I just got an e-mail from Adobe to upgrade from Elements to Photoshop for $299.

https://store1.adobe.com/cfusion/sto...pageNotFound=0

To order by phone, call 1-800-585-0774 and mention offer code PSEPSHOP50US. Have your Adobe Photoshop Elements serial code ready for verification.

Expires 31 July 2008

 

This deal comes up from time to time. The last time it did I ended up buying Lightroom instead and I'm still not sure I need CS3.

 

To me, LR and CS3 are two totally different beasts. Sure, CS3 can do most of what LR can do (though, maybe not as easily), but it does so much more.

I agree with you that LR does nearly everything I want to do, but there is so much more I could do with CS3. At this point, the cost cannot be justified based on this being just a hobby and I don't want to spend more time on PP.

 

I guess it just comes down to how much time you want to spend in front of the computer working on images. For me, LR covers most of what I need to do, hence my reluctance to buy CS3. No question they are different beasts, and when offers like this come up it's tempting to make the leap and use both. LR makes managing RAW files so easy.

Hell, maybe I'll just get Elements 6 for those times I need pixel level editing. It's a pretty good program these days.

 

I have Elements, but have no idea how to use it other than to resize images. CS3 is way outta my league.

 

There's a number of good books out there that can jump start you on Elements. It's actually a very powerful program.