New to Photoshop Elements (2020)

[12Lions]

Hi all. The last version of Photoshop I worked in professionally was one I bought prior to Elements. I ordered Photoshop Elements 2020 with a new laptop about 6 weeks ago and have a few questions.

1. Is Photoshop Elements the modern-day version of full Photoshop or is there another professional Photoshop?

2. There are no "Channels" I can find to work in. Perhaps they are no longer necessary because of the Quick Selection Tool and the Subject Selection function, both of which work well. Is that the case?

3. It appears that the vector drawing pen has been eliminated, which is ok for me as I'll soon order Illustrator. But is that the case or is there a vector drawing tool in PS Elements and I just can't find it?

4. Finally, There was formerly function called "Blend If" in the Layers Style dialog box. Blend If appears to be no longer included. Is there another option that has taken its place?

Thank you for any guidance you can offer!

[c.pfaffenbichler]

»1. Is Photoshop Elements the modern-day version of full Photoshop«

No. 

Please post Photoshop Elements related queries over at 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-elements/bd-p/photoshop-elements?page=1&sort=latest_replies...

[Guest]

I'll move this thread to the correct forum

[12Lions]

Thank you

[Greg_S. · Accepted solution]

As already indicated, Photoshop Elements is a stripped down version of the full Photoshop.  The purchase gives you a permanent license, whereas the full Photoshop is a subscription service.  Each of the features you are looking for are not available in Elements.

[MichelBParis · Accepted solution]

Channels: there is no specific panel to work with channels, but from the beginning, PSE users learnt how to do about anything with channels via the available tools in levels and layer blend modes. People coming from the full Photoshop don't like to use those workarounds, so they prefer to add the missing features from add-ons such as Elements+ (very affordable) or ElementsXXL. 

Vectors drawing: that has always been reserved to the big brother, apart from text, selections and shapes. Using the pen tool as a selection way can be replaced by the new selection tools.

Blend if.

That mode has always been considered much too technical for most PSE users. For enthusiasts, there are ways to achieve about the same results. Also have a look at the scripts provided with Elements+.

[12Lions]

Thank you all. I downloaded the Photoshop full version as a trial but after an hour I already know I'm going to subscribe. Premiere is great but I like having Channels, (black and white is your best friend is one of the first things I learned in Photoshop back in 1998). Blend If in layer options is there. Curves is there and somehow if feels smoother on my machine. Thank you so much!