D7500 and Photoshop Elements 15

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
I have been using Photoshop Elements (PSE15) to manipulate RAW images taken from my D800 and D5300 with no problems. I tried to import my RAW images from my new D7500 and got an error. At first, I thought it was a camera problem, then started digesting internet fodder and concluded PSE15 is no longer receiving updates to support newer cameras. I was going to bite the bullet and get roped into the Photoshop CC/lightroom subscription (damnit) but thought I would check to see what others are doing, if anything for a workaround for this issue. I know the RAW images can be converted and then manipulated, but doesnt that defeat the purpose of shooting in RAW? Those who have converted from PSE to CC/LR, do you find it much of a learning curve? How was the transition as far as photos that were already on your system organized with PSE being recognized by CC/LR? Thanks for the help and sorry if this has been covered already.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
Thanks @Bikerbrent and @hark
The video helped a lot. I misunderstood what a DNG file was, I thought it just converted it to JPG. Sounds like a smart idea to use anyway for future compatibility and file size advantages if nothing else. I think you're correct that I still need to upgrade to a newer Elements or CC/LR. It appears Camera Raw requires plugin version 9.12 and Elements15 stopped getting updates beyond 9.10.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
It appears Camera Raw requires plugin version 9.12 and Elements15 stopped getting updates beyond 9.10.

That's the issue in a nutshell. No matter what you do, be sure to save your NEF's even if you convert to DNG files. BackdoorHippie once mentioned some photo contests require the original RAW images so DNG files wouldn't qualify.
 

nickt

Senior Member
If you end up going to LR, I found almost no learning curve, I loved it. It just felt 'right' to me. I like the MS DOS look to the library module. I like the other organizer functions. I like the develop functions. I used Elements for several years and I just could not love it. I still struggle to feel comfortable with full Photoshop as well, I usually need to pull up a tutorial if I need to do anything beyond basic fixes in PS. Do the 30 day trial before signing up, some people hate LR. If you do sign up, read carefully. I think all of the current Adobe offerings for the Photography Plan are 1 year commitments, payed monthly. You can't quit in a month without penalty.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
Thanks @nickt
Good idea on the trial. I was going to snag a copy from Amazon but might as well get 13 months for the price of 12 and I get to see if I prefer it over Elements for a month. I like Elements for the most part, but its also a hundred bucks so I feel like I might as well get the program with all the bells AND the whistles.
 

nickt

Senior Member
Thanks @nickt
Good idea on the trial. I was going to snag a copy from Amazon but might as well get 13 months for the price of 12 and I get to see if I prefer it over Elements for a month. I like Elements for the most part, but its also a hundred bucks so I feel like I might as well get the program with all the bells AND the whistles.
It looks like on Amazon, you can still do the LR+PS photography plan as a true monthly plan and quit when you want. That might be something to consider after the trial if you are still not $120 sure.
BTW, you can find training videos all over youtube. I kind of like adobe's own training videos. They tend to go at at good speed for me.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
I downloaded the trial for Lightroom. Was only 7 days but I could tell in the first 7 minutes I like it. Even if just for the lens correction option, its so much better than what I got used to with Elements. Now that I have used both, it seems editing with Elements is editing with your hands behind your back. Everything is so much faster and smoother, Elements was very glitchy. I have a pretty heavy duty computer, but Elements just never ran smooth and I thought it was my machine. Never had any issues with Autocad and now none with Lightroom either. Thanks everyone for your input.
 

nickt

Senior Member
That's how I felt, I loved it immediately coming from Elements.
Do your future self a favor and tag your pictures with keywords right from the beginning. I didn't think I needed such a thing and then I realized how helpful it was when I needed to find something. Its a pretty boring job to go back an tag a couple years worth of pictures. Take a few seconds to add some basic keywords as you edit. You can do it in bulk too. Sometimes I tag in waves, I might tag the whole upload as 'park' or 'lake', etc. Then go back and tag all the 'birds', then maybe add 'duck', etc, and maybe even a specific species. It remembers words words you have used, so you can get through it pretty quickly.
 
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