Software Question -- What do you use?

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Software Question -- What do you use?

I currently have CS6. I have (super slowly) taught myself Photoshop over the years but I just upgraded to CS6 and haven't delved into it.

With all of the upgrades over the last several years to PS Elements I've been thinking of buying it. I especially like how they've incorporated some full blown PS things into it. Years ago PSE didn't have masks nor could you easily select an item in a photo. Both of those things and more are available now.

Is there a better program to use than either one of these? What do you use?

Thanks,
Sharon

Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are pretty standard for digital scrapbooking. You'll find the most tutorials and help with those programs.

Thank you so much, Marisa. smiley

I use CS6. I got PS and Illustrator (both CS6) for a good price when I was a college student years ago and just never upgraded because I didn't want to have to subscribe.

I can still find lots of videos and tutorials for CS6 and there isn't a whole lot that CC has that I can't work around in CS6.

GIMP is a free, open source alternative to Photoshop but I find it a lot more cumbersome to use and to learn than Photoshop. GIMP can do about 95% of the things that PS can do but it is not always easy to figure out and there are not as many tutorials out there for GIMP. Plus most of the "tool" downloads, like styles and brushes and custom shapes, are exclusively made for PS and cannot be used with GIMP.

I've never worked with PSE so I have no personal experience but I would just keep on learning with CS6 if I already had it.

Thank you, Jennifer. I'm still researching...and probably will be until after Christmas. I did already put PSE on my Christmas list though so I may be learning something new soon. smiley

Jumping in new here. Do you have to have Photoshop or other full-blown photo editing program to do digital scrapbooking? So far I've been using my basic photo editor, Paint, and PowerPoint to manipulate my images. I'm currently working on family genealogy pages and have only been doing this a couple months.

Not from what I've read, Draw. There are a lot of work-arounds and free programs, depending on how much time and effort you want to spend learning the software.

Definitely not!

I work entirely on a Chromebook, which doesn't allow for the installation of ANY programs. I use photopea.com to make all my layouts. It's like a knockoff Photoshop. It supports the use of .psd files and everything.

I mostly use GIMP, but I do have a Creative Cloud subscription. I use PS mostly when I want to use a specific style/sction that I haven't figured out how to do in GIMP.

Thanks Sharin. My work-arounds have worked so far for me. However, there are a few things I wouldn't mind learning how to do, I'm just not ready for the investment into something I don't need all the time. I'll check out some of the free programs for now.

Thanks Candace.
work on a Windows laptop. I have a very old PhotoShop program installed on it but unfortunately it is no longer supported--haha! That's how old it is! Anyway, I've been using just the regular basic photo editors, but I know there is so much more I'd like to try after seeing what everyone does here.

Thanks Tina. I've heard GIMP mentioned here before. I'll have to check it out.

I use and teach PaintShop Pro. It is more powerful than it is given credit for, and it is a one-time purchase (no subscription). It does most of what Photoshop does (and does a few more) and it can also open many of the Photoshop files and supplies (not all).

I have a whole site dedicated to digital scrapbooking with PSP. In a few weeks, I will also have a bootcamp, for beginners. It is completely free so you can check it out if you want: https://scrapbookcampus.com/bootcamp/

Thanks for the info and link, Carole. smiley

@Draw, I hope that helps a bit. You know, Photoshop Elements isn't that expensive. $100-120, I think. And there's no subscription. They've really updated PSE over the years from what I've read and for an inexpensive program it can do quite a bit. Not what a pro would use, but certainly more than capable of us doing our digital scrapbooking with it. I would caution you to check how much RAM your computer has and how much the program you choose needs. Usually they say on the website what the minimum is. I always make sure I have more than what's required. I currently have 16mgs on my PC.

I'm sorry for replying in the thread again, but I wanted to share that Amazon has PSE on sale now for $70 for the 2022 version. Also, the Adobe website offers free self-paced lessons. (All kinds of good news! It's a great time to be alive! smiley )

Thank you Carole! I'll check it out!

@Sharin--Thanks for the PSE info. Yes, that is very affordable. However, I am very new to digital scrapbooking. My current project is small considering what I'm doing graphically so I'm not ready to invest until I know what I'm doing.

If you've taught yourself PhotoShop then you are really ahead of the game, I think. There is a lot more flexibility with Photoshop and PS Elements but the learning curve can be difficult.

I know that PaintShop Pro has a 30-day free trial if you want to give it a go (which is plenty of time to go through the Scrap Bootcamp without having to purchase the program before you have a feel for whether you want to continue using it).
I am pretty sure PSE also does, but I only have a very old version myself.