Photoshop CS3

[Shakey]

Anyone use this here?
I just loaded the 30 day trial of Adobe Photoshop CS3
I find this a bit overkill for me.
I was told to try it for editing some scans done in tif and pdf that I am doing for work.
Can anyone give me some pointers?
Thanks!
Terry

edit: How about photos, I have a bunch of my dogs that I took with my Nikon Coolpix S7c. Any reason to futz with them with Photoshop?

[quicksrt]

I also tried to use the CS3 30 day trial. My PCs would not deal with it because I refused to get windows XP Service Pack 2, and my Mac will not work with my scanner because I am not running in the old "classic" mode.

So I feel I am getting the run around by these software makers, and they want you to install and install, and ungrade and upgrade, or buy a new scanner.

So I am sticking with an older version of Photoshop for now.

It's pretty bad when upgraded and new software will not work with your slightly older equipment, or your new equipment will not work with old software. I can see how they want me to spend and spend and spend. And I feel I am done spending for this year.

[mermaidautopsy]

I like the new Autostitch in CS3. :)

Why won't you upgrade to SP2?

[quicksrt]

I like the new Autostitch in CS3.

Why won't you upgrade to SP2?

Video editing gear and software was reported to not work as well with that patch. And I have tons of editing software on those two PCs. I need clean running machines for this.

SP2 and 3 were not improrvments, but fixes for flawed software.

Wowever, I may do the SP 2 update, try out CS3, and then roll back everything after the 30 day trial runs out. I have not decided yet.

[Shakey]

I should say I am using both a Mac Powerbook G4 and a MacBook. I installed it on both for the trial.

[Chief]

CS3 is a beast. I mostly do photo restoration stuff. Each version adds a few new things in that respect. Adjustment Layers, Healing Brush and Smart Sharpen are miracles. It seems like it can do anything and everything for everybody, but most people only need 20% of it, so it seems overloaded.

[Shakey]

CS3 is a beast. I mostly do photo restoration stuff. Each version adds a few new things in that respect. Adjustment Layers, Healing Brush and Smart Sharpen are miracles. It seems like it can do anything and everything for everybody, but most people only need 20% of it, so it seems overloaded.

Agreed, seems to me it's like going bird hunting with a Stealth Bomber.

[jstraw]

I'm still on CS and I use Photoshop in my work. I sure wish my boss would buy me CS3 (The whole Adobe suite). I'm able to buy an educational copy but there's always a previous claim on any $500 I manage to scrape up.

[Charliemcd]

Shakey, there a a few tutorials around on the 'net, but it still takes a pretty good investment of time to really become proficient with Photoshop. Have you checked out Photoshop Elements? I think it's quite a bit easier to pick up, does most of the common tasks that the full Photoshop provides, and it's a lot cheaper. I'm using CS2 myself, can't afford to buy every new update version, you know? But it IS my image editor of choice, for sure, but probably overkill for most, maybe even me.

If you have some photos you want to play with, just be sure to make a copy and work on it. Cropping and level/brightness/contrast adjustments are what you'll do most often with photos, sometimes a bit of sharpening or color adjustment.

Jeff, I strongly recommend you install SP2, it's a pretty important service pack of updates. If you installed very many updates after SP1 came out, then you already have a good portion of SP2 installed anyway.

I don't know what video software and hardware you are concerned about, but if it has compatibility issues with SP2, it should have updates to fix those issues. Of course, if you have trusted sources that say your apps or hardware will definitely have issues with SP2, then I guess you really are stuck. But, I believe I've read that Microsoft won't even support issues with Windows systems if they aren't running SP2, so the third party software developers have a strong incentive to fix any compatibility issues.

I'm not saying that there isn't any risk of Windows issues installing SP2, but here's a few pointers that *should* give you a trouble-free install. If you already know all of this, I apologize in advance for pointing out the obvious.

Don't use the Windows Update to install SP2. Download the full version of SP2, the one for IT people. I can find a link to it if you need it, or even burn a CD and mail it to you. I think this causes some folks' problems, letting Windows try to figure out only what's needed to minimize the download.

Boot up, and after everything's loaded, shut down any applications or stuff running in the System Tray. If you're running a third party firewall, disconnect from the Internet and shut down the firewall. Disable any antivirus or other programs running in the background if possible.

Run the SP2 install and go listen to an LP. Reboot and check things out. I've installed SP2 on about 8 machines so far with no issues. Good luck to you!

[jstraw]

For unrelated reasons, I'd appreciate that link for the direct download of SP2!

[Charliemcd]

Here's the link to Microsoft's Windows XP SP2 full version download.

Warning: This is a 266MB download! But, it's a whole lot more convenient to install from if you have an older XP CD and need to re-install Windows and install the updates up to SP2.
Windows XP SP2 Network Installation Package (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=049c9dbe-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&DisplayLang=en)

[Scott J]

I have it installed on my PC running 'Vista', and it runs great.

I've used most Photoshop versions, and my favorite is still version 5.5.

[jstraw]

Here's the link to Microsoft's Windows XP SP2 full version download.

Warning: This is a 266MB download! But, it's a whole lot more convenient to install from if you have an older XP CD and need to re-install Windows and install the updates up to SP2.
Windows XP SP2 Network Installation Package (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=049c9dbe-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&DisplayLang=en)

Thank you.

[Claus]

I should say I am using both a Mac Powerbook G4 and a MacBook. I installed it on both for the trial.

by the way....... CS3 has some glitches with Leopard. This one makes me sick: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402796&sliceId=1 I don't understand... why Adobe can fix that as fast as possible.

Tipp: CS3 is a beast with nik Software Color Efex Pro and Alien Skin Exposure 2. Both plug-ins are a must for digital photography and restoration.

[Shakey]

Charliemcd,
Thanks for the tip, I think I'll try the Elements version, I probably should have gone for that in the first place.

[ex_mixer]

Have you tried Lightroom?

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/

there is a 30 day trial. I know a lot iof photographers that swear by this software. At 300 bucks it's not cheap but it is a very powerful program.
HTH