Anniebel, you'll find that your version of Elements is very out of date. They're up to 5.0 for Windows and 4.0 for Mac. I'm not sure that it's quite accurate to say that Elements is a "stripped down" version of Photoshop. It's true that some features of Photoshop proper are not readily available in Elements, most of them can be incorporated into Elements via plugins, actions, or more roundabout techniques. Almost all PS plugins and brushes will work with Elements. The Elements interface is generally more intuitive and user friendly than PS, as well. Finding your way around and making use of the tools is easier, IMO. The layer styles, effects, and filters palette makes things like adding frames or applying complex effects into a one-click affair. Additionally, Adobe uses Elements as a proving ground for new features that will be added to PS at a later time. The very handy and useful image straightening tool in Elemts 4.0 is a great example of this. In post-producing my photographs and, more recently, in post-working my renders, the only two significant drawbacks I've found with Elements are 1.) you can only work with 8 bits of color info and 2.) there's no built-in curves feature. For most users and uses, though, neither of these presents a major obstacle. The best part? Elements costs about $400 LESS than Photoshop.