What is the difference between..

Clarifications

Besides the price? :)

If all you want to do is edit and organize photos, then PhotoShop Elements would probably be enough. That is pretty much all it is designed to do.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for a professional graphics design & editing program that gives you full capability to create & manipulate custom graphics, then PhotoShop CS3 would make more sense.

Here are the basic lists of features:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/features/

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/features/?view=topnew&promoid=DRHXB

Since PhotoShop CS3 (or CS4) is a complete program designed for the Graphic Design Professional it therefore carries with it a rather steep learning curve. That's something to consider if you are new to PhotoShop.

By the way....
If you're intention is to simply be able to easily edit, correct or manipulate digital photos, it may be wise to check out PaintShop Pro http://tinyurl.com/347z68
or one of the many free editing programs like IrfanView: http://www.irfanview.com/

Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

I do a lot of work with digital graphics and completed a couple classes with PhotoShop, but I still find myself using many other tools when the job is simple and doesn't require using the more powerful tools in PhotoShop. PhotoShop Elements was originally created to compete with simpler to-the-point apps like PaintShop Pro.

Another favorite is Microsoft's free one - Paint.NET: http://www.getpaint.net/ it has several free plug-ins available as well. Although it doesn't have the cataloging tools found in PaintShop Pro or PhotoShop Elements.

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BTW... good member name :)
....Walkenesque.