Upgrading from PSE 8 to PSE 10 or 11?

Sometime back I bought Adobe PSE 10; haven't loaded it, though. I shoot primarily landscapes, vintage cars and car racing, art work, and building exteriors and interiors. I use PSE 8 and would like to expand into HD processing. I'm also going to purchase LR-4. I have read Adobe's brief comparison of PSE 8 through 11.

Between PSE 10 or 11, what would you suggest. PSE 8 has been a steep learning curve, but I'm becoming more and more comfortable with its workings. Still need practice on layers and filters.

Mp

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Marion,

I would definitely go with Elements 11. I very recently bought PSE 11 even though I had upgraded from PSE 6 to PSE 10 only last July. The main reason is that PSE 11 incorporates Adobe's latest Process Version 2012. This is the same version that powers ACR 7 and Lightroom 4 and is an improvement over previous Process Versions 2003 and 2010. PSE 11 also has an interface that is a big improvement over the PSE 10 interface.

Bob

I'd like to add that the last time I checked (namely PSE 10), HDR processing was very primitive. No automatic alignment or deghosting, for example. Unless PSE11 is vastly improved over PSE10, it definitely makes sense to invest in dedicated HDR software, such as Photomatix Pro. I am not criticizing PSE in general, just the HDR feature of PSE10.

Regards, Antero

Thank you. PSE 11 it is. Mp

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Hi Antero,

If I could interpose another question. Do you happen to know if PSE 11 integrates with Lightroom to stitch panos the way CS6 does. My PSE 9 doesn't. You have to export the images from Lightroom as JPEGs or TIFFs then stitch them in PSE, then import the finished pano back into Lightroom. If PSE 11 integrates with LR the way CS6 does I would definitely upgrade my version 9.

Robert
Sydney Nikonian

Robert,

I don't have PSE11, so I tested this with LR4 and PSE10. It is possible to transfer a set of files to be processed as panorama in PSE10, but the workflow is much less convenient than between Lightroom and Photoshop:

1. In LR, select the photos to be processed as a panorama.
2. Right-click on Edit in PhotoshopElementsEditor
3. In PSE10, convert each individual photo to 8 bits and save. Otherwise PSE10 won't proceed with the panorama.
4. When converted to 8 bits and saved, select File / New / Photomerge Panorama.
5. In the Panorama dialog, select "Open Files" for processing, and any other options, such as projection.
6. Enjoy result. Surprisingly, PSE10 proposed to do a content-aware fill around the edges, although it doesn't offer CAF as a normal user-selectable function. But PSE and Photoshop share the same engine, and it's only the user interface in Elements that is restricted.

Regards, Antero

EDIT: Regarding step 3, I tried with NEF files which had LR adjustments. The only option for processing them in PSE was "Copy with LR adjustments". Perhaps if I had used pixel file originals without LR adjustments, PSE might have processed them without requesting me to save them first. I didn't check this.

Thanks Antero,

It was Step 2 that interested me and I think you have answered my question at that point. With PSE 9 you do not get any "Edit in Photoshop Elements Editor" option. In other words it does not integrate itself with LR and become visible as an option in the LR menu system.

I think I will upgrade to PSE 11 anyway and accept the down change to the 8 bit files.

Robert
Sydney Nikonian