you compare a newer Elements to an older 'full' version the difference is even more marginal. I'll also add that there is a fairly continuous drip of features from PS CS to Elements and Lightroom - e.g. Layer Masks, previously a CS only feature, has been present in Elements since version 9 I think. So if you compare a newer Elements to an older 'full' version the difference is even more marginal. It is possible to add Layer Masks in Elements 8, and below, by use of an easy workaround. For the benefit of anyone who doesn't know this workaround, here it is a link: