Adobe continues to get pushback over its new “subscription-only” licensing model for Photoshop. It continues to appear that all versions after CS6 will rely on some type of Creative Cloud subscription. In response to user pressure, Adobe has lowered the price of its “Photographer” package that provides Photoshop CC and Lightroom for $10/month. For many photographers, though, the whole idea of renting their software is not appealing. Unfortunately there are not too many options out there. GIMP is a powerful, free, package, but it doesn’t have the polish of Photoshop. Ironically, Adobe itself may be providing the solution itself for many shooters in the form of Photoshop Elements…

Elements continues to add advanced features, previously only found in its bigger brother. Photoshop Elements 12, for example, adds Content-Aware Move and Auto Smart Tone. Unique to Elements are Guided Edits, that help you through otherwise complex sets of steps for sophisticated effects like creating a Zoom Burst. Elements has raw support for plenty of cameras, but it of course doesn’t have every single slider that the Photoshop Camera Raw module has, but if you’re loath to shell out on Photoshop every  year, Elements at $86 for a one-time purchase is always an option.

To learn more about Photoshop Elements 12, I recommend the PC Magazine review.

If you’re curious about using GIMP, I highly recommend the new book, GIMP for Photographers, from Rocky Nook.