Pro Photoshop (full version or Elements)
1. More Books and Plugins than you can shake a stick at. It is by
far the most used and supported graphics tool out there. So if you
see a book with neat effects, you can just take it home and use it.
2. The plug-in's tend to run faster in Photoshop.
3. If you learn photoshop, you will not need to learn any other tool.
-Negative
1. The price
2. Slightly cumbersome interface from years of growth.
Pro Corel.
1. Price!
2. Can match photoshop on most any level
3. Plugin compatibility
4. The Corel Suite comes with Draw, which is a great vector program
on par with Adobe illustrator, and in some areas is better.
5. When I need to get something done fast, I use Photo-Paint
instead of Photoshop.
6. Corel Draw 11 has some nice tool additons that include Flash
support and Knock-Out like ability integrated. It's worth looking
at all the tools one gets with the suite, it's a good value!
-Negative
1. The world is photoshop. See a book with neat effects, you need
to use it conceptually or translate the steps for Photo-paint. (a
bit of a pain)
2. Become really good at Corel, create great work. Get a job in
graphics, and then be forced to learn photoshop anyway because it
is all they use. (But the learning curve is small, it a matter of
"where is that tool?" and "what do they call it here?")
3. Actions are not compatible, but Corel does have VBA and it's own
equally powerful scripting language.
Adobe made a good decision making Elements since it satisfies the
photography clients needs well, while allowing for an attractively
priced entry model that will teach users their interface. A
stepping stone to version 7 when their needs become more ambitious.
-good luck
Glenn
Why not download the trial versions from the manufactures sites and judge for yourself.
