Photoshop CS4

[Anbesol]

Okay, so I made the plunge for CS4, the primary reason being that I wanted to shorten my RAW workflow, and CS2 didn't take RAWs from my Camera (A700). Now I'm glad I can process RAWs immediately through photoshop, but I'm also interested in trying some of the new features, seeing how this has been improved, and everything looks to perform pretty much the same. What am I missing? What new and cool things can I do that I couldn't do in 2? And finally, what is this 3D thing, does that have any function for printed photography, or just 3D mapping? Thanks

[Anbesol]

WOW! After several days of use I have found many differences which merit the upgrade. The entire user interface is much more productive and useful, the old convoluted printing process of CS2 is now much much better, paint brush/stamp dot preview, expanded canvas board, colorspace conversions go way more smoothly, etc. I'm really liking the upgrade, its rare I do like upgrades and thats why I stuck with CS2 for so long, but I'm glad I got CS4 now and I'm happy to be using it.

So 0 responses? Any input on the new layer blending options or the 3d layer thing?

[GB1]

Couldn't reply, as I still use CS2. Maybe a lot of folks are stuck on older versions.

Sounds from your post that they simply refined a lot of stuff. I mostly use Corel products because of familiarity, needing to take a course on PS. Is CS4 any better on HDRs and stitching. Those two don't appear very good in CS2.

[SmartWombat]

I'm using CS2 still, because Lightroom does 80% of my needs for import, raw editing (non-destructively) and JPG output.
Anything else I need I can do (barely) in CS2 - because my photoshop skills are poor.

[Anbesol]

Wow, I thought I was alone in the sticks with my CS2, I guess some people do still use it.

I have not tried any stitching jobs yet (got one in que, I'll see how it goes). I wasn't disappointed with even CS2 for those. Yes many things are very refined. The biggest difference is definitely the interface, and I'm glad they kept it very familiar with CS2 but still very improved. I certainly think its worth the upgrade, it has made my workflow much faster, and much less convoluted.

I'm still having issue opening raw exactly the way I want to, I cant get it to open in photoshop in 16-bit, it stays 16 bit until I hit the button to open in photoshop, then converts to 8. If I want to keep an original image in 16-bit, I can still do that without importing a TIF from Sony's raw program, right?

[OldClicker]

I normally send my arw files from Lightroom to CS4 and they are 16 bit, but I just tried opening one straight into CS4 and it came up 8 bit. Don't know why. In both cases it is using the ACRv5.5 in CS4 (not Lightroom ACR). - TF

[Medley]

I have the entire Creative Suite2. I tried the Photoshop CS3 beta when it came out, and there were huge compatibility issues between apps (not completely unexpected, just saying....). That puts a much bigger price tag on the upgrade, and raises the bar for desired changes.

I use Aperture2 for my Raw workflow.

- Joe U.

[xystren]

I'm also in the sticks with you on CS2..It's a huge investment since I got the entire suite. I'm looking forward to upgrading, but it will probably be a bit before I'm able to. I tend to use a lot of the other software (Indesign, acrobat, etc) so it's not just a matter of upgrading just PS.

Ahhh well, it works for what I want to do, and as long as I don't get to use the new version, I'm quite happy living in ignorant bliss

[drg]

One of the cooler tools is the Content aware scaling that can remove unwanted space in group shots or even add space to landscape/scenic shots that need recompositing when being resized for wider or narrower formats.

This has been handy in setting up images for 16:9 display when originally shot 3:2 or even square. Save many steps by just clicking and dragging and the scaling feature moves things around. Images with leading lines like architectural features, or rooms with railings can be reshaped much more easily!

Of course the improved workflow integration with Lightroom has been much anticipated. Multi layer work is much easier. The ability of PS-CS4 to handle directly multiple selections from LR eases a lot work. Many less steps to produce a panorama or HDR work. Using exposure matching in LR and then exporting to the HDR facility in PS-CS4 makes for photos that look far better than ever before with the one simple added step.

I'm still getting use to some of the new interface as I do not use Photoshop a great deal. The inclusion of non-destructive adjustments, like Lightroom, points towards Adobe continuing to develop this as the future of this product line.

[hdvideoreviews]

Hi there, I also had this Photoshop CS4 but I'm having a hard time to use it. Can you suggest any suggestion or any tutorial site? for me to familiarize this software. Any suggestion please? Thanks.

[flyinion]

Anyone know the differences between CS3 and CS4? Are they worth it for an amateur? I have CS3 Web Design suite from an education discount which includes PS Extended. Being at the amateur level I'm nowhere near using its full potential (don't even know how to use layers/masks yet) but I'm able to get CS4 Master suite for about $500 on the education discount. I've been debating doing it because I'd love to have Premiere and After Effects for some of the video stuff I do.

If CS4 for PS will add some nice extra that would be useful to me in the future, it might help in kicking my decision towards a "yes vote" on whether I go for the new version. Unfortunately I bought the CS3 package just a couple months before CS4 came out and didn't know CS4 was coming or I'd have waited.

[Anbesol]

I can only vouch for the differences between 2 and 4, which are significant. Honestly, the jump from 2 to 4 feels like a rather ordinary software update jump, I was surprised there was an intermediary whole software version (being CS3). I wish they'd focus more on updates so they don't have to force users ahead for a simple raw conversion utility. Still, I am pleased with the minor/moderate software changes between 2 and 4.