Pixtus - Photography Forum, Photographers, Photo Tips

srwatters · **Photoshop CS2: Don't need, should have, or must have? -** 05-05-2005, 09:21 AM

I'll admit to not having the worlds greatest timing with my latest computer/software purchases. Give you an idea:

3/05 - Bought iMac 20" - now new iMac 200MHz faster and with wireless/bluetooth
3/05 - Upgraded to Photoshop CS from 7.0 for $169 - now $150 from 7.0 to CS2
4/05 - Bought Apple QT6 pro - now QT7 pro

I seem to be just missing the boat :roll:.

So here's the question: do I need to upgrade to CS2?

EDIT:
I'm really interested in anyone's take on the improvements to the RAW converter since I shoot RAW almost exclusively.

Hogleg 44 · 05-05-2005, 09:33 AM

I have it but I haven't had time to use it to make a judgment. I still don't have all of my actions in it yet.
I got it mainly for the supposed improvements in the Raw Converter. And too, I had a chance to get it at a reduced price due to a convenient time limited discount offer from one of my rEtailers.

LoungeLizard · 05-05-2005, 09:37 AM

Well, I got an e-mail from them without some of the fine print and I upgraded on Sunday. $149 - including the Scott Kelby book for CS2. The book arrived on Tuesday and the software yesterday.

Now I've got to see if the upgrade will actually work - or I'll have a fine chat with them.

The reason I say that is I've got an academic version and all previous upgrade offers had fine print that academic versions were not eligible. Well, neither the e-mail or the web site it directed me to had similar fine print this time around!

saroy · 05-05-2005, 09:40 AM

I also upgraded to CS in March, right before CS2 was announced. I haven't looked hard, but I don't see enough differences to warrant me spending another $150 immediately to upgrade to CS2. Now, moving from 7.0 to CS was a bit different...more had changed, not to mention that I'd recently taken a class on CS and was frustrated that 7.0 didn't have all the features of CS!! :)

Anyway, point is, I'll upgrade from CS to CS2 when I find myself really wanting a feature that I don't have. I haven't gotten there yet...

Hogleg 44 · 05-05-2005, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoungeLizard

Well, I got an e-mail from them without some of the fine print and I upgraded on Sunday. $149 - including the Scott Kelby book for CS2. The book arrived on Tuesday and the software yesterday.

Now I've got to see if the upgrade will actually work - or I'll have a fine chat with them.

The reason I say that is I've got an academic version and all previous upgrade offers had fine print that academic versions were not eligible. Well, neither the e-mail or the web site it directed me to had similar fine print this time around!

Is my understanding correct, that academic versions are exactly the same as the retail, except that there is no Adobe support?

steve · 05-05-2005, 09:51 AM

Academic versions are the same but are sold at such a discount that they are almost always excluded from future upgrades.
The one exception I've used is when upgrading to a competitor.

ndsimm · 05-05-2005, 09:59 AM

I already have it but I use another program to convert RAW to TIFF and then edit TIFF in CS2. I'll try the RAW converter tonight and let you know

Texas Sadie · 05-06-2005, 08:57 AM

I honestly don't know the difference. I have 7.0 and my brother has CS and we seem to accomplish the same things. Besides, 7.0 with all the plugins I have (like virtual photographer, virtual painter, etc.) seems to give me all I need to do what needs to be done. I also like Paint Shop Pro 9 as it is geared more towards digital photography and not so much for web graphics as their versions have been in the past. Its very reasonably priced too...Under $100.00

Silvernic · 05-06-2005, 10:15 AM

Does anyone know any other differences other than the raw converter?

srwatters · 05-06-2005, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silvernic

Does anyone know any other differences other than the raw converter?

Straight from the horses mouth...
http://www.adobe.com/products/photos...wfeatures.html

jeffkohn · 05-06-2005, 12:04 PM

If you bought CS in March it would seem to me you should get the CS2 upgrade for free or at least cheaper, might want to look into that I know some software companies have policies covering this situation.

That said, I think the CS2 upgrade is worthwhile for ACR users. The new Bridge is an improvement over the file browser, and there are also signficant improvements to ACR itself. The new ACR interface makes working with multiple files more streamlined, even doing conversions in the background while you continue working. There's also a curve editor within ACR now that allows you more control over fine-tuning the tonality of your images than you previously had with just the shadow/brightness/contrast sliders (which are still there of course). Crop and straighten tools have also been added to ACR.

As for CS2 itself the improvements seem more incremental, it's not really a huge improvement over CS the way CS2 was over PS7 IMHO. The spot-healing brush saves a bit of time over the regular healing brush I guess since you don't have to alt-click your source sample, but that's hardly revolutionary. I haven't looked too closely at the new Smart Sharpen because I already have a 3rd-party sharpening plug-in that I use; same thing goes for the noise filter which from what I've heard is better than nothing but not as good as Neat Image or Noise Ninja. The Warp and Vanishing Point tools seem aimed more at graphics designers than photographers, I really can't imagine ever using them.

On the plus side both the Bridge and CS2 seem faster to load and less likely to get "bogged down" than the previous version, things in general seem a bit snappier. Also the new HDR support looks like it could be useful for high dynamic range situations particularly for landscape/outdoor photographers. I haven't had a chance to play with the HDR feature much yet but if the results it produces are good it would be a huge timesaver over manually combining exposures.

srwatters · 05-06-2005, 12:20 PM

Thanks Jeff, I started another thread praising Adobe for giving me the upgrade for the cost of shipping. I looked on the website and couldn't find any policy, but a call to customer service was rewarded.

My new copy of CS2 should be here in a few days! I am really looking forward to the enhanced ACR functions since I shoot RAW.

Bartman01 · 05-06-2005, 06:07 PM

Yep, Adobe will give you a free copy of CS2 if you recently (like in the last month or two) bought CS. They don't really publicize this, but they are good about it.