Copying only part of hard disk to SSD

I am changing my HDD for an SSD on my 2008 iMac and have read a lot of tips and background stuff on different forums and think I am quite ready to do the leap. However, there is one mystery I would like to get some more information about: I would like to start the new SSD as clean as possible as I have a lot of clutter on the old hard disk in the form of old programs and files. These days I mostly use Photoshop, Mail, browsing and a few other programs.

So how do I copy only what I want, together with all associated files and data (for example all accounts settings and posts in Mail) and leave everything else on the old hard disk, using this as an external when need be.

I have Carbon Copy Cloner, which I have yet to use. Incidentally most of the writings about CCC are about cloning your whole hard disk. Which is what I am trying to avoid.

Any suggestions, or even better, step by step instructions greatly appreciated.

The easiest way to do this would be to simply install a fresh copy of OS X on the new SSD and start from scratch. Complicated applications like the Creative Suite throw files all over the filesystem so a nice "clean" copy from one machine to the next is near impossible.

Thank you for a swift answer.
So what you're saying is that if I want to do a "clean install" I need to set up everything anew? Email accounts, installing programs again, browser setups, etc etc? No middle way?

I suppose this is a better option than copy the whole disk and throwing away all unwanted stuff later.

Yes - unfortunately, there's no "middle ground" when it comes to setting up new hard drives. You can certainly backup quite a bit and be selective in this process though to make it all much less painful.

Thank you, and for taking your time.