The key difference between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop is that Adobe Photoshop gives you full manual control over the tools that are available and what you want to achieve, whereas Adobe Element comes with fewer tools and mainly tries to automate what you are trying to achieve.
Adobe Photoshop is a tool used in many industries for digital image manipulation. It is very complex to use due to the sophisticated tools it possesses. It also comes with a professional price tag. Adobe Elements, on the other hand, is a consumer product. It is made for users who do not need complex features and options. It comes with a guided workflow, simple design and organizer to manage your files.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Photoshop
3. What is Photoshop Elements
4. Side by Side Comparison – Photoshop Elements vs Photoshop
5. Summary
What is Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a software used for graphic designing. It is sold as a part of the Adobe Creative Suite which also includes Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat Reader, Lightroom, and other useful tools. Photoshop is primarily used for photo editing, website and element creation for projects.
Photoshop is an excellent tool for photo editing. If you want to use an analog photograph on a website, the first step will be to scan or digitize the photo and bring it to Photoshop. Using the various tools found in Photoshop you can edit the photo to your preference and make it look better.
Photoshop is a preferred tool for website designers as well. Photoshop is capable of exporting HTML. Although not used to code websites, it is used for designing before moving on to the coding part. It is a common practice to design a flat nonfunctioning design before moving onto the functioning part using other dedicated tools and hand coding. It is easy to drag elements around, adjust colors and modify elements without writing the code that may need to be changed later.
Although InDesign and Illustrator are ideal for desktop publishing, Photoshop is sufficient for doing this type of work. The adobe creative suite is an expensive package, so many prefer to start off with Adobe Photoshop. Projects like business cards, postcards, posters, and flyers can be easily completed with the tools available with Photoshop. Print shops will accept photoshop files and PDF files for printing purposes. Larger projects like books and multi-paged brochures should be done on other software.
The ability of photoshop to have custom brushes, add effects and multitude of other tools enable Photoshop to be a great platform for creating original content. The graphics made can be exported to other programs for other types of projects as well. Once a designer has mastered all the tools in Photoshop, imagination and creativity will determine the graphics that need to be created. Photoshop can seem to be a large obstacle to learning and master. The best way to learn Photoshop is by practice and extensive use of the available tools and tricks. You can also use Photoshop books and tutorials to master Photoshop.
What is Photoshop Elements
Photoshop Elements may be the ideal application for those who are just starting to edit photos or who have an intermediate level of editing photos. Some features that come with Adobe elements will retouch and create various effects on your photos. Some of the features that come with Adobe elements will help save time when compared with the time for the same results in Adobe Photoshop.
Photoshop Element is ideal for teachers, scrapbook makers and people who need to create posters and materials without needing the skills of expert editors. Adobe Photoshop user usually tend to be intermediate to advanced image editors. This platform is highly concentrated on retouches, Hollywood studios, and advertising agencies.
Adobe Elements does not target professionals. It comes with RAW support with the help of an Adobe Camera plugin. Although an Adobe Photoshop expert may find himself at home when using Adobe Elements, Adobe Elements does not encourage you to use any of the serious tools in it manually. Elements will do all the work for you with just a few simple clicks. Your family images can be made to pop up with minimal fuss regardless of the camera used. Adobe Photoshop is comparatively very expensive when compared with Adobe Elements. If you do not require all the functionality that comes with Adobe Photoshop, you should consider Adobe Elements.
What is the difference between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop?
Photoshop Elements vs Photoshop |
|
| Photoshop Elements has reduced functionality. | Photoshop has greater functionality. |
| Color Mode Support | |
| This does not support Duotone, CMYK, Lab and multichannel. | This support most color modes. |
| Image | |
| This does not support 16 bit but can open such images. | This supports 16 bit. |
| Tools | |
| Magic wand, Recompose, brush-based tools, shape based tools do not work. | Tools provide the user with total manual control. |
| Smart Objects | |
| Smart objects are not fully supported but can open smart object files. | Smart objects are fully supported. |
| Channels | |
| Photoshop Elements does not have this feature, nor the channel mixer. | Photoshop has this feature. |
| Merge | |
| This cannot merge images into an HDR image, Offers Photo merge | This can merge images. |
| Extensions | |
| This does not support Mini Bridge and Kuler | This supports Mini Bridge and Kuler. |
| Panels | |
| This lacks a lot of panels which include brush presets, tool presents etc. | This has all these features |
Summary – Photoshop Elements vs Photoshop
The difference between Photoshop Element and Photoshop depends on the various features of the two apps and skills needed by the users. Adobe Elements is a simplified version of Adobe Photoshop. Although it lacks a lot of features that come with Adobe Photoshop, it is powerful enough to support the needs of beginners and amateurs. It consists of a friendly user interface and many essential tools. Adobe Photoshop is a very popular photo processing program. Adobe Elements is more automated in editing photos whereas Adobe Photoshop gives you full manual control of editing with the tools it possesses.
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