is photoshop cs worth it

[Mord]

from what i have read photoshop cs is considrably slower than 7 so whats the point in upgradeing? whould yoy recommend shelling out for extra features?

[webdesignlab]

Originally Posted by Hector

from what i have read photoshop cs is considrably slower than 7 so whats the point in upgradeing? whould yoy recommend shelling out for extra features?

well.....

photoshop cs (8) has the ability to work with all images in 16 bit, this increases the output quality of the final prints.... whereas all other versions worked in 8bit

that is a huge diffrence....

one thing im not overly happy with is they have done away with the dock for all the nav windows....i really liked that in PS7

just my 99p's worth

[TBR]

Well it runs like a bag of nails on my G4 533

God I need a new Mac

[Westside guy]

Beware, strong political statement ahead...

I have Photoshop 7, and currently don't plan to ever upgrade again. In Photoshop CS they've incorporated some third-party code that intentionally removes functionality. It's probably functionality you don't need; but a precedent has been set and I don't think we should just accept it.

Apparently some banks are not happy with the high quality available in current scanning and printing current technology. They don't want you to be able to scan images of money - something that actually is perfectly legal, since you can freely use scaled images of real currency in print articles, advertising, etc. So these banks came up with code that recognizes images of money, and will not allow you to scan them.

Why should this matter? Look at our current political climate. What if elements on the political left don't want you photocopying (or doing OCR on) anything containing certain words that they deem to constitute "hate speech"? What if elements on the political right decide you shouldn't be able to scan words or images that are "anti-American" or "anti-Freedom"? What if they already have? Do you want these decisions to be made for you?

If you're not already aware of this, check out the results of this Google search for further reading

[Mord]

no upgrading for me

damn my hatred for corel photopaint otherwise i'd switch

[jihad the movie]

Stay with 7, it is fast, and does everything else you need. I went from Photoshop 3.5 to 7, so I don't think upgrading to Photoshop CS is really worth it unless you absolutely need 16 bit.

[legion]

Originally Posted by Westside guy

Beware, strong political statement ahead...

I have Photoshop 7, and currently don't plan to ever upgrade again. In Photoshop CS they've incorporated some third-party code that intentionally removes functionality. It's probably functionality you don't need; but a precedent has been set and I don't think we should just accept it.

Apparently some banks are not happy with the high quality available in current scanning and printing current technology. They don't want you to be able to scan images of money - something that actually is perfectly legal, since you can freely use scaled images of real currency in print articles, advertising, etc. So these banks came up with code that recognizes images of money, and will not allow you to scan them.

Why should this matter? Look at our current political climate. What if elements on the political left don't want you photocopying (or doing OCR on) anything containing certain words that they deem to constitute "hate speech"? What if elements on the political right decide you shouldn't be able to scan words or images that are "anti-American" or "anti-Freedom"? What if they already have? Do you want these decisions to be made for you?

If you're not already aware of this, check out the results of this Google search for further reading

There's a fix for this already out there. I wouldn't upgrade to PS CS until I knew I could get rid of this restriction and there's a easy little hack already available out on the web. Do a little search and you'll find it. (It's zipped with a sample off-scale--so it's legal-- US currency image to test if the functionality has been restored)

[Danrose1977]

Basicly it depends on what you want to do:

Are you:

a) A designer finding that you need to work 16bit images 100% of the time?

or

b) Anybody else....

My company upgraded.... three of us upgraded everybody else didn't bother.

[SumDumGuy]

I also, have decided not to upgrade to CS because of the fact that I cannot scan currency.

I occassionally create coupons which look like US currency for clients. I scan the appropriate denomination, replace the picture of the President with "Crazy Joe" from Crazy Joe's Used Cars or whatever, and basically use the original scanned image as a starting point for what will eventually bear little serious resemblance to actual US currency.

Now Adobe decides that I can't use the de-facto standard image editing application for this, because I "might" be a counterfeiter? I'll stick with Photoshop 7 thank you. CS might deter some "at-home" counterfeiters working at home with their ink-jet printer, but it won't effect the real criminals at all. It just hurts the honest user such as myself. And like Westside Guy noted, where will it end? Today, I can't scan currency. Tomorrow what other freedoms may be taken away?

[Thirteenva]

Originally Posted by Westside guy

Why should this matter? Look at our current political climate. What if elements on the political left don't want you photocopying (or doing OCR on) anything containing certain words that they deem to constitute "hate speech"? What if elements on the political right decide you shouldn't be able to scan words or images that are "anti-American" or "anti-Freedom"? What if they already have? Do you want these decisions to be made for you?

While your previous points were correct and valid. I feel you're really reaching here. I view the scanning of currency as a whole different argument than the one you elude to here. The currency issue constitutes fair use while you're final paragraph rant concerns issues of free speech.

And in rebuttal to your final paragraph. If free speech was to be attacked why would they start with photoshop which is small potatoes compared to what you are able to say and do on the internet as a whole...

While i hate political debates as they never come to a healthy conclusion, i felt the need to reply to allow a second opinion to be heard on the subject. I do not wish to start a flame war.

[adamjay]

the Adobe CS applications can take advantage of the Powermac G5's 64-bit architecture. if you aren't running a G5, i would say it is absolutely not worth the money. i love Photoshop 7.0 and wouldnt change anything about it. (well, maybe make it free)

[Horrortaxi]

If you have to ask if you need to upgrade then you don't need to upgrade. The person who needs Photoshop CS knows who he is.

Of course I'm talking about people who actually buy the software. If you're doing the Limewire Evaluation method then get whatever version you can find. For 95% of users, Photoshop Elements is more than adequate and it's under $100.

[Westside guy]

Originally Posted by Thirteenva

While your previous points were correct and valid. I feel you're really reaching here. I view the scanning of currency as a whole different argument than the one you elude to here. The currency issue constitutes fair use while you're final paragraph rant concerns issues of free speech.

Hey, I did put a big red flag at the top of my post. Or the text equivalent of it anyway.

Your comments are well-taken, and I don't intend to argue them either. The point I was trying to make (and apparently failed to at least some degree) wasn't the politics per se. It's the precedent that really bugs me. Adobe - and now, as we've heard, others as well - added in third party code which has the sole purpose of preventing a perfectly legal activity because theoretically it could be misused. My examples of what could happen were intentionally extreme - but I was trying to point out that just because you don't care if you can't scan currency doesn't mean you shouldn't care about the precedent, since if it's happened once it can easy happen again and again; perhaps with something you DO care about.

[ravenvii]

I have Photoshop CS. I think it's great.MUCH better than Elements, which I bought, then returned prior to buying the full Photoshop.

But I didn't have any Photoshop prior to it, so I wasn't "upgrading".

In fact, disregard this post