Photoshop CS2 or CS3?

which one is better? i'm currently using PS CS2.. and not sure if upgrading to CS3 is worth it? i've heard bridge in CS3 is not that good compared to CS2.. is that right?

I have both and CS3's photomerge is ALOT better. I don't use bridge to often now because I use Lightroom 90% of the time.

i've got CS2 and CS3 and CS3 Bridge isn't showing the RAW images from the 20D.
Bridge also looks totally different.
Photoshop CS3 Extended opens a lot faster though.

Zepher wrote in post #3617110
i've got CS2 and CS3 and CS3 Bridge isn't showing the RAW images from the 20D.
Bridge also looks totally different.
Photoshop CS3 Extended opens a lot faster though.

oh oh.. i have a 30D and wonder if I'll have that issue. I use bridge a lot in my workflow, so that's on of the reason why I am looking into CS3.

as for lightroom, it's still very new to me.. so it's still a huge learning curve right now. i know some love it... but thus far.. i can't comment yet. will spend more time with it over the weekend and see.

CS3 bridge works fine for me with my 30D, and I love Bridge to, CS3 is much better especially if you have an intel mac

Zepher wrote in post #3617110
i've got CS2 and CS3 and CS3 Bridge isn't showing the RAW images from the 20D.

CS3 Bridge has no problem opening my 20D RAW. You probably need to find out what the problem is in your case. Perhaps unstall/reinstall.

To the OP, i jump from CS to CS3, skipping CS2. I didn't notice any performance difference when CS3 opens. It runs just as fast as CS.

cfcRebel wrote in post #3618748
CS3 Bridge has no problem opening my 20D RAW. You probably need to find out what the problem is in your case. Perhaps unstall/reinstall.

To the OP, i jump from CS to CS3, skipping CS2. I didn't notice any performance difference when CS3 opens. It runs just as fast as CS.

Are there supposed to be .thm files with the 20D raw files?
I've got .CRW and .THM files for each of my 10D images, but only .CR2 files for the 20D images. Maybe I didn't grab them from the card when I moved the files.

Zepher wrote in post #3620186
Are there supposed to be .thm files with the 20D raw files?

Nope. .cr2 does not come with a corresponding .thm file like the .crw does. It's already embedded in the .cr2 itself. My CS3 Bridge loads all my 20D .cr2 files quite fast.

Haven't used CS3 - but if you use your CS2 Image Ready module to slice and dice photos, you'll lose that in CS3. I am a web designer, and use IR alot. I haven't jumped up to the new CS3 collection, simply for that reason. I always thought that Bridge was terribly slow, and sometimes it would crash on my system. I'm using LR, and it's getting better and better as I learn more about each day.

I do like that fact that Bridge will look at all Adobe formats (pdf, illustrator, psd) as well as raw and jpeg.

CS3 opens faster, runs faster, and has some useful new filters. It is worth it, IMO.

EDIT: I own and have used both.

CS# rocks but if ya got CS2 its like upgrading from 20D to 30D..

If you shoot RAW then the CS3 upgrade is worth it. The improvements to ACR 4.1 are HUGE.
If you don't shoot RAW then you don't need CS3...or CS2. You would have been happy with PS Elements

cfcRebel wrote in post #3620235
Nope. .cr2 does not come with a corresponding .thm file like the .crw does. It's already embedded in the .cr2 itself. My CS3 Bridge loads all my 20D .cr2 files quite fast.

I rebooted the PC and all is working good now.

philmar wrote in post #3620940
If you shoot RAW then the CS3 upgrade is worth it. The improvements to ACR 4.1 are HUGE.
If you don't shoot RAW then you don't need CS3...or CS2. You would have been happy with PS Elements

i shoot RAW, so.. it should be good then.. hehe