I had to learn Photoshop all over again since it wouldn’t migrate over with my new computer. (32-bit vs 64-bit system) The windows on the old Mac screen were flickering plus I couldn’t update the software anymore. I chose Photoshop Elements for its simplicity and inexpensive price. ($59.99 on sale which is the total price for 3 years until the contract expires.) It has a very familiar interface, just organized slightly different. I was up and running in a couple of days.
I save hundreds of sketches that I found on Behance and Pinterest to use as thought starters. I was intrigued by the bodyside of a particular rendering so I sketched over it in Photoshop Elements. This was how I learned to use it for the first time.
I further developed the design in Vizcom generating about 60 images. I reworked several versions in Photoshop along the way to put back into Vizcom. When I was satisfied with the direction, I generated animations. I slowly went through the videos looking for good shots to render back in Photoshop. I right clicked ‘Copy Video Frame’ to save the views that I liked.
I’m very satisfied with Photoshop Elements. The Advanced mode has all the features that I need. Of course, I’m comparing it to my old PS4 which I got in 2007!
I’m able to be more efficient with the short cuts to execute commands. For example, you can’t do picture clipping by dragging the clipped area off of the window. I loved having a folder of wheels and details to drag into my sketches. Cmd + C copy and Cmd + V paste are much more efficient anyway. The Content-Aware Move tool is a nice plus. It can move an object within an image and automatically fill in the empty space left behind. The Remove tool is useful for easily removing distractions like people in the background, unwanted objects and imperfections.
Overall , it’s a good value for the price. I’m not a big fan of subscription services, but Adobe makes the entry level version very affordable but still packed with features. I haven’t used the AI settings yet. I’m sure that I have much more to learn.
