PS Elements 6 and OSX 10.5.6?

[beacher]

I upgraded to Leopard a couple of months ago, and naturally, PS7 doesn't work, so I've been looking at Elements, and before I hit eBay for Elements 6, since Elements 8 doesn't work with my OS, I just wanted to check with you guys and make sure 6 does.  Confirmation, please?  And Thanks!

[Paddy]

Yup. Works with Snow Leopard just fine too. I've never bothered upgrading it (since I have the full CS4, Lightroom etc.)

[Mayo]

If you don't have your heart set on Elements I suggest giving Nikon Capture NX2 a try. It is nearly as powerful as CS4 and IMO much easier to use. Layers and masks? Never Heard Of 'Em! Nikon Capture NX 2 After the Shoot is an excellent guide to the software.

A 60-day free demo and manual can be downloaded here.

I haven't touched Photoshop since I got NX2.  If you don't need CMYK pre-press, frames or text insertion capabilities NX2 is worth a look.

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

Layers and masks? Never Heard Of 'Em!

QUOTE

If you don't need CMYK pre-press, frames or text insertion capabilities NX2 is worth a look.

Not many of us need CYMK. Not sure what you mean by "frames." But I used to make borders around many of my posted images, now I usually just use some Photoshop Actions that run in Elements. No text insertion? NONE?! And I'm assuming your remark about Layers and Masks is facetious.

Seriously, different folk have different needs or do things differently to get the same results. I'm sure you get all you need and more from the Nikon app, and linking to a free demo is fine. But let's let the poster/user decide if a recommendation suits their needs. You may easily get along without Layers and Masks, others find them extremely powerful and useful. Obviously, since Adobe makes graphics and font apps, they want to combine them in as many ways as possible. Apple does this brilliantly with Pages/Keynote and even Numbers. But none of those apps could/would be called image editors, of course. Elements/Photoshop/CSwhatever not only allows insertion of text but it remains editable, no matter what you do with it's orientation, style or opacity, unless or until you "simplify" it. And there is not always a need to even do that. Of course, with Layers, you could easily make a copy of the Layer with the text, hide it and still have all the editing capabilities in the future, even after "simplifying" the text for whatever reason.

Frankly, the first thing I do when I open any image is to duplicate it into another Layer and then high the original and never touch it again unless I complete screw up my editing on the copy. Sure, you can accomplish the same results by just making copies of every image you have, but why bother duplicating images that you never edit?

I think you meant Elements 8 will not run on your hardware, it requires an intel cpu. V.6 certainly will run on Leopard, I used it until I got 8. Amazon has a seller with 5 star ratings (2349 ratings in last 12 months) selling V.6 for just under $60. It's used but the seller offers a money back guarantee if you can read the DVD. But download the Nikon app and see if it provides all you need now and later. Perhaps you can find it on eBay ( ) or Amazon for much less than the $125+ cost.

You might also want to consider <Pixelmator>. Even brand new, it's less than $60! You can download it and try it out, also. Oh, it does Layers and text insertion, also!

[beacher]

Thanks, everybody, & yup; you nailed it, ABD.  I DID mean that it wont run on the G5, since it's a Motorola chip!  And in Mayo's defense (should he need any!  ), I appreciate the suggestion.  I didn't know that it existed, and suggestions are always appreciated.  Since I'm pretty used to working with PS, the Elements environment doesn't present a "learning curve" for me, and that's probably the way to go.  I've been pretty lucky with eBay; never been burned, and I've bought everything from cd's to my G5, and Elements 6 shows up there, guaranteed, pretty regularly for around $35, so that's probably the way I'll go. Again, thanks for the advice and suggestions!

[Mayo]

No Jim, I wasn't being a Smart Ass: you can accomplish editing steps in NX2 without using layers and masks that would require them in Photoshop. And yes, I did mean "borders," not frames... As for "CMYK"... Maybe I get the letter order wrong at times, but at least I include the correct four letters!

I consider Photoshop to really be a graphic design program since it is much more software than many, if not most photographers need. If you require the graphic design elements of PS, then you need them. If your primary use for PS is image editing, then NX2 is worth considering. At around $125 it is around 1/5 the price of CS4, last time I checked anyway...

Granted, for many long-time Photoshop users wrapping their minds around the NX2 paradigm is not easy to do... Adobe has a lock on many people when it comes to thinking how things should be DONE, by which I mean to say it should be done The ADOBE WAY. I've never found Photoshop to be particularly intuitive to use, or easy to master. The Nik "Control Point" technology, on the other hand, is easy to learn and use in a relatively short period of time.

Finally, I'm not sure what you meant to say in the beginning of paragraph two of your post, since I am physically unable to hold-down Beacher and force him/her to try NX2 because we live 600 miles apart. And even if we lived in the same town I doubt that I would be able to do so, even if I wanted to... I merely offer my Two Cents and make it easy to give the software a try. Sheesh, now I'm wondering why I even bother...

In the immortal words of Gilda Radner: Never Mind...

[Paddy]

I'm finding that since I bought Lightroom, I often do very little in Photoshop. I have the NIK filter set - it runs in Lightroom too, so I can do some pretty cool things as well as get my photos in tip-top shape without evening opening PS. Of course, doing web graphics (page banner headers etc.) requires more than Lightroom...and certainly once I start fooling around with layers, PS is where I turn.

Lots of people like NX2, Mayo.

Interesting discussion of NX2 vs Lightroom:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp...essage=28875482

More comparisons:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp...essage=34556231
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp...essage=34561756

And this one, comparing Lightroom 3 beta and NX2 for RAW conversions:

http://ishootshows.com/2010/01/22/lightroo...n-capture-nx-2/

Of course, if you're not shooting RAW, much of this particular comparison is moot. And as has been pointed out in these links, you do need something like PS or Elements in addition to Lightroom.

One other thing to consider - the open source GIMP. I've never actually used it, though I downloaded it recently out of curiosity.

http://thephotofinishes.com/gimpps3.htm

http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

As for "CMYK"... Maybe I get the letter order wrong at times, but at least I include the correct four letters!

Touché! Apparently, some of us, OK, maybe just me, can't even 'spell' Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black! Never even understood why they used the k in black if they already went to the trouble to use cyan for blue! Oh well, that's why we have experts like you! "If you don't know the 'code' you're not really one of us!"

Didn't mean to step on your sore toes. Maybe I'm the one who came across too strong. Words are such a poor substitute for communications.

I agree that Photoshop is usually way more than the majority of people really need. That's the main rationale behind Elements, most of the PS code is still there, but it's not available the way it is in PS. I suspect they have probably removed some of it, to make the app more svelte...Nah, who ever heard of removing un-needed code?! But because much of that code is still in there, Elements can run many PS Actions; I plus if one has invested in some of the expensive ones.

And there is absolutely no way I could ever justify the full version of PS. much less the extra stuff in the CS packages.

Not sure, since I don't use the Nikon app, how you edit things in it that would require the use of Layers in PS/Elements. Although even iPhoto can do non-destructive editing. I assume that Nikon has a similar scheme for preventing loss of the originals or back tracking all the way to the beginning. Whatever.

But I thank you for mentioning that Nikon does have a different GUI/workflow that may have a learning curve. Of course, many apps that do similar things have different visual ways and techniques that must be learned. Nothing really new there.

As for my "paragraph two," I'm probably as confused by your interpretation of it as you are in yours. Don'cha think maybe just a little? It's past my bedtime, aging brains need their 'beauty rest.'

Take care, don't take much of anything I say/write seriously and especially not personally. I'm just trying to live up to my old screen name: Grumpy!

[Mayo]

Here is the sentence in paragraph 2 that got me going:

QUOTE

But let's let the poster/user decide if a recommendation suits their needs.

Etc., etc...

For some strange reason I thought that the OP might be open to considering an alternative since he was going to have to upgrade anyway. So I suggested taking a look-see at NX2 because a lot of folks don't even know that it exists, much less that it is a very powerful image editing program.

RAW conversion is 1% of its capabilities... If all you need is a RAW convertor for Nikon's proprietary NEF format then there is a free Nikon app for that. NX2 works with NEF, JPEG and TIFF files and it is a non-destructive image editor.  From Nikon's Web Site:

"NX 2 easy-to-use software lets you make intuitive photo enhancements which are immediately visible on your monitor. Simply place the Control Point on the area that you want to edit and U Point Technology will analyze color elements such as hue, saturation and brightness, as well as recognize similar areas where an edit would best be applied. This technology powers the entire Capture NX 2 series of Control Points: Color Control Points, the all-new Selection Control Points, White/Black/Neutral Control Points and Red-Eye Control Points. With Capture NX 2, there’s no need to deal with selection tools, layers or lengthy training."

I have found that to be true. I have used Photoshop since version 4 so I have a bit of experience using the software...  

A benefit for Nikon users is that NX2 seems to do the best job converting RAW/NEF files. And unlike any other RAW convertor that I know of, NX2 retains all the Nikon in-camera settings when it opens a NEF file. That can be a significant time-saver for someone who has dialed-in their camera settings. Changing the camera settings is a one-click operation in NX2.

The actual developer of NX2 is Nik, probably best know for Color Efex Pro and other stand-alone and plugin software.  The closest thing to NX2 is Nik's Viveza program. If I remember correctly NX2 is less expensive than Viveza.

Me? I like things to be easy on my Macs. Taking the Path of Least Resistance that meets my goal(s) is my guiding principle when it come to software. Some programs are so darned difficult to learn and use I have sometimes felt like the best use of the software CD/DVD was as a Frisbee, except Frisbees fly a lot better because of their rounded edges...

With an exceptionally generous two month demo period it's a no-brainer to give it a try if you are the least bit interested in seeing how it actually works.

[Xairbusdriver]

OK.

[sandbox]

Beacher, I have adobe CS as well but find myself using Olympus Studio 2 quite often instead. It has a simple batching method and all the toys I need. I felt that since I don't use Photoshop's full package that an alternative would serve my purposes better. The Olympus Camedia master 2 software does a very good job as well, and it's free. It was interesting to play with them all, through the years, each program has their own good points.

[Mayo]

If you want Really Simple image editing there is Lightzone. I just bumped into it the other day so I haven't had a chance to play around with it yet...