Photoshop: Cs3 or Cs4?

[Matt P]

I have used Cs3 before in a media arts class, on a mac not a PC like I have at home, and it was simply amazing. I discovered recently that I can get Cs4 Extended for only $299 because I'm a student, but I'm sure I could find Cs3 cheaper on ebay or something. Anyway, my question is, is Cs4 that much better than Cs3? What differences does it have? I'm leaning towards Cs4 because I can get it very cheaply directly through Adobe. Also, is the mac version any different than the PC besides simple controlls?

[Jeff Sagar]

Hi Matt,


I have experience with CS3 and Lightroom 2 and have recently compared CS3 to CS4. With your student discount, I would certainly opt for CS4 asit offers significant new functions and features over CS3 that make it worthwhile depending on your specific needs. CS4 Extended includes significant "premium" design features that you may not need so I would figure out if you really need those premium features. Maybe the plain old CS4 version would do. New features of note are CS4's enhanced camera raw processing capabilities and something new called content aware scaling. Many other existing functions have been enhanced as well. Content aware scaling will allow you to automatically recompose an image as you resize it while preserving important areas as the image adapts to the new dimensions. I do not have experience using any version of Photoshop on a Mac computer, but based on what I read the differences are only cosmetic. The functionality of Photoshop is the same regardless of whether it runs on a Mac or PC. There are also recent CS4 reviews in most of the major photography magazines that are available via their websites so I would check them out for more detailed information.

[transkohr]

Why pay for it? The main difference for me between cs3 and 4, is that cs4 is 64bit. There are also a few other things that i use that have been introduced.

[Daniel Browning]

If you use ACR, and you have a recent camera that's not supported by CS3, you have to upgrade. (Or be forced to use the slow and laborious DNG workaround.)

[Ozimax]

Image taken on the NSW north coast, using Photomatix (free version). I usually clone out the Photomatix stamps, but didn't get around to it this time.


http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l169/ozimax/Cranesmall3.jpg

[Ozimax]

Hello All. I posted this in the HDR post, and it ended up here. I think something may be haywire somewhere![:^)]

[Matt P]

Thats ok, nice photo anyway :-)

[Matt P]

For some reason there is no student discount on the regular cs4 version. So it's 599 for the regular or 299 for extended with the discount ... haha go figure? And if you are in a higher level education (i.e. college) you can get it for only $199 if i remember correctly. I bet many people pass over these great offers without even knowing it. Great though, thanks, I think I'll go for cs4 then :-)

[transkohr]

many people don't buy photoshop. the running joke is people who actually purchase adobe software.

[Matt P]

haha that I've heard! I'd prefer toget it"the right way"it ifI can get it that cheap :-)

[unjx]

I use both CS4 and CS3 (different locations) . Honestly both programs are amazing but here are some comments. CS4 has many major improvements, but also some things worth noting.


The biggest thing to be aware of is what processor you are using. CS4 is really designed for Core 2 Duo, or Quad core processors. CS4 on a Pentium 4 or Pentium D is going to be rough. I found CS4 unusable on a Pentium D with 2GB of RAM. I now use Intel Quad cores and both run smooth, although I have to say CS3 runs much snappier.
I have not run either on AMD Athlon, Phenom, or Phenom II.


CS4 issues I have are:


1) When 3D acceleration is enabled, text typing and manipulation is slow.
2) General movement of text is slower, layer alignment is slower.
3) My OnOne plugins are now spread out. i.e. Focal Point is under Automate, Mask Pro is under Filters. I liked them collected as in CS3.
4) Web galleries have been removed.
5) Images are opened in the same tabbed window, this creates extra steps when working with multiple images. I like the old way better. Tabbed is great for browsing web pages, not for working with images.


CS4 goodness:


1) CS4 Bridge is awesome compared to CS3
2) Having ACR 5 is almost worth the cost. The Adjustment brush(es) in ACR 5 run flawlessly.
3) The whole look of CS4 is very refined and clean.
4) Technical improvements like using 64bit, and RAM usage. (this is big)
5) Huge 3D improvements.


Differences aside and depending on how and what you work with, and if you have the computing power, I say go for CS4. It is a great upgrade that utilizes new and improved computing architecture. I have some issues, but indeed as I remember, when CS3 came out, I had a hard time leaving CS2.

[Matt P]

The comp I plan to use it onhas aPentium Duo Core 2.6 gHz with 4gb of RAM. I also plan to update it to a quad core eventually. I think I should be ok right? Honestly most of those features you mentioned I have no idea what they were. I used photoshop CS3 in a class I took for half a year, so as of now I know the basic editing and layers stuff, but I'm a quick learner lol

[mkfoto]

CS4 issues I have are:


5) Images are opened in the same tabbed window, this creates extra steps when working with multiple images. I like the old way better. Tabbed is great for browsing web pages, not for working with images.






I personally like this... I hate when things are all over and an opened photo covers a minimized photo. One trick I've learned is that if you're dragging something over to another picture, drag it up to the tab and wait until it switches to that picture and just drop it in. Voila. If you already knew that and still didn't like I think you can turn it off in the preferences, no?

[unjx]

you are right mk, I can simply turn that off in preferences. I did not know that at the time of my post. I open many files at a time and need drag layers between files, so for me opening in tabs was bad. Good thing there is a preference for this. I also see the sense in tabs for organization and layout for certain work flows.


Cheers to Adobe for seeing differences. :)

[anglefire]

There is a 4 part video on Scott Kelby's blog (Was going to be 2 parts!).


It totals about 35 odd minutes and is mostly them talking about the new features - not so much waffle as in the PhotoshopTv show!!

[Dann Thombs]

You can jump back to CS1, and not miss much. The main new things in CS4 are:


- openGL processing to make moving the canvas around easier/moer smoothly


- focus stacking (VERY impressed)


- content aware stretching (cool, but I've never used it beyond toying around and saying 'wow')


- some level tools that let you target the image directly rather than use sliders. Nothing that you can't do otherwise.


Of those, the focus stacking is an absolute godsend for me, but nothing that CS3 can't handle. If the price is better, stay a version behind.

[mkfoto]

I find it difficult to go back to previous versions once I get used to one. CS3/CS4 isn't such a big issue for me, but one of the computers at our studio has CS2 installed which sometimes I have to use if it's for a quick corporate headshot or whatnot and using it actually... infuriates me!

[transkohr]

I find it difficult to go back to previous versions once I get used to one. CS3/CS4 isn't such a big issue for me, but one of the computers at our studio has CS2 installed which sometimes I have to use if it's for a quick corporate headshot or whatnot and using it actually... infuriates me!
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same here, i hate using cs3. I still have it installed because that's the newest version that my scanner will jive with.

[Dann Thombs]

One of the main things that jumps at me, is the lack of histogram behind the curves graph. I tend to use curves as a cheap way to access levels too (just leave the line straight).

[transkohr]

you have to go into window and select histogram.