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PSE6 is missing features I need !

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Maxwell Smart

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Seeking a software update, I've been sampling the currently available low-cost photo editing programs; Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, Corel Paint Shop Pro X2, ACDSee Photo Editor 4.0, Picasa 2.7, GIMP 2.4 and Corel PhotoImpact X3.

As a test, I did my best to quickly adjust a single photo in each of the above programs and then compared the resulting outputs from each. Picasa was impressively easy to use and yet also produced the best-looking result in my limited trial. (I know, I know - after mastering the learning curve of PSE6, I'm sure it could have given the best results but that requires more time than I have.) ACDSee 10 Photo Manager ($50) was my favorite organizer of those I tried but I think Picasa's organizer is nearly as good for free. Slick as it is, Picasa 2.7 lacks the advanced tools necessary for major photo retouching - items like brushes and cloning tools, etc - so I still need an updated full-fledged photo editor for the 10% of my editing that requires more than basic tools.

I had great expectations of PSE6 which is a whopping 462MB download but I was surprised to find it missing key features that I don't want to do without. Specifically; correction of Chromatic Aberrations and correction of lens distortion. Of the programs I tried above, as far as I could tell, amazingly only Corel PhotoImpact X3 has tools to correct Chromatic Aberrations and lens distortions. Am I missing something? I looked in Help and found nothing on either subject in the other programs.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 seems to be a de facto standard in low cost photo editors yet it's missing key features that I think are essential (see above). Corel PhotoImpact X3 is cheaper and one-third the size yet it has what I need. That might be the end of the story but I'm also skeptical about buying a program so few people endorse. Okay, a program NO ONE endorses. Not sure why although, from what I've read, like Ulead's earlier versions of PhotoImpact, Corel's support stinks. Plus, unless sales of PhotoImpact pick up - which seems unlikely - it may not be around much longer. Heck, I don't see how Corel itself stays in business let alone them buying Ulead 18-months ago. But I digress....

Do the experts here think I'd be foolish to spend $70 for Corel PhotoImpact X3 even if it seems to fit my requirements?

--

Group Captain Mandrake: 'I was tortured by the Japanese, Jack, if you must know; not a pretty story....Strange thing is they make such bloody good cameras.' (Dr. Strangelove, 1964)
 
How did GIMP suit you?

It can pretty much do whatever Photoshop CS3 can, just without some of the color management tools and prepress stuff. You could use GIMP and Picasa.

Also I'd check out LR2 when it's out. The beta's available right now if you're interested.

--
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.
  • Picasso
 
PSE 5 and PSE6 do have correction of the lens distortion - in the full edit click on Filter, in the menu you have "Correct Camera Distortion". Try that, it may be what you are looking for.
Leszek
 
For your chromatic aberation and lens distortion problems, you might like to check out PTlens, a $15 download that's by far the best reasonably-priced solution - capable of automatically sensing the precise correction needed over the focal length range of most digicams and untold numbers of combinations of DSLRs and lenses.

You get two versions - a plugin for editing software such as Elements, Photoshop etc and a standalone that can be used prior to editing in any program.
http://www.epaperpress.com/ptlens/

I see you've not commented on any differences in RAW processing - did your tests show all the programs on your shortlist to be equally proficient?

--
Peter - on the green island of Ischia
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde
 
As stated earlier in this thread, PE 6 does contain the correct camera distortion filter from PS. That allows vignette correction, but you will still need another method for corecting CA. I myself just select the area and desaturate blues or reds, but there are many plug-ins available if this is a sufficient problem that you need a more automatic solution.
 
Maxwell
Maxwell Smart said:
I had great expectations of PSE6 which is a whopping 462MB download
but I was surprised to find it missing key features that I don't want
to do without. Specifically; correction of Chromatic Aberrations and
correction of lens distortion.
Click to expand...
It has the Correct Camera Distortion filter:

http://www.digiretus.com/tippek/cikkiro.php?SORSZAM=84

... which can improve C.A. as well. Not sure whether the ACR version in PSE6 has the C.A. sliders like in the full version. Perhaps someone can chime in on that.
--
Kent

http://www.pbase.com/kentc
tutorial archive:
http://porg.4t.com/KentC.html
 
He said he had that nad tested too.. see below

"Seeking a software update, I've been sampling the currently available low-cost photo editing programs; Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, Corel Paint Shop Pro X2, ACDSee Photo Editor 4.0, Picasa 2.7, GIMP 2.4 and Corel PhotoImpact X3."

Mufutau
thecameraguy said:
it does what you need and more.. its capabilities far outreach those
of the crippled elements and it is cheaper.

--
~ Being over-exposed can get you arrested ~

http://ramsden.smugmug.com/
Click to expand...
 
Yep PT Lens is excellent - quick and easy to use. It has profiles for heaps of lens - to remove distortion is a one-click process
 
I have both PSE6 and PSPx2. PSE6 is a bit easier to use IMO (it helps when you can basically follow every tutorial written for Photoshop, at least up to a point), seems faster on my computer, has a better organizer, and has some features that PSPx2 lacks.

PSPx2 includes many features that PSE6 doesn't have (many of which I don't expect that Elements will ever have due to Adobe's need to avoid cannibalizing Photoshop sales). I also believe that PSPx2 is slightly less expensive than PSE6.

PSE6 does offer lens corrections, which includes correction of geometric and perspective distortions, and vignetting. It doesn't have CA correction (Doh!). It has "Adjust Color Curves," but it's not the same Curves that is in Photoshop or PSPx2, and it's not on an adjustment layer. PSE6 lacks the ability to edit individual color channels (you can do this in PSPx2).
 
Leszekan said:
PSE 5 and PSE6 do have correction of the lens distortion - in the
full edit click on Filter, in the menu you have "Correct Camera
Distortion". Try that, it may be what you are looking for.
Leszek
Click to expand...
Wow - thanks! That was it. Try searching Help for "distortion", "barrel" or "pincushion" and you find no results. None. Search for "lens" and there's one hit - for sharpening. So the features are there but the Help seems less than thorough.

Nicely implemented feature though.

--

Group Captain Mandrake: 'I was tortured by the Japanese, Jack, if you must know; not a pretty story....Strange thing is they make such bloody good cameras.' (Dr. Strangelove, 1964)
 
FWIW, there is a much better curves tool for the windows version of elements, and it's free. There are also free add-ons that will let you work in channels, to some extent.
 
thank you thread police :) yes i can read... but my ability to read does not impact neither my opinion nor my prior post.

simply, if elements is not good enough for him, then i would reasonably assume that PSPx2 can do everything he would ever want and more, while also being $20 cheaper than elements..

looking at photoimpact is simply wanting the feature set of elements but at half the price...

regards,
mufutau55 said:
"Seeking a software update, I've been sampling the currently
available low-cost photo editing programs; Adobe Photoshop Elements
6, Corel Paint Shop Pro X2, ACDSee Photo Editor 4.0, Picasa 2.7, GIMP
2.4 and Corel PhotoImpact X3."

Mufutau
thecameraguy said:
it does what you need and more.. its capabilities far outreach those
of the crippled elements and it is cheaper.

--
~ Being over-exposed can get you arrested ~

http://ramsden.smugmug.com/
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
~ Being over-exposed can get you arrested ~

http://ramsden.smugmug.com/
 
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