Members LoginWhy Upgrade to Photoshop CS4?
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If you can create excellent quality work with Photoshop CS1, 2, or 3, why upgrade to CS4? After all, great work is great work, right?
Let’s face it -
Great Photographers were creating professional images before Photoshop CS4 arrived on the scene. And graphic designers were winning awards with CS1, 2 and 3.
Has it suddenly become impossible to create the perfect photograph – or perfect graphic design – without the latest version of our favourite editing software?
I know my answer, and it may surprise you. (I’ll reveal my thoughts in the comments section below once the total number of comments exceeds 10.)
But what do YOU think about upgrading to CS4?
Why should someone upgrade or NOT upgrade to Photoshop CS4?
Have your say in the comments section below:
If, like me, you’ve already upgraded, tell me why?
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June 13, 2009 9:54 am
Have CS3 at work and it works just fine for what I need. I got CS4 for school, only because that’s all that was available – mostly for programs other than Photoshop.
May 20, 2009 7:59 pm
I will be upgrading to CS4 as soon as i find a laptop with Windows 7,simply because as a photographer i feel i need to keep up with the times,and any advance in technology must make it easier to process digital images….or not..:)
May 12, 2009 12:20 pm
I have Elements 3. I see that you have the latest version of Elements. Can you advise me on its capabilities? I need a better slide show maker..
May 10, 2009 8:58 am
I would love to upgrade to CS4,I have almost done it a few times but I bought CS3 a few weeks before it came out and I feel I need to master CS3 a bit more. I love to create pieces of artwork out of a “not so good” photo(still learning photography), restore and bring life to old photos. I have not looked at any tutorials on CS4 ‘cos I know there would be quite a few technique improvements I would love to try. Common sense takes hold, understand what I have first.
May 9, 2009 1:47 am
As always, I upgrade based on need. As soon as there is something I need to do that cannot be accommodated by CS3 then I’ll upgrade. Until then, CS3 will do nicely.
May 8, 2009 7:09 pm
I would love to upgrade to cs4 but money is tight and need to spend my money on more essential things – I consider upgrading a luxury that isn’t possible at the moment – maybe later on.
May 8, 2009 5:20 pm
well i’m using CS1 and i do a very nice work with it but sometimes i find on the net some ideas that can’t be done unless i have cs3 or 4 well i guess it has another new functions or tools. also it’s not bad to upgrade and use new things. for me i’m looking forward to upgrade
May 8, 2009 1:00 pm
I am using CS4 and I really love the new features. I use Bridge a lot and the new possibilities as to the new adjustment brush, the new camera calibration, are really very good.
May 8, 2009 11:46 am
If you love photshop you will see a big change in what you can do. one thing I love is i dont have to install a older version of photoshop, I jest enter S# and in stall PS4 and if you love new chagles you love PS4
May 8, 2009 9:56 am
Well what am I using? GIMP and Photoshop 5.5 From my film days ans yep still do a lot of film work I work to the motto its in the can that being its cheaper to capture the image right first time. The best example of that would be a formal 80th form 11:00am to 1:00pm included set up and working with the customers, by 1:30 pm I was at my printers, I took the card out of the camera and chose the image to print and just pressed the print button… by 3:00pm the customer had the Photo, and was getting ready to present it at the 80th Birthday celebration. Nowhere in that day was time for post production, I knew by experience that the Image taken would be perfect the only time I used any of my computers and that image was to back it up.
May 7, 2009 11:34 pm
I am an advanced amateur photographer. I started using PS3 in the 90’s and upgraded through PS5, PS6, to PS7 when I decided enough was enough. My digital cameras came with RAW processing software so, basically, all I needed Photoshop for was color-correction and cleanup … which PS7 does very well.
May 7, 2009 11:22 pm
Using cs4, graphic handling and UI interface all good, mostly use Photoshop and Illustrator, but have the whole suite (Production Premium). Love the new smooth way Adobe handles image view resizing and the new way it enables rotations. It takes advantage of higher end graphics cards better than any other program I’m aware of. All this said, I’m mainly a Corel Painter user, but I use it in conjunction with Photoshop and Illustrator. The programs work together very well.
May 7, 2009 11:09 pm
I upgraded to the CS3 suite late last summer. I am still learning the full potential of PSCS3. I have a Nikon D300 and I cna work with raw files in there. The camera raw funcionality is very good in this version. I use Aperture and do not own Lightroom. I like the workflow I have established. With this being said, I may not need to upgrade until CS5 or CS6.
May 7, 2009 10:51 pm
I have Photoshop Cs, ? Do I have to upgrade Cs1, Cs2 and Cs3 to get CS4?
Thank you
PS :I have MAC
May 7, 2009 10:03 pm
I’m a graphic artist and had PS7 for the past 3 or 4 years and decided it was time to upgrade for a couple of reasons. One, I’m using photos more and more and doing photo reproductions now and I wanted to learn better, faster ways of fixing problems. Most of the tutorial videos out now are for a CS version so I went ahead and jumped to the CS4. I bought the whole suite because I use everything in it and it had been a while since I upgraded the other softwares as well, that’s how I could justify the cost.
May 7, 2009 9:40 pm
too expensive for new features I do not need. the latest version of PS Elements is a better buy
May 7, 2009 8:36 pm
I am using both CS3 & Lightroom. Lightroom makes a difference for any serious photographer. I am very curious to upgrade to CS4 but Adobe put a new one out to quickly this time for what most of us can afford. The sliders now are similar to Lightroom and that is a big plus. The new way you can crop pictures without distortion is a big temptation!
May 7, 2009 6:59 pm
I am at present using Photoshop CS3, but like many others, whether I would like to upgrade or not is not an issue, because the upgrade price is well beyond the budget of an independant photographer/graphic artist like myself.
I would like to upgrade, but not at these prices.
May 7, 2009 6:29 pm
Would I loose thousands on buying the latest model of my current car just because it has a better go-faster stripe down the side?
Wake up Photoshop, concentrate on getting the users of PS6, 7, & CS to learn why they should be using CS3 instead of trying to bully us to waste more on minor upgrades.
May 7, 2009 6:09 pm
I already have PS7 and CS2.Icannot justify the extra cash for the added functions of CS4.I’m still learning these.Another programme would only confuse me at my age(62)
May 7, 2009 6:03 pm
I bought my first version of Photoshop whilst on the Mac platform in the late eighties/ early nineties – I think it may have been v.3 but not sure. I changed platforms during the late nineties but had upgraded virtually every version up to that point. Since then I have upgraded again a number of times but I am now stuck on CS. The reason is twofold – firstly the cost and secondly the cost! I cannot understand why software companies don’t acknowledge loyalty and discount for every vesrion that you upgrade. I still have to opay the same as someone who has only bought the previous version. Without people like me in the early days Adobe might have failed. All this said I haven’t mastered CS yet so what is the point of upgrading I have to ask myself. I’m glad you asked this question – shame it wasn’t Adobe who did so!
May 7, 2009 5:16 pm
I have CS4, but to be perfectly honest with you, for the extras you get I really dont think it worth the money if you already have CS2 0r three, unless you have extra need other than Photography. Ernie
May 7, 2009 5:10 pm
I use lightroom 2.0 and photoshop cs3… with lightroom i do most the work..and small retouching i do on cs3
May 7, 2009 4:34 pm
I have CS3, I cannot see that there is much difference between CS3 and CS4 and thats a lot of cash for a few extra functions.
May 7, 2009 4:09 pm
I needed to upgrade to CS4 to process raw files from new Nikon D700.
No plug in was available for CS2 to enable D700 raw file processing.
The bonus was the stitching capability in CS4 for panoramic images. I no longer need to pay someone else to do this.
May 7, 2009 3:44 pm
Actually, although I have CS2 I am still using PS7. (hiding head in shame)
I will be moving to CS2 as soon as I have time for the learning curve.
But I do NOT plan to upgrade further at this time. I cannot justify the cost. Like many others… money is a challenge and I would sooner use that money for something that I really need and want — Like my upgrading to Camtasia 6.
This is just my opinion though, but I felt it was worth the voice.
There just comes a time when you realize you do not need the most current version of software.
Thanks for asking.
Roz Fruchtman
http://www.SayItWithEcards.com
May 7, 2009 3:23 pm
I’ve got CS3 but I’m actually thinking of purchasing Lightroom and the current version of PS Elements.
For one it’s a lot cheaper, another is that I’m a photographer not a Graphic Artist I don’t think I need this huge lump of a program??