Photoshop CS Reviews?

[openspace]

So what's the consensus on Photoshop CS? What do you like / dislike vs. previous versions? Adobe has integrated CameraRAW, and improved 16-bit support. Do these features live up to the hype? What about the interface? Now post!

[hodad66]

I'm a lightweight when it comes to PS. Just got my 10D about a month ago & was using the Canon (slow) software with raw. The new CS is wonderful compared to that. Just choose the pic in the browser & it comes up quick. Play with all the sliders (I like the "shadow" slider). I've been able to take mid day shots, minimize the contrast, adjust shadow & exposure-- get lots of range. When you're done just click & it's in PS. I think it runs a little slower than 7 did but to me CS ROCKS!!

[iwatkins]

Well that is good to hear as I've just put my order in :)

I'll be glad to get away from the ZoomBrowser -> FVU -> Photoshop route.

Cheers

Ian

[w10d]

I've just had PS CS for a day, so I've only skimmed the surface so far, but I'm beginning to think this is the best upgrade since PS3 introduced layers.... Especially if your a photographer, because so many of the add-ons or improvements are about working with photos, rather than graphics, type, web, etc. Even more so if you're a digital photographer who has been using Canon FVU!

The speed of ACR is amazing, but even more than that is the level of control you have over the processing. Stunning.

Greatly extended 16 bit editing, including layers and paint tools - Live histograms, even by channel - Shadow/Highlight adjustment looked like a gimmick, but a quick play with it and I suspect it will be as much help as the healing tool was over the clone tool - Lens blur filter, again a real quick look, preview seemed slow, but the optical blur effect looks pretty impressive and very controllable.

One tip: In PS7 Adobe swapped the near universal Cmd-P shortcut from Print to Print with preview, and tucked some of the CM print controls in the PwP dialog box. Now they have gone back to Cmd-P = Print, BUT you can customise the keyboard shortcuts and swap it back if you need to check those CM controls when you print.

Thats enough, I'm off to blur something....

[Belmondo]

I swore I wouldn't do it because of their lack of support for the 10D in the Adobe Raw Converter, but I ordered CS today. I was at Barnes & Noble today looking through the few Photoshop CS books that are out, and it looks like a definite step forward. I'm glad to hear the positive comments on it so far.

[PSChia]

Did anybody realised that the EXIF data in the tiff & jpg files converted from RAW in ACR 2 could not be read by any other browsers save for those in the Adobe CS suite and Photoshop Album 2?

Seems that Photoshop CS's metadata logic is based on XMP and you would need to view the resulting images in an XMP-aware viewer to read the EXIF data inside the XMP data block.

Is there any way to get around that, I wonder. Besides waiting for all those software to upgrade themselves to be XMP-aware, that is.

[w10d]

belmondo wrote:
I swore I wouldn't do it because of their lack of support for the 10D in the Adobe Raw Converter, but I ordered CS today.


I'm sure you already know that CS supports the 10D, just mentioning it in case anyone has misunderstood....

Wasn't it missed from the original release beacuse ARC was pretty much finished when the 10D came out? (I wonder how quick Adobe will be to add new models as they get released - it would be frustrating to buy a new Canon and have to go back to Canon FVU!).

[dtrayers]

What kind of horsepower is required with CS? I'm running PS7 on a WinXP machine with a 1.8Ghz P4 and 1Gig of RAM. The performance is pretty good unless I have a lot of layers or use a heavy duty filter, like lens flare.

I would *really* like to edit with layers in 16-bit mode, but I'm afraid that it will bring my system to a crawl.

So how's the performance in 16-bit mode? Do I also need to start saving for a Power Mac G5?

[w10d]

dtrayers wrote:
So how's the performance in 16-bit mode? Do I also need to start saving for a Power Mac G5?

Can't comment on your Windows set-up, but CS seems slightly slower than 7 on my Mac, but it's too early for me too say, if it is slower it's a marginal thing.

As for 16 bit: It all comes down to moving data around, and obviously 16 bit has a lot more! Maxing out the RAM on your system is, as always, the best move.

[evilenglishman]

i was expecting filers to be useable in 16bit mode but they aren't.

also the camera raw import is not the same as the plug in for PS7.
There are added functions such as luminence smoothing, colour noise reduction, chromatic aberration, vignetting and various colour calibration settings before you import. They have also made it possible to import at 6144 x 4096

Also you can save your raw settings (as before) but now you can select images in the file browser and apply those settings without having to open the images at all.

There is a new colour matching tool, which in theory is supposed to match the colour range between 2 images - this looks a little tricky to get good results.

The new filter preview is excellent. It lists all your plugins and gives you a preview of your image with the filers of your choice selected. kind of like the usual filer preview but you have access to all of them instead of just the one you selected.

[elm54]

hi,
What about plugin compatability?

Eric

[Default9]

Top ten new features


Improved File Browser
Quickly preview, tag, and sort images; search and edit metadata and
keywords; and automatically share batches of files from the improved File
Browser.

Match Color command
Achieve a consistent look between package shots, fashion photos, and more
by instantly matching the color scheme of one image to another.

Histogram palette
Monitor changes to your image in the Histogram palette, which dynamically
updates as you make adjustments.

Shadow/Highlight correction
Quickly improve the contrast of over- or underexposed areas of an image
while preserving the overall balance of the photo using Shadow/Highlight
correction.

Text on a path
Create eye-catching typography by placing text on paths or within shapes.
Edit the text at any time, even in Adobe Illustrator® software.

Integrated digital camera raw file support
Get truer, higher quality output by working with the complete raw data
files from most major digital camera models.

Comprehensive 16-bit support
Perform more precise editing and retouching with expanded support for
16-bit images in core features, including layers, brushes, text, shapes,
and more.

Layer Comps
Create design variations for clients more efficiently by saving different
combinations of layers within the same file as Layer Comps.

Macromedia Flash file export
Use ImageReady CS to create Macromedia® Flash™ (SWF) animations, complete
with vector artwork and variable text.

Customizable keyboard shortcuts
Customize, save, and print a summary of your ideal set of keyboard
shortcuts, so the functions you use most are always at your fingertips.

[w10d]

elm54 wrote:
hi,
What about plugin compatability?

Eric

AFAIK, the issues only relate to plugins that require PS to run under an older OS, such as Mac OS9. CS only operates with OSX so it's not possible to boot in 9, launch PS and use old plugins.

Worth noting though that you shouldn't point PS to your old plugins folder, as some of Adobe's own plugins are PS version specific, and you can run into problems if you are trying to use the wrong version. Best route is to reinstall 3rd party plugins into CS's plugins folder.

[Dale]

If a file is saved in CS can the EXIF info be read correctly by other applications?

[WSpruance]

Where is a dependable online source for purchasing Photoshop CS?

[Belmondo]

WSpruance wrote:
Where is a dependable online source for purchasing Photoshop CS?

You can buy direct from Adobe.

[PhotoAZ]

You can also purchase it from Amzona.com

[openspace]

http://www.amazon.com

Photoshop CS Full - $580.99

Photoshop CS Upg - $171.91

http://www.amazon.co.uk

Photoshop CS Full - £539.99

Photoshop CS Upg - £139.99

Wow. Even Adobe sells PS CS Full for $649.00

[iwatkins]

Yep, best place I found for the CS Upgrade was Amazon.co.uk. Hopefully will arrive tomorrow.

And the bonus is I have the day off :)

Cheers

Ian

[MarkH]

dtrayers wrote:
What kind of horsepower is required with CS? I'm running PS7 on a WinXP machine with a 1.8Ghz P4 and 1Gig of RAM. The performance is pretty good unless I have a lot of layers or use a heavy duty filter, like lens flare.

I would *really* like to edit with layers in 16-bit mode, but I'm afraid that it will bring my system to a crawl.

So how's the performance in 16-bit mode? Do I also need to start saving for a Power Mac G5?

I think you'll be fine.

1GB RAM is good.

1.8GHz P4 is not top of the line anymore, but it's no slouch. Should be plenty fast enough.

What's your video card?

[John_T]

Good one Mark! Graphic card is the one thing most people overlook and the one thing that can cause lots of hassles, hiccups and frustration.

So often people say why aren't my photos good? Why aren't they sharp? Why are the colors so drab/oversaturated? They blame the camera, are even ready to shoot themselves for their own hopeless incompetence, and it's really the graphic card and/or monitor.

A good graphics card and a good monitor properly calibrated are the best way to rediscover your own photos.

[iwatkins]

OK, I've had CS for about an hour now and what can I say. Wow.

I didn't have the RAW importer with PS7 so had to use the Canon supplied software to get as far as a 16-bit TIFF before starting PS.

Now you simply browse your folders full of RAW images and preview, adjust and load all from within CS. And it is very fast as well*.

That is as far as I have got really. I've printed some shots from within CS and the colours are coming out very nicely indeed even though I'm only running everything within the sRGB colour space (will probably play with AdobeRGB later).

Cheers

Ian

* Running under WindowsXP on a Dell Precision 530 that runs a pair of 2.2GHz Xeon P4s with HT switched on and 1.5 GB of RAM.

[w10d]

iwatkins wrote:
Now you simply browse your folders full of RAW images and preview, adjust and load all from within CS. And it is very fast as well*.


Isn't the combination of the new File Browser and Raw Coverter fantastic?

Today I took 400 shots of a person, editing in the browser is so quick and easy, I've got 16 custom thumbnails and a large preview filling one screen. Double click an image and up pops the converter, I can select the last settings I used, tweek them and moments later the image is there for editing.

I'm so glad to have CS!

[Belmondo]

All that's true. It really handles RAW files handily.

Most of all, though, I'm pleased to see that it still has substantially the same look and feel as PS7. The only new things I have to learn are the new things. That matters.

Tom

[iwatkins]

Having used CS for most of the afternoon today, I can honestly say I'm impressed with the software and you don't usually hear that from me as I design GUIs for a living.

I think the arguement of shooting RAW takes too long to process has gone out of the window with the introduction of CS. I don't think I'll ever shoot JPEG again, even for "snaps".

Right, off to go looking for more new stuff :)

EDIT -

Well, I've just finished messing about with a few shots and have just done some test prints on the Canon i9100. Well, I was blown away by the quality of this printer when I got it using Canon software. But printing from CS (once I had sorted the colour managment out) is another league again. The colours on screen match what I get from the printer (for the first time since I bought my 10D) and looks amazing. So much so, I'm going to have to reprint all the shots I've framed and put up in my office (thankfully only eight).

Happy, me ? Oh, and then some... :)

Cheers

Ian

[dtrayers]

iwatkins wrote:


Well, I've just finished messing about with a few shots and have just done some test prints on the Canon i9100. Well, I was blown away by the quality of this printer when I got it using Canon software. But printing from CS (once I had sorted the colour managment out) is another league again. The colours on screen match what I get from the printer (for the first time since I bought my 10D) and looks amazing. So much so, I'm going to have to reprint all the shots I've framed and put up in my office (thankfully only eight).

Happy, me ? Oh, and then some... :)

Cheers

Ian


So what are your CS and printer settings? Details please! :)

[iwatkins]

dtrayers wrote:

So what are your CS and printer settings? Details please! :)



Monitor is set to "AdobeRGB ( 1998 )".

CS I have it set to "AdobeRGB ( 1998 )". I bring images in from the 10D as "AdobeRGB ( 1998 )" as well.

i9100 I have colour managment switched off altogether.

I've no idea if that is correct of not, but gives me printed results that match what I see on screen. The next step is to find out whether what I see on screen and printer is what everybody else sees on screen :)

Cheers

Ian

[Vegas Poboy]

Picked up a full version on Wed. and so far love the file browser and the Raw converter so much better than before. It's going to take some time to go thru it all but for what I do I won't have to jump back in forth between three programs.