Adobe CS3 released

[Marko]

Adobe has released the CS3 suite today.

http://www.adobe.com/

There will be two versions of Photoshop and six packages.

Pricing is as usual: expensive. ;)

[scrichton]

Expensive bloatware aimed at architects this time.

I'm wondering if Adobe has put currency checkers into the 3d system they have bodged in? CS2 was slow enough but the CS3 beta was appaluling on the intel apple, not tried XP/Vista. I imagine XP fine and Vista painful.

Steven

[tim atherton]

I know - that fraking currency checking system just cripples CS2.

Wonder how Chris J manages with those massive composites of dollar bills he's been making...!

[Eric James]

Adobe Quote:

"Process raw images with increased speed and superior conversion quality using the Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in..."

I'm interpreting this as meaning that the same plug-in works better in CS3 than it does in CS2 - any thoughts?

[QT Luong]

I always thought of ACR as an application rather than a plug-in. The ACR that comes with CS3 has a different interface than the one that comes with CS2, also with more refined controls (although found in Lightroom).

[Marko]

Adobe Quote:

"Process raw images with increased speed and superior conversion quality using the Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in..."

I'm interpreting this as meaning that the same plug-in works better in CS3 than it does in CS2 - any thoughts?

After running CS3 beta on MacIntel for a couple of months, it looks as if it is what marketers would call "new and improved" version of it. But whatever one decides to call it, there is a ton more (useful) features than in previous versions.

And I wouldn't call it slow either, the thing positively flies compared to CS2 under Rosetta. All this still in beta, as I will wait until Mac OS X 10.5 comes out so I can upgrade both at the same time, but I doubt they've made it slower and less feature-rich in the final version.

[Marko]

I always thought of ACR as an application rather than a plug-in. The ACR that comes with CS3 has a different interface than the one that comes with CS2, also with more refined controls (although found in Lightroom).

It does feel that way, but since it can't run without Photoshop, I would still consider it a plug-in.

[Ken Lee]

I'll wait for my Beta version to expire first. Maybe I'll get lucky.

I hope they fixed Bridge. I find that it has a heck of a time with TIFF files, and is slow with large files. My Mac "Finder" does a better job generating thumbnails than Bridge. They probably call out to the OS for that anyway, so why not just use the OS for browsing anyhow.

If I had zillions of small files, perhaps I would appreciate it. Instead, I have a small number of huge files. I'll bet they never spent much time optimizing for that.

[Henry Ambrose]

I pretty much hate Bridge. I really can't understand why anyone would want it to do what it does and so slowly. Why not the finder? (I think the answer is to rope us into their way of working to keep us dependent while convincing us its a "feature")

I use Photo Mechanic (which screams) for digicam files and/or where there's lots to keep track of but for other files like big film scans its so easy to simply look at the icon of the file or the file name or the folder name.

Q.T. probably needs more sophistication than that, but then he probably needs more than what Bridge does as well.

[QT Luong]

I actually find Bridge adequate and Lightroom only a slight improvement. It crawls only while generating the previews, which Photo Mechanic also does. Can you use the finder (or any other software) to view at nearly full screen size, flag/rate images, batch rename, and open in Photoshop with an action lauched ?

[Kirk Gittings]

I have found CS3 beta and Bridge to run faster on both my PCs and Intel Macs than CS2 did. I agree with Henry, I hated Bridge until I got the new beta version. The new Camera Raw is superb to with many more tools and adjustments.

[Eric James]

Thanks for the input. I haven't anything to compare to Bridge. New image folders load slowly, but I find it worth the wait.

CS3 is in "preorder" status with Adobe. I placed an order for the boxed version and the web-generated receipt states that estimated delivery is 4/16/07. I purchased the upgrade from CS2 for $199; for an additional $12 you can order a dead-tree version of the manual - for what that's worth.

Marko, your sales commission check is "in the mail".

[Marko]

I hope they fixed Bridge. I find that it has a heck of a time with TIFF files, and is slow with large files. My Mac "Finder" does a better job generating thumbnails than Bridge. They probably call out to the OS for that anyway, so why not just use the OS for browsing anyhow.

Ken,

Did you try to optimize Bridge performance?

Under Preferences - Thumbnails there is a whole "Performance" section. If you pick "Quick Thumbnails" and choose the maximum file size to process judiciously, you should feel an immediate boost.



Marko, your sales commission check is "in the mail".

Lol, tell that to Adobe... It would sure be nice if they listened, but then I probably wouldn't/shouldn't be commenting in public. :D

[Henry Ambrose]

hmmmmm........

I was thinking that Lightroom was pretty OK. But the version I had did funny conversions on high contrast things like wires and tree limbs against the sky so I ditched it pretty quick. It'll be good to see what the final release of PS is like. I look forward to it and guess I'll try Bridge again then. But I think I can do those things that QT mentions in Photo Mechanic while PS is running. I don't know, I haven't tried it.

[julian]

.

Pricing is as usual: expensive. ;)

be thankful you don't live in UK - the main bundle costs 1k usd more!
http://www.amanwithapencil.com/adobe.html

and these are all pretax prices...

[Ken Lee]

Under Preferences - Thumbnails there is a whole "Performance" section. If you pick "Quick Thumbnails" and choose the maximum file size to process judiciously, you should feel an immediate boost.

Wonderful - That did the trick.

Marko sees all... Marko knows all !

Thanks !

[Al Seyle]

I just bought CS2 six weeks before debut of CS3 thinking I was close enough to get a free upgrade, but they're still knicking me the full $200. Arrgh!

[Ken Lee]

If you're on a Mac, you will probably want to upgrade to CS3.

CS2 has a memory leak on the Mac platform (discussed in earlier threads), which have been fixed in CS3.

[Eric James]

I received CS3 on my doorstep yesterday. The new Bridge is great and chugs along just fine on my PowerBookG4. The magnifying glass saves me a double click and a wait to evaluate a file’s sharpness at "actual pixels". The Bridge layout was initially an insult to my ageing adaptability, but 24hr later I'm thinking it's more intuitive.

I'm a little worried about the USM algorithm(s) - has anyone noticed a change in sensitivity of the "amount (%)" setting. I suppose "worried" is a bit of an overstatement - maybe I just need to a new learn a new gestalt.

I've read comments that suggest that CS3 slows your multitasking world down - I am a bit worried about this.