Canon DPP vs Photoshop Elements

[spidermike]

I am just starting out in post-processing and was thinking of getting into DPP before buying a bespoke package (eg PSE) - getting to know what sort of things I want to do before deciding which product will be better for me. So as you can imagine fancy effects are not high on my list (yet?!).

People have criticied DPP as a processing package (compared to Photochop etc), and I can understand that it has its shortcomings compared to a specialist program like PSE. But how good can you actually get with DPP as a basic package? Is the criticism due to its clunky interface and/or poor facilities or is it just not possible to get good results with it?
I see they have introduced the lens correction facility - has anyone used this compared to things like DxO?

Thanks for any advice.

Mike

[dturina]

I am just starting out in post-processing and was thinking of getting into DPP before buying a bespoke package (eg PSE) - getting to know what sort of things I want to do before deciding which product will be better for me. So as you can imagine fancy effects are not high on my list (yet?!).

People have criticied DPP as a processing package (compared to Photochop etc), and I can understand that it has its shortcomings compared to a specialist program like PSE. But how good can you actually get with DPP as a basic package? Is the criticism due to its clunky interface and/or poor facilities or is it just not possible to get good results with it?
I see they have introduced the lens correction facility - has anyone used this compared to things like DxO?

Thanks for any advice.

Mike

Hi Mike,
First of all I don't see it as a situation where you'd have to choose between the two, as they complement each other. I use DPP as a raw converter and I must say it's the best I tried. That might sound like a heresy but I find it to produce better colors, sharper details and is easier to use than anything else I tried. However, after you make necessary adjustments in DPP and produce your jpeg, you will want to do something with that picture, such as resizing and sharpening for web or for printing, you might want to clone dust, or otherwise edit the photo, and that's where you'll need Photoshop or some similar tool. Elements is very nicely suited for those tasks, and combined with DPP it will probably be an overkill for almost everyone. But I do advise that you use DPP as a raw converter for your Canon files, as it will recognize picture styles and make it possible for you to set everything up in the camera, and do only minor tweaking in the converter. It definitely makes things easier.

[semillerimages]

Hi Mike,

I was a big DPP fan, and I do still use it for certain things, however when Adobe brought out their camera profiles for ACR and Lightroom I started using both of those programs more often than DPP. You get the same color as DPP when you use the camera profiles, but a tremendous amount more in the flexibility department for massaging the files to your satisfaction. I personally was not fond of the workflow that ACR provides, so I did pony up the $299 for the newest release of Lightroom. I now get the color I appreciate more than Adobe's interpretation of Canon color, and I get the option of the numerous image processing options that Lightroom has.

*steve

Hi Mike,
First of all I don't see it as a situation where you'd have to choose between the two, as they complement each other. I use DPP as a raw converter and I must say it's the best I tried. That might sound like a heresy but I find it to produce better colors, sharper details and is easier to use than anything else I tried. However, after you make necessary adjustments in DPP and produce your jpeg, you will want to do something with that picture, such as resizing and sharpening for web or for printing, you might want to clone dust, or otherwise edit the photo, and that's where you'll need Photoshop or some similar tool. Elements is very nicely suited for those tasks, and combined with DPP it will probably be an overkill for almost everyone. But I do advise that you use DPP as a raw converter for your Canon files, as it will recognize picture styles and make it possible for you to set everything up in the camera, and do only minor tweaking in the converter. It definitely makes things easier.

[NigelC]

Can you use DPP and ACR together, i.e. can I import raw files from Bridge (I have CS2) to DPP, use the dedicated abberation correction facitilities and then save in a way that I can also use some of the features of ACR?

[David Sutton]

Hi Mike. There's nothing wrong with starting out with DPP and getting to know it. After all it's free and it works well as a raw converter. There are some quite good tutorials around, you could try the Canon website at
http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?ac...&fromTips=1.
I purchased Lightroom for it's database management, particularly when travellling, and after using it once never went back to DPP, so I don't know the capabilities of ver. 3.4. (I found LR more intuitive, much faster, better thought out and ultimately more capable).
If you want to correct lens distortion PTLens is reasonably priced and comes in stand-alone and plug-in versions.
When you come to the stage of wanting to do local editing on your images get a trial version of Elements and see if it suits you. I started out with another program, and found that while it worked to a point, I couldn't talk to other photographers about issues with its capabilities, so I bought Photoshop. The learning curve has been, um, steep, but I only had to do it once. Cheers, David

[The View]

DPP is a top choice if you have a Canon camera.

And it is free. Once you get used to the interface, it is very fast to work with.

As funny as it sounds: it is cheaper to buy Elements first, and then upgrade to Photoshop than buying Photoshop right away, as Photoshop is 50% reduced when coming from Elements. (I wish I had known that... I had a free copy of Elements ( which I never used) that came with my  Wacom tablet...)

[spidermike]

Thank you all for yor comments. I think I will stump up the cash for PSE (waiting a few days for v7, of course).