Photoshop Creative

I am just about 99% convinced on downloading and trying LR but have been reading everything I can on it. Here is where I am confused and a little leery of it. I don't use either elements organizer or CS3 bridge for my photos. Have my own filing system. Question can I use LR using my own system and bring in my photos into LR with say an file>open. and then bringing them back into either elements or CS3.
Question 2 can I save from LR as a jpg or do I can to do that from one of the other 2 editing programs
I want to try this program so bad, but things I have read about it catologing(sp) is scaring me off.

Suzib, I don't think you'll have any problem adapting your workflow to Lightroom. Basically, you can continue to download the photos from your camera as you do today. Then you do a File>Import Photos from Disk to make the photos available to Lightroom - it doesn't move the images, it just provides a link to them. When you use Lightroom on your image, it doesn't change the image; it just records the adjustments in a separate file. When you're ready to edit a particular photo in Elements or CS3, you right click it on it in Lightroom and tell it to open in Elements/CS3 with the adjustments included (if you specify that). Then you can save the image from Elements/CS3 as you would have done before. The original image never moved from the folder you put it in.

Does that make sense? Colin and others will chime in to clarify/amplify/correct what I said.

Ok, sounds good but one last question on this file>import from disk?? I would already have my photos in folders in My Documents would I use the same command to get those into LR.

That is a little confusing, but the choices for Import are Import Photos from Disk (i.e., drive) or Import Photos from Device (i.e., a camera or card reader). Your My Documents>My Pictures do reside on your C-Drive, so you can easily navigate to the latest subfolder from the Lightroom Import dialog.

great Chuck, I am going to do it!!! Hopefully will get it done tomorrow. Right now trying to do Reka's CS3 homework, stuck on where alpha channel is!!!!