What to get ?(PhotoElement, Photo Explosion, PhotoFinale)

[troop]

For X-mas I'm asking for a do-it-all type photo program that offers better tools than my Fuji FinePix program. I see that Adobe PhotoElement 5.0, Photo Explosion and PhotoFinale 3.0 are readily advertised. Can you users of these programs tell me the good/bad about them and how they work for you ? Any input appreciated. Thx, Troop

[Sintares]

I would go with Photo Elements.

Its the little brother of Photoshop, has 80%+ of that programs functionality without laying out a few hundred dollars,thus it has more features than the other programs you mentioned ( that I had to google, since I had never heard of them before ) , plus it has the most 3rd party tutorials and guides etc

The other programs may be easier to use at first since they are likely automated to a great deal, but Elements has way more control and power available, though might take a little time to get used to it.

Then again you can always borrow a book on it from the library.

[toriaj]

Corel Paint Shop Pro is comparable to Photoshop Elements. I tried the 30-day trials on both, and decided to go with Paint Shop Pro. But they are both good, inexpensive, and probably have all you'll ever need.

[Gary24]

I have been using Elements 3.0 for the last year or so and I love it. Thinking about upgrading to 5.0 after the holidays.

www.how-wood.com

[Interactive]

I've been looking for a solution for some time and just can't seem to find the right combination of features. I've been playing with 30 day trials of some of the big names for a couple of years now (literally) and I just can't find one that has what I need (ok, what I WANT). I'm not a big photo hobiest so my requirements are not that crazy. On their own, each of these features are available in SOME program, I just can't seem to find them all in the same package.

1. Automatic red eye removal (finally available now in Elements 5.0 and it works great). You can either choose to edit upon capture or you can select a batch and elements will find the red eyes without even having to click on each picture. This is how RE removal should work!!

2. Uses native windows folders without having to "IMPORT" into an organizer. (Maybe I'm just wierd about this, but I just want to see the REAL files in the real place on my drive. I hate the way Elements and others have to IMPORT the pics on the drive into the program. I realize this is how they've chosen to track originals, edits, etc. but I just want control and visibility to the actual files. I'll worry about how I name things and if I delete an original, etc.)

3. automatic rotation based on camera position. Maybe this is something unique to Canon, but the canon software knows when my camera was vertical and rotates the files automatically upon capture. Big time savings and I'd like to see this in an all-in-one photo program.

4. Basic editing tools...I'm really not going to do much more than crop and do some basic adjustments.

5. Sharing to multiple sites. I don't want to choose my sharing/printing capabilities based on which software I use. Please let me send my photo's to whichever print service I want to rather than force me to your company's partner site (Adobe / Kodak for example). I've been working with Shutterfly for 5 years....I really just want to stick with them regardless of the photo program I choose.

Am I crazy or does this seem like a realistic set of features? Has anyone seen a program that includes all of this today?

I've got $100 burning a hole in my pocket for the day I find the right one!!