Elements (or Paintshop) to CS Upgraders...

[emalvick]

Seeing a few discussions comparing these programs,

I would like to hear some opinions, views, or features that you find valuable in Photoshop CS (1, 2, 3, or 4) that you couldn't do with Photoshop Elements, Paintshop, or even GIMP...

Now I am asking this in terms of features that you actually use. I can look at Adobe's website and see the differences in their features, but I am wondering more out of what people are finding useful in their workflow? I'm not too concerned about the user interfaces or the learning curve between each program. I'm just curious at the results you get and what the advantages users see (or disadvantages / features you miss after upgrading).

[graphicgr8s]

Well, CS3 has a quick mask tool which is awesome. the brightness/contrast controls actually work, and there are probably a few others that I have forgotten about because I just haven't seen any reason to go back to CS2 and I've never used the other programs. It's kind of a "Once you use the best it's hard to go back to the rest" type thing. I will say though that one of the better upgrades in CS3 believe it or not was the brightness/contrast control and how it works.