Dumping Photoshop Elements
Ever since I upgraded to Snow Leopard, the latest version of the Mac operating system, Photoshop Elements 6 has been giving me a fit. It’s constantly crashing at the most inconvenient times. Today, I thought I’d try the recently released upgrade to see if it solved these issues. I downloaded the trial and as I’m installing it I notice that it’s adding all kinds of additional applications. At that point I said enough and uninstalled the Photoshop Elements files and all the other Adobe stuff it added.
Fortunately there are some very good alternatives on the Mac side. I’ve pulled out the Pixelmator app I purchased sometime back to take another look at it. It has all the features I want in a graphics program – layers, brushes, filters, etc. – in a much lighter package. I can work with it, my genealogy software and my word processing app at the same time without constantly having to wait for my system to catch up. And, it’s a lot less expensive. The software costs $59 compared to Photoshop Elements’ $99 and to this point each upgrade has been free.
Yes, I am giving up a community of add-ons and support based on the Elements brand and I have some work ahead of me to get to the same comfort level working with Pixelmator. But it’s worth the effort. My irritation with Elements isn’t just this issue, but a number of things building over the years and I’ve finally reached my limit.
If any other Mac users are having problems with Elements and Snow Leopard, I’d like to hear from you. Leave a comment describing your experience.
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October 23rd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
And to think, I am just getting started on learning Photoshop Elements…
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
I also dumped Photoshop Elements awhile back, in fact I never upgraded to PS6 as I was already frustrated with the random closings of the program. However, the real issue for me was it seemed needlessly complicated. I now use a combination. Mostly Picnik, and occasionally Acorn or iPhoto. I don’t do a lot of highly complex restorations so for me this works just fine.
Sue Edminster
October 24th, 2009 at 5:29 am
I have Acorn too and I like it. It’s great for basic editing – opens quickly and does what I need. It gets better everyday as the developers continue to improve it.
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
You might like Adobe Lightroom. It is a pro-level photo organizing program with tons of customizable features. I’m only tapping the surface of it. There is a great support book by Scott Kelby, the Photoshop guy, and many video tutorials. I switch back and forth between LR and PSE, but I am on a PC. Lightroom works on either Mac or PC, but Kelby uses Macs and it seems to be his software of choice. Good luck!
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I’m enjoying Pixelmator. It’s different and until I learn it, I’m working slower than usual, but it’s a much lighter app so I can have my word processor and Pixelmator running at the same time without dragging down my system. Life is good.