Photoshop CS2--worth it or not?

jlg84

I am an avid photographer, though by no means a professional or even all that skilled, but I love tinkering with my digital photos. I have been using Photoshop Elements on my iMac G5, but have recently had a note from the Smugmug team with suggestions for fixing some of my shots that would require that I upgrade to Photoshop CS. I am on the horns of a dilemma with this one, since it is a) a lot of money and 2) complex enough that I wonder if I would even learn how to use a fraction of the tools in it.

Sooo... what do you all think? Do you think the additional power of the full program warrants coughing up the dough, or am I unlikely to make enough use of those, as an amateur with a day job, to make the switch? Are there less costly ways to get the full software legally? Etc??

cletus

Howdy jlg84

Is PS CS worth the jump in price from PS Elements? It really depends on what you want to do with your images. I love working with my images on the computer, so for me CS is worth it. If you enjoy digital darkroom work and you see yourself doing more and more of it in the future, then I'd say go ahead and take the plunge. However, if you feel like you're having to purchase way more software than you'll ever need - just to get one or two tools - then no, don't buy it.

Just out of curiosity, what adjusments are you wanting to make?

jlg84

My adjustments
Thanks for the reply; I am really enjoying playing with the "Curves" control (I downloaded a trial version today), which PSE does not seem to have. I would love to learn how to use the program to its fullest potential, but doubt I would have time to take an actual course (probably would buy a book or something instead).

Now that I am playing with the software, I have one simple question: since I shot the photos as JPEGs, rather than RAW, in what format ought I to save my changes? It seems when I save as JPEG, even in the highest possible quality, the histogram seems to show that a lot of info has been lost. Is there a better way to save the modified pics?

digismile

jlg84 wrote:

Thanks for the reply; I am really enjoying playing with the "Curves" control (I downloaded a trial version today), which PSE does not seem to have. I would love to learn how to use the program to its fullest potential, but doubt I would have time to take an actual course (probably would buy a book or something instead).

Now that I am playing with the software, I have one simple question: since I shot the photos as JPEGs, rather than RAW, in what format ought I to save my changes? It seems when I save as JPEG, even in the highest possible quality, the histogram seems to show that a lot of info has been lost. Is there a better way to save the modified pics?

I bet that the lost info is due to the curves adjustment. On an 8-bit file, the histogram can look pretty ugly after just about any levels or curves adjustment. That being said, we all still use levels/curves adustments. It's just that 8-bit files don't have the dynamic range of 16 bit. What this tells you is to be a bit conservative with changes you make to the tonal range.

As far as my 2-bits on Photoshop vs. Elements, I have both CS2 and Elements 3.0. The rest of my family (wife plus extended family) all use Elements because it's a bit more user friendly. Elements has many of the best features of PS, such as adjustment layers, etc. and is a very powerful little program. I use Photoshop simply because that's what the majority of people use and there are more books, magazines, support forums, 3rd party add-ons, etc. than any other piece of software. I enjoy the learning curve of Photoshop (I say that in the present tens because you will ALWAYS be learning). I think it comes down to your desire and patience to learn a new program (plus money of course!). My wife just likes to open a photo, do a few quick but powerful adjustments, crop, resize and be on her way. If she is one ditch of the road, I'm definitely way over in the other ditch.

There are a significant number of members here at dgrin that are very advanced/experts in Photoshop and are always around to lend a hand to the new user wading into the Photoshop waters.

I will add one more piece of information. I found a book on the internet called "The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 3" by Richard Lynch. The book claims that all the missing features are hidden in the code of Elements, including curves. See this webpage for more information. I'm going to go look at the book tomorrow for fun. I still think the real thing is the best way to go, but maybe this might allow you to have champagne on a beer budget.

Good luck,
Brad

Rohirrim

jlg84 wrote:

I have one simple question: since I shot the photos as JPEGs, rather than RAW, in what format ought I to save my changes? It seems when I save as JPEG, even in the highest possible quality, the histogram seems to show that a lot of info has been lost. Is there a better way to save the modified pics?

You may want to consider saving them as .psd files, or TIFF's. The disadvantage of .psd's is that you will need to have photoshop to continue using them. The advantage is that you don't lose image quality by opening, editing and closing. Although as a poster already mentioned any time you adjust an image you will lose some data. If you make all your adjustments on adjustment layers and save the images as .psd's then you have the advantage of going back and "tweaking" the adjustments as you see fit. You may want to do a search for a tutorial on adjustment layers.


There is an excellent tutorial on curves at http://www.thegoldenmean.com/technique/curves1.html if you need any more info.

FWIW, the cost of CS2 was worth it for me.

Regards,
Steve

colourbox

Just a quick note. The Save As dialog box in the last few versions of Photoshop support "layered TIFFs." If you save as layered TIFFs, they are a little less proprietary yet they actually do support Photoshop's special features. I still use PSD because it saves 16-bit files a lot faster.