Photoshop Elements and Photoshop: File Format
Compatibility
Photoshop Elements includes the same file formats as Photoshop, except for DCS 1
and DCS 2. The JPEG formats in these two programs are identical--An image saved
in one program can be opened in the other. The Photoshop PSD and TIFF formats
differ, however.
Photoshop Elements has no Channels or Paths palette and cannot create annota-
tions or layer sets. No matter what format you save an image as in Photoshop,
Elements will not display channels or paths. Annotations appear and can be moved
and closed, but not edited. Aside from these differences, the following list explains
compatibility regarding the PSD and TIFF file formats:
■ Layers. Interchangeable between programs. Save an image with layers in
PSD or TIFF format in either program; the other program will provide access.
■ Adjustment layers. Partial compatibility in PSD and TIFF formats.
Photoshop Elements displays adjustment layers created in Photoshop, but
they are locked. You can turn them off, move them, and paint on the layer’s
mask, but you cannot double-click on the layer to edit it. Adjustment layers
created in Elements can be edited in Photoshop however.84 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TODIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
RAW FORMAT AND DIGITAL CAMERAS
The RAW format available in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements is similar to the
RAW format you will see advertised with digital cameras, but you must import
(using File, Import) raw camera images with a special plug-in available from
Adobe. This plug-in is available with Photoshop 7 and Photoshop CS, but does
not work in Photoshop Elements. (Elements only supports RGB-based plug-ins.)
Most high-end digital cameras that support the RAW format include their own
import software that enables you to modify the raw image, output it as a TIFF file,
then open it in Photoshop.
The raw file output available in high-end digital cameras is preferred by photogra-
phers because brightness values for each pixel are imported with no modification
into the plug-in (or the camera software).