_z__gauthier

I have a genuineIntel X86 with 255.0mb ram and windows 98......canon d660u scanner, s820 canon printer.......My husband just gave me the PE2.0 program. I am sitting here with the box still unopened wondering if I actually need this/and if I do, is it going to do all I want. .....I have all my pix on my hard drive right now...I get them from my scanner, my cam, my casio and sony digital cams. I also have a program with NO book called Pixila ImageMixer..and I can't use it. What I want to do is print albums, send them on email, put them on cd, make cards,...etc. Will I be able to do all this with this program and in the end also know that anyone who opens one of my pictures or cds will not have to buy a whole new program or download anything special. I would like to know if this product is really a good, no hassel, user friendly one before I open it. My husband works too hard for his money for the program to end up in software heaven. Although, I do understand that I....yes, I have to be smart enough to use it...............that's still on the table. Any input is appreciated.

chuck_snyder

Z - a lot of the specialized tasks you've described may be handled more
easily with Photoshop Album, a different program. Have you looked into that
one? Here's a link to Adobe's descriptions of Album:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopalbum/main.html

Photoshop Elements is an excellent photo editing program, but it requires a
fair amount of practice and study to use it well; some of its functions are
relatively easy and intuitive, while others are not. You could download the
trial version and see if you like it. Similarly, Photoshop Album has a
starter version available as a download also.

Others here will voice their opinions, I'm quite sure!

joann_amerson

PSE2 has the capability of creating an electronic slide show in a .pdf
format. The nice thing is that the viewer is free to anyone, works on both
Mac and Win systems, and is almost always pre-installed on systems straight
from the factory.

The card making will have to be done in another program. PSE edits pictures.
I guess you *could* make cards with PSE but I'll bet you already have a
program that will do that. Ditto for burning CDs. I am not sure if it will
send your pictures straight over to email because I've just dumped AOL and
NOTHING does that with AOL. I just attach the file manually when I send a
picture now.

I will tell you - IT WILL TAKE TIME TO LEARN HOW TO USE IT. It takes a
little while to get used to it but if your husband bought the regular retail
version, it does have a book. The program has some very cool effects. Some
are easy to do, others..........well, I'll get there one day.

Plus you have this group! I don't think there's anything that you can't find
out from someone here. Nothing replaces learning how to use the program for
yourself but it's nice to know that if you get to the point where you are
ready to bounce the computer out of the window, someone here will help you
put it back on your desk. :-)


scanner, s820 canon printer.......My husband just gave me the PE2.0 program.
I am sitting here with the box still unopened wondering if I actually need
this/and if I do, is it going to do all I want. .....I have all my pix on my
hard drive right now...I get them from my scanner, my cam, my casio and sony
digital cams. I also have a program with NO book called Pixila
ImageMixer..and I can't use it. What I want to do is print albums, send them
on email, put them on cd, make cards,...etc. Will I be able to do all this
with this program and in the end also know that anyone who opens one of my
pictures or cds will not have to buy a whole new program or download
anything special. I would like to know if this product is really a good, no
hassel, user friendly one before I open it. My husband works too hard for
his money for the program to end up in software heaven. Although, I do
understand that I....yes, I have to be smart enough to use
it...............that's still on the table. Any input is appreciated.

eric_matthes

You can do all that with Elements. I make cards with elements; it's just a matter of setting up the margins correctly on the first couple cards - a little trial and error does it.
Your photos can be viewed by everyone. You just save them as a jpg, and no special software will be needed to view the images.
You don't have to be smarter than anyone else to use Elements, you just need to be willing to ask questions and play around with a couple pictures, unafraid to make some mistakes. You'll actually like some of your mistakes! We call them "fortunate accidents". As long as you copy your images first, you can do anything you want to them and always go back to the original image if you mess it up.
One of the advantages of Elements is that when you make a mistake, you don't necessarily have to start over; you can back up a few steps and make adjustments.
Good luck, and ask lots of questions!

beth_haney

And if you're comparing against Pixela... don't!! There's definitely a learning curve with Elements, but at least you can learn it.

My suggestion would be that you download the demo version of Elements before you open the retail version, since you're so unclear on what it can and cannot do. The demo will let you take a look at it and see if it's the kind of software you'd use. The demo is good for 30 days, and within that period you should have your answer.

HOWEVER, if you download the demo and then decide to keep the retail version, you have to make sure the demo has been completely uninstalled from your computer before putting the new one on. Come back here to the forum first if you want some help accomplishing that.

pete_d

Something to consider;

Most people that use PSE had no idea how extensively they would use its
features when they bought it.

I think the vast majority of current users are either new to photo editing
or came from some program like Photodeluxe and were just amazed by the
features of PSE.

Now they are creating exceptional photos and are developing other image
skills that were not even a thought or a diesire two years ago.

What I am saying is that it seems like it would be impossible for you to
make this decision because you just don't know what all the program can do
and more importantly, like most of us, don't know what you will be doing
with photos in the future.

Load the program and get started. I don't think you will have any regrets
if you spend some time with it.

Pete

chuck_snyder

Elena, that was my initial thought, too - can always move up to Elements
later.

eric_matthes

I second that!

elena_murphy

You may also want to try the Album demo. It might be what you're really looking for and since you're on windows, would be an alternative to Elements if you're not into all the image editing stuff.

chuck_snyder

Elena, no problem - it's good to have affirmation!

:-)