Buy CS2 now?

Flyinggina

I am about to switch to PS from Corel PhotoPaint 12. I know that CS3 is due out in April and that a lot of you are using it in beta and are pleased with a number of the improvements. Is there any reason for me to wait for CS3 or should I plunk down my Christmas money now and get started learning my way around CS2?

I have an unrelated quesion as well. My current desktop (a PC) is giving me problems and I plan to replace it later this year with something faster and better suited to dealing with processing zillions (well maybe thousands) of RAW files. I also have a PC laptop that I travel with and will want to install the program on it. Have any of you had experience transferring your PS license when replacing your computer?

Thanks.

Virginia

Andy

Buy it now, you'll be able to upgrade no worries.

Transferring is no problem.

Flyinggina

Thanks, Andy. Just what I wanted to hear!!

Virginia

silica

Flyinggina wrote:

I have an unrelated quesion as well. My current desktop (a PC) is giving me problems and I plan to replace it later this year with something faster and better suited to dealing with processing zillions (well maybe thousands) of RAW files. I also have a PC laptop that I travel with and will want to install the program on it. Have any of you had experience transferring your PS license when replacing your computer?

Thanks.

Virginia

Adobe allows you to use Photoshop on two computers. You can run CS2 on both your laptop and desktop. When you buy a new desktop, you can remove the authorization from within the program, install it on the new computer and get it authorized automatically, never having to call Adobe. The key is to always unauthorize the installed copy before you install it on a new computer.

Flyinggina

silica wrote:

Adobe allows you to use Photoshop on two computers. You can run CS2 on both your laptop and desktop. When you buy a new desktop, you can remove the authorization from within the program, install it on the new computer and get it authorized automatically, never having to call Adobe. The key is to always unauthorize the installed copy before you install it on a new computer.

Thanks, Silica. That is good to know.

Va.

MichaelKirk

CS3 is only Bata right now...
and when I called they told me the official release of CS3 would not be until summer (not spring).

Michael

Flyinggina wrote:

I am about to switch to PS from Corel PhotoPaint 12. I know that CS3 is due out in April and that a lot of you are using it in beta and are pleased with a number of the improvements. Is there any reason for me to wait for CS3 or should I plunk down my Christmas money now and get started learning my way around CS2?

I have an unrelated quesion as well. My current desktop (a PC) is giving me problems and I plan to replace it later this year with something faster and better suited to dealing with processing zillions (well maybe thousands) of RAW files. I also have a PC laptop that I travel with and will want to install the program on it. Have any of you had experience transferring your PS license when replacing your computer?

Thanks.

Virginia

wxwax

MichaelKirk wrote:

and when I called they told me the official release of CS3 would not be until summer (not spring).

Michael

Interesting. Every report I've read talks about late March, early April.

Me, I wouldn't buy now, I'd wait and save the $160 or so that an upgrade will cost.

Flyinggina

Thanks Sid and Michael. Knowing how software releases work, I wouldn't be surprised if CS3 is out later than forecast. If it isn't, it will certainly be the exception to the rule. (Actually, for all I know Adobe has been very reliable with its release dates in the past. If yes, that is pretty impressive.)

A cost benefit analysis suggests that I should wait for CS3 but I may go ahead anyway because I have a lot to learn and am impatient to get started. I've waiting a long time to go over to the dark side and, having made the decision, I'm more than ready. Besides, reading about it in the books (I am following along on the Latest Margulis thread) without being able to try things out sucks. Of course, I can do some of the stuff in Corel PHotoPaint 12, but translating is getting pretty tiring. Besides some really neat functions just can't be done in my version of PP (and maybe not in any version).

I really appreciate the advice and comments.

Virginia

Dee

If you have broadband
or are extremely patient, you could download a trial copy of photoshop and play for 30 days with it for free.

dogwood

You'll still need CS2 (or CS or whatever) with the beta of CS3 if you want to resize. Bug in the CS3 doesn't allow for proper resizing so you end up with artifacts and pixelation. Adobe's solution is to use CS2 for resizing.

That said-- ACR in CS3 is fantastic. WAY better than CS2 and it's clunky pre-set defaults that don't work on 99-percent of the photos I shoot. Bridge in CS3 is also much improved.

Anyway, this question comes up a lot when folks are trying to figure out when to buy a new camera and I saw a post once that said something like, "I don't know about you, but I'll shoot and process thousands of photos between now and spring/summer." Just depends on how much you shoot.