Ellie and Jenna want to know… Do you prefer them in Color or B&W (and why?)

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Yesterday I used a flat iron on Ellie and Jenna’s hair for the 1st time – they fell in love – and even let me take photos!  So today when I edited, they were trying to decide if they prefer black and white or color.  Ellie said to me, “can you post some of these on your blog and ask your readers?”  How can you turn a cute 7 year old down.  So here they are.  Please let me (and especially Ellie and Jenna) know if you prefer the black and white or color – and why?

Thanks for playing along – they are going to be very happy!

Jodi
 

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  1. Melissa on May 18, 2009 at 9:21 am

    I use elements for the cost issue for now, it can do a lot more than some people think it can. Maybe I like the challenge, but really it was do I get the camera and lens I want or photoshop creative suite? I went for the equipment first.

  2. Puna on May 18, 2009 at 9:33 am

    Jodi,I really love photoshop but I truly think that for most people, elements is just fine. Especially for the price. Unlike most other cheap photo editing software, you can use elements for more graphical editing, rather than just photo editing. This could be fun for some folks. Unlike you, I learned photoshop first then tried elements and I still am a fan of elements. Of course, I’m not a professional so I still don’t know some photoshop bells and whistles but one day I’ll take a course!Thanks for the post.

  3. Melinda on May 18, 2009 at 9:50 am

    I used Elements up until recently when I became more serious about editing and I really wanted to be able to use more tools and actions then Elements could provide. I took a Photoshop class at a local college and never looked back. Full photoshop is amazing.

  4. MariaV on May 18, 2009 at 10:02 am

    I’ve never used Elements and unless someone provides me with a compeling reason to do so, I probably won’t.

  5. Jill R. on May 18, 2009 at 10:02 am

    I used Elements 6 for nearly 2 years. I think it was great to cut my teeth on. Now that I’m using CS3 I wouldn’t go back! However, I must say that because I had to use Elements it made me not rely on actions so much for my editing. I think that has given me a better understanding of how to use the various tools…but also when a good action could/should really be used. I just got CS4 last night and haven’t uploaded it into my computer yet! 🙂

  6. Laurie on May 18, 2009 at 10:02 am

    I learned on Elements 6.o and recently upgraded to CS4(when Adobe had the upgrade for $299). At first I hated CS4, but I hate change. Now I am really loving using actions that I couldn’t use with Elements as well as learning how to use the adjustment layers. Thanks Jodi for all of the tips that you offer up!

  7. Keri on May 18, 2009 at 10:58 am

    I had Elements for about 6 months and quickly realized that I had outgrown it. I like CS2 because I can use Actions. And not so much to use OTHER PEOPLE’S actions, but to make my own. Trust me, if you’re editing even 100 photos for a client, setting up specific actions to do things like watermark and downsize for web make ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD. Actions will change your life. I’m perfectly happy with CS2 and have no desire to upgrade, however, I’m also shooting with a Canon 30D. If I upgrade my camera, which I would like to do soon, I’m also forced to upgrade Photoshop because CS2 only has Camera Raw support for the 30D. Adobe you SUCK for that BTW!!!!!

  8. Keri on May 18, 2009 at 10:59 am

    Also – Elements doesn’t have Curves. Curves is a great tool!!!

  9. Keith G on May 18, 2009 at 11:00 am

    What about Lightroom? I’ve heard that for photographs, it has everything you need. Can I use photoshop actions like yours in Lightroom? $259 for Lightroom is much better than $639 for CS4. It would be great if you could do a similar post about Lightroom. Thanks!

    • admin on May 18, 2009 at 11:09 am

      Keith,Personally I like LR for the basic Raw editing but until they have true layer masks it does not provide me the control I want over my photos. I also personally feel it is limited it what it can do in terms of retouching. Someday as they add more – I may change my mind – but I am pretty bias here as I much prefer photoshop CS-CS4 (at least as of May 2009)…Jodi

  10. Nina on May 18, 2009 at 11:03 am

    I love PS but I’m biased cuz I also use it for my design work. For those who don’t want to pay that kind of money for a program, there is an amazing program you can download online called Gimp. It’s 100% free and does everything PS does. It won’t support PS actions, unfortunately, but it’s easy to use (some say a lot easier than PS) and you can find a lot of tips and tutorials online. I used Gimp for awhile before I had to use PS and I loved it. I still use it every now and then. I had to switch to PS because of work, basically. Btw, just want to say I love your site! I recently discovered it and it has been so helpful. Thanks for all the great tips!

  11. Linda V on May 18, 2009 at 11:27 am

    I use Elements 7 and love it, not to say I won’t upgrade to Photoshop when I find a food deal. I think Elements does a lot more than people think, minus curves and the CMYK. I like the simple way I can send cute e-mails to my family, quick and easy. I like the way the Organizer works. I have recently purchased Lightroom 2 and am getting to know my way around. The more I use it the more I love it. I am finding some ways to make it work with Elements.

  12. Gwendolyn Tundermann on May 18, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    We have CS2 and CS3 but we don’t use them anymore. Every since I began using Lightroom to edit I don’t see a reason to open all my images in the sloooooow moving photoshop programs. I do use Elements for just a few things (like the cloning tool) to touch up images and to create layers and watermarks, but that is about it. I love my editing combo! My hubby still uses Photoshop CS3 sometimes just to be able to play with actions, but he is beginning to appreciate the speed and ease of LR as well.

  13. Charmaine on May 18, 2009 at 12:39 pm

    I use Photoshop CS4 right now (just upgraded from CS2!) and I love it. I think I tried Elements once as a trial to see the difference, but I could not imagine having to do with less than the full version – and now that I have CS4 which works so much more efficiently with my Macbook, I can’t imagine even going back to that previous version. I have a lot of people ask me to teach them how to use Photoshop so they can do the same things with their photos that I do with mine, only to find that they actually have Elements. You can do a lot with Elements, but sometimes they are disappointed that they can’t get exactly the same effects that the full version of Photoshop can get.

  14. Charmaine on May 18, 2009 at 12:40 pm

    Oh, and I do edit my RAW photos with the Photoshop RAW editor first, but then I always end up running a few actions on them to really get them to boost – I LOVE Photoshop’s RAW editor!

  15. Sunny on May 18, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    I do probably 95% of my editing in Lightroom 2 and only zip over to Elements 6 occasionally to do something LR doesn’t do as well or apply a texture, etc. At this point, the Lightroom/Elements combo works well for me.

  16. Paul Kremer on May 18, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    I purchased Elements first and was thrilled with it! I couldn’t believe all of the things I could do with it! After my first few clients though, I started to realize that there was no way I could have such a slow workflow for hundreds of images and make money at it. Then I downloaded the trial of CS3 and was absolutely blown away! The actions, the curves, the SPEED. It easily sped up my workflow to 1/4 of the time I had spent…not to mention layer masks and full control of curves, which are 2 of the most powerful functions in my book. Then I purchased Lightroom 2, and can’t go back. Together, Photoshop CS3/4 and Lightroom 2 have made my workflow unbelievably fast and powerful. Now I can edit 1 picture in Lightroom, and apply the settings to 50 other pictures in the same series immediately. I can shoot in RAW and in seconds export every one of them to the proper size for printing or web, along with sharpening. And when I want some serious editing power, out comes CS3. I have no idea how I would have been able to be a professional photographer with Elements. Elements is great for a hobbyist or someone with 100 photos from their vacation, but for someone who comes home from a wedding with 1500 images? It just won’t cut it. :)In my book Photoshop CS3/4 equals power, and Lightroom 2 equals speed. Together, they are amazing!

  17. Erin on May 18, 2009 at 1:34 pm

    I use Elements, CS4 and Lightroom 2. Like Paul Kremer said, LR is an excellent workflow improvement. If you can find actions that are designed correctly, many Photoshop features can be “snuck” into Elements. For a long time, I used nothing but Elements with these actions quite contentedly.If I could figure out how to get LAB mode into Elements, I would be quite happy.I have a few actions on my website that are Elements compatible, and there are lots at CoffeeShop also.

  18. Mandi on May 18, 2009 at 2:23 pm

    I own both elements 6 and Photoshop 7, and I use both. The thing is, I use Elements by far and away more than I do the full version of photoshop. It has my favorite actions on it, I can open my files in raw and adjust away, and it’s easy peezy. I’d recommend it if you’re on a tight budget for sure.

  19. Melinda Bunker on May 18, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    Well, if your a photographer like myself then I suggest you use PS; Photoshop and LR Lightroom to convert your RAW images and adjust in LR then take into PS for final editing.Melinda

  20. ttexxan on May 18, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    Im using CS4 at the moment and going INSANE!!! I have a new Mac book pro and the pad keeps zooming pics in and out when editing!! I dont use a mouse and prefer the track pad but this is INSANE. It never used to happen in CS3. Needless to say I have lost my CS3 disk and dying to get another copy. However I cannot find CS3 anywhere!!!!! If anyone knows place to buy or willing to part with theres please please let me know!! My email is [email protected] Adobe no longer sell CS3.I have tried lightroom and several other programs. Nothing can touch the power of photoshop. Lightroom has its place but for serious editing photoshop is the master!!

  21. Life with Kaishon on May 19, 2009 at 12:01 am

    This was helpful and informative : ). Thank you! Hope your vacation is going swell!

  22. Baily on May 30, 2009 at 12:06 am

    I got a great camera and didn’t have much to spend on the editing program but I shopped around for awhile and got CS3 Extended for only $148 dollars off the web at a great special price! Came to me in the box never open and never registered! I didn’t have to sacrafice between my equipment and my editing program because I took the time to do some web shopping! CS3 is great for taking a picture and transposing it to another background, all the tools are far more advanced I had Elements 7 before and the differance between the two is unbelievable, the quality of the finshed product is awesome! I think that it is easier to do and less of a time constrant as before, I can do more images in less time! More bang for my buck!!!

  23. Kristi on July 24, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    Very informative. I realize this is an older article, so I’m just wondering if elements has changed quite a bit with version 9? I really like it and feel like I can do just about anything I want with it (except it doesn’t have curves and a channel mixer). I would like to be able to create actions though. That would be so nice for doing a big batch that I want to look similar. Still a hobbyist at this point though, so hard to justify the expense. I’d rather get a new lens first.

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