SimplePhotoshop.com » Photoshop Elements » Elements vs. Photoshop
Photoshop Elements vs. Photoshop
If you have not made your choice yet, you may want to know more about the differences between Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. In the author's opinion, the most significant limitations in Photoshop Elements are:
| Missing Feature | Purpose | Who Cares | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMYK colors | pre-print image processing | printing industry pro's | doesn't matter if you print your image with your jet printer or in photolab |
| Channels palette | color adjustment | advanced Photoshop users | you still can edit color channels separately by using the Levels dialog. |
| Actions palette | automating work | advanced Photoshop users | you can use the existing actions (prepackaged macro commands) available in the Effects palette; however, Elements won't let you record custom actions. |
| Color Balance | color adjustment | wide audience | This undocumented function can be unlocked in PSE v. 1, 2, and 3 |
| Curves | tonal and color corrections | advanced users | This undocumented function can be unlocked in PSE v. 1, 2, and 3 |
| Layer masks | retouching, manipulation | wide audience | This undocumented function can be unlocked in any version of Elements |
| some Layer Style functions | manipulation, design | wide audience | you can't change for example, color of dropped shadow or create a separate layer from layer style; in most cases though, it can be solved in some tricky way. |
| some Web components | web graphics | web designers | you can't slice images, create rollovers (web page behaviors); comparatively weak GIF animator, quite sufficient though to create a simple animated banner or button. |