The Biggest Differences Between Photoshop and Photoshop Elements 2025
Millions of people trust Adobe Photoshop as their photo editing software of choice, and if you’re thinking of joining them, then you have two main packages to choose from: Photoshop and Photoshop Elements . While a quick glance at the respective prices will tell you that one is more advanced than the other, it can be difficult to understand exactly how they differ in terms of details and determine which one you really need.
That’s where this guide comes in: while there’s too much included in both of these programs to give you a complete understanding of every single feature and menu item, by the time you finish reading it you should have a good idea What makes Photoshop different from Photoshop Elements and what’s right for you.
Adobe Photoshop vs Photoshop Elements 2025: Pricing and Basics
Photoshop is Adobe’s leading photo editing software designed for professionals and advanced users. While it has a steeper learning curve than Photoshop Elements, it is by no means inaccessible to beginners, although if you don’t intend to take full advantage of the excellent feature set – now or at some point in the future – it’s hard to justify. the higher the cost.
This cost is a monthly subscription – either $59.99 per month for everything in the Creative Cloud Suite (including Illustrator, Premiere Pro, etc.) or $9.99 per month for just Photoshop and Lightroom, one more Adobe’s photo and video organizing tool that comes included. as well as a set of commonly used editing tools. It’s a natural companion to Photoshop, but it’s a separate program. For $9.99 you’ll also get 20GB of cloud storage, and you can upgrade that to 1TB for $19.99 per month. If you stop paying, you will not be able to use the program.
Meanwhile, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2025 uses a more traditional single payment method and can be yours for $99.99. Photoshop Elements comes with an Organizer for getting your photos and videos in order, as well as an Editor for actually manipulating your images—it’s sort of an all-in-one editing and organizing package.
However, that $100 will only get you a three-year license: after that, you’ll still be able to use the Organizer component, but not the Editor. You could argue that you’re effectively paying $33.33 per year for a subscription, given that after three years you’ll have to buy Elements again (though the upgrade price is usually less).
Photoshop Elements is more beginner-friendly, and while it doesn’t have all of Photoshop’s advanced tools, it does have an impressive array of features and capabilities. For many common photo editors, Photoshop Elements is quite suitable. In the next section, I’ll go into more detail about what you get in each package.
For most people, it makes sense to try Photoshop Elements first and see if it suits their needs, and then move on to Photoshop if it doesn’t. The good news is that seven-day free trials are available for both Photoshop Elements and Photoshop, so you can try each before you pay.
Adobe Photoshop vs Photoshop Elements 2025: Features and Tools
As I said above, to cover everything that is in these programs, the article would take many times longer, but I can tell you about the main points. Of course, both packages include all the essentials: resizing and formatting your images, adjusting brightness and contrast and other variables, and erasing background elements.
What you can do with Photoshop Elements 2025
Let’s start with Photoshop Elements and the latest 2025 version. If you’ve ever wanted to change the background, change the color of someone’s T-shirt, create a background blur effect, or remove scratches from a photo, Elements makes it possible—and in most cases, it only takes a few seconds. with a few clicks (for example, you can remove an object from an image by simply writing on it).
Photoshop Elements makes it easy to combine multiple photos, select individual objects for editing, expand backgrounds using artificial intelligence, add motion effects to objects, and move, duplicate, or resize objects. You can add text effects, work with multiple layers, apply gradients, and apply a variety of filters to your images.
Of course, you can do all this in Photoshop, but the workflows are more complex and more versatile: it will take you more time, but you will have more control over the end result. This is really the main difference between many of the features: Photoshop Elements offers more manual control and gives you more editing options (which may or may not be what you want).
Additional things you can only do in Photoshop
So what’s so special about Photoshop? This is all and more: for example, layers can be combined in different ways and with more control. You get more tools, including the Pen tool for drawing vector shapes and using them with layers and masks. There are more customization options for brushes and selections, more export options (very useful for professionals), as well as more filters and additional options for these filters.
Photoshop offers more AI capabilities, including AI image generation and 3D modeling tools (which Elements doesn’t have). Another important point is that it supports non-destructive editing, where changes can be made and tried out without affecting the original, and again, this will be of more interest to professional creative people rather than those who simply edit their photos from vacation.
Adobe Photoshop vs Photoshop Elements 2025: Other Considerations
As you can see, if you dig deeper, there’s a lot to consider—which is probably why most Photoshop vs Photoshop Elements comparisons stick to a general overview, because otherwise it can quickly become overwhelming. Some of the differences are quite difficult to understand unless you are very design savvy.
Photoshop is more difficult to use
When it comes to professional and casual users, this extends to the interface. Photoshop’s interface is much more complex, and you can customize it to a much greater extent – placing panels and necessary tools in places where they are most accessible, and leaving everything else out.
In Photoshop Elements, there are actually three viewing modes in the editor portion of the program: Quick, Managed, and Advanced (which is actually still quite basic, but gives you an idea of all the tools and options). As you go through these views, you’ll get less and less help in getting the results you want—Photoshop Elements will walk you step-by-step through a variety of operations if you need it.
For someone who spends a lot of time in Photoshop, moving to Photoshop Elements really feels like moving to a more basic option, even though many of the same tools and features that I need are present – you run into more hurdles. Of course, some people want this, so Photoshop Elements is the best choice for them.
If you think you’ll someday use image editing workflows in your professional life, it makes sense to use Photoshop if you can afford it: no employer will ever ask you if you know how to work with Photoshop Elements. whereas the ability to work in Photoshop can be useful in many different industries.
On the other hand, if you want simple and impressive editing at home, then Photoshop Elements makes a lot more sense—you need a reason to choose the more expensive option, so if you can’t find one, choose Elements. It might be a good idea to think about some tricks and editing for the photos you want to take and then see how they are handled in both apps.