Hi all. I am a very newbie (is there anything newer than a freshman?)
Anyway, I currently own Paint Shop Pro 6 and can use it to add brush strokes, B&W with selective coloring, adding lettering, etc.

But, it doesn't do all the cool things that I've seen photographers do with Adobe Photoshop. I've never been to art school or taken any digital software classes. I'm learning on my own.

Do I need to have Photoshop to use the Elements? My budget is very limited - I haven't really made much profit from my portrait business - but then, again, I've just started (under a month - being pro).

All suggestions and comments are appreciated. I feel so juvenile on this site, but I do read a lot here and have learned so much! Thank you!

OK, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are different products. Elements is some basic functions of Photoshop. Photoshop is the full monster.

Do you need Photoshop? No. There are plenty of alternatives out there from free (GIMP) to expensive. Corel Paint Shop Pro, Pixelmator, Paint.Net, Picasa, etc.

Don't forget Photoshop Lightroom, which is not a replacement for Photoshop, but can serve as really all you need for most things.

Photoshop's power is in the ability to manage many layers, and manage, at a very fine degree, editing, composting and image manipulation. If you need to remove a distracting object in an image, or replace a background, Photoshop is your tool.

The benefit of Photoshop over alternatives (really GIMP, Corel PaintShop Pro) is that there are millions upon millions of free tutorials, guides, books etc available, which allows you to quickly pick it up and use it. The other tools have few resources, as the community around them is not as big.

You have a fairly old version of Paint Shop Pro, I looked on my shelf I have PSP9 that is at least 5 years old. I went to PhotoShop as well as I needed a little more horse power and while Corel is a good tool, it is not a full featured design suite like Adobe Creative Suite is.

You may want to look at their version of PaintShopPro that is for Photographers. Perhaps a better upgrade price.

My suggestion is to start with Lightroom 2 and learn to use it well when shooting RAW images. This will make a tremendous improvement in your images by itself.

If you begin to find LR limiting, and need selections and layers, then you may want to consider adding Photoshop to your kit. You will have plenty to learn with LR before you get to Photoshop.

Learning to use the RAW converter abilities built into LR with RAW files, and your choice of camera profiles, will allow you to significantly improve your images before needing Photoshop.

[quote=pathfinder]My suggestion is to start with Lightroom 2 and learn to use it well when shooting RAW images. This will make a tremendous improvement in your images by itself.

If you begin to find LR limiting, and need selections and layers, then you may want to consider adding Photoshop to your kit. You will have plenty to learn with LR before you get to Photoshop.

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I agree.

You would be wise to start with the latest technology that was designed for your purposes instead of learning...becoming familiar with...and once you have the knowledge...realizing that some other software won't serve your purposes.

LR was designed for the working pro to help them make money...sound like what you want to do?! Honestly, IMO going any other way would be a waste of time...and time IS money. Make an investment in your future...it really is a small one.

I agree with Pathfinder. Start with LR. I use LR about 90% of the time. Photoshop I use as a plugin to LR and only when I need to do some cloning or heavy altering of a photo.

Originally Posted by pathfinder My suggestion is to start with Lightroom 2 and learn to use it well when shooting RAW images. This will make a tremendous improvement in your images by itself.

Good idea, and typically Adobe lets you download a 30 day trial so you can see if you like it before you purchase.

Originally Posted by SweetScenePhoto Hi all. I am a very newbie (is there anything newer than a freshman?) Anyway, I currently own Paint Shop Pro 6 and can use it to add brush strokes, B&W with selective coloring, adding lettering, etc. But, it doesn't do all the cool things that I've seen photographers do with Adobe Photoshop. I've never been to art school or taken any digital software classes. I'm learning on my own. Do I need to have Photoshop to use the Elements? My budget is very limited - I haven't really made much profit from my portrait business - but then, again, I've just started (under a month - being pro). All suggestions and comments are appreciated. I feel so juvenile on this site, but I do read a lot here and have learned so much! Thank you!

I'm using Corel Paint Shop Pro PHOTO Ultimate X2. Interface is very similar to Adobe and is also pack with goodies for the price it's just an excellent piece of software at a very good price.

CS? is way too expensive for me, but I haven't found anything I couldn't do, direct RAW import and editing, HD, background removal, cloning, great image effects and correction and so on, in Corel Ultimate.

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...1&tabview=tab0

GIMP is excellent for both windows and linux! And GIMP also comes with a new photoshop interface, and that's free at www.gimpshop.com .