Question About Elements 5 and Curvemeister

[mikemeister_admin]

Hi there,

I wanted to get a better handle on using a curves plug in.  My question is, since Elements 5 does not offer LAB (Channel A, Channel B), if I get this plug in, will It offer a chance to work in LAB?

Thanks,
Joelyn

[derekfountain]

I wanted to get a better handle on using a curves plug in.  My question is, since Elements 5 does not offer LAB (Channel A, Channel B), if I get this plug in, will It offer a chance to work in LAB?

Yes, in the sense you can do curves corrections in LAB mode (and 3 others besides) inside CM. Once you leave CM you won't be able to "work" in LAB mode - that is, the benefits of LAB mode still aren't available to the normal PSE program.

The above is As I Understand It(tm) - I'm a PS user, not PSE. Greg will be able to give you the exact details. Better yet, go and download the demo and try it for yourself:

http://www.curvemeister.com/downloads/cmdemo/index.html

[ggroess]

PSE can handle LAB mode but you cannot access the curves space for it or any other color space for that matter in PSE.  They do have some support for it but it is wizard driven and you are limited in specific curve choices.  That is one of the reasons most people who want more, upgrade to PS

That is the biggest reason to go to CM. 

I have been using CM since PSE 3 and have found that most of the other tools stay on the shelf once you learn how to "do" curves. I would never think to use levels or any of the color wizards in PS or PSE.  That would be like hitting a thumb tack with a sledge hammer.

Greg

[mikemeister_admin]

Thanks very much for your help.  I think I will download the demo and take a look.  Thanks again for the quick responses.

Joelyn

[imported_ganna]

I started with PSE 4.0 and read about Curvemeister in the Eathbound Light website.(http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/curvemeister-2.html?search=Curvemeister&bool=and) It worked very well in PSE. Since then I've upgraded, first to CS2 and then to PS CS3 and I'm still using CM (Curvemeister version 3) I can not imagine working in CS3 without CM; it's like part of it. I agree that we often get plugins and only use it ocasionally, but I use CM everytime I edit my photo's.  It is strongly recommended that you do a CM class to get the full benefit, but reading through the tutorials and help file will give you a good idea of what to expect.
Hope this help.
Ganna