Hey George, another great and highly informative video (just like all of your videos are!), thanks! Question: let's say I have a JPG which I want to run through the RAW editing features. But if the photo needs a serious levels adjustment because it's so washed out, should I take care of that first in PSE and then initiate editing in the RAW mode? Or should I do the RAW editing first and then do the levels adjustment and more in PSE?
Hi JW, you can do your value adjustments right in Camera RAW. Use the Exposure, Shadows, Highlights, Whites, and Blacks slider controls. This is how you would do those adjustments in a program like Adobe Lightroom. When working with a jpeg file it really doesn't matter if you use the Camera RAW dialog box or the adjustment tools in Photoshop Elements, it is simply an other way to adjust the picture. Use the tools that are most comfortable for you. The Camera RAW adjustments are more like Adobe Lightroom and the Photoshop Elements adjustments are more like Adobe Photoshop. It only matters what order you do the adjustments in if you are working with an actual RAW file where you have to use the Camera RAW tool first. George
Hi Geo, thanks for a good video, I am using PSE 2022. Is there a way to undo if one has made a mistake in the raw converter? eg used Whit balance tool but it was completely off. / René Denmark
Open the file up again in Camera Raw, in the adjustments on the right side, in the Basic section, there is a little icon, looks like 4 stacked lines. Click on that and then click on Reset Camera Raw Defaults
I have been using this technique with my jpeg files and it works beautifully. I got a new camera and now I am actually shooting in RAW format instead of jpeg. When I open the RAW file in the RAW editor, the picture looks so grainy. I am having a lot of problem with getting rid of the grainy look. If I use luminance slider the picture seems to go blurry. Do you have a link to a video which addresses this?
Hi Jay, adjusting luminance won't have an effect on the grainy look, that just lightens or darkens the picture. The only way to remove grain is to blur out the image, blending in the grain. The best way to do that and retain as much quality as possible is to use one of the Blur or Noise filters in the Filter menu. Which one gives the best results depends on the image. I would try Smart Blur in the Blur section or Despeckle, Dust & Scratches, or Reduce Noise all in the Noise section. The real issue is why are the images looking grainy in the first place. My guess is that you are not shooting at a high enough quality setting. For snapshots you probably want as many images on your camera as you can fit so going for a low quality gives you more pictures. But if you want the best pictures you can get you should be shooting at the highest quality setting on your camera. I tend to shoot in the mid-range of quality but then most of my images are used in these videos and don't need that high of quality. When I am planning on going for a print output I push the quality (image size) setting all the way to the top. George
Thanks Victor, you are right of course. The tool is designed to work with Raw camera files but as I show in the video it isn't limited to only camera raw. There are several other useful tricks as well which I didn't go into in the video, such as clicking on the control handles in the upper left and right corners of the histogram. That will show where there is any "clipping" in the picture (where the values in the picture have reached the limit) for instance in the lights in this scene. Also if you hold down the alt key while clicking on the Save button it will do the save without bringing up the Save dialog box which can save some time if you are doing a bunch of pictures. And, if you hold down the alt key while clicking on the Open button it will open the image in Photoshop Elements without saving any of the settings to the metadata of that file, useful if you want to keep the original untouched. Thanks again for your contribution. George
George, thanks for the tutorial on the Raw editor. I figured it would be neat to see your workflow and it was! I have been bouncing back and forth a bit with white balance and I must agree with your style where you save that adjustment for later. To do white balance first, then do a bunch of corrections, then redo white balance and then fix your corrections again is sheer madness! It is a much more realistic statement to fix what you can first because this tends to balance out the histogram and in part, the whites correct themselves during the process. Any adjustments from there about white balance seem minor. This will be a big time saver. One last thing, and this is a rookie question. When you save and get the .dng file or .DNG, are these two file types exactly the same??? I have been assuming that the one is just the use of caps and the other was not. Is this correct thinking or is there a difference between the two .dng files formats. Thank you for all you do! Rich
You're welcome Rich! On the DNG vs dng, it is just upper or lower case, the file format is the same. Some people like upper case, some like lower case. I personally always use lower case for no particular reason, maybe it is just easier to type by not having to hit that shift key. On my workflow I usually try to do the adjustment that will have the biggest effect first then move down from there. This is usually exposure, so my sequence in this video. If the most obvious problem was the white balance I would have tackled that first but with modern digital cameras that is rarely an issue. George
Hi Lawrence, if you are working with a Raw file, like the CR2 format, then it will display in Organizer. If you want to open that in Camera Raw just right click the file and select Edit with Photoshop Elements Editor, it will automatically open in Camera Raw since the Editor does not directly open Raw files.
I have photoshop elements 10 and I'm using windows 10. I don't seem to have the camera raw editor function. With this version of photoshop is there another way to edit raw images? Thanks.
Hi, to edit RAW in Photoshop Elements you will need a newer version. The current version is Photoshop Elements 2019 but version 2020 should be released sometime this month and I would wait for that. Could be as soon as this weekend, last year they released 2019 on Oct 4. George
Hi Bubba, easy to do in a couple of steps. You can't do the whole thing from the Raw editor like you would in Photoshop but you can get the same effect. You need 2 copies of your original file, the original and a copy. Now edit each one in Elements Raw as you want. Then get both of those files into 1 Elements file, use Place, or Drag n Drop, or whatever. Then use a layer mask to show the best parts from each file. The only real difference here and with how this could be done in Photoshop is that in the Photoshop Raw editor you can save different Raw adjustments out to different layers in the same file. In Elements you have to do them one at a time in the Raw editor. George
Yes, that would be very useful. I would really like to see your take on using Photomerge Group Shot to do focus stacking with Elements if you ever decide to go there.
My raw pics don’t get the photoshop effects after following all these steps and saving them as it is explained here. I’ve tried many times but I can’t save them.nI’m wondering why? I even uninstalled/reinstalled the elements 18 program but still, it doesn’t work for me. Any suggestions would be highly appreciate it.
Photoshop Elements doesn't save to the RAW file, so after making your adjustments click the Open Image button to transfer the image to Photoshop Elements as a Photoshop Elements file where you will see the adjustments
@@tellmemorethen Remember that Photoshop Elements doesn't change anything on the RAW file, what it does is make a new Photoshop Elements file from the RAW file and it puts the changes on that Photoshop Elements file.
Hello, I am using Photoshop Elements 9. I just shot some photos in RAW (which I've never done before) and now want to edit. The Camera Raw editor opened but now it won't open in Photoshop when I click Open Image... what do I need to do?
Hi Lisa, Photoshop Elements can't open RAW images directly, you need to open them using Camera Raw. You then use Camera Raw to send the file to Photoshop Elements. In Camera Raw, once you finish making any adjustments you want, click on the Open Image button at the bottom right corner of the window. This will open the image in Photoshop Elements, then do a File/Save to save it to the default Photoshop Elements format or use Save As to save to a different format if you want. I know it is a bit confusing the way Adobe has set this up but Camera Raw is a separate program from Photoshop Elements that is just linked to PSE to make it easier to open Raw files and then move them to PSE. George
How To Gurus Thank you! I was hitting Open but it wouldn’t. After probably countless attempts and 2 hours later, I got it! Hopefully it works next time much quicker and easier!
is there away i can save all my edited photos at once at the same time without going through each pic one at a time in photoshop Elements 15? i have over 300 pics I'm trying to save now. doing one at a time will take forever!
Hi Chad, if you are manually editing each photo then you will have to save each photo as you edit it. But if you are doing the same steps on each photo then you may be able to use the Batch Processing feature in PSE. Go to File/Process Multiple Files. This will give you several choices including some Quick Edits like Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color. Plus you can use this to save everything to a different location, change the name to a series name or change to a standard format like jpg. The biggest problem with batch processing is that you have to use the exact same settings on every file for it to work. If the files take different settings then you will need to do them individually. George
You are right Cynthia, Photoshop Elements cannot open RAW files directly but they do have the built in RAW editor. Any regular adjustments can be made in the editor and then moved over to Photoshop Elements as a standard PSD file for any fancy edits. George
How To Gurus thank you for quick response! Doesn’t that defeat shooting in raw? The program I’m using currently is smart photo editor and it edits raw photos but am not able to figure out how to use true png overlays in the program.
@@CottageCupcake Hi Cynthia, actually all editing programs have to convert the RAW file. RAW is an uncompressed, non-processed file format that is great for taking the picture, kind of like an old image on a film negative. But to use the file it has to be converted into something else. The main reason to use RAW is that nothing is done to the image data, so there is no data loss. The RAW editor in Photoshop Elements, and also the one in Adobe Photoshop allow you to do some processing of the image but in both cases it needs to be saved into a different file format once you are done with your image adjustments. To do anything else with the file like using layers, adding png overlays, making limited area selections, etc. it really needs to be saved into a different format that allows that type of work. Both Photoshop Elements and the more powerful Adobe Photoshop use the PSD file format. Over in Lightroom there is the DNG file format which is about as close as you can get to the original RAW format while adding in additional capabilities. The best way to go in my opinion for professional photo editing is to always shoot in RAW and then use your favorite image editing program in that program's default file format. I usually use Adobe Photoshop but I love Photoshop Elements for its simplicity although it is not really appropriate for much professional work aside from images for the web. I also like Adobe Lightroom and most professional photographers use that along with Adobe Photoshop. There are several good alternatives to Lightroom out there including ON1 Photo RAW and Luminar. It really depends on what your final image needs are. George
Hi Cynthia you should edit in the Smart Photo Editor uncompressed file format, which is Tiff and then save out to jpg as your final output format. That will retain as much quality as possible. In Photoshop Elements it is the PSD file format with is basically Tiff on steroids. George
Hi David, good question and easy answer. Photoshop Elements does not work with RAW directly, instead it uses a separate program launched from within Photoshop Elements to handle RAW. This is because most users of Photoshop Elements are hobbyiest or consumer level and work primarily with jpeg files. In my Adobe Photoshop training I use a RAW image in the corresponding discussion, in my Photoshop Elements I use a jpeg image. George
It appears as if local edits are not possible with raw images- masking , etc. I agree, why not use a raw file to demonstrate raw editing. Does anyone know if there is a more powerful program that allows importing raw without conversion and has local editing tools without getting into high end professional programs? This was somewhat disappointing.
Hi, Photoshop Elements is a fairly limited program. For real Raw editing power you need to go with either Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. I used a jpg file in this video since that is the format that most people who use Photoshop Elements will be working with. As another way to improve images using Photoshop Elements the Edit as Raw is a great option, but Elements is just not appropriate for professional level work. George
OK..... PSE is "enough" for the average joe to edit images from his nephews B-day party. This strikes me as a decent program that should be capable to handle most edits for even "pro-am" shooters, esp those who are getting decent SOOC files. WHY should people consider the other PS items (lightroom and full blown PS) ? where are the pros/cons of each (besides one is a rental vs purchase)
Hi Mark, great question and I agree for most people Photoshop Elements could be enough. But if you are at all serious or you are professional then you would want the much more advanced Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom combination. I consider that as a pair simply because you basically get Lightroom for free with a subscription to Photoshop. The main difference is in the capabilities. Just a few examples, if you use Layer Styles they are very limited in PSE,, but they are amazingly powerful in PS. If you do professional print work then you need PS because it can edit and work in the CMYK color space where PSE only works in RGB. If you need to work with channels then you would also need to use PS instead of PSE. I could go on and on but the way I see it, if there is money involved, like for a job, then you need to be using Adobe Photoshop. If the work is a hobby then PSE will probably do just fine. Aside from my TH-cam videos the only thing I do in PSE is to make the thumbnails for my TH-cam channel, everything else I do is done in Adobe Photoshop just because it is so much more capable.
Elements works just like Adobe Photoshop. It uses the Adobe Raw Editor to edit raw images and bring them into Photoshop Elements. You will find that option right in the File menu, Open in Raw.
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thank you George for this video. This is my first attempt with Camera Raw. Plenty of practice required!
You're welcome Peggy.
You’re the best! Thanks again for another great tutorial, even though I’m a few years late viewing this one!
You're very welcome!
wonderful job
Thank you! Cheers!
thanks that was very straight forward and helpful
You're welcome!
Helpful tutorial. Thanks George.
You're welcome Bill
George
Nice tutorial thanks George 👍
You're welcome,
George
George, that was really interesting, informative and a very good tutorial.
Thanks and have a great day,
Semper Fi,
Joe W.
You're welcome Joe!
George
Thank you George I really enjoy your tutorials great to watch and easy to follow with Elements 15 look forward to more helpful hints.
You're welcome William!
George
Great tutorial, very informative. Thanm you!
You're welcome
George
Great tutorial George. I have learnt so much from watching your videos. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge so generously. Geraldine
You're welcome Geraldine
George
Hey George, another great and highly informative video (just like all of your videos are!), thanks! Question: let's say I have a JPG which I want to run through the RAW editing features. But if the photo needs a serious levels adjustment because it's so washed out, should I take care of that first in PSE and then initiate editing in the RAW mode? Or should I do the RAW editing first and then do the levels adjustment and more in PSE?
Hi JW, you can do your value adjustments right in Camera RAW. Use the Exposure, Shadows, Highlights, Whites, and Blacks slider controls. This is how you would do those adjustments in a program like Adobe Lightroom. When working with a jpeg file it really doesn't matter if you use the Camera RAW dialog box or the adjustment tools in Photoshop Elements, it is simply an other way to adjust the picture. Use the tools that are most comfortable for you. The Camera RAW adjustments are more like Adobe Lightroom and the Photoshop Elements adjustments are more like Adobe Photoshop. It only matters what order you do the adjustments in if you are working with an actual RAW file where you have to use the Camera RAW tool first.
George
@@HTGGeorge : Thanks George for your clear explanation! Makes total sense to me now!
: )
Hi Geo, thanks for a good video, I am using PSE 2022. Is there a way to undo if one has made a mistake in the raw converter?
eg used Whit balance tool but it was completely off. / René Denmark
Open the file up again in Camera Raw, in the adjustments on the right side, in the Basic section, there is a little icon, looks like 4 stacked lines. Click on that and then click on Reset Camera Raw Defaults
@@HTGGeorge thank you so much 👍🏻.
I have been using this technique with my jpeg files and it works beautifully. I got a new camera and now I am actually shooting in RAW format instead of jpeg. When I open the RAW file in the RAW editor, the picture looks so grainy. I am having a lot of problem with getting rid of the grainy look. If I use luminance slider the picture seems to go blurry. Do you have a link to a video which addresses this?
Hi Jay, adjusting luminance won't have an effect on the grainy look, that just lightens or darkens the picture. The only way to remove grain is to blur out the image, blending in the grain. The best way to do that and retain as much quality as possible is to use one of the Blur or Noise filters in the Filter menu. Which one gives the best results depends on the image. I would try Smart Blur in the Blur section or Despeckle, Dust & Scratches, or Reduce Noise all in the Noise section.
The real issue is why are the images looking grainy in the first place. My guess is that you are not shooting at a high enough quality setting. For snapshots you probably want as many images on your camera as you can fit so going for a low quality gives you more pictures. But if you want the best pictures you can get you should be shooting at the highest quality setting on your camera. I tend to shoot in the mid-range of quality but then most of my images are used in these videos and don't need that high of quality. When I am planning on going for a print output I push the quality (image size) setting all the way to the top.
George
you can use too with raw file. if you use alt. and press white and black you can see better how that affect to you photo.
Thanks Victor, you are right of course. The tool is designed to work with Raw camera files but as I show in the video it isn't limited to only camera raw. There are several other useful tricks as well which I didn't go into in the video, such as clicking on the control handles in the upper left and right corners of the histogram. That will show where there is any "clipping" in the picture (where the values in the picture have reached the limit) for instance in the lights in this scene. Also if you hold down the alt key while clicking on the Save button it will do the save without bringing up the Save dialog box which can save some time if you are doing a bunch of pictures. And, if you hold down the alt key while clicking on the Open button it will open the image in Photoshop Elements without saving any of the settings to the metadata of that file, useful if you want to keep the original untouched. Thanks again for your contribution.
George
George, thanks for the tutorial on the Raw editor. I figured it would be neat to see your workflow and it was! I have been bouncing back and forth a bit with white balance and I must agree with your style where you save that adjustment for later. To do white balance first, then do a bunch of corrections, then redo white balance and then fix your corrections again is sheer madness! It is a much more realistic statement to fix what you can first because this tends to balance out the histogram and in part, the whites correct themselves during the process. Any adjustments from there about white balance seem minor. This will be a big time saver. One last thing, and this is a rookie question. When you save and get the .dng file or .DNG, are these two file types exactly the same??? I have been assuming that the one is just the use of caps and the other was not. Is this correct thinking or is there a difference between the two .dng files formats.
Thank you for all you do!
Rich
You're welcome Rich! On the DNG vs dng, it is just upper or lower case, the file format is the same. Some people like upper case, some like lower case. I personally always use lower case for no particular reason, maybe it is just easier to type by not having to hit that shift key. On my workflow I usually try to do the adjustment that will have the biggest effect first then move down from there. This is usually exposure, so my sequence in this video. If the most obvious problem was the white balance I would have tackled that first but with modern digital cameras that is rarely an issue.
George
Good point on white balance.
Thanks
Rich
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is there a way to select from the organizer
Hi Lawrence, if you are working with a Raw file, like the CR2 format, then it will display in Organizer. If you want to open that in Camera Raw just right click the file and select Edit with Photoshop Elements Editor, it will automatically open in Camera Raw since the Editor does not directly open Raw files.
I have photoshop elements 10 and I'm using windows 10. I don't seem to have the camera raw editor function. With this version of photoshop is there another way to edit raw images? Thanks.
Hi, to edit RAW in Photoshop Elements you will need a newer version. The current version is Photoshop Elements 2019 but version 2020 should be released sometime this month and I would wait for that. Could be as soon as this weekend, last year they released 2019 on Oct 4.
George
George, is there a way to do "double processing" on a Raw file launched from Elements?
Hi Bubba, easy to do in a couple of steps. You can't do the whole thing from the Raw editor like you would in Photoshop but you can get the same effect. You need 2 copies of your original file, the original and a copy. Now edit each one in Elements Raw as you want. Then get both of those files into 1 Elements file, use Place, or Drag n Drop, or whatever. Then use a layer mask to show the best parts from each file. The only real difference here and with how this could be done in Photoshop is that in the Photoshop Raw editor you can save different Raw adjustments out to different layers in the same file. In Elements you have to do them one at a time in the Raw editor.
George
Thank You
Hi Bubba, that is a great question and I really should do a video on that.
George
Yes, that would be very useful.
I would really like to see your take on using Photomerge Group Shot to do focus stacking with Elements if you ever decide to go there.
great
Thanks!
George
My raw pics don’t get the photoshop effects after following all these steps and saving them as it is explained here. I’ve tried many times but I can’t save them.nI’m wondering why? I even uninstalled/reinstalled the elements 18 program but still, it doesn’t work for me. Any suggestions would be highly appreciate it.
Photoshop Elements doesn't save to the RAW file, so after making your adjustments click the Open Image button to transfer the image to Photoshop Elements as a Photoshop Elements file where you will see the adjustments
Thank you very much for your replay! I did that, and still it doesn’t work...
@@tellmemorethen Remember that Photoshop Elements doesn't change anything on the RAW file, what it does is make a new Photoshop Elements file from the RAW file and it puts the changes on that Photoshop Elements file.
What version of Elements are you using in this tutorial>
Hi, this video from last year was recorded in Photoshop Elements 15
George
Hello,
I am using Photoshop Elements 9. I just shot some photos in RAW (which I've never done before) and now want to edit. The Camera Raw editor opened but now it won't open in Photoshop when I click Open Image... what do I need to do?
Hi Lisa, Photoshop Elements can't open RAW images directly, you need to open them using Camera Raw. You then use Camera Raw to send the file to Photoshop Elements. In Camera Raw, once you finish making any adjustments you want, click on the Open Image button at the bottom right corner of the window. This will open the image in Photoshop Elements, then do a File/Save to save it to the default Photoshop Elements format or use Save As to save to a different format if you want. I know it is a bit confusing the way Adobe has set this up but Camera Raw is a separate program from Photoshop Elements that is just linked to PSE to make it easier to open Raw files and then move them to PSE.
George
How To Gurus Thank you! I was hitting Open but it wouldn’t. After probably countless attempts and 2 hours later, I got it! Hopefully it works next time much quicker and easier!
is there away i can save all my edited photos at once at the same time without going through each pic one at a time in photoshop Elements 15? i have over 300 pics I'm trying to save now. doing one at a time will take forever!
Hi Chad, if you are manually editing each photo then you will have to save each photo as you edit it. But if you are doing the same steps on each photo then you may be able to use the Batch Processing feature in PSE. Go to File/Process Multiple Files. This will give you several choices including some Quick Edits like Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color. Plus you can use this to save everything to a different location, change the name to a series name or change to a standard format like jpg. The biggest problem with batch processing is that you have to use the exact same settings on every file for it to work. If the files take different settings then you will need to do them individually.
George
I’m assuming it’s all elements you can not open raw files directly?
You are right Cynthia, Photoshop Elements cannot open RAW files directly but they do have the built in RAW editor. Any regular adjustments can be made in the editor and then moved over to Photoshop Elements as a standard PSD file for any fancy edits.
George
How To Gurus thank you for quick response! Doesn’t that defeat shooting in raw? The program I’m using currently is smart photo editor and it edits raw photos but am not able to figure out how to use true png overlays in the program.
@@CottageCupcake Hi Cynthia, actually all editing programs have to convert the RAW file. RAW is an uncompressed, non-processed file format that is great for taking the picture, kind of like an old image on a film negative. But to use the file it has to be converted into something else. The main reason to use RAW is that nothing is done to the image data, so there is no data loss. The RAW editor in Photoshop Elements, and also the one in Adobe Photoshop allow you to do some processing of the image but in both cases it needs to be saved into a different file format once you are done with your image adjustments. To do anything else with the file like using layers, adding png overlays, making limited area selections, etc. it really needs to be saved into a different format that allows that type of work. Both Photoshop Elements and the more powerful Adobe Photoshop use the PSD file format. Over in Lightroom there is the DNG file format which is about as close as you can get to the original RAW format while adding in additional capabilities. The best way to go in my opinion for professional photo editing is to always shoot in RAW and then use your favorite image editing program in that program's default file format. I usually use Adobe Photoshop but I love Photoshop Elements for its simplicity although it is not really appropriate for much professional work aside from images for the web. I also like Adobe Lightroom and most professional photographers use that along with Adobe Photoshop. There are several good alternatives to Lightroom out there including ON1 Photo RAW and Luminar. It really depends on what your final image needs are.
George
How To Gurus so I need to save my image to jpg before I do overlay in smart photo editor? I save them as that anyhow after I edit in raw. Thank you.
Hi Cynthia you should edit in the Smart Photo Editor uncompressed file format, which is Tiff and then save out to jpg as your final output format. That will retain as much quality as possible. In Photoshop Elements it is the PSD file format with is basically Tiff on steroids.
George
Unsure as to why you did not use a DNG / RAW image in your example. rather than JPEG?
Hi David, good question and easy answer. Photoshop Elements does not work with RAW directly, instead it uses a separate program launched from within Photoshop Elements to handle RAW. This is because most users of Photoshop Elements are hobbyiest or consumer level and work primarily with jpeg files. In my Adobe Photoshop training I use a RAW image in the corresponding discussion, in my Photoshop Elements I use a jpeg image.
George
It appears as if local edits are not possible with raw images- masking , etc.
I agree, why not use a raw file to demonstrate raw editing.
Does anyone know if there is a more powerful program that allows importing raw without conversion and has local editing tools without getting into high end professional programs?
This was somewhat disappointing.
Hi, Photoshop Elements is a fairly limited program. For real Raw editing power you need to go with either Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. I used a jpg file in this video since that is the format that most people who use Photoshop Elements will be working with. As another way to improve images using Photoshop Elements the Edit as Raw is a great option, but Elements is just not appropriate for professional level work.
George
OK..... PSE is "enough" for the average joe to edit images from his nephews B-day party. This strikes me as a decent program that should be capable to handle most edits for even "pro-am" shooters, esp those who are getting decent SOOC files. WHY should people consider the other PS items (lightroom and full blown PS) ? where are the pros/cons of each (besides one is a rental vs purchase)
Hi Mark, great question and I agree for most people Photoshop Elements could be enough. But if you are at all serious or you are professional then you would want the much more advanced Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom combination. I consider that as a pair simply because you basically get Lightroom for free with a subscription to Photoshop. The main difference is in the capabilities. Just a few examples, if you use Layer Styles they are very limited in PSE,, but they are amazingly powerful in PS. If you do professional print work then you need PS because it can edit and work in the CMYK color space where PSE only works in RGB. If you need to work with channels then you would also need to use PS instead of PSE. I could go on and on but the way I see it, if there is money involved, like for a job, then you need to be using Adobe Photoshop. If the work is a hobby then PSE will probably do just fine. Aside from my TH-cam videos the only thing I do in PSE is to make the thumbnails for my TH-cam channel, everything else I do is done in Adobe Photoshop just because it is so much more capable.
Elements doesn’t offer raw !
Elements works just like Adobe Photoshop. It uses the Adobe Raw Editor to edit raw images and bring them into Photoshop Elements. You will find that option right in the File menu, Open in Raw.
Too complicated
Editing raw files directly is for the advanced user.