Pse, cs & lr

[hulseyfam]

WOW, I can't believe all that is out there! lol I'm overwhelmed, but good thing I know just where to go!

I have been using PSE 5 for years to digi scrap and it has worked great and has been semi easy for me to learn. I bought PS 7 a while back and loaded it and I couldn't even figure out how to create a LO, so I went back to PSE. I'd like to get more into editing pictures and using actions. I have some that I have found some that I can use in PSE, but just wondered about the power of CS or LR. I can get an awesome deal on CS through my dh's work and then from what I've seen I can get LR for around $100. I've been thinking of getting one or the other to do some more advanced editing, but keeping PSE for the digi scrapping.

Is there a need for LR and CS? What are the pro's and con's to each?

I'm wondering how common it is to have CS and PSE and use both-I'm just wondering if I should take up that much space on my computer having both installed. Do most digi scrappers use PSE? I know to get into much designing you need PS. Should I take the plunge and learn how to scrapbook in PS7 since I already have it? What are the differences in PS and CS?

Sorry, I'm a techie beginner. Thanks for your help!

[twirlerzmom]

Hi Jaime,

I don't use CS so I can't comment on that but I use PSE 7 and LR 1 for my digiscrapping and find that's all I need. I use LR strictly for my photo editing. You can do a ton with your photos in that program. My personal opinion is, if you found PS 7 difficult you most likely will find CS overwhelming. From what I heard (again, never used it myself) but I think that's more the top-of-the-line, all the bells & whistles program. Oh, and I do have PS 7 on my computer too, but never use it-only use PSE for my scrapping. I am going to upgrade to LR 3 as soon as it's available though. I think you would really like LR for your photo editing

[Joey_M]

Hi Jaime!
I too had PSE 5 and was very comfortable using it. I now use CS4 and I am totally in love with it. However, I have to admit, when I first started using CS 4 I was VERY frustrated! In CS4, there is not a photo bin, the layers don't carry over the names (so I have to type in the name of the paper in the layers pallette if I want to remember who designed it), and the key strokes are little bit different. Now that I know my way around a bit better in CS4, I can't stand working in PSE 5! I love the actions that can be run in CS4 & the patch healing tool, just to name a few! I also have LR, and I used to only edit in LR, but now 90% of my editing is done in CS4. I think that I tend to software hop as I hardly touch LR now! I realize that I am not helping you much with your decision! Long story short, I love having each of these softwares, and I don't regret buying any of them! Good luck!

[hulseyfam]

I was basically wanting CS for running the better actions and photo editing. I would keep PSE for digi scrapping until I bit the bullet and learned it. I'm sure if I had to, I wouldn't be that bad. Just a matter of setting my mind to it.

But I'm just trying to decide if there is really a need for CS and LR or which one is better? Thanks Jan and Joey for your comments. Joey, I was actually just thinking about you this morning when I was online earlier!

[anxela]

I use both LR and PS5. Lightroom is great for editing raw, and for organizing my pictures! If you need an organizing system for your photos as well as an editing program, look into Lightroom.

PS CS5 is fantastic software. It has all the possibilities you can dream of... The new patch tool is amazing. Although I'm sure I could have done fine using Elements (I've heard that Elements 8 is great), I love CS5. (I get it for free because of my work, and I'd have to pay for Elements, so CS is more affordable for me )

As I didn't use Elements first, I don't miss the photo bin. LOL! I've heard quite some times that it's the thing people miss most when switching from Elements, like Joey said. I can find my way around CS5 now, but it has a steep learning curve. Coming from Elements will help though - you know the interface. I'm sure there a some books out there explaining how to jump from Elements to CS?

Lightroom and CS4/5 are two completely different things. I think there are a lot of things you can't do in Lightroom, but I've also heard that a lot of pros do all of their editing in LR, so I guess it's a question about knowing your software.

One of the things I love about CS4/5 is the ability to make my own actions, I don't know if you can do that in Elements? It's a great time saver.

Why don't you download a trial of Lightroom and see if you like it? And if you decide that you want it, wait for the Lightroom 3 to come out. I think it's right around the corner... While you're at it, why don't you download a CS5 trial too? And let us know your pick!

[ValerieP]

I have PSE8 and now cs5. I feel like I can sail through a page in pse8, but really am struggling with cs5-I bought a dummies book and I am reading through it-so-I hope I can get up to speed in cs5 because I know it can do so much more!

[katrinak]

I use LR and CS. I do all of my photo organizing, tagging, and editing in Lightroom. Batch synching makes it super quick and easy and the history for every edit on every photo is kept.

I use CS to make pages and do any spot removal and sharpening/noise reduction.

[muddygirl]

I use LR for my my main photo editing and converting to jpg and sort of organising (just by date). I scrap with CS5 and do some further photo editing there if needed. I have never used PSE, so I cant comment, but I learnt to use photoshop prior to starting digi scrapping for editing photos, so the progression was easy for me. You may find the same, if you learn to edit in CS, then you might start to find that you will be more comfortable to scrap with it.

[esther_a]

I had PSE5 but hankered after some of those special effects (presets/actions). I bought LR and loved it. I was recently able to purchase CS at a discount but I find I don't use it much. I love the photo bin of PSE5 and struggle without it. I wanted CS for the text kerning, spell checking, ability to put text in a shape (which I still haven't figured out) and Actions. Now that Pioneer Woman has released her fab actions for PSE I find I rarely use CS at all.
So I have all three, but stick with PSE and LR 99% of the time!

[sal4gal]

I LOVE LR!!!! I have been using CS3 since it came out and I use it for page layout. I just got CS5 and I am still working through tutorials because skipping from CS3 to CS5 is a huge jump. Editing photos in LR just makes sense to me, I get it and I LOVE it and I think it is easy to use.

Sallie

[hulseyfam]

Shoot! I'm no where near closer to a decision. There were great reviews so far for each side. What's a girl to do??? I guess I should download trials of both.

I currently do not have an organizing system for my photos, although I'm taking a class that goes over organizing them in PSE (I think, maybe it's PS). So that may solve the problem of organizing. How does it work with LR, is there actions for it too? Can I find many for free?

[katrinak]

LR has numerous "presets" that you can find free of charge that work with a simple click.

There are multiple ways to use it to organize your photos as well.

You may want to check my latest tutorial in the store if you are seriously thinking about Ligthroom.

Be Enlightened: Navigating the Library+Develop Modules

[TU_Jenn]

I bit the bullet and downloaded the LR3 'beta today - with my limited (and i mean limited raw processing skills - umm can you say about 20 pics using Scott Kelby's PSE8 book!) i have to say I really like LR so far over PSE organizer/camera raw - for one thing it was just much faster to display the thumbnails when I pulled in one folder of files to play with. My catalog in PSE8 is getting pretty big (13659 photos so far) so anything that will help me work faster is good (especially since I'm five years and counting behind on DD's albums!) and I don't have a lot of time to post-process pictures. I do use ACDSEE for all my digital supplies though - I really like having that open, PSE organizer/LR open and PSE editor all open and able to flip back and forth. Don't see myself going to CS5 - I'm pretty happy with what I can do in PSE, and the wonderful designers here keep me stocked with text paths (thanks Patty). I think I see Katrina's LR tutorial as a future purchase!