I have the Suite of PSE 5 and Premiere 3, which I only just got in July (which is why I don't know what I'm doing!). Should I upgrade to 6/4? It seems like that is the way to go. Have any of you upgraded already? Just looking for opinions. Thanks for everything.

Kevin,
I have no plans on updating to PSE6. Version 5 has all the bells and whistles I can handle for now.
Chas

Hi Kevin,

I just upgraded to PSE6/PE4 from PSE5 and PE2. The reason that I upgraded was mainly because I wanted the upgrade for Premiere Elements. And, if you buy the bundle it really doesn't cost a whole lot more to include PSE6.

Last year I didn't upgrade from PE2 because, from what I read, it seemed like PE3 was a little unstable and I was doing OK with PE2. PE4 seems to generally get better reviews. But, I have to admit that I haven't really worked on a project with it as yet -- just mainly looked around. I like the idea of the integration of the Organizer between both products.

I wasn't really going to upgrade to PSE6 because there isn't a lot new over PSE5. Again, it was the price thing that made me buy the bundle. I didn't want to get caught later paying more if I changed my mind and wanted both products. To my surprise, the more I use PSE6 the more I like it. I like the new color scheme (I didn't at first), although I have to say that it is easier to read on a desktop than it is on a laptop. There's a new selection tool that is very good. The much improved panoramic merge is great. I often merge 3-5 shots together and with PSE5 it was always telling me that it couldn't be done automatically. Or if it did create the panoramic, there always was something that I had to really play around with in order for it to look good. I did several panoramics the other day with as many as 5 photos. I used photos that PSE5 couldn't seem to put together, and presto they were great. A simple crop and I was set to go.

Sorry this got rather long, but to summarize, If you are interested in either one, I would buy the bundle. The imporvements that I mentioned in PSE6 were more than I expected and PE4 looks good too. There are trial copies available for download on the Adobe site if you want to test drive them. They are full-featured 30-day trials. I also read somewhere that Best Buy has already advertised a really good price for the day after Thanksgiving (I think it was $90-but I'm not positive.)

Good luck and let me know what you decide.

Thanks for the info Amy. Like the gallery too!

I am still deciding whether I am going to upgrade, I have PSE4. I don't know anything about PE. I would like to learn though.

I went for it and ordered it, should be getting it today as a matter of fact. Mostly I like the changes to PE, which I do use quite a bit for slideshows. I will give everyone my impressions in case you are considering it.

Thanks again.

My approach would be on upgrades is to leapfrog ...
2 to 4 to 6...
1 to 3 to 5 ...

Dont think you are going to miss very much
If you ahve expertise with say 5 then 6 isnt likely to excite you very much
You will most always work around whetever you are trying to do...
However if 5 is on you PC you might just get a tad excited when update 7 gets close

Well I did the update, for a few reasons. Forst, I am still an extreme newbie and have only had 5/3 since around August. Since I am still learning (mostly with the help of others here) I felt that much of the new info that may be on the market might relate to the most recent version, so I might learn better.

I have to say that so far I do love the 6/4 Suite. There are a numboer of logistical things that I like. For example the Organizer and Premiere share the same catalog. But really I think that many of the improvements are probably better for newbies rather than the more experienced among us. It really has shown me with a bit more of a guided hand where many of the adjustments might be and seems to either bring up more sliders. Actually maybe those sliders were there anyway, I just didn't know where to get them.

There also seem from the book (since I have not done any work with it yet) that Premiere has a number of additional themes and applications that might be fun All in all it seems like the right thing to do.

I will keep you all up to date.

Kevin have you had time to play around with premier 4? You being new to it I just wanted to know your opinion. I'm going to jump into the combo upgrade too based on price but really am interested in premier 4 for slide shows and I like how you said that the organizer and premier are intergrated.

Not yet Jen. I hope to be able to do that soon. Over the next few days hopefully or at least over the holiday weekend. I will keep you up to date.