Value of upgrading from CS3 to CS6?

[Jay Decker]

Been working merrily away in ignorant bliss with Adobe's Creative Suite 3 since it came out and have not paid any attention to Photoshop's evolution. But, I'm contemplating a new computer, which prompts the software upgrade question. So, to those of you who have evolved with Adobe's product line, are the features in the newer versions or anticipated version of Creative Suite and Photoshop of value to photographers?

[Kirk Gittings]

CS3 to CS6.......where do we start. CS3 was so long ago I don't even remember what was on it. There maybe still stuff posted on the web that compare CS3 to CS4 and then CS4 to CS5 etc. Also with that big of a jump I don't think you get an upgrade price. I think you will have to buy the whole version.

[urs0polar]

CS5 has content-aware fill, which cuts dust spotting time significantly. CS5 on OSX is also 64-bit (you can work on larger file sizes, helpful for LF scans). Those were my 2 main criteria. Everything else, I could do just fine in CS3. An 8x10 scan can exceed 2GB, however, so CS5 was a big upgrade for me. On Windows, CS4 is 64-bit but of course doesn't have content-aware fill.

[Jay Decker]

CS3 to CS6.......where do we start. CS3 was so long ago I don't even remember what was on it. There maybe still stuff posted on the web that compare CS3 to CS4 and then CS4 to CS5 etc. Also with that big of a jump I don't think you get an upgrade price. I think you will have to buy the whole version.

Kirk - do you feel that the past upgrades were substantive for your work?

[Kirk Gittings]

Absolutely. If some new gizmo saves me a couple of minutes per image-over the course of a year the upgrade will pay for itself many times over. As mentioned 64 bit processing is a big time saver as are things like Content Aware Fill. I just can't remember back to what came in where in CS3 or after. I have found each upgrade so far to be worth the price.

[Jay Decker]

CS5 has content-aware fill, which cuts dust spotting time significantly. CS5 on OSX is also 64-bit (you can work on larger file sizes, helpful for LF scans). Those were my 2 main criteria. Everything else, I could do just fine in CS3. An 8x10 scan can exceed 2GB, however, so CS5 was a big upgrade for me. On Windows, CS4 is 64-bit but of course doesn't have content-aware fill.

Don't want to light off another Mac v PC debate, but do you think it matters which computer platform you run it on nowadays?

[Lenny Eiger]

Don't want to light off another Mac v PC debate, but do you think it matters which computer platform you run it on nowadays?

Please don't ask this question. Just stop it right there. There is no answer to this, it just annoys everyone.

As to the upgrade, I don't think you have a choice. If one is serious about using computers in Photography, the march of upgrades will continue, both from the computer makers and from the software companies. They depend on constant upgrades for their business model and they will ultimately punish you if you don't comply. Just try upgrading to a modern mac system with an older computer. Or you will have to pay a lot extra if you don't upgrade the PhotoShop at least every other version.

That said, I would rather work with CS3. There are benefits to the new version, but they pale in comparison to losing the ability to hold down a key and see where the value you click on lies on the curve. We now have to use that hand thing, there is no shortcut to it so I have to put down my pen and go to the mouse, click it, then make sure I don't move the curve. It's truly annoying.. I don't know why they can't put some prefs in so that certain features could stay - that work for one person or another. Why, for another example, if I load up the selection for a mask, and then make changes to that mask, does it automatically change the mask? It used to just change the selection, at which point I could make another adjustment layer (based in part on some selection from that layer). Now, if one wants to do that, you have to click back to the background layer before you adjust the selection. Why can't we turn that of?

Each version does get a little better with working with memory and if they do the Lion thing, which is to save versions constantly so that you don't lose work when the bloatware crashes on you, then that will be welcome.

They still don't understand that some people work with large files and they would like it to open and save within reason. They think a really large file is 30 megs. I think most of us have a love/hate relationship with the program and company. It's essential to what we do, but its also expensive, and I think, as a company, they are extremely arrogant and seriously out of touch their users.


Lenny

[Old-N-Feeble]

RE seeing color values... I just keep the Info Pallette open. RE CS6... it's still in beta but I do like the new crop tool, integrated multilayer video with separate audio layer, more robust 3D tools, etc. RE 64 bit being faster... agreed but whoever ordered my PC requested 32 bit Windows and 4 gigs of RAM so I don't see the benefits... maybe on the next PC upgrade.

We're upgrading in our department very soon but I'm hoping their process is slow enough that CS6 is available.

Bottom line is I'll take CS6 over CS3 any day... provided I have the spare cash.

[Kirk Gittings]

Don't want to light off another Mac v PC debate, but do you think it matters which computer platform you run it on nowadays?

Absolutely not. I use both-PC at home in the studio and Macbook Pro in the field. No difference worth even commenting on. Except the odd plugin that won't run on both.

[buggz]

As I understand, Adobe does not allow cross licensing.
Meaning, you cannot use a valid license from a PC to Mac version upgrade, or vice versa.
You would have to purchase a new license.
Too expensive for me.

BTW, I went from CS3 to CS5, and like it it a lot.
I also went from 32bit XP to 64bit Win7.

[Greg Miller]

They still don't understand that some people work with large files and they would like it to open and save within reason. They think a really large file is 30 megs. I think most of us have a love/hate relationship with the program and company. It's essential to what we do, but its also expensive, and I think, as a company, they are extremely arrogant and seriously out of touch their users.


Lenny

One nice improvement in CS6 is that files save in the background. So you can initiate the save, and then continue to work on that image (or another image). You don't have to wait until the file saving has completed anymore.

[Jay Decker]

Absolutely not. I use both-PC at home in the studio and Macbook Pro in the field. No difference worth even commenting on. Except the odd plugin that won't run on both.

Excellent! With that question answered, I pulled the trigger on the new box, i7-3820 processor, solid-state drive, 64 Gb of memory, 2 Gb video card, dual 24" monitors, and few tb of hard disk drives - that ought to make the Photoshop happy for a little while.

[Harley Goldman]

One nice improvement in CS6 is that files save in the background. So you can initiate the save, and then continue to work on that image (or another image). You don't have to wait until the file saving has completed anymore.

This would be a very useful feature. I am still on CS3, thinking of doing the upgrade they are offering to those of us on the dinosaur versions.

[John Rodriguez]

The content aware spot tool is worth it alone.

[Adrian Pybus]

I've upgraded since the CS version.
But Content aware spot and 64 bit are the two only big reasons to upgrade, otherwise I would probably have been quite happy with just CS.

[Jeff Dexheimer]

Adobe lets you try it for 30 days for free. Do that when you get your new computer. Download the trial and use it yourself. There is no better way to see whether or not its worth it han to try it yourself.

[Worker 11811]

When I bought my new computer a few years ago, there were a couple of promotions and discounts that I took advantage of.

First, I work at an educational institution which allowed me to get the educator's discount on hardware but, also, there was a promotion which gave me the entire Adobe CS4 suite for $250.00 if I had purchased a new computer within the last 30 days. I had to send them a copy of a recent pay stub to prove that I worked at an educational institution and I had to send a copy of the receipt from my computer purchase but it was a small price to pay for the whole kit and kaboodle.

Further, if you work at a company that has an enterprise license for Adobe products and you can get your boss to agree that it would be beneficial for you to be able to work at home, you could get a copy of the software undere the business's license. (Provided you actually do produce work for the company's benefit from home.)

Just think creatively. There are several ways to get discounts or personal subsidies on new software upgrades if you consider all your options.

[Jim Andrada]

The Adobe website says that they will have an introductory upgrade price to CS 6 from CS3 and CS4. It will end 12/31. No idea how attractive (or unattractive) the price will be, but I think they mean it about the end date.

[SamReeves]

On CS4 now, so I might have to check into that upgrade. Just hope it supports my old Mac Pro.

Yes, 2006 is old now!

[mandoman7]

I have CS5 and there's several features that seem better than 4.
For one, the print/page setup dialog boxes are better with a rough approximation of the effect of your selected profile in the dialog box among other things. Paper selections seem easier. There's only one rather than 2 dialog boxes to actually print.
Also, when you use the stamp or other tools on the background layer, it seems to do better job of incorporating the changes into other layers above. I used to make an extra "retouch" layer on top of everything, but its not necessary now.
Lastly, CS5 seems to handle the 2 or more images side-by-side better. That feature was available on 4 but I could never get it to work.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Content-aware fill is a big improvement, and also stitching/automerge is much better in CS5 than in earlier versions, and I suspect it will continue to improve.

64-bit processing is also worthy of note. Of course the machines have gotten faster and I have more RAM than I used to, and I haven't bothered to compare processes in my old CS2 to CS5 on my newest computer, and all of these factors are interdependent, but things that seemed to take more than 20 minutes are taking less than a minute now.

There are also other reasons just to keep everything up to date. Recently I was working on some print advertising that was simple enough to lay out in Photoshop, and we've finally settled on some house fonts for our office, and for whatever reason, it was troublesome to install the Open Type fonts in Vista on my older laptop or in XP on my office laptop, but with Win7Pro/64, CS5 in 64 bit mode, everything worked smoothly.

[buggz]

Retail PS CS6 is available for d/l today.
I just installed the upgrade, for me, from CS5.
Now have to re-install all my plugins, scripts, etc...

[Larry Gebhardt]

There's a 30 day free trial so you can see if it's worth the cost. One thing to keep in mind is the next version upgrade may extend back to CS3, so it could be cheaper in the long run to buy this upgrade if you think you will eventually do it. To me it would be just to get a 64bit version of Photoshop so you can use more memory to work on large scans.

[lbenac]

Well I had a look at the price of the upgrade from CS5 to CS6 - $199 - I will pass that one. The only feature I was looking at is the Content Aware Clone tool fro when you are doing a Pano and miss just a little bit of something. The upgrade to CS5 was a no brainer but this upgarde should be $99 not $199...

Cheers,

Luc