That's a great price but be aware that for the typical user, it's a very challenging program to learn.

I've always been pretty good at figuring out programs, it's comes to me very easily, but I too found myself challenged by it. I think it's because when Photoshop was first written, it's primary audience was professional photographers & graphic artists. They are required to learn it as part of their ciriculum in school and until Elements, it just wasn't meant to be used by the average at home user.

Although Elements is said to be an easier program than the professional version and it was written more for an amateur, it's programming logic is still based heavily on the professional Photoshop version.

I have both Photoshop and Corel Paint Shop Pro, and although they are both similar, I find Corel to be a bit more user friendly.

The one thing I love about either of these programs is they are very versitle and do things no other program I've found can't do. For example, I can enlarge the resolution of a photo or create .jpg photos from pdf's.

After getting really frustrated I ended up investing in some tutorial books and that has helped a lot. So I guess the question you need to ask is, are you ready for a challenge? If you can go into it realizing there is a learning curve and a couple of tutorial books may be required, it could be just what you are looking for.

Thanks Lukkiirish. So, do you think this version has enough features, etc. to be able to Photoshop photos like I see here and on the Kitchens Forum?

I'm not afraid of a challenge...I'm actually in the IT business...used to be a programmer (or "Developer" as they call themselves these days!)...and now do requirements, testing, SQA, etc. I like playing with software and I customize everything to the hilt (which is why I dislike Office 2007 so much...most of the ability to customize was eliminated for Word, etc.) So, I think that given time I can eventually figure it out.

:c) Definately, Elements is the standard and what pretty much everyone uses. Keep a mental note though that if it gets too frustrating there is always the Corel program.
Given your back ground though, you certainly have an advantage. My DH is in the IT industry too and is currently in school for programming.

BTW, if you do a search, there are several free tutuorials available on line as well. :c)

It's a highly capable program, but as lukkiirish has said, it has a learning curve. If you don't mind that you're going to need some kind of tutorial (book, youtube, elementsvillage.com, whatever) to get going, go for it.

One advantage to Elements is that what you learn there transfers well to Photoshop if you eventually decide to go for the big gun. And there are thousands more learning resources for PSE than for Paintshop.

I agree that it has a steep learning curve - one that I never took the time to master. :(

Thankfully, my husband is a computer programmer and learns things like that extremely quickly, so I do the shooting and he does the processing. He tends to over process, so I have to restrain him. :)

If anyone is interested in simple photo processing - not really for decorating, however - I suggest LIghtroom or iPhoto. Buying a mac was the best thing I ever did since I tend not to process my photos very much. So easy. :)

Jo

Yes, there are more learning options for PSE than Paintshop but what I've noticed though is that the two programs have very similar logic in their approach to tasks. So if you can use Photoshop proficiently, you'll also be able to use to Paintshop well, I just found Paintshop to be a little more user friendly and easier to figure out. For me, PSE and PSP is much like comparing Word and Word Perfect, once I learned one the other was a snap to use.

Yes, that's true, although I think they have different strengths and weaknesses. And PSP is more windows-like in its design and commands, although I'd hardly call PSE mac-like these days. :)

Buehl

http://productquest.net/photoshop-elements-8.html

Thanks everyone!

Now a question...is it compatible with Windows 7?

see:

Here is a link that might be useful: Windows 7 and PSE

It's not that hard. I had an older version, and I managed to figure out how to mash up photos, change colors, and so on. For under $60--what could go wrong?

I find Adobe products in general are very difficult to use...not intuitive at all. I'm a nurse...16 years in ICU using all sorts of monitors and equipment, so I don't consider myself a total dummy. I have been involved in Telephone Nursing for the past 16 years and have learned many programs to manage patient care and also to manage employees and projects. Everything I have learned has been in the office setting by osmosis or taught myself. I'm not an expert by any means, but I can catch on to programs and even write technical curriculum as needed...but Adobe...YIKES...it makes me crazy.

I just had to learn a new program out of the Adobe Premier Pro CS3 over the last 2 days within a couple of hours. I built myself a guide with screenshots, but need to practice some more. Maybe after I get better with this video adaption program I will be able to use more elements in Photoshop...but I am a total hack in that program.

I wish I had someone at home to show me how to use all these programs...I would be sooooo happy. But I can CROP damitall!!! LOL

OK...I went ahead and ordered it. It also had an additional $20 off, so the net cost will be $34.99...not too bad!

jejvtr...I checked out that link, but w/the extra $20 off plus free 2-day shipping at Amazon, I decided to go w/Amazon. (I couldn't find a $20 off coupon/rebate on your linked site, so I didn't know if there was one available.)

As to Windows 7, I just wondered b/c my work computer has Windows 7. Our home computer has XP Professional and that's where I'll be using it mostly...so I went ahead and ordered it.

Again, thank you everyone for your help!

Hi Buehl - you can download a 30 day free trial direct from the Adobe site - that way you can check it out before you open the box - just in case you decide it isn't for you. Elements is definitely more user friendly than Photoshop. I downloaded a free trial of both Elements and Lightroom so I could test the features and user friendliness of each before purchase.
Also on the Adobe site you will find some tutorials which may help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Elements help from Adobe

That is a good buy...I may upgrade to that version too, even though I am technically challenged...thanks for sharing the information. You should not have any compatibility issues with Windows 7...the requirements are as follows:

System requirements
Adobe Photoshop Elements 8

* 1.6GHz or faster processor
* Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 or 3, Windows Vista®, or Windows 7
* 1GB of RAM
* 2GB of available hard-disk space
* Color monitor with 16-bit color video card
* 1024x576 monitor resolution at 96dpi or less
* Microsoft DirectX 9 compatible display driver
* DVD-ROM drive
* Web features require Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 through 8 or Mozilla Firefox 1.5 through 3.x

We have several computers, 2 with windows 7 and it works fine on it.

You can always find tutorials on the web that showed you how to do things with the program. I have PS C3 and it is challening but learnable if you're willing to put in the time. It's fun to play with and basically, that's how you learn.

It will work fine with W7.