PS Elements V. 3 versus V. 5

[L Stegall]

My 22-year old stepson is interested in photography, and, frankly, I'm just so darn happy to have someone in my family interested in this that I "loaned" him my old 20D, a 50 mm f/1.8, my old 550 EX, and Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson and have turned him loose. Now, my question is, I have Elements 3, sitting around, unused, at home (I use CS2). For those of you that have it and/or Elements 5, what does 5 have that 3 lacks? Is one much easier to learn than the other?

Thanks for any feedback....

[Comanche]

Hi Lisa -

I started with v 3, and its okay. Elements 5 has a *lot* more power. Many of the functions available in 3 are much improved in 5. I can't say its any easier to use because there are more tools (curves being one - not the curves in PS, but still, its curves). Adobe is trying to keep it simple for casual users, but more power for more advanced users who don't want to mess with PS. I don't know if you can upgrade right from 3 to 5, but its worth a try. I'd go with version 5.

[wapiti]

I'll second what Doug said.

[srwatters]

The biggest advantage that 5 has over 3 is layers. There are many others, but the simple ability to make changes in a layer and then vary the opacity is sorely missed in v3. I use v5 at the office on the PC platform to do simple tasks. For anything involved, I pull out CS2 on my Powerbook.

YMMV.

[L Stegall]

Thanks for all the info guys - I'll get him V. 5 and put that V. 3 on ebay. I think it will be fine for his needs for some time to come.