Lightroom II vs. PS Elements 8

I am looking for some input regarding an easy to use photo editing program. I currently use a basic program called Picasa, however I'd like to improve my photos with a more sophisticated program. Tried both video and written guides to master ElementsII, but never became fluent in its use. I have basic computer skills, but have shied away from post-shooting editing. As a retiree, who has made photography my primary interest, I'd appreciate any input on the above. My contacts with Adobe sales, have still left me undecided, my two main considerations are to find the most sophisticated and yet user-friendly system it. Thanks Bob G

Elements 8 would allow you to do about 98% of what might need to be done to a photo and it would have more flexibility for editing than Lightroom. For the price Elements is an excellent deal.
If you'd like to try a free, user-friendly image editor before putting down the money for Elements, you could give PhotoFiltre a try. PhotoFiltre is a much smaller program than Elements but has enough features that it enables a person to easily make most of the important adjustments that would need to be made to a photo. It has its limitations, but it's all that many people would ever need. Easy to use and free, it's certainly worth checking out.
http://photofiltre.en.softonic.com/

Another vote for Elements in conjunction with 'The PS Elements 8 Book for Digital Photographers' to help get you up to speed.
Good luck!

Elements has several essential toosl, such as clone. I've used both Elements & LIght Room, and allowed my trial of Light Room to expire. Now using CS4, but Elements would probably do all I know how to do right now.


Kent in SD

If you shoot mostly JPEG, then Elements would probably be the way to go. Lightroom is a RAW converter, editor, and is a more sophisticated image manager (keywording, cataloging, etc.).

Ditto what Olander said above but....if you want something that does pretty much everything (including cataloging, key wording, filtering, exporting to publishing sites, etc.) then you might consider LR. I use it, and the only thing I wish it could do is more complex layering masks. Word of warning though, understand the concept of catalogs early so you don't lose your collections. The file management part is the least interesting but most crucial skill to master.

You can edit RAW files and catalog images in Elements, along with much more than Lightroom offers (layers and all the good things that come with using them, etc.).

I used Elements for years before trying and buying Lightroom 2. I now use Lightroom 95% of the time and only jump out to Elements when I need to do resizing, serious cloning and editing that requires the use of layer masks (rarely). I find LR's workflow to be more efficient than Elements. I really like the ability to adjust one photo and then apply those edits to several others with one click. I recommend you take a look at Lightroom and try the 30-day demo version before deciding.

Elements will definitely give you much more than lightroom offers. I am actually not really a big fan of lightroom, I prefer to use Camera Raw (part of photoshop) to import my images into photoshop.

Lightroom for 95% of your needs + Elements for added processing capability. I've found Lightroom to be far more intuitive than an other processing application, from a photographer's perspective. Very comprehensive and efficient ... and "scalable" as your skills grow.

My sincere thanks to all the above members for their thoughtful comments regarding my post. I found each of them extremely helpful in making my decision. Since I am relatively new to the digital format, my ability to utilize and learn editing skills will be extremely important in improving my work. My entire experience since joining NPN has been extremely positive. My only negative is that I spent too much time on the website. Thanks again to all. Bob G.