Elements vs. Pixelmator 2.0?

[rickhess]

Any graphics/design folk care to give advice to a non-pro designer cellist who likes to do small projects, birthday cards, etc. on the $100 Elements vs the $30 Pixelmator 2.0 - just saw in the App Store?

Does the extra $70 buy enough horsepower/abilities, etc to justify the price? Does Element do everything Pix does and then a good deal more? Are both user-friendly (don't have to go through a 25-part course to operate...)?

Thanks much!

 

[chscag]

Pixelmator is an image editor which is why a lot of folks here recommend it instead of the much more expensive Photoshop. Are you looking for a graphics design program or maybe even something to do layout work?

And BTW, the Adobe Photoshop Elements program is $79.99 from the App store not $100.

 

[rickhess]

Thanks!

OK - I guess I'm not really sure how to express what I'm looking for - I do a lot of Birthday card work with lots of images, etc for the extended family and everyone really looks forward to them. Currently I use Comic Life Magiq to put stuff together, but I saw that in the blurb on Elements in the App Store, I could do much more with text and some layers, etc, although I'm a neophyte in advanced stuff.
I guess I just want more creative options - image and text - people want to be able to see switched heads on family pictures, etc. I just want to make sure that if I take the extra hit ($80 is better than $100 - thanks), that Elements will do everything that Pix will do, plus.

 

[louishen]

You can downlaod a 30 day trial for Pixelmator, so I would give that a try first.

http://www.pixelmator.com/try/

If you find that does all you need then great. I have downloaded the trial of the new version, despite being a PhotoShop (full version) veteran, sometimes I want a smaller sleaker and faster image editor, so I thought I would give Picxelmator a go.

 

[CrimsonRequiem]

louishen probably gave you the best advice. See if they have free trials and use them both. As a designer I wouldn't use either of them for card design. Especially if you are dealing with typography or hand lettering.

Since there are so many elements to a card there really isn't one program that I would use to create a card. Pixelmator and photoshop elements are for dealing with pixel creation/manipulation.

I would be using Adobe Illustrator if you are really into manipulating text and stuff.

 

[chscag]

Adobe Illustrator may be a bit overkill for what he needs, but it will certainly do the job plus much more. I also recommend looking at iStudio Publisher currently selling for $19.99 at the App store. I use it to do layout work for bulletins, flyers, etc. It can also do greeting cards, graphics, text layout, and overlay plus lots more. Really a very powerful program for the price.