the sort of book that you can dip into at any point without necessarily having read the 400 pages from the beginning. Scott Kelby, an American, writes in such a way that it's like he's sitting next to you while you follow his simple steps through a particular process. He doesn't attempt to explain why a particular combination of settings works, he just directs you and it happens. He includes standard keyboard shortcuts for both Windows and Mac, which can be very time saving if you're processing a large quantity of files. You can always tweak things in your own way, but in most instances I've found his guidance to be pretty much all I need.

By the way, there is an Elements 15 version available .. try either Amazon or AbeBooks, they're both good value.
 
For me the very limited 16-bit image support in Elements is a dealbreaker.

As for paying for upgrades "from time to time" you've probably paid as much as it would have cost to buy the full Photoshop in the first place.
 
Rupert67 said:
I've been using Elements for years, upgrading to the next version every so often. I currently have Elements 13 and can see no reason to want to upgrade any further, as I only really use a tiny percentage of its total capabilities. I particularly like the comprehensive section on RAW processing.

In terms of a tutorial, I don't know whether it's politic to recommend a particular book on here, but personally I've found the Elements books written by Scott Kelby to be excellent. With PSE13, which was the last version I bought, I purchased The Photoshop Elements 13 Book for Digital Photographers by Kelby & Kloskowski and it sits on the shelf above my PC as a permanent reference source when needed. It's the sort of book that you can dip into at any point without necessarily having read the 400 pages from the beginning. Scott Kelby, an American, writes in such a way that it's like he's sitting next to you while you follow his simple steps through a particular process. He doesn't attempt to explain why a particular combination of settings works, he just directs you and it happens. He includes standard keyboard shortcuts for both Windows and Mac, which can be very time saving if you're processing a large quantity of files. You can always tweak things in your own way, but in most instances I've found his guidance to be pretty much all I need.

By the way, there is an Elements 15 version available .. try either Amazon or AbeBooks, they're both good value.
Click to expand...

I've used a Kelby book to teach myself Lightroom. You're right in that he does have a unique style.

Thank you.
 
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