Photoshop vs. Illustrator vs. Elements

Adobe has a wide range of graphical design software. Photoshop Elements is a "light" version of Photoshop, for image editing. The main characteristics: pixel-based effects, layers, color adjustments. In Photoshop you gain more control and more edit ability than with Elements: most effects retain their parameters and can still be adjusted; you have precise control over masking and selections and a wide range of tools. On the other hand, Illustrator is for vectorial drawings: lines, curves, shapes, symbols, with extensive control over color, line type... It is not pixel-based. In Photoshop you work on an image with a fixed size (resolution). E.g. 800x600 pixels. In Illustrator you work on a drawing (diagram, scheme, illustration) oriented at a particular paper size, but it can be scaled with no loss of sharpness or detail. So it depends on what you need.