In 2009 I wanted to enter a painting of a cat in an online show, but I discovered my image of the painting had a white dot beside one of the cat’s ears and a whitish area above the other ear. The painting was no longer in my possession, so I could not retake the photograph. I was interested in the wonders of Photoshop, but the price was out of my budget, so instead I got a free trial of the less expensive Photoshop Elements to see if it would meet my needs.

And it did. Photoshop Elements (PSE) was simpler than Photoshop, easier to use, much less expensive, and it could do everything I ever wanted photo-editing software to do. These are some of the ways I use it now:

1. Alter photographs to make references for paintings.
This is my most common use of PSE. I combine photographs to make them into something I want to paint, or within a photograph I will alter colors and sizes and positions of objects. Of course there is no need to get PSE if you are perfectly happy using sketches and cut paper and your own imagination when planning a painting—unless there is a bit of a geek in your nature and you just want to try it!

Altered to make reference for square painting, cat enlarged, windowframe completed

2. Alter photographs of finished art when the photograph does not match the art.
Don’t get me wrong! The point of using PSE on a photo of a painting is not to fool people in thinking the painting is better than it actually is. But there’s no harm in using it on a photo that does not match the original art, especially when entering a show. These are the kinds of things you can alter:

the color or brightness of the photo does not match the color or brightness of the original art
there is a mark on the photo that is not on the original art (the “Bandaid” tool can work wonders!)
the photo corners are not properly squared (try the “Skew” tool)

3. Crop and size painting images for entering a show.
Please do not buy PSE if sizing images will be your only use for it! If you have a Mac, the built-in app Preview is excellent for sizing images, and there is other software for sizing images that you can download from the Internet. But if you already own PSE or are buying it because you will have other uses for it, it can be used for sizing images as well.

The full Photoshop is advertised as being more affordable than it used to be, but “affordable” means it comes with a subscription. After you buy Elements, you will truly own it, and you can use it for a very long time.