Adobe Photoshop versus Serif Photoplus

[Miss Mercy]

Can anyone tell me what the main pros and cons are for each of these packages? Looking at Serifs website they seem to claim that it has all the same features as Photoshop but I've never heard of it before and wondered why.

I can get a copy of the new Serif Photoplus for £10 as part of a deal with work but I didn't know if it was worth it or whether I'd just end up feeling I'd wasted money I could put towards Photoshop.

What do people think?

Cheers.

[Simon]

Photoshop all the way, you can get plenty of plugins for photoshop, the other good thing about photoshop is that it does continuous updates for the latest cameras. Also they work well with photomatix HDR software and Lightroom so they all interlink with each other. There is no end of tutorials on photoshop on YouTube to help you get started.

Cs2 is free
http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html

[Miss Mercy]

@mike_todd @simon0128 Thanks for your opinions guys. I'd looked on Amazon and found a wealth of guides for Photoshop but only one for Serif and that made me wonder just how popular it was.

[Melvin Manguera]

Adobe Photoshop and Elements are the ferraris and lamborghinis of the editing world. you cannot go wrong with any of those two.

[Mags ッ]

And remember - if you are a teacher or student you can get the full Photoshop CS6 for £181.

I just did :)

[Sally Ings]

I have used Serif PhotoPlus X5 and have been very happy with it. Recently I got PSElements 9, which does have a better Raw processer but doesn't have some of the layer options that Serif PhotoPlus has. I also found tutorials on YouTube without any problems.

[Rachael]

I don't use either, just Lightroom and occasionally a free software called gimp. If these guys haven't convinced you, then why not try the free trial that Adobe lets you have of all its software. Serif might have the same option, I don't know.

[Paul Godfrey]

Get PSE if you are on a budget. Or use Picasa or GIMP for free. Irfan View is also very useful. Not a fan of Serif Software these days. If you have a computer with XP, Adobe give FREE keys for the early versions of Photoshop and PSE.

The OU T189 - Digital Photography - includes a Free copy of Adobe Lightroom btw.

[Miss Mercy]

@mike_todd @imagenation @boogie @salza @salza @wormentude @godders Thanks for all your advice. I've been able to get an old version of Serif from work to try out and I'm going to see if I can find one of the free keys for the old photoshop package. I've tried GIMP in the past but couldn't work out what to do and had no instructions so the wealth of books/tutorials available for Photoshop is steering me in the that direction.

[Melvin Manguera]

@missmercy adobe is giving away free full version of the Adobe Photoshop CS2 I think.. look at it in adobe.com website. Although it is only CS2, it is still way more powerful than the other softwares.

[Rachael]

@imagenation I believe that the official stance are only giving it away to people who already own a licence for it.

[Miss Mercy]

@wormentude That might make sense as I had a look at their website yesterday and couldn't see anything about a free version.

[Melvin Manguera]

@wormentude @missmercy it is free to be downloaded but there was a limited time for the promo. too bad if it was no longer in their website. they are intended for everybody who wants to try photoshop and other adobe programs.