Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade from Photoshop Elements to Photoshop
My Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Photoshop
by Jenifer Juris
If you’ve ever wondered what Photoshop has to offer, this lesson is for you.
One of the most asked questions we see here at Digital Scrapper is why someone would choose to use Photoshop over Photoshop Elements. And while I always try to explain why I think Photoshop is worth the subscription cost, words can’t do it justice. The best way for me to explain why I prefer Photoshop over PSE is to show you my Top Ten List of reasons why.
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Thank you for taking the time to give specific details on the differences between the 2 programs. Very helpful!
I enjoyed reading your post. I’ve tried to switch in the past but my workflow relies on the photo bin which is only available in PSE. I’ve tried many of the suggested workarounds but nothing works the same. Thanks for sharing your tips,
Good to hear from you, Beatrice. I find that using Photoshop along with Adobe Bridge (Free) replaces the need for a photo bin. Did you try that option?
Hi Beatrice, I’m a windows user and I switched to Photoshop from PSE a few years ago. I just drag over from File Explorer. Not sure what the Mac equivalent is. But Jen’s comment to use Bridge also works! I found it worth it.
Watched the video and am somewhat interested in upgrading. However, I’m not comfortable with a subscription service. What version do you use? Did you purchase it outright or are you a subscriber? Look forward to hearing from you.
Hi Tommie. Your concern is what keeps many people away from upgrading. It’s very understandable.
You can purchase and use Photoshop CS6 (Photoshop’s last non-subscription option), but it’s no longer supported in our classroom.
When you subscribe to Photoshop, you should always keep your version and subscription up to date. So right now, everyone that has Photoshop should be using Photoshop 2020.
Hope this helps!
Can I just say that I’ve been using Photoshop since 2005 and currently use PS 2020 and I just learned at least 6 things I didn’t know!!! THANK YOU Jenifer Juris…guess I better get busy completing the QuikLearn Photoshop Class!
Oh, my, Jenifer. I have been using PS for years but this post is full of things I did not know. Thanks for sharing!
Jenifer, I have a question about Camera Raw. I use this regularly on PSE but I’m interested in knowing more. I didn’t realize there was more when it is part of PS. Where can I go to understand more about the whole Camera Raw program to understand what I’m missing?
(this was a helpful video…..so thanks!)
Camera Raw is loaded with so many photo editing options. But, as of yet, we don’t have a class on Camera Raw. But this is on my list of future classes. Send me an email and I’ll send you a list of the things the full Camera Raw has and why they are great to use. 🙂
WOW, I’ve used Photoshop CC for a few years and I learned some things that I haven’t been using! Thank you!
This is a great blog, Jenifer! I’ve used both PSE and PSCC for some time – mostly PSE, but now I’ll be using PSCC a lot more often! While I’ve certainly learned a lot from some other digital scrapbooking teachers over the years, Digital Scrapper has always been my favorite. I’ve recommended it to many people over the years and still get something out of going back through courses I completed years ago since, alas, I do not have 100% recall.
Thanks for responding to my query. Another question. If I subscribed to Photoshop and at a later date determined to discontinue the subscription, would pages done on PS be accessible by PSE?
Thank you.
Another great question, Tommie. Photoshop saves images in the same PSD format as Photoshop Elements uses. So the images are easily shared between the two programs. Does that help?
Yes. Thank you. However, I would assume that anything done in PS but not supported or included in PSE would not be available if the file were re-opened for further editing. Thanks.
Everything will transfer over from PS to PSE, but you are correct, you would not be able to edit something like a smart filter or a special layer style.
Thanks so much for this information. I’ve thought of changing to PS but always chicken out. One thing, I have an old computer and wonder how much room the program and Lightroom would need.
Hi Julie! I’m so glad you enjoyed the video. 🙂 As far as finding out if your computer will be compatible w/ PS, I would go to the Adobe website and see what the minimum specs are. That should help you answer your question better than I can. 🙂
Julie, Adobe offers a 7 day free trial on Photoshop/Lightroom. I’d encourage you to download, then try following a couple quick tutorials using a scrapbook page and see how your computer handles the load.
More great information.. I switched several years ago and it is always great to learn new things about PS. Love all the information you share….Thanks so much…
Jenifer – thanks for creating this fabulous blog post for those of us who shuttle between the two systems. I learned a few things for sure!
To be honest I use PSE more only because the interface panel is so darn small on my 15″ laptop that I can’t see what I’m doing. Even on my desktop screen (24″) I still think the panels are small – any tips for changing them?
Hi Lisa! One thing that might help is that you can change the UI font size in Preferences. And there’s also a checkbox below that says “Scale UI to font” that if you click that, the tool buttons become slightly larger. So go to Preferences, go to Interface, and under Presentation, change the UI font size and check the box. I’d go straight to large. It’s not a massive size change but it does help. You’ll have to restart PS to see the new changes.
I don’t regret changing to PS. It’s been the best investment as I can learn a lot of the things you can’t do in PSE or which you can only do in a roundabout way in PSE