Elements vs. Photoshop 7

I am thinking of migrating from Photoshop Elements to Photoshop 7 (CS is not suitable as I don't have Windows XP).

The thought process started so I can use the Pentax RAW plugin that will not work with Elements.

What other extras do I get for a lot more money?

Mainly the healing and patch tools and maybe quick mask? There's a lot in 7 that most will never use, it being a professional tool for repro houses, publishers and so on.

7 does offer quite a few other things and, apart from the cost I guess we would prefer to use 7.

The Pentax version of the RAW Plug-in works fine with Elements. The Adobe version only works with CS.

Nick

BTW,
Pentax RAW plugin available from here http://www.pentaxusa.com/digitalupdate/

Works a treat with Elements 2.

Malcolm,

If you don't already have Elements 2 then that's definitely worth an upgrade from Elements 1. Other nice plugins available from www.hiddenelements.com - most bridge the gap between Elements and PS7 (layer masks, curves etc). There are free tools: http://www.hiddenelements.com/freetools.html

Richard Lynch has a great book too, which has yet more plugins for Elements. Definitely worth a look, and cheaper than upgrading to PS7. I found the combination excellent. (However, having PS-CS, as John says, there's a lot of stuff in there, and I've grown to like it all. But then I'm a computer junky anyway, and love learning new stuff!)

Matt

Just to mention, I came out with a Healing tool for Elements as well. I call it Mend, and you can find more information on it here:

http://hiddenelements.com/Mend

Richard Lynch