Elements, as the name suggests is in the product line of Adobe and is image editing software. iPhoto is from Apple Inc. and is for Mac Operating Systems. This also is a picture organizing program.
Adobe Elements and iPhoto are not similar programs though they share a few common features like the photo organizer, basic color correction and picture correction features.
iPhoto is actually an image organizer but Photoshop Elements is far more sophisticated and is an image editing software itself. Moving through the large album of pictures and making corrections to them is far simpler in Adobe Photoshop Elements than in iPhoto. Using Adobe Photoshop Elements, you can composite the various pictures you've and combine them to form one, or convert it to a totally new one. If you just want to do the basic picture correction tasks, then iPhoto is useful. You may also use Elements and iPhoto together. In this instance, using Adobe Photoshop Elements as your editor will be a better choice. You can import the photos into iPhoto and edit it using Photoshop Elements. For this you will have to set the option to 'Edit' in External Editor in the iPhoto menu. iPhoto is not that a professional tool for editing your pictures. And if you're an expert working with editing photos, Elements is the right choice.
Photoshop Elements has far more editing options that iPhoto as it's an editing program and iPhoto has more organizing options. The organizing features of iPhoto are keywords and non destructive editing. It is simple to use books and calendars in iPhoto. While the advantage of using Adobe Elements is that there are three ways of editing photos. The newest in the line, Elements 10 for Mac stands up to the expectations of the users. It's aimed at both expert as well as newbie users. And it's possible to use iPhoto along with Adobe Photoshop Elements 10. These days in some packages you can buy the iPhoto along with the Photoshop Elements. In the package charge, you will find that iPhoto is provided absolutely free. This package may include Adobe Bridge and a raw picture converter also.
Apart from editing pictures, Elements provide lots of options in adding effects to the pictures. This isn't possible in iPhoto. Along with Adobe Elements comes the Bridge that helps you to assign the meta-data keywords to the images. In iPhoto you may add just the proprietary keywords. Using Photoshop Elements, apart from organizing your pictures, you can also share it by creating scrapbooks, web based albums, and in a lot more creative ways. Another disadvantage of iPhoto is that when you begin using it, it often changes the folder structures you have created.
Also you cannot use Adobe Bridge and iPhoto together on the same images. This is because the keywords and the meta-data of the photos crash the iPhoto when viewing these photos using the software. And when you export the photos from the iPhoto, the program writes the keywords and titles corresponding to the images in the respective IPTC fields.
About the Author:
Did you enjoy this article? Need More Photoshop Elements 10 Tutorials? You Can Master Elements 10 In 2 Hours! Watch this free Photoshop Elements 10 Tutorial
