Photoshop vs Photoshop Elements

[jamiebae]

What's the difference between these two? Mostly for retouching images, and maybe stitching panoramas and a bit of HDR, is there anything important that Elements won't do?

[AndWhyNot]

Early versions of Elements don't have layer masks, you'll find that handy for stitching and detail processing but a lot of the fundamental tools are available to both programs. Later versions of Elements (9 onwards, iirc) do have layer masks and can be had quite cheaply.

V10 for £49 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adobe-Photoshop-Elements-1...

[tenohfive]

AndWhyNot said:

Early versions of Elements don't have layer masks, you'll find that handy for stitching and detail processing but a lot of the fundamental tools are available to both programs. Later versions of Elements (9 onwards, iirc) do have layer masks and can be had quite cheaply.

V10 for £49 on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adobe-Photoshop-Elements-1...

They do special offers every now and then. I got it for £35 delivered from Amazon a few months ago.

[Craikeybaby]

I think the key limitations for Elements are 16 bit images and CYMK colour, neither of which are any benefit to me. One thing to bear in mind though is that Elements is usually upgraded in September, so if you're not in a rush (or haven't already used the 30 day trial) you can get the new one or the current one at a knocked down price.

[tenohfive]

Craikeybaby said:

I think the key limitations for Elements are 16 bit images and CYMK colour

I'll admit my ignorance - what does that mean to the average photographer?

[Xerstead]

tenohfive said:

I'll admit my ignorance - what does that mean to the average photographer?

16bit, as opposed to 8bit, allows far more information to be saved. Simply, there are far more different shades of each colour for more precise editing.
You've probably heard of R.G.B. colour (Red, Green, Blue), CMYK is a different method of recording colour values commonly used in printing.

[tenohfive]

Xerstead said:

16bit, as opposed to 8bit, allows far more information to be saved. Simply, there are far more different shades of each colour for more precise editing.
You've probably heard of R.G.B. colour (Red, Green, Blue), CMYK is a different method of recording colour values commonly used in printing.

Am I right in saying that Elements 10 does open and allow basic editing (levels, sharpening etc) of 16 bit images but that filters etc won't work with it?