Editing Photos for the Web, which program is best?

[chrismacguy]

I am beginning to edit Photos for the Web, and was wondering if Photoshop CS4 is worth it. I already have Fireworks CS4 and thought that Photoshop CS4 would be a useful upgrade. Also, can I go and buy Photoshop CS4 Extended and install it alongside my current CS4 Web Standard install, I assume so.

[compuwar]

There is no "best." There is only suited for what you need to do and unsuited for what you need to do. Pretty-much all photo editing applications have the same basic capabilities. Only you know if you need more advanced features or not. Since Adobe offers a download of Photoshop, why not try it and see if it works for you? Then you'll know if it's worth the price.

[termina3]

What does "editing photos for the web" entail?

CS4 seems like overkill if you don't know that you need it.

[ChrisA]

I am beginning to edit Photos for the Web, and was wondering if Photoshop CS4 is worth it. I already have Fireworks CS4 and thought that Photoshop CS4 would be a useful upgrade. Also, can I go and buy Photoshop CS4 Extended and install it alongside my current CS4 Web Standard install, I assume so.

If all you are doing is re-sizing the images and maybe making crops. Even "Preview" will do that. What all do you want to do? Likely Adobe Photoshop Elements do everything you need.

[georgemann]

If you do a lot of daily, editing an re-sizing of images for the web (like I do), you will want Photoshop (version CS3 or CS4 does not matter).

The most important part is the "Save to Web" function of the Save command, it allows you to precisely (and with real time visual confirmation) save your images with compression levels and other parameters that will make for a cleaner, leaner and better looking web site.

George

[chrismacguy]

I mean high end graphics creation and various editing tasks - the reason I ask is I already own Fireworks CS4 and wondered if I need Photoshop CS4 - The sort of editing tasks are removing pieces, cutting various custom selections between images (like adding and removing people, objects). For this Im guessing my only choice is Photoshop as Fireworks doesn't seem capable of this sort of work.