cambece

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Home

Summary:
Ok Straight up, I used Photoshop 7 and had no idea how to use it. I used this one and I figured it out and I am getting up to master status, I find this to be the best software to use for editing and since is started using Photoshop I have expanded into other adobe products. I am planning on a career in digital media and since I already know the software I think I can do well. Photoshop rocks Cambece

Strengths:
Powerful, Many options, Great for cross program usage.

Weaknesses:
Nothing

Similar Products Used:
Paintshop pro and Image impressions

Customer Service:
Cambece doesnt use Customer Service

amattess

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
2-5 years

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
It is the gold stndard. There is nothing it cant do, albeit that fact makes it overkill for most. The learning curve is steep and simple tasks become major productions so its certainly not for the casual user. But the CE edition has made some common functions easier to access.

Strengths:
feature filled, power packed.

Weaknesses:
steep learning curve cumbersome for the most common tasks

another view

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
3 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Photoshop CS has a few important upgrades from PS7 that are very useful in the real world. As the other reviewers have mentioned, the RAW converter is a great addition. It’s also a huge time saver. Instead of having to convert the image to a TIFF using the camera manufacturer’s software and then working in it with Photoshop, it’s now possible to open up the RAW image (for many cameras), make adjustments related to the conversion such as white balance and then continue with other work. Adobe has added many new camera models to the list that can be read directly from Photoshop. Software updates can be downloaded from their website for these additions. 16-bit editing is a big advantage when quality counts, but I’ll admit that I rarely shoot RAW. I have shot RAW just for the sake of a higher bit depth in low contrast situations, and these changes in CS make this much more user-friendly. Two other handy features are the shadow/highlight tool and the photo filters tool. Shadow/highlight can quickly help an image with too much contrast, but of course nothing can bring back blown highlights. However, his tool will change the look of the image if not carefully applied. The photo filters tool can replicate cooling or warming filters in a couple of clicks; this is handy for a small amount of white balance adjustment with jpeg files.

Strengths:
This is the software that is the industry standard. More classes, books and technical support is available for Photoshop CS and it's future updates than anything else.

Weaknesses:
Initial price of the software is high, and it uses a lot of memory. I have 512mb RAM on my PC but 1G would be a lot better.

Similar Products Used:
Photoshop LE, Photoshop 7

TTW

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I skipped v7 and jumped from v6 to v8. I was after 16 bit editing and this upgrade is definitely worthwhile. The key strength of PS, as far as I am concerned, over other similar editing software is color management. Even though I have a career not anywhere near art, I have high expectations from my photos and PS is the only one that I find acceptable.

Strengths:
Industrial strength capabilities 16 bit editing Price tag for upgrade

Weaknesses:
Price tag for full version Very steep learning curve but found it not difficult once got a handle on using

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
6-10 years

Visitors rate this review
4.33 of 5,
3 votes

Price Paid:  $170.00 from Office Depot

Summary:
A major upgrade over 7.01 in the area of photo editing (especially .RAW files), but if your main use is 8 bit graphic design work you may not want to lay out the cash, the older version will still work wonders for you. If you expect to jump into this as a newbie and get excellent work without investing MAJOR time learning the program, save your money and frustration and get a consumer photo editing program, this is NOT for you, it is a professional level graphics program in nearly every respect, with a LONG learning curve. That being said, if you already know how to use it and are a photographer, especially digital, you will find many useful features. Support for 16 bit file work, the highlight and shadow correction tool, raw support and adjustment tools, and photographic filters tool to name just a few. With tools like Nikon's Capture costing $100, the price of this upgrade seems reasonable. If you are buying it new, and don't plan to learn all the features or just need minor snapshot correction and web posting software, the $650 price tag should tell you something. If you already know how to use it, or are willing to spend the time to learn it in depth, you won't find a more powerful, capable photo editing and graphic design program anywhere. As for the actions tool, you can make your own to cover just about any situation, and the ability to adjust histograms, develop new curves functions for photo editing, or adjust almost any aspect of a raw, tiff or jpeg file (or just about any other graphics file format for that matter), and the almost endless list of Adobe and third party actions and filters makes it worth the price in my book. I've been using it since version 5 for everything from webpage graphics, creating animations and vector graphics in Image Ready (included) to photo editing, and find the new features in this version worth my money.

Strengths:
Included .raw support Photographic filters 16 bit photo support Better help files

Weaknesses:
Price of full version Limited upgrade for non-photographers

Similar Products Used:
Paint Shop Pro Photoshop ver. 7.01 Nikon Capture 4

Customer Service:
None needed yet