Photoshop 7.0 or Elements 6.0?

I recently used photoshop cs4 on the 30 day free trial. Now that my trial is up and I have the option to download Elements 6.0 or photoshop 7.0.

Which one is the better program? And coming from CS4 which program will I be best sutied to use off the bat?

PS: I heard of a software called GIMP.... with my two other options is this even worth it?

Thanks You

 

I have Elements 6 and think its a great program. I have no idea what difference there is between 6 and 7 aprt from the price!

I have never used GIMP but have been told its very good for free.

 

I've used all of the above.

Photoshop, is great, I started on Photoshop 7, but I've used versions lower than that since (photoshop 5 and 3 at one point)

The elements package is stripped down, and has limited functionality. I would rather take an older version of Photoshop, than a newer version of elements any day. Elements give you limited ability to create layer styles, although you can use ones created by others.

I personally use CS3, but I'd highly recommend you buy a current Creative Suite - it's worth the money!

GIMP is great, I've also used that for almost a decade now and even though I have Photoshop cs3, I still use GIMP almost as often. No matter what you get from Adobe, why not download the GIMP as well, it's free and top-notch. Also, if you're looking for an alternative to Adobe Illustrator, check out Inkscape. It's a great vector app, that is stronger than Illustrator in many ways.

inkscape.org

 

Depends your needs, how professional?

 

How does it depend on the needs? Photoshop is more capable than Elements, even if they only wanted it for cropping pictures for a photo album it doesn't matter....

Photoshop lets you create and control everything, it's like a computer that you've built, piece by piece. You have the felixibilty and power to change whatever you watn, at any time.

Elements is like a laptop, you can change the RAM, and maybe the Hard Drive, but you can't really upgrade or change the rest of the computer that much. If it doesn't do EXACTLY what you want it to, you can't change that.

Personally, I'd say that Photoshop7 isn't THAT far behind current Photoshop for simple image editing, and that the most effort that they have put into it is on the side of photo-manipulation and retouching. GIMP is still great.

Go for Photoshop, but why not just get CS4 anyway?

 

Hey everyone thanks for the replies! I don't need photoshop for that complex of tasks, just things like modifying colors on web templates and creating custom headers that only have like 4 or 5 layers. I would still prefer to only download the best version to save room on my computer.

I'm guessing that Photoshop 7.0 is my best bet over Elements? Innovati, so your advice is to download Photoshop 7.0 and Gimp?

Thanks!

 

yes. that's the best in that situation, don't forget to grab inkscape.org as well!

 

innovati, thanks a bunch for your replies!

Anyone else s opinion is much appreciated.

Thank You

 

both programs can do this kind of job.
you can't go wrong either of the two.

 

Well i have 3 or 4 photo programmes on my PC at the moment ( I must Clean i up) I have CS3 and CS4 also Elements 7 and Paint Shop Pro. To be honest if your just touching up images then Elements 5,6 or 7 will do you just fine. The more complex the job the more umf you want then i would suggest Adobe Photoshop CS2.3 or 4 and also Painshop Pro will do almost everything that Photoshops does.

Its a personal choice really. If you have experience with Elements then i would stick with that.

Hope my 5 cents helped.

Oh by the way i'm a professional Vector Graphics Designer and have and use alot of MAMA 3D which cost me £2,600 to buy. If your straped for cash then Elements is good for touching up ok. Otherwise you need one of the Photoshop CS or even PaintShop Pro. PaintShop Pro is also very cheap seeing as what you can acheive with it.

Elements 5, 6 or 7 would be my choice ok.