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Photoshop CS4 and Snow Leopard

angemon89

angemon89

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
1,849
111
Northern CA
Hello, I've been toying with the idea of purchasing Photoshop CS4 for the occasional photo edit. I am not a design student or anything like that, I just enjoy photoshop for quick editing and photo manipulation.

Now, I'm thinking about the future here and I want to know if this is the right time to buy? I want this software to be able to take full advantage of what Snow Leopard has to offer but I'm not sure that it does.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but
SL = 64 Bit
CS4 = 32 Bit (for macs)

right?

Does this mean that photoshop will not run at it's full potential and/or smoothly? Am I best suited waiting for CS5 (assuming that CS5 will be 64 bit for Macs)

I just don't want to purchase this and then a few months later have better software come out that runs much more smoothly and is more stable, etc.

Thanks
 
CS4, in theory, should run just fine, as I'm sure Apple isn't going to kill 32-bit backwards compatibility in 10.6 - although I'm sure at some point they will, I think it's a bit early.

However, when Leopard came out it totally broke CS3 until Adobe pushed out an update, so expect the worst.
 
Trust me, for the "occasional photo edit" you don't need Photoshop.

Its a total waste of money.
 
You definitely want to wait for CS5 on the Mac side. In the meantime, go download Gimpshop - it's The Gimp, hacked to look as much like Photoshop as possible.
 
GoKyu said:
You definitely want to wait for CS5 on the Mac side. In the meantime, go download Gimpshop - it's The Gimp, hacked to look as much like Photoshop as possible.
Click to expand...

Oh please, CS4 works and performs fine on Leopard and will on Snow Leopard too. 64bit doesn't even do squat unless you have more than 4gb's, and even if you did for the occasional photo edit you're not going to be using anywhere near 4gb's anyway so it doesn't really matter either way.

CS4 is definitely MILES and MILES ahead of the Gimp in every way. If you really wanna save the money, sure go for it, but if you love using Photoshop just go with that.

Could also try Pixelmator, it's pretty decent, probably easier to use than the Gimp. (Though probably not as powerful) And it's cheaper than Photoshop.
 
DaSal said:
Oh please, CS4 works and performs fine on Leopard and will on Snow Leopard too. 64bit doesn't even do squat unless you have more than 4gb's, and even if you did for the occasional photo edit you're not going to be using anywhere near 4gb's anyway so it doesn't really matter either way.
Click to expand...

Some of us do work with large files - very large files and opening up the 32bit memory limit is a top priority as far as I am concerned. But I suppose not many people work on life size images 6 x100 feet at 300 dpi. Check it out - http://www.colinthompson.com/borders/index.htm

That REALLY slowed down my machine and was very frustrating when I have 16 gig of ram in a dual quad core MacPro and can't use it all As soon as CS5 is out, I'm there . . .
 
colinet said:
Some of us do work with large files - very large files and opening up the 32bit memory limit is a top priority as far as I am concerned. But I suppose not many people work on life size images 6 x100 feet at 300 dpi. Check it out - http://www.colinthompson.com/borders/index.htm

That REALLY slowed down my machine and was very frustrating when I have 16 gig of ram in a dual quad core MacPro and can't use it all As soon as CS5 is out, I'm there . . .
Click to expand...

Nice work.

I'm sure even a 30" display would have been cramped for that, so after SL you'll be needing a 30' display!

I'm starting to use Pixelmator a lot more now for the light photo edit work. The interface is more like Aperture full screen mode, whereas Adobe's interface seems to be becoming more and more I don't know, Windows like maybe with the tabs, background, even licencing etc, yet at the same time not really changing visually at all from the OS 9 days and getting stale so I really don't find the latest CS4 as appealing to work with as I used to.
 
colinet said:
Some of us do work with large files - very large files and opening up the 32bit memory limit is a top priority as far as I am concerned. But I suppose not many people work on life size images 6 x100 feet at 300 dpi. Check it out - http://www.colinthompson.com/borders/index.htm

That REALLY slowed down my machine and was very frustrating when I have 16 gig of ram in a dual quad core MacPro and can't use it all As soon as CS5 is out, I'm there . . .
Click to expand...

Nice work, but why would you ever work life size at 300DPI on something that large? It's just plain unnecessary. A banner that size would look fine from 10 feet away even at 72DPI. Not to mention, a CMYK 7x100foot file at 300DPI isn't even possible to create in PS. At least not in CS3. CS4 might have a higher limit. Mine capped out at a 20GB file.
 
griz said:
Nice work, but why would you ever work life size at 300DPI on something that large? It's just plain unnecessary. A banner that size would look fine from 10 feet away even at 72DPI. Not to mention, a CMYK 7x100foot file at 300DPI isn't even possible to create in PS. At least not in CS3. CS4 might have a higher limit. Mine capped out at a 20GB file.
Click to expand...

Because I did what Borders wanted and you're wrong about looking fine at 72dpi - no it wouldn't. There was no CMYK. It was RGB even when it was printed - not sure exactly what the printing machine was - I do know the images are printed on some sort of vinyl. The image was created with many layers (plus quite a lot of additional smaller images) so the store designer could cut and paste as obviously each store is a different size and shape. I think with the 'recession' it's only gone into about 14 stores so far. CS4 does not have the same size limitations as the old versions of Photoshop, but still has the 32bit memory limitations which really slow things down.

CS5 and Snow Leopard being 64bit will have much much bigger memory options and so be a lot faster for large files - though you'll need to have the right graphics card to get all the speed increases - just replaced my unsupported XT1900 for a supported 8800GT
 
Snow Leopard (WWDC Release) and Photoshop CS4. I installed Snow Leopard earlier this week, and have been receiving errors in Photoshop. What will I do then? Can Custom banner can help me?
 
Jdustine17 said:
Snow Leopard (WWDC Release) and Photoshop CS4. I installed Snow Leopard earlier this week, and have been receiving errors in Photoshop. What will I do then? Can Custom banner can help me?
Click to expand...
As Snow Leopard has not been released yet or even reached 'gold' I assume you have must have an unfinished version - either it's not a legal copy or if it is legal and you are a genuine beta-tester then you need to be telling Apple & Adobe not us.
 
Can't wait for CS5, simply for the rewrite. Photoshop is the biggest most bloated and unoptimized app I have ever used.

It's pathetic. Tom's hardware a while back did a speed test to see how programs preformed with a processor using one core, two cores, three cores, and four cores, and practically every single program's performance increased proportionally for the added core, which I found surprising, but then there was CS4 with all the bars in the exact same position for every single core added. That's disgusting.
 
angemon89 said:
Hello, I've been toying with the idea of purchasing Photoshop CS4 for the occasional photo edit. I am not a design student or anything like that, I just enjoy photoshop for quick editing and photo manipulation.

Now, I'm thinking about the future here and I want to know if this is the right time to buy? I want this software to be able to take full advantage of what Snow Leopard has to offer but I'm not sure that it does.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but
SL = 64 Bit
CS4 = 32 Bit (for macs)

right?

Does this mean that photoshop will not run at it's full potential and/or smoothly? Am I best suited waiting for CS5 (assuming that CS5 will be 64 bit for Macs)

I just don't want to purchase this and then a few months later have better software come out that runs much more smoothly and is more stable, etc.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Another option for you... If you are only doing photo edits that don't require lots of layers or major pixel manipulation you should look at Adobe Lightroom.

It's 64-bit and can do a lot more than just color adjustment.

As a photographer I do 95% of my work in Lightroom and rarely go into Photoshop anymore.
 
Yes there will be new version.

Yes it will be 64bit

But neither of the above has anything to do with Photoshop being 'more stable' or 'running smoother' Photoshop is perfectly stable now and the smoothness depends on he power of your machine. The 64 bit means that finally we won't be restricted to working with 4 gig of ram even when, like me you have 16 gig of ram in your machine. I work on some huge images and can't wait for the new version, but if you're only working on the average size file it probably won't make that much difference to you, though hopefully there will be some other new goodies in the update.

I use Lightroom a lot and if you just want to enhance your photos, it could be the way to go.
 
Photoshop crashes frequently for me when I'm saving for web. It seems to happen every time I try and overwrite a file, and occasionally when I'm just saving out a file normally. Can't find any info on how to fix this.
 
angemon89 said:
Hello, I've been toying with the idea of purchasing Photoshop CS4 for the occasional photo edit. I am not a design student or anything like that, I just enjoy photoshop for quick editing and photo manipulation.

Now, I'm thinking about the future here and I want to know if this is the right time to buy? I want this software to be able to take full advantage of what Snow Leopard has to offer but I'm not sure that it does.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but
SL = 64 Bit
CS4 = 32 Bit (for macs)

right?

Does this mean that photoshop will not run at it's full potential and/or smoothly? Am I best suited waiting for CS5 (assuming that CS5 will be 64 bit for Macs)

I just don't want to purchase this and then a few months later have better software come out that runs much more smoothly and is more stable, etc.

Thanks
Click to expand...

CS4 works just fine on Snow Leopard
 
A slightly unrelated question.... Has anyone tried Photoshop CS2 on Snow Leopard? According to this website http://snowleopard.wikidot.com (which is currently down, unfortunately, was up yesterday), they said CS2 is a PPC binary and wouldn't work on SL... can anyone confirm this, or not?
 
I've had some things printed in the method described above.

The reason why the files are RGB is that they aren't really printed. The proccess uses old-school photo paper technology, where the image is exposed on the paper with light. That way you get all the colors a photograph would have.

The outcome is awsome.

Sv.
 
occamsrazor said:
A slightly unrelated question.... Has anyone tried Photoshop CS2 on Snow Leopard? According to this website http://snowleopard.wikidot.com (which is currently down, unfortunately, was up yesterday), they said CS2 is a PPC binary and wouldn't work on SL... can anyone confirm this, or not?
Click to expand...

My understanding is that Rosetta (the PPC interpreter) still ships with SL, even if it is not installed by default. So, CS2 being a PPC binary is not enough to make it incompatible with SL. Still, there could be other issues. Adobe says that the only tested v4 of the Creative Suite apps for compatibility with SL. They warn that there will be no update for earlier versions (incl. CS3).
 
I'm on CS3 and while I'd love to upgrade to CS4, I see the advantages of waiting for CS5, but that wait is going to be at least a year.

Just look at adobe's prior release cycles and you see a 12 to 18 month cycle. If memory serves me CS3 hit the streets in September of 08 so the earliest we may see cs5 is late next year.
 
I ran into a small but rather annoying compatibility issue with Snow Leopard and Photoshop CS4. I'm using a unibody Macbook Pro and after saving an image, I am no longer able to use any of the multi-touch features without restarting PS. Not a huge deal, just annoying..
 
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