I have a very OLD version of Photoshop Elements. (4.0) and it doesn't even handle RAW photos. There are downloads available, but I wonder if I should upgrade to a newer version.

Any opinions out there? (Camera should arrive at the service center today. Sigh)

gayla

Gayla
Jackson, Mississippi
Canon XSi and S3 IS
Zone 7b; Heat Zone 9 (Ugh)

We're too cheap to spring for Photoshop, so hubby downloaded GIMP for me. It's free and very powerful - but not nearly as easy to use as Photoshop. You might want to check it out, though. It can do just about anything you want, once you figure out how to make it!

Jill

Benton, ME
Canon Digital Rebel XT
Canon EF70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM

Gayla, Well first of all I should say that I am like you, relatively new to the sometimes scary world of the "digital darkroom" and so everything I say should not be set in stone because I seem to learn something new every day! I applaud you for learning to shoot RAW - Trying to figure out software to use and establishing which RAW workflow to use is quite an undaunting task! That said, it's the best way to retain all the detail that your camera has captured so to me it's worth the extra step.

Before you can actually edit a RAW file in photoshop the files have to be converted to either a .tif or .jpg file. Now to try and get to your question, I am not familiar with Elements but with my old Rebel XT I could use RawShooters to correct any exposure/white balance issues and do my final editing in CS2. The problem was when I got my 40D, it was no longer supported so I had to use a DNG converter(This was a loooonnnggg drawn out process that another really nice guy helped me with online, thank goodness for photography forums I tell ya!) ) Eventually he led me to a program called RAW Therapee that does almost the same thing as Raw Shooters. And now that I am about to get the 7D I will probably get CS4, which I don't believe will support the 7D(at this rate I'll never be able to buy the 500f4 lens that I want... ) The thing about Adobe is that it seems to force you to get their upgrades unless you are willing to explore all options... however from what I've read, CS3 and CS4 the Shadow/Highlight tool, for example is a lot better than the older versions.

There are quite a few other RAW conversion software programs to choose from. My 40D came with DPP(Digital Photo Professional) for example. It did an okay job of basic conversions. There's also an Adobe plug in called Adobe Camera Raw, Lightroom or Mac's Aperture etc... You might want to experiment and see what you are comfortable with, many of these have a free trial period. Fun stuff, huh?

Ruth
Everett, WA
Zone 8

Jill and Ruth,

Thanks for replying.

Jill, I have tried Picasso (?) before but then I got Photoshop Elements 4.0 and forgot about it. I haven't heard of GIMP, but I'll look into it too.

Ruth, I also have DPP as it came with my Canon XSI. What I'm doing now is working with the image in DPP and then converting it to Jpeg. Then I load it into PE where I continue to tweak it. It just seemed like it would be easier if I could do the whole thing in a single program.

Ruth, which photography forum are you using? I sometimes use POTN which is Canon's photography on the net.

Thanks for all suggestions. Hopefully, my camera will be back by the end of next week.

Gayla
Jackson, Mississippi
Canon XSi and S3 IS
Zone 7b; Heat Zone 9 (Ugh)

Gayla, sorry I was away this weekend and didn't see your question until now. POTN is pretty good for Canon Talk, not great info all the time however, but here's a few others I also view BirdForum,http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/index.php;http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/index.php,http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vg1&ns=1http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/ andhttp://www.luminous-landscape.com/ And though not for photography, I regularly read our local birding e mail listing, Tweeters.

Ruth
Everett, WA
Zone 8

Thanks, Ruth! I have just joined the first two, and I'll work on the next two after dinner.

I'll be glad when my camera returns, so I can quit reading and start practicing.



Gayla
Jackson, Mississippi
Canon XSi and S3 IS
Zone 7b; Heat Zone 9 (Ugh)

There´s a free program called Raw Therepy. I like it when I was shooting in raw.

this is starting to sound like a "racy" forum..he he