Adobe offers many tools, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are two options with very similar features. If you don't know much about Photoshop Elements, this article will provide valuable insights to help you determine which of the two options is best for you.
What is Adobe Photoshop?
Unless you haven't cared about technology in the last 30 years, you probably already know what Photoshop is – it's Adobe's flagship image editing software. While it originally came as a disc that you bought (and owned) to install on your computer, it now exists as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud package.
Photoshop is designed primarily for photo editing, but you can also create GIF animations in Photoshop for short videos, illustrations, or web design. Photoshop sits alongside Adobe Lightroom as a photographer's best toolset.
Using Photoshop, you can create collages, lightly or professionally edit images, use the ever-expanding Adobe AI tools built into the software, or even just crop and straighten images. image. Photoshop's options are nearly limitless.
What is Adobe Photoshop Elements?
This software doesn't get much attention compared to the main desktop version of Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop Elements is a one-time fee that has many of the properties found in Photoshop, but some have been cut down.
Photoshop Elements is available on desktop, browser, and mobile devices, so you can access it anywhere you can log in regardless of whether you have the software installed on your system or not.
Photoshop Elements includes some AI tools, but not as many as the main version of the software. You can edit photos using filters and effects, quick edits, collages, resize and rearrange images and elements, and add text.
How much does Photoshop and Photoshop Elements cost?
Both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are accessible from a desktop app, web browser, or mobile app for the same major operating system and platform, but the cost for each app is different. Elements is in beta for web and mobile at the time of writing.
Adobe Photoshop is part of Adobe Creative Cloud, which follows a subscription-based pricing model. While there are many subscription plan options, the cost increases over time for long-term users, which is often the reason people don't want to subscribe to Creative Cloud.
For a Photoshop-only subscription, you'll have to pay $22.99/month for an annual contract. There's also a Photography Plan that includes access to Photoshop, Lightroom, and Firefly, priced at $9.99 or $19.99/month depending on cloud storage.
The Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps plan, which includes all 20+ Adobe software included in Creative Cloud, costs $19.99, $59.99, or $89.99/month on an annual contract, depending on type your registration (student, professional, business). If you cancel or choose not to renew your plan, you will lose access to the software.
Adobe Photoshop Elements runs on a different pricing model reminiscent of old Adobe software, where you owned the program outright. Photoshop Elements lets you own the software for 3 years – this license provides a sense of security that goes beyond the monthly subscription plans tied to annual contracts.
You can purchase a 3-year license for Photoshop Elements for $99.99, and if you're updating an existing license, you'll only pay $79.99. You can also purchase the Adobe Elements Bundle that includes both Photoshop and Premiere Elements – for video editing and image editing – for a total price of $149.99, or discount to $119.99 to upgrade your existing license. Have.
The best features of Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop is a powerful editing tool that allows you to create anything you can imagine. Here are some of its best features:
Generative AI
Generative AI features came to Photoshop in 2023 with the launch of Adobe Firefly across the majority of Adobe's software. Photoshop has received its fair share of Generative AI tools, in the form of Generative Expand, Generative Fill, and Remove Distractions.
Its older AI tools are also great, such as Subject Selection and Neural Filters (which uses Machine Learning combined with AI).
Use layers
You'll find layers in many Adobe programs – including Photoshop Elements – but the nature of Photoshop allows you to use countless large layer sizes.
You can create amazing photo manipulations, collages, animations, non-destructive editing, and AI content using Photoshop's layers. The Layers panel is a prominent part of the Photoshop workflow, easy to navigate and use.
Adjust and blend modes
Photoshop really shines when it comes to simple ways to edit photos. You can use tools Adjustments is in tabs Image or as an adjustment layer in the Layers panel to alter the image with countless styles. Adjustments affect color, lighting, contrast, tone, etc.
Along with the many ways to adjust images, using Photoshop's extensive blend modes in layers gives you more flexibility. There are also blend modes in Photoshop Elements, but Photoshop offers more modes with greater control over the results.
The best features of Adobe Photoshop Elements
Although Photoshop Elements is streamlined compared to the main software, it offers some great features for users.
Quick Tools
Photoshop Elements' Quick Tools let you apply a variety of edits to your images with speed and precision. You can select an entire subject area using AI marquee creation, then realistically recolor the selected subject, all in a minute or less.
This is just one of the Quick Tools, the menu offers much more, such as depth blur, smart correction, background tool, subject selection tool and color options, etc.
Guided Edit and Perfect Portrait
The Guided Edit features in Photoshop Elements help you move through a sequence to achieve the best results using certain features. Perfect Portrait tools let you edit photos in the right order to achieve subtle yet effective enhancements on portraits.
Perfect Portrait tools include skin smoothing, teeth whitening, the ability to open closed eyes, remove blemishes, straighten or align the head, etc. The results are subtle enough to not be over-edited, relatively. Similar to the results you can achieve using the AI portrait plugin in Photoshop.
Template
Photoshop Elements isn't like Adobe Express or Canva, but it does offer a number of design templates for creating collages, slideshow presentations, or simple photo collages for a variety of uses. The template library doesn't load as much as other software, but it's nice to have the option built into the app.
Subtle animation elements
While you can animate GIFs in Photoshop, many people are surprised to find a small library of animated elements in Photoshop Elements.
Photoshop Elements 2025 introduced four new animated elements – a small flashing heart, a sparkling overlay, an animated pink frame, and a subtle moving zoom effect – to which you can add more. that you didn't realize your image needed.
Although the editing tools are very basic, you can mask areas of your photo to choose how and where your animation appears. Each motion graphic comes with a little music track for added fun.
Which software is right for you, Photoshop or Photoshop Elements?
For most users who want to do a lot of photo editing, Adobe's main desktop software Photoshop will be the better choice. Although it can be expensive, the tools and features available are unmatched. The price is negligible compared to the results and flexibility that Photoshop offers.
For a non-subscription tool, Photoshop Elements doesn't offer enough to beat non-Adobe competitors like Canva. While it has some innovative uses, it doesn't offer much more than you'll get elsewhere for free or cheaper. This is especially true if you're trying to avoid paying for the entire Adobe corporation, whether it's for a subscription or a long-term license.
There's nothing you can do in Photoshop Elements that you can't do better in Adobe Photoshop.
