Adobe Photoshop CS2

Joan Breckwoldt · 02-16-2006, 07:00 PM

Hello everyone,

Well, I'm finally ready to order PhotoShop so I went to Amazon.com to order it but it turns out I'm not sure which version. I thought the latest version was the CS2 but the few reveiws on Amazon were terrible, lots of trouble with that program. The reviewers gave it 2 out of 5 stars.

I recently had some promotional material printed, I did the set-up on my computer with a simple editing program that came with the computer. When I took the disk with the file/image to my printer, he said there wasn't enough information in the file. It turns out that the minute I start using the 'edit' button on my simple editing program, lots of information is lost. I ended up giving the printer an undedited file and he cropped it and made some color corrections himself. It worked out just fine, but in the future I would like to be able to edit my own files. Not to mention doing all the other amazing things I've been reading about that Photoshop can do.

So, I'm a bit confused and I wanted to be sure before I spent $600! There seem to be many different versions of Photoshop out there. I would appreciate any advice on which version to get. I imagine I'll also use it for what seems to be the most common use on the forum, to edit and paste photos for reference material.

Meanwhile, I'll keep searching the web for more info and reviews.

Thank you!!!!

Joan

John Reidy · 02-16-2006, 09:23 PM

Hi, Joan-

I've been a big fan of Photoshop for over 10 years. I currently run CS primarily for the Raw format I use in photography. I don't know if you have any experience with Photoshop. It can be overwhelming for a beginner but that's how I learned.

My concern is your publishing program. I would recommend QuarkXpress. This is a standard for printers and works well with photoshop. But beware. Quark isn't easy to learn by yourself but it can be done. Again, that's what I did.

I have had many things printed from catalogs to post cards and no printer has ever had a problem.

Hope this helps.

Joan Breckwoldt · 02-16-2006, 10:21 PM

Hi John,

Thank you very much for your response. Maybe I can get away with just buying that QuarkExpress and not Photoshop (though I could probably use Photoshop too, for the reference photo situations.) Does QuarkExpress run independently from Photoshop? In other words, I don't need Photoshop to run QuarkExpress, is that right? I"ll investigate that too.

I am willing to give figuring out the program a shot. I used to be a graphic designer, but it's been a while (!) and I was using the old Adobe Illustrator program, along with some other oldies but goodies. And I'm not planning on anything very complicated, it's just nice to crop my own photos and put in my own text.

Thank you, I'll continue investigating . . .

Joan

P.S. You gave me the idea to talk to my printer and see if he's familiar with QuarkExpress, just to make sure it wouldn't be a problem for him, which it sounds like it wouldn't be.

Joan Breckwoldt · 02-16-2006, 10:25 PM

Just looked at QuarkExpress, it's not cheap! It must be a full publishing program since it's somewhere in the neighborhood of $600, with more expensive versions. So this would be something to use instead of Photoshop. I need to compare the two it seems.

Joan

John Reidy · 02-16-2006, 11:30 PM

Joan,

Unfortunately Quark is nothing like Photoshop. Photoshop's purpose is to work specifically with photographs, there manipulation and enhancement along with creating special effects. The images are imported into the Quark document which is strictly for publishing. The two serve different purposes but marry together well.

Yes, Quark is expensive. I haven't upgraded in years due primarily to the cost and my current version (4) serves my needs nicely.

If it were me I would go with Photoshop since that will give you lots of control with your images. There are other programs you can use for publishing, depending on your end use. You may look at Pagemaker. I've never used it but I have a friend who is a proffessional furniture designer and relies on Pagemaker for his publishing.

Joan Breckwoldt · 02-17-2006, 12:04 AM

Hi John,

Thank you for your reply, yes it sounds like Photoshop is what I need, though I'm still a bit concerned about the poor reviews it got on Amazon and I'm not sure which version is the one to get. I assume the latest version. I'm hoping someone will give me advice on this. Sometimes the latest version of things have bugs are may be too complicated, maybe an older version will do.

Ah, Pagemaker. That was the program that I used almost daily when I was a graphic designer. Illustrator was just for images, it's all coming back to me now. Pagemaker was a great program, probably still is. I think I had the very first version of it, it was long time ago.

thank you again,

Joan

Heidi Maiers · 02-17-2006, 02:14 AM

Hi Joan,
I'll be interested to follow this thread. I have been running Photoshop version 6.0 both at home and at work since I think 1999 and love it. It does everything I need it to do and the only drawback is that if you want to import files from somewhere like Adobe Studio Exchange , most of those were written and are compatable with only the newer versions. I have been contemplating updating to the CS2 version but haven't been able to justify the cost of the upgrade. Still on the fence about that one.
If you are already proficient with Illustrator, you will have no problem learning to use Photoshop.

John Reidy · 02-17-2006, 09:14 AM

Hello again,

If you don' anticipate using digital photography in the RAW format I would recommend Photoshop 6 or 7. They should have everything you'll need.

I agree with Heidi that if you are proficient in Illustrator you'll pick up on Photoshop easily.

Joan Breckwoldt · 02-17-2006, 10:50 AM

Thank you Heidi and John,

I usually save everything as a jpg file, maybe that was the problem with what I took to the printer. Hmm. It all looks great when I print things out at home, but as I mentioned, there wasn't enough info for the printer.

I remember reading somewhere on this forum, or maybe someone told me, that when I buy Photoshop to go ahead and get the 'big' or 'newest' one, which I took to mean the CS2. But maybe the 6 or 7 will work. I am still hoping to hear from someone who uses the CS2 version, if anybody does, mainly because I'm still wondering about the bad reveiws it got at Amazon.

thank you,

Joan

John Reidy · 02-17-2006, 11:20 AM

If you'll be working with a printer he'll need about a 300 dpi resolution image. I usually use an eps format. You can use a low res image in your document but you'll need to supply the printer with the hi res files so he can replace them.

Its a good idea to always ask the printer in what formats he can accept work.