Is it worth buying CS5?

divamum · June 9, 2012

I'm eligible for student/teacher rates.

I'm running a Vista computer for the forseeable future, but starting to feel a bit limited by CS3. Is it worth tracking down a copy of CS5 (which I believe supports Vista?), and then upgrading to CS6 when the time comes?

Just thinking out loud, really....

digismile · June 10, 2012

There are a number of features available in CS5 that I thought made it worth the change.

1. 64 bit (actually available on CS4)
2. Content aware fill
3. Better Selection & Mask refinement tools
4. Improvements in camera raw (noise reduction, automatic lens correction, noise removal
5. Post crop vignetting (like in LR)
6. Better HDR

There's probably more, but these are the ones I remember ...

The content aware fill is very cool ...

aktse · June 10, 2012

divamum wrote: »

I'm running a Vista computer for the forseeable future, but starting to feel a bit limited by CS3. Is it worth tracking down a copy of CS5 (which I believe supports Vista?), and then upgrading to CS6 when the time comes?

CS6 is out.

However, I don't know if you can run it. From the website: Microsoft® Windows® XP* with Service Pack 3 or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1

basflt · June 10, 2012

divamum wrote: »

Is it worth buying CS5?

if you want to go do some editing , yes
if you want is as replacement for LR , no

Richard · June 10, 2012

CS5 has a few nice editing features that are lacking in CS3--the mask panel, content aware fill, improved crop views--and CS6 has all these and more. It should run on a properly configured Vista machine and it can take advantage of a 64-bit memory space. It does demand more power than CS3, so it may be a little slower.

IMO, the most valuable recent improvements from Adobe have been in ACR, and I gather that ACR 7 is even better than 6.7, which is the final version available for CS5. If you have the latest version of LR, then you have access to the newest raw processing stuff. If not--and you're not planning to upgrade LR--then it might make more sense to get CS6 instead of CS5. That way you would get the latest and greatest raw processor. You would probably be well advised to download a trial version first just to make sure that your computer can handle it.

Dan7312 · June 10, 2012

As a teacher you are eligible for the creative cloud for $30/month, just to add another decision point to the mix. It includes the main media products in Adobe's line.

That includes Photoshop CS6 Extended. It doesn't, at present, include LR, but Adobe has said that it will eventually. PS Extended includes 3D capabilities which aren't all that useful for images but if you are doing painterly/graphics things can be very handy.

CS6 added content aware move. It also, at least in theory, improved it's performance. It also added video editing, which is useful even if all you do with it is string together some still images to make a slide show.

I'm running it on Vista 64 with no issues, but I do have a lot of memory (12G/16G). The license is good for two machines, so I can have it on my desktop and my so-called portable that I wouldn't want to drop on my foot.

divamum wrote: »

I'm eligible for student/teacher rates.

I'm running a Vista computer for the forseeable future, but starting to feel a bit limited by CS3. Is it worth tracking down a copy of CS5 (which I believe supports Vista?), and then upgrading to CS6 when the time comes?

Just thinking out loud, really....

AceCo55 · June 10, 2012

Since CS4, ACR has been able to do localised adjustments to RAW files - that alone was enough for me to upgrade.

divamum · June 10, 2012

Thanks guys. I should have been clearer: the ONLY reason I'm considering CS5 instead of 6 is because of the lack of Vista support (I wonder why XP but no Vista in CS6? Weird.)

I run Vista 32 with 4 gig RAM, btw, which presumably negates 64 bit activity by any program (?)

How much does Adobe support legacy CS products? I know they don't offer much for LR (I have LR3, btw, and am not planning on upgrading until LR4 has settled down a bit, and I have a new machine which can run it quickly enough).

Most annoyingly, I considered buying CS5 in May just before CS6 came out (when it was offering the "free upgrade". I didn't get my act together in time to do it (and was also watching/waiting to see what CS6 would offer) and totally missed the boat. Now, of course, it's hard to find. Grrr.

Richard · June 10, 2012

According to Jeffrey Tranberry's blog, XP still has so many users that they figured they needed to offer official support. Note that the absence of official support doesn't mean that CS6 won't work on Vista. He says that nothing will prevent you from installing it. Have you checked to see whether there are complaints from people who are running it on Vista?

divamum · June 10, 2012

Richard wrote: »

According to Jeffrey Tranberry's blog, XP still has so many users that they figured they needed to offer official support. Note that the absence of official support doesn't mean that CS6 won't work on Vista. He says that nothing will prevent you from installing it. Have you checked to see whether there are complaints from people who are running it on Vista?

I have, and there are - quite a few user reports of it being very crashy, freezing up etc etc

I suppose the next question is whether or not I could/should just upgrade my OS to Win 7 - I suppose I could explore that. I may be one of the few users who has had VERY few problems with Vista home - it was preinstalled, I had zero issues getting it set up (even with some legacy software that needed patches and/or emulators) and until I had to do an OS reinstall for reasons unknown, it ran extremely well (give or take some hardware glitches, but that wasn't the software's fault). Given that I pound this machine, it's actually done extremely well for what was a fairly middle-of-the-road configuration even at purchase. I can't complain....

basflt · June 10, 2012

i still think that upgrading to Win7 , ( Win8 is on its way ) would be more helpful to you than the software that runs on it ( CS3 / 4 / 5 or 6 )
forget what they say about 64bit , you have a 32bit machine , stick w it

just my opinion

angevin1 · June 10, 2012

divamum wrote: »

I have, and there are - quite a few user reports of it being very crashy, freezing up etc etc

I suppose the next question is whether or not I could/should just upgrade my OS to Win 7 - I suppose I could explore that. I may be one of the few users who has had VERY few problems with Vista home - it was preinstalled, I had zero issues getting it set up (even with some legacy software that needed patches and/or emulators) and until I had to do an OS reinstall for reasons unknown, it ran extremely well (give or take some hardware glitches, but that wasn't the software's fault). Given that I pound this machine, it's actually done extremely well for what was a fairly middle-of-the-road configuration even at purchase. I can't complain....

Dear Diva, Your machine is way behind your Camera Gear.

If you will take the time and expense to upgrade your computer to 64bit+ More memory and then Win7, you'll be ready to take on CS6 and other newer software as needed.

Keep the 32 bit machine for Internet browsing or what have you and use the newer machine for a workstation.

meant in the kindest way~

divamum · June 10, 2012

Oh, absolutely Tom! No question of that at all. However, the kind of machine I'd like is more money that I have to spend on it right now (at least if I want the other toys and goodies to go with it

) We do tend to wear my computers into the ground; we've done well out of it over the years and, while I certainly am NOT running at the kind of speed I know I would with a newer machine, this one still does quite well for me. Like our 128K car, I'm trying to squeeze just a little more out of it....

angevin1 · June 10, 2012

divamum wrote: »

Oh, absolutely Tom! No question of that at all. However, the kind of machine I'd like is more money that I have to spend on it right now (at least if I want the other toys and goodies to go with it ) We do tend to wear my computers into the ground; we've done well out of it over the years and, while I certainly am NOT running at the kind of speed I know I would with a newer machine, this one still does quite well for me. Like our 128K car, I'm trying to squeeze just a little more out of it....

Yep. I totally get it. I had to make decisions between more fun stuff ( read: Glass) and Computer stuff these last three years running. And each time I'd score with another check, funny how other stuff would crop up at just that time: CS5.5, CS6, etc. And since I do Video I felt I had to have more computing power. Now I am maxxed out in this generation computer and to get above 24GB of RAM I have to change out darned near all the internals. Which even to get to 24GB you have to have Win7 PRO, yep I upgraded my internals only to find I had to upgrade my "windows experience" to have the computer recognize and be able to use the 24 GB. Otherwise you're stuck at 16GB Ram max. Oh the joys.

What kind of other toys and goodies do you want to go with a workstation? You mean "other" than computer stuff? The Fun stuff?

128k on a car is barely registering for me. I regularly keep them well into the mid-200's k miles. Of course I'm still an ASE certified mechanic so that often helps.

I never had a problem with Vista either. I went to Win7 about 4 or 5 years ago.

divamum · June 10, 2012

Well, the car had a new clutch last year and this year's Big Service set us back some resurfaced brake rotors, an axle seal and some new tyres, but I consider that pretty good given how much I have to drive (and less than 1/3 the cost of payments on a new car). Sadly, I can't do my own repairs, and am just happy I've found an AWESOME guy that understands how to keep older cards on the road without spending top dollar. The big issue for me is I drive alone at night a lot, so being stranded would be a big deal and whenever a car starts to feel iffy, I reckon it's safer to move on. I'm hoping to get to the end of the year with this one; we're stalking models now so that if/when things go on clearance in December (or President's day next year) we're ready to jump.

As for computer. It runs. Quite nicely in fact. CS3 doesn't tax it at all and, since I relaid the OS and figured out my LR glitch, it's actually been pretty hunky-dory. I don't expect more than 8-12mos out of it (It's coming up to 4yo), but hopefully I'll have a few more shoots this year that can pay for it. I know that I can GET a replacement for under $500, but since I use my laptops for editing (both images and soundfiles), it would be very nice to have better vid card, better sound card, more RAM, higher processing power, better screen etc etc. Anything that's what I REALLY want pushes the price up to nearer $1000-1500.

The main reason for wanting CS5/6 is actually the content-aware stuff. While I make every effort to shoot carefully and accurately to get things right in camera, sometimes things happen that require cloning (eg the flipped-up collar in my last headshot shoot). Anything that makes that job easier and less noticeable to the viewer would be a very good thing!!! Also, I gather that CS6 has migrated to some of the same formatting within the program that LR uses (eg black background, better crop tool etc etc) - I really rely on those in LR, and it would be nice to make the programs more consistent.

While I use LR as my main editor, I do have some wonderful (purchased) PS actions that I really like to use (they can generate a result that I have trouble matching "manually"). I don't use them exclusively (and because CS3 doesn't recognize my 7d have to run them through LR to convert them anyway), but since I got them I have been finding myself using PS more than I was.

Anyway, that's what started all this - that, and having seen some excellent educator prices on the programs recently (they seem to have come down somewhat compared to previous versions?).

angevin1 · June 10, 2012

Funny how we often start somewhere and end up somewhere else, eh?!

Having a trustworthy independent mechanic is the best relationship you can have involving a car. So very glad to hear of it!

I forgot you like to use Laptops for your editing. All I can think of is Money, and lots of it when I think that way. But then photos are not so power hungry as Video is which is why you're still plugging along well. That and your efforts and accomplishments to keep that thing running well~

If and when....When I do get a LT, it'll be a MacBook Pro. For me it just makes sense to go that route and plan on spending about $2500. There are some programs that are Mac only I like and so on.

My Vote goes with Richard to download a trial version and give it a go!

AceCo55 · June 11, 2012

Not tempted to buy an academic/educator version of Windows 7?

divamum · June 11, 2012

AceCo55 wrote: »

Not tempted to buy an academic/educator version of Windows 7?

Not sure if my computer can run it.... I will investigate, but I have a feeling this machine may be a bit clunky for it.

basflt · June 11, 2012

divamum wrote: »

Not sure if my computer can run it.... I will investigate, but I have a feeling this machine may be a bit clunky for it.

test it ;
download this tool ( sits also on install-disks )
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor

AFAIK the "clunkyness" comes from Vista

divamum · June 11, 2012

OOOH! Great link. Thank you!

zingycreations · June 27, 2012

I would highly recommend CS5. I use photoshop and illustrator everyday, and couldn't imagine trying to make do with an inferior program.

Is it worth buying CS5?

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