Hope someone can help with some advice. I'm in the process of buying a new computer system. I'm don't use it much now other than web surfing and EBay. I have used an old Ulead program to restore & edit old photos. With my new system I was thinking of going with Photoshop. But I'm having questions on which one to get. GS2, GS2 Elements etc. Or try a newer Ulead program, by the way I never fully understood anyway. Which one is the better buy for the buck? Does on do more than the other and what are the "Elements"? Hope you all have some advice. Thanks for your help.
Hi Skinny, and welcome to PCWorld Community.
You didn't specify which OS you have in your new computer, Vista or XP. If it is a new computer I suspect that it might be Vista. I just did a quick search of CNet, and none of the
Ulead programs there seem to be Vista compatible.
Photoshop is an excellent program, and you would be able to do a gazillion things with it. The price depends on which program you want. The Photoshop CS3, at $999.- is way more expensive than the Element. Right now you can purchase Photoshop Elements 6 at
Amazon.com for $79.49 and if you have a previous version you can get $20. rebate.
You can take a look at Photoshop
Elements 7 (their newest version) which is listed for $94.99, again with a $20. rebate when you have a previous version. The Elements are a more pared-down version of their full CS versions.
If you don't want to get too heavy into photo editing, then there are several other options. You can start with Serif PhotoPlus 6 (which is Free,) or upgrade to
PhotoPlus 8 for $9.95.
That's how I started.
Check out
Serif PhotoPlus X2 their newest version, which is what I use. It's an excellent photo editing program, and it comes pretty close to Photoshop without the higher price. The learning curve with any of the Serif programs is not quite as steep as with all of the Photoshop programs, plus they come with great instruction manuals, as well as very accessible tutorials.
I'd like to invite you to visit my
SolarWings thread to see some examples of sigs I have made using Serif PhotoPlus X2. I've only being making graphics since May and I'm having a ball making them!
HTH