Digital BW, The Print

My $0.002

LR: I really like Lightroom because it makes more sense to the
photographer in me (he's in there somewhere).  I particularly liked how
easy it was to select a group of images and convert them for other
purposes (photo frames, facebook, etc.).  UI is very good (not perfect
yet). All edits on RAW get stuck in XMP files (you don't ever have to
hit save) - if that's what you want, or you can store in their catalog.
I'm neutral on that but it's a very fast and easy way to go. B&W
conversion is very easy, split toning can be fun. BUT - no soft proofing
and poor sharpening, and printing, well, let's say it sucks and since I
decided to start printing my digital photos, that's the deal breaker. I
let my demo expire. Maybe V2?

PSE: I have used PS Elements since the free copy I got with my Rebel
(and that was good for a big discount on PS). I have about 11,000
pictures fully cataloged and now I can easily find pictures of, say, my
wife+her dog+snow for example and I do use that feature all the time.
I'm sticking with it for organization and recently updated to version 6.
It uses Camera Raw 4.x so as far as that goes, it has the same
capabilities as PS. I like that I can launch PS easily and PSE makes a
copy first without me having to think about it. UI is good to very good
(set it to go directly to organizer). Downloader app for Windows is very
good. Editor - like PS only less of it (which might be a good thing) but
I rarely use it. It supports some plug-ins but I haven't experimented. I
also haven't played with the "Sharing" feature but looks like it might
be a winner. Bonus - Windows Vista Photo Gallery read most of the
keywords and the ones it didn't get were probably due to a procedural
problem long ago in PSE. Cons: Printing - nah, same reasons above
(output sharpening, no soft proofing).

PS CS3: Soft proofing, infinite sharpening possiblities (I use PhotoKit
Sharpener because otherwise my head hurts), and finally printing with
the latest HP driver. Since paper & ink are expensive, it's a good thing
to take your time. And that's what it takes to learn the advanced
editing capabilities. I don't think I can remove this from my workflow.
Cons: Adobe Raw has better/easier tools like Grayscale conversion (same
as LR) but once you jump to PS, it's different. Organizational
capabilites? Stick to PSE - Bridge doesn't really do much. Have to keep
track of file saves, need lots of system (memory, disk). UI - improving
but still uniquely Adobe :(

QImage: takes up the slack for PSE and LR as far as printing (and output
sharpening) and soft proofing. If you can stand the inscrutable UI. It
has the potential to make much better prints, and I saw (almost) true
colors on one of my test prints for the first time on my older HP 7960.
If you can figure out the various save/preset options, this can be a
huge win if you have multiple printers or multiple papers (who doesn't)?
Also excels for multiple prints in one shot (same or different sizes).

I've also used Digital Image Pro (it's not terrible), but PSE6 is better
for photo stuff.

low cost route: PSE6 (about $80 unless you got it at Costco last month
for $49) + QImage ($35-49).

medium: LR but wait for the next version or buy QImage too.

high cost route: PS CS3 + plug-ins. (Take advantage of the upgrade
pricing from PSE if  you can.)