Photoshop Elements in 2024? Rosetta and other questions

I boarded the Apple silicon train at last.

I’m debating whether to get Photoshop Elements 2024 for my new Mac. I use DxO PhotoLab as my main photo editor.

I’ve used Elements for years for quick and dirty edits, opening weird file types, adding text to images, precise measurements or cropping or resizing of images such as targeting ID photo dimensions for online life administrative stuff, converting between colour spaces, sharpening for output in a way I understand and can control, and sometimes using Adobe Camera Raw (the cut-down Elements version, but still).

I’ve gone from being a fan of Adobe software 20 years ago to being disgusted with the company, but I guess I don’t trust anyone else not to add some weird limitation to the above jobs. And I don’t fancy learning all-new software.

But my questions:

1. My last Elements version from about 2019 has UI options called Quick, Guided, and Expert. I’m not an expert but exclusively use Expert. Does 2024 retain something like that?
2. Does 2024 require Rosetta 2? I can’t find a straight answer on the Adobe site.
3. Does 2024 have any significant new limitations in Adobe Camera Raw or 16-bit support (presume that’s still very limited) compared to the ~2019 version?

Thanks.

Samuel Dilworth said:

1. My last Elements version from about 2019 has UI options called Quick, Guided, and Expert. I’m not an expert but exclusively use Expert. Does 2024 retain something like that?
2. Does 2024 require Rosetta 2? I can’t find a straight answer on the Adobe site.
3. Does 2024 have any significant new limitations in Adobe Camera Raw or 16-bit support (presume that’s still very limited) compared to the ~2019 version?

Click to expand...

1. It does

2. I don't know, I am using it on an Intel machine with Ventura.

3. Haven't had time to try.

Your best bet is to download the trial and test it out. I am using on trial with it now, have not purchesed it yet. Realizing I'm not being very helpful with your questions

Cheers.

Samuel Dilworth said:

I boarded the Apple silicon train at last.

I’m debating whether to get Photoshop Elements 2024 for my new Mac. I use DxO PhotoLab as my main photo editor.

I’ve used Elements for years for quick and dirty edits, opening weird file types, adding text to images, precise measurements or cropping or resizing of images such as targeting ID photo dimensions for online life administrative stuff, converting between colour spaces, sharpening for output in a way I understand and can control, and sometimes using Adobe Camera Raw (the cut-down Elements version, but still).

I’ve gone from being a fan of Adobe software 20 years ago to being disgusted with the company, but I guess I don’t trust anyone else not to add some weird limitation to the above jobs. And I don’t fancy learning all-new software.

But my questions:

1. My last Elements version from about 2019 has UI options called Quick, Guided, and Expert. I’m not an expert but exclusively use Expert. Does 2024 retain something like that?
2. Does 2024 require Rosetta 2? I can’t find a straight answer on the Adobe site.
3. Does 2024 have any significant new limitations in Adobe Camera Raw or 16-bit support (presume that’s still very limited) compared to the ~2019 version?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I only have Elements 2023 and can only answer 2. which does not need Rosetta, so pretty sure 2024 won't!

Elements 2023 has the same Quick Guided expert and would be amazed if 2024 is not the same.

If you already have Elements 2019 and only use for quick and dirty edits you might find you don't need Elements 2024. Elements 2019 will need Rosetta but really you wouldn't notice.

Samuel Dilworth said:

But my questions:

1. My last Elements version from about 2019 has UI options called Quick, Guided, and Expert. I’m not an expert but exclusively use Expert. Does 2024 retain something like that?
2. Does 2024 require Rosetta 2? I can’t find a straight answer on the Adobe site.
3. Does 2024 have any significant new limitations in Adobe Camera Raw or 16-bit support (presume that’s still very limited) compared to the ~2019 version?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I have a Studio M2 Max with 32GB Ram & 2TB storage. Currently my main editor is DxO 7. I also use DPP4 and Elements 2022.

1. 2022 has Quick, Guided, Expert. Above answer indicates that 2024 does also.
2. I don't think 2022 requires Rosetta 2. I did a quick search and, unless I'm misreading, Rosetta must be installed - and I don't think I have Rosetta (can't find it anyway).
3. Don't know of any limitations but I just opened a RAW image from my Canon R8. Looks like everything is good to go. I did notice there was a choice to use 8 Bits/Channel or 16 Bits/Channel.

Apologies for not being able to provide more info, but perhaps you have enough clues to move forward.

Duane Burleson said:

1. It does
2. I don't know, I am using it on an Intel machine with Ventura.
3. Haven't had time to try.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

Duane Burleson said:

Your best bet is to download the trial and test it out.

Click to expand...

Since my Adobe applications have always installed a pile of irregular crap all over the place that I don’t trust the uninstaller (yeah, it needs an uninstaller) to remove, I was hoping to avoid doing that until I have eliminated any show-stoppers that will guarantee I don’t want Elements.

But I will try the trial before committing to the purchase.

Mike Boreham said:

I only have Elements 2023 and can only answer 2. which does not need Rosetta, so pretty sure 2024 won't!

Click to expand...

It was this review that had me worried:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R3JJY6NRN1XCH4/

But who knows what the person did. Maybe they installed some optional feature or app that I won’t want. I like to run a tight ship here with minimal crud and clutter.

Or maybe the installer needs Rosetta 2? Out of interest, do you have Rosetta 2 installed on your Mac?

My dream was to avoid that. It’s been possible so far, two months in.

Mike Boreham said:

Elements 2023 has the same Quick Guided expert and would be amazed if 2024 is not the same.

Click to expand...

A bit more digging has confirmed that 2024 does have this mode but that it’s been renamed “Advanced”. Seems largely identical to “Expert” otherwise.

It’s funny that I gave the disclaimer that I’m not an expert in my original post. Maybe they were trying to avoid anyone thinking they need to be an expert to use Expert mode, or, more importantly for Adobe, that an expert could be adequately served by Photoshop Elements rather than a pricey subscription.

Mike Boreham said:

If you already have Elements 2019 and only use for quick and dirty edits you might find you don't need Elements 2024. Elements 2019 will need Rosetta but really you wouldn't notice.

Click to expand...

I’m trying to avoid Rosetta. I’m also interested in some of the advertised new text features in Elements 2024. And since Adobe doesn’t allow old versions of Elements to download new versions of Camera Raw, which are necessary for modern cameras without doing the DNG hoopla, I’m kind of forced to upgrade and may as well do so at this disruptive upgrade to an Apple silicon Mac. But I take your point.

JRET said:

1. Don't know of any limitations but I just opened a RAW image from my Canon R8. Looks like everything is good to go. I did notice there was a choice to use 8 Bits/Channel or 16 Bits/Channel.

Click to expand...

Yes, that’s there in the old Elements versions of Camera Raw too. Good. The 8-bit limitations come later with various filters, etc. But I’ve been fine with those limitations so far.

JRET said:

Apologies for not being able to provide more info, but perhaps you have enough clues to move forward.

Click to expand...

Yes, I think I’m going to go for it one more time. Thanks.

I keep imagining my future will be without Adobe, but ultimately I am change-averse and prefer the devil I know to the devil I don’t (e.g. Affinity Photo 2, which has just had a scary purchase by Canva to further dissuade me from giving that option a try. You can’t trust anything to stick around for years any more – except, it seems, Photoshop Elements with all its faults and baggage. So it goes).

Replying to myself because of the limitations of the forum software, but:

One of the problems of Photoshop Elements is that Adobe doesn’t let you install updated versions of Camera Raw as they come along, for very long anyway before requiring you to buy a new version of Elements.

This is a problem for those with a penchant for brand new cameras, which unusually includes me at this juncture (I recently acquired an α7C II).

If you look here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/camera-raw/kb/camera-raw-compatible-applications.html

… it suggests Elements 2024 is only compatible with Camera Raw up to version 15.5, which notably lacks α7C II support.

That had me worried. But I think it’s just that Adobe hasn’t bothered to update that page, because this page:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/release-note/update.html

… says there was a Camera Raw 16.0 update for Elements 2024 in late January. That includes support for the α7C II.

Just mentioning this in case others have also not noticed that Camera Raw 16 works with Photoshop Elements 2024, due to Adobe’s ineptitude at keeping their own website up to date.

Samuel Dilworth said:

Mike Boreham said:

I only have Elements 2023 and can only answer 2. which does not need Rosetta, so pretty sure 2024 won't!

Click to expand...

It was this review that had me worried:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R3JJY6NRN1XCH4/

But who knows what the person did. Maybe they installed some optional feature or app that I won’t want. I like to run a tight ship here with minimal crud and clutter.

Or maybe the installer needs Rosetta 2? Out of interest, do you have Rosetta 2 installed on your Mac?

Click to expand...

Indeed who knows. I find Adobe activation very good nowadays. That review doesn't mention Rosetta.

Yes I have had Rosetta installed on all my silicon Macs. Too many apps I use need it...Fing, ScanSnap, Epson Scan. The quick way of telling is to open Activity Monitor > CPU tab, with the app running and look in the column labelled "Kind" it will either say "Apple" or "Intel".

I see more and more people obsessing about avoiding Rosetta needlessly IMHO. It is not like the original Rosetta needed between PowerPC and Intel in 2006. Invisible in use.

Mike Boreham said:

Samuel Dilworth said:

It was this review that had me worried:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R3JJY6NRN1XCH4/

But who knows what the person did. Maybe they installed some optional feature or app that I won’t want. I like to run a tight ship here with minimal crud and clutter.

Click to expand...

Indeed who knows. I find Adobe activation very good nowadays. That review doesn't mention Rosetta.

Click to expand...

Last sentence. You might have to click “See more” to read the full review.

I haven’t had a problem with Adobe activation either. I wouldn’t trust people who have difficulties with this kind of thing. I read one bad review elsewhere claiming they bought the software and couldn’t find the activation code / serial number anywhere! Clearly basic user error.

Mike Boreham said:

I see more and more people obsessing about avoiding Rosetta needlessly IMHO. It is not like the original Rosetta needed between PowerPC and Intel in 2006. Invisible in use.

Click to expand...

Okay. One reason I wanted to avoid it was just to save storage space, since I only have 512 GB on my new MacBook Pro (the 24 GB of RAM cost more than enough, so something had to give).

Samuel Dilworth said:

Mike Boreham said:

Samuel Dilworth said:

It was this review that had me worried:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R3JJY6NRN1XCH4/

But who knows what the person did. Maybe they installed some optional feature or app that I won’t want. I like to run a tight ship here with minimal crud and clutter.

Click to expand...

Indeed who knows. I find Adobe activation very good nowadays. That review doesn't mention Rosetta.

Click to expand...

Last sentence. You might have to click “See more” to read the full review.

Click to expand...

Sorry missed that. I just opened Elements and Organsiser 2023 and looked in Activity Monitor ...all my Adobe processes are Apple silicon native:





However I found this thread which is more nuanced:

Samuel Dilworth said:

Samuel Dilworth said:

I see more and more people obsessing about avoiding Rosetta needlessly IMHO. It is not like the original Rosetta needed between PowerPC and Intel in 2006. Invisible in use.

Click to expand...

Okay. One reason I wanted to avoid it was just to save storage space, since I only have 512 GB on my new MacBook Pro (the 24 GB of RAM cost more than enough, so something had to give).

Click to expand...

My belief is that Rosetta is tiny but it may depend how many intel apps you have, as it recompiles the ARM version for X86. However even with many apps I doubt it will make much impact on 512GB. I don't know how it affects RAM usage. More discussion here .

Samuel Dilworth said:

I keep imagining my future will be without Adobe, but ultimately I am change-averse and prefer the devil I know to the devil I don’t (e.g. Affinity Photo 2, which has just had a scary purchase by Canva to further dissuade me from giving that option a try. You can’t trust anything to stick around for years any more – except, it seems, Photoshop Elements with all its faults and baggage. So it goes).

Click to expand...

You know yourself, and it seems like Elements is best for you.

GIMP has been excellent since version 2.2 in late 2004, and keeps getting better. It can do all the stuff you mentioned at top of thread except use ACR.

quick and dirty edits, opening weird file types, adding text to images, precise measurements or cropping or resizing of images such as targeting ID photo dimensions for online life administrative stuff, converting between colour spaces, sharpening for output in a way I understand and can control, and sometimes using Adobe Camera Raw.

I bought Affinity, but still use GIMP most of the time because Affinity does not support WebP or HEIC. Are those weird file types? Affinity is (or was) quite popular on the Retouching forum, so I bought a copy. It's very nice but requires getting used-to.

GIMP is more like Photoshop, so it was easy for me to switch after CS2.

I'm not sure where anyone got the idea that they should "avoid Rosetta" but its nothing problematic, just a part of the Apple system software. There is no reason whatsoever to avoid it, Rosetta exists to make the transition from Intel a lot smoother.

Samuel Dilworth said:

Mike Boreham said:

Samuel Dilworth said:

It was this review that had me worried:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R3JJY6NRN1XCH4/

But who knows what the person did. Maybe they installed some optional feature or app that I won’t want. I like to run a tight ship here with minimal crud and clutter.

Click to expand...

Indeed who knows. I find Adobe activation very good nowadays. That review doesn't mention Rosetta.

Click to expand...

Last sentence. You might have to click “See more” to read the full review.

I haven’t had a problem with Adobe activation either. I wouldn’t trust people who have difficulties with this kind of thing. I read one bad review elsewhere claiming they bought the software and couldn’t find the activation code / serial number anywhere! Clearly basic user error.

Samuel Dilworth said:

I see more and more people obsessing about avoiding Rosetta needlessly IMHO. It is not like the original Rosetta needed between PowerPC and Intel in 2006. Invisible in use.

Click to expand...

Okay. One reason I wanted to avoid it was just to save storage space, since I only have 512 GB on my new MacBook Pro (the 24 GB of RAM cost more than enough, so something had to give).

Click to expand...

I have an M1 mini with 16GB of RAM and 256GB internal drive, and I'm doing just fine. External drives are cheap.