There are so many options to choose from when it comes to editing pictures. Of course, the granddaddy of all is the Photoshop Creative Suites (CS5) and it's not cheap at $650. It offers more than anyone will ever use. There are a few specialty editing programs from ArcSoft that are used by specific business' that come close to the price and editing features of CS5. Below this step are your Lightroom and Aperture. Both excellent at organizing libraries of images and quite a bit of editing capabilities but you still need an editor to complete the process. The next level are the consumer based programs. Corel Paint Shop Photo Pro, ACDSee Photo Editor and Photoshop Elements are all included and can do just about anything you need for most work. Of course, you can't forget the free programs such as Picasso and GIMP.
Several years ago we decided on using Elements. There are many who downplay the capabilities because it won't use 16 bit mode, only 8, and there are other controls in each option that give you greater control over the image while working in it, especially in the layers. Does 8 bit or 16 bit matter? Yes. Do you want to work with 16 million colors or 281 trillion colors? Do the math. There are huge differences in 16 bit and the image is basically being worked in while not losing any quality. 8 bit will lose some quality as the colors are just not available. But do I want to spend $650 on a editing program. Or, Can I spend $650 on editing program? Guess you know by now what that answer was. No doubt, if circumstances change I will make the expensive move. You need to keep in mind that .jpeg itself is only an 8 bit format. So, we work in RAW, do as much work in 16 bit mode as we can, save in .PSD and then when needed we save as a .jpeg. I need to add a BIG disclaimer here. I am by no means a Photoshop pro or a math genius nor do I profess to be. I try to hunt for as much information available, gather it all together and try to make an educated guess as to what will work for me. Hey, back to my hunter-gatherer roots! It may be different from your findings but I will go where I am most comfortable. You may have different roots.
We first started working with PSE 5. It takes some getting used to anything new like this as you no longer get any kind of manuals with directions with the programs. But, this has opened up a huge market for those that are experts in this and made some people very rich and famous as well. Just ask Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski and Barbara Brundage. By the way, if you use Elements and you don't have Kelby's book, you are either very good or not using anywhere near all the capabilities of the program. Do yourself a favor (and his wallet) and get the book. The layouts are step by step with very good descriptions. In our computer/photo editing room, it is not rare to hear, "How do you do .....?" and the reply is mostly, "How did Kelby do it?" OK, mostly it's me asking Sheryll. Each upgrade has added just enough to keep me going up. We started with 5, went to 6, skipped 7, jumped to 8 and went to 9. That's why we are here. Most times, enough is added to make you want to do it. This time there were improvements in PhotoMerge Style match which matches older styles of printing and some films. What is neat about this is when done and you open the images further in Editor, all the layers from the image are there as a .PSD for you to tweak a little further. Photomerge Panorama does a better job with the edges of merged images. This is a fun option and only a slight jump from PSE 8 which was a big jump from earlier versions. A big improvement, and one I haven't played with yet, but look forward to, is the improvement in working with layers. Supposedly you will be able to work on one layer while seeing the other behind it. This is supposed to be just like its bigger brother without some minor tweaks while in the work zone. A big improvement. Also, a big reason for this jump to PSE9 this time was we got if for just $39 after the rebates during the Christmas season. Not bad for a normal price of $99. You should still be able to purchase it for $59 after the rebate if you shop around.
I am always a little leery of making changes to my computer. Generations ago people had kids to work the land with them. Today, it's so we understand all the new electronic gadgets. Well, when they are 6 hours away each in different directions, we work the electronic land a little differently. And when I changed to a new computer, all the images and such moved over with only minor frustration, but none of the keywords or albums were attached to the individual pictures any more. Any idea how pleasant and time consuming it is to go through 20,000 plus images to reattach them? Not at all. But it was a good time to go through and delete. Upgrading wasn't too bad. About a half hour the first time. Something about it wasn't right and the program kept causing the computer to stall as I watched the little circle go round and round. Viewing the CPU usage in task manager reinforced something wasn't right also. It went from 3% to 80%, from 6% to 95% and so on and on and on. I also couldn't get the disk out of the burner either. So I uninstalled and tried again. Same thing (but I got the disk out this time). By the way, it's not a computer or memory issue as it is most times. I am using a Cyberpower quad core I5 chip running 64 bit Windows 7 with 8 meg of ram. A little above box store computers as much of the complaints of photo editing people are memory problems and less powerful CPUs. I rarely have a problem doing anything.
A little research and I found the solution. The problem is Elements is trying to read all the thumbnails and is slowing down trying to read them all. Just simple went to Organizer selected Edit>Select all files>Edit(again)>Update thumbnail. Problem solved ( I hope!). That appears to have worked. It is opening images right up and allowing moving about in Editor with ease. I am trying to tweak the speeds some because I have so much ram available. This is done by going to Edit>Preferences>Performance. This window will tell you the ram available. I am taking this slow just to see if I can perk it up a bit. Another plus is all my keywords and albums are there and I'm back to when importing new images into Organizer, just the new images open. Something that didn't happen in PSE 8, but did on Sheryll's computer so I maybe had something turned off that I shouldn't have. And except for having to put in my info on the metadata and converting my two catalogs it wasn't a bad experience. As Winston Churchill said "We have nothing to fear but fear itself".
So don't be afeared. If you are looking for a new editing program, I can recommend PSE 9. If you don't know of its limitations, you are not limited. It will certainly take you to the next level in your photography. Some day Adobe will bring Elements right up beside its big brother and I will be right there for the upgrade! And remember......
Always go to the light,
Steve
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