Is CS4 Really worth the Money vs PSE 7 or 6

[photosam]

I am thinking about upgrading to CS4 I have PSE 6 and I really like it. I have started taking more pictures for the public and I want to be able to do all the neat things people in my area are doing. Can some one tell me if I should take this leap? It is a large expense and I just want to make sure that it is worth it. I can do lots of stuff in 6 will CS4 be as easy to use? HELP!!!

Samantha

[Wendy]

Hi Samantha ...

Its very difficult to say if it will be worth it for you or not ... for me it is, but then again I use it several hours a day and I just love the flexibility that photoshop gives me. If you can already use Elements then you can start off by using photoshop at a simple level and then expand its use as you learn more.

I think probably the most difficult part is due to things being in different places in the menus so it takes a while to find your way around it.

Why not download a demo version of CS4 and see what you think :)

Wendy

[photosam]

Wendy,

Thank you for your help. I am a semi professional photographer and I really need to be able to compete with others and what they can do. I have just started reallly doing a lot of creative things with my pictures but I want to do more. I love my PSE 6 but I am limited too, I did download a free trial of CS4 but I wasnt sure what I was doing, I have a book Adobe Photoshop 6 for Digital Photographers and it has been a huge help in working in 6, do you know if the Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Digital Photographers written by Scott Kelby will be able to tell me how to use CS4 if it is a lot different than PSE6?

Sam

[lisabee]

Sam,

you might find it useful to check out http://www.kelbytraining.com/ for their CS4 courses - you can register and watch the first 3 classes of any course for free.

I went from PSE5 to CS3 and love it :).

hth,
Lisa :)

[Wendy]

Hi Sam ...

I donlt have that book so I am not sure ... perhaps you could take a look at it in a local bookstore ??

Wendy

[baycruisers]

I went from PSE 5 to CS3 to CS4 using less expensive upgrade offers and am very glad I did. Much more powerful, many more options, including many I'm sure I will never use. The learning curve from PSE to CS isn't that great, but there are many more tools in CS4. That said, I skipped PSE 6 & 7 and can't say whether either would be a suitable alternative for you.

I'm always a big fan of Kelby's books and have a number of them. I like his relaxed writing style, but there are other top notch authors out there. I always recommend that people go to Barnes & Noble or Borders and take some time to browse through several books and see which ones seem to resonate with them. For me, it's Kelby. (Scott, please send me my endorsement fee. Thank you.)

[Tom K]

Hi Sam;

All of the suggestions offered so far are right on. CS4 is so much more
powerful than PSE however I hope you like to study because it is not intuitive at all. You mentioned Scotts book ' CS4 for digital photographers'
I have it on my desk right now and use it frequently - good book.
Another good book to look at is Scotts ' 7-Point System' although written
for CS3 it teaches good work flow. One last thought , Have you looked into 'Adobe Lightroom' Matt seems to recommend it for phototogs.

Tom :D

[photosam]

This posting thing is great, I dont think that I have ever had so much help with any other site that I have used. Thanks to all who have gave me great advise. I did not know about the training website. I will check it out. I think that I will do more research on Lightroom. If anyone has info about that let me know. I dont know anybody who uses it. I love the books by Scott he is a great and you can understand what he is talking about.

Thanks again Everyone......

:D:D:D

Samantha

[vawitt]

Are their particular effects you are trying to accomplish? Perhaps if you posted a few samples, or a some things you'd like to do, someone who uses both packages can comment on specific issues, as well.

[lisabee]

Samantha,

also worth checking out is the layers magazine site, they have lots of tutorials and quite a few specifically on features in CS4 (I think most of these are on page 2 of the tuts)

http://www.layersmagazine.com/category/tutorials/photoshop

Lisa :)

[Jeff Perry]

Samantha, I would encourage you to check out Lightroom 2 as well as CS4. Here is a Lightroom link that has a couple of free e-books you can download.

http://www.image-space.com/Downloads/Downloads.html


Jeff

[photosam]

Vawitt,

I am trying to up load, maybe I got it. Look at this if you can see them and tell me what you think.

Sam

[photosam]

Vawitt,

Here are a couple more that I found.

Sam

[photosam]

LisaBee,
Thank your for the link that you sent, I went and signed up for the layers mag.

Sam

[JEGavlas]

I upgraded to CS4. No more difficult than PSE (in the long run). However I would recommend that you wait for one of the specials that Adobe sends to PSE owners where you can pick it up for $199.

Gotta admit that I am not anywhere near an expert. PSE and CS4 are both a struggle for me but you can definitely do a lot in CS4 but then PSE does have some features that are not available in CS4.

[photosam]

Thanks for the input. How do I get a special for 199? Who sends them out? I have a book that helps alot with PSE and they have them for CS4 maybe they could help you they are made by Scott Kelby.

Samantha

[Not4wood]

Don't forget the Video Tutorials on Youtube as well.

[victry1]

Your work is beautiful. I can't say if it would be worth it to you or not, but since you are a professional you might find it to be worth the investment.

You might want to browse lynda.com. They have tons of tutorials, I believe including CS4. A little expensive, but always there when you need it.

[Wendy]

Hi Sam ...

To get an email about the specials you need to have registered your copy of Elements with Adobe ... then when they do a special (usually once a year) they will let you know :)

Wendy

[photosam]

I will check on youtube, I did not know that CS4 stuff was on there but I will look into it.

Thanks to everyone for all your help. I think that after all the research that I have done and all the post I am going to go with the CS4 and Lightroom 2

Thanks
Samantha

[frank abramonte]

Samantha, search CS 4 upgrade and you will get a number of under $200.00 upgrade offers.
Or contact Adobe


http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/upgrade/

[Wendy]

Hi Frank ...

I'm not aware of any $199 upgrades at them moment ... have you managed to find one ??

Wendy

[frank abramonte]

Wendy, Amazon and B&H have upgrades for under $200, however I don't know whether it includes upgrades from Elements.

Amazon:
http://krystalballs.com/shop.php?c=1&n=229534&i=B001EUIWGY&x=Adobe_Photoshop_CS4_Upgrade&OVRAW=photoshop%20cs4%20upgrade&OVKEY=photo%20shop%20cs4%20upgrade&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=36170990512&OVKWID=248511254012

B&H:
http://krystalballs.com/shop.php?c=1&n=229534&i=B001EUIWGY&x=Adobe_Photoshop_CS4_Upgrade&OVRAW=photoshop%20cs4%20upgrade&OVKEY=photo%20shop%20cs4%20upgrade&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=36170990512&OVKWID=248511254012

[jjvera00]

I was on Adobe's website yesterday and they had the $199 upgrade offer, but it was from previous versions of Photoshp such as CS2 and CS3. They has an upgrade offer of $599 if upgrade from PSE 5, 6, or 7.

[Wendy]

Hi Frank ...

Sadly those upgrades only apply to owners of previous versions of Photoshop too :(

Wendy