Q about equipment and software

[madhttr]

Hello again! I have a few quick questions.

First, what does a filter do for a dslr? I am confused and wonder if I need one. Other than the obvious that it protects your lens, what else does it do?

Second, I like how in illustrator that I can create "copyrights" for my pictures. Taking the image and using the opaque tool so that it can overlay. My question is, does photoshop (specifically elements) have this function, and if not, is there another way to do it? I have almost made my mind up to get elements (mainly because I cant see spending $600 on PS) so I just need to know if it can do this one little thing...

Thanks,

[Gdad]

Filters do a lot of different things besides protecting your lens- B&H has a nice tutorial on them here - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/Product_Resources/filterIntro.jsp

Not sure on the PSE question- I know it can do it if you set up an opaque file to overlay on your images but not sure if it has anything that just adds that symbol automaticly.

[DVC Jen]

I use the text tool in elements to add it. I just press the alt key and then type in 0169 and it inserts the copyright symbol.

Hope it works for you.