nospam
In article <evo3i9p9n2fuik675s20suc9q39b7kqlq3@4ax.com>, Tony Cooper <tonycooper214@gmail.com>wrote:

Tony Cooper
Elements includes Layers, and has for several versions. Missing from Elements is the ability to use a Layer Mask, but Layers is there.

Lightroom accepts PS plug-ins.

nospam
some of them. not all. photoshop supports a wide variety of plug-ins.

Tony Cooper
Lightroom is no more over-the top for editing than CS or Elements. Some might say it's less complicated, but that's not a definable statement since it depends entirely on to what extent editing will be done on an image.

YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
As powerfull as PS CS is the Gimp ; the learning curve is step or worse. But at last, it is free.

Tony Cooper
The learning curve for Gimp is no different than the learning curve for CS, Elements, or Lightroom for basic editing. It is a bit more difficult to learn only because there are fewer tutorials, and some of the tutorials are not as well done as the ones for the Adobe products.

nospam
it's more difficult because it was designed by geeks who don't know much about ui/ux design. photoshop was desgined by photographers and graphic artists *for* photographers and graphic artists, and it's been refined over the years.