CS5 vs. Elements 10

[Zach Wotruba]

Hi all, I'm new here as you can tell. I have a question about photoshop that's not about technique. I actually need advice on which product to buy.

So, my wife and I are getting deeper in to our photography hobby and we have a dilemma. For the last couple of years we have been using Photoshop Elements 7. We've both loved it. It's extremely easy to use, and from what I've gathered, it has all the functionality we could want for the near future.

However, Elements 7 is getting a bit outdated for us. There is no support for RAW file conversion for my Canon 60d, which is a pain. I have a program that can do it, but I'd much prefer to be able to do it in Elements.

Now, on to the question. As an educator I can get CS5 at a significantly discounted price through Amazon. On the other hand Elements 10 should be coming out in the next month or so.

I'm curious to know how the Elements interface compares to the CS5 interface. Is CS5 intuitive? Would it be a painless transition from Elements? Being familiar with Elements, is there a steep learning curve to the full program?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice. It is much appreciated.

 

[dv8_fx]

Welcome to the forum, Zach.

I'm not an elements user but there are others here who do. They'll jump in any moment.

CHEERS

 

[Steve]

Download CS5 and play with it for a month for free.
When Elements 10 comes out, do the same.

I don't think you'll have a problem with the interface, they're similar enough.
I don't know what new features Elements 10 may have but it will never compare to CS5.

 

[siodre]

Download CS5 and play with it for a month for free.
When Elements 10 comes out, do the same.

ditto. also try adobe lightroom for processing your raw files and converting them to jpg for photoshop.

 

[Zach Wotruba]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I totally forgot that I can download photoshop for a month and try it. We'll definitely be doing that.