Which is the best Photoshop

hankejp · Feb 9, 2009

just wondering what the best Adobe product for PP is out of this selection:

Photoshop 6
Photoshop 7
Premiere Pro CS3
Premiere Pro CS3 (D) - Not sure what the D stands for
CS3 Design Premium
Photoshop Elements - I don't know if this is used for PP.

I have all of these available to me at this time from work.

Thanks

JKnobelock · Feb 9, 2009

I use CS3 and love it, has a great RAW program.

hankejp · Feb 9, 2009

JKnobelock said:
I use CS3 and love it, has a great RAW program.

Ding ding ding. I think I already found my winner. So it'll open up raw images? Is this out of the box or do I need to download an add-on for it?

Thanks

ANDS! · Feb 9, 2009

If you have the choice to get any with no cost to you, why wouldn't you get the most recent one?

hankejp · Feb 9, 2009

ANDS! said:
If you have the choice to get any with no cost to you, why wouldn't you get the most recent one?

Which is the most recent out of that list? I have no idea.

Thanks

Big Mike · Feb 9, 2009

Photoshop CS3 (and all the recent versions of Photshop) come with a built-in program/application called Adobe Camera RAW...which is their RAW program. It's pretty good and had has some great improvements lately. You may need to download the latest version of ACR to be compatible with your camera's files.

Still, I prefer a workflow software for RAW files...something like Lightroom.

If you haven't purchased anything yet, you might consider Photoshop CS4 (the latest version) There are many improvements to CS4, several of which are great time savers. I've been playing with the demo version and it's pretty impressive.

anubis404 · Feb 9, 2009

Photoshop CS3 is the best, however I use Photoshop Elements 6 (which was especially designed for PP) and love it so far.

TheUndisputed · Feb 9, 2009

Photoshop CS4 tears CS3 a new one. However, if you can't afford CS4, jump on CS3, it's the next best thing.

Camera RAW 5.0 in CS4 is AMAZING! It's got lot's of other cool toys too. Also the CS3 (d)? the (D) doesn't mean anything.

The same version of photoshop that comes in Design premium is the same one you can buy solo, or in other premium suites. There is only Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended. Always go for the Extended version if it is available to you. There are much more features in Extended than standard.

Hence the reason I used Photoshop CS4 Extended.

ANDS! · Feb 9, 2009

If CS3 is all they have go with that. For the majority of photography work you do, CS3 will do the job as well as CS4. I do like the utility of Bridge CS4 over Bridge CS3, and Camera Raw in CS3 can be updated, so that shouldn't be a negative for you.

ksmattfish · Feb 9, 2009

I just upgraded to CS4 from CS2. While there are a few new features I have yet to use a single one. The new Adobe Camera Raw is really nice though.

I don't see Lightroom 2 on your list. That's by far the most productive processing software I've yet to use. Basically it's spruced up Adobe Camera Raw. It's a lot cheaper than CS4, and I've found it covers about 95% of what I need in processing software.

lockwood81 · Feb 9, 2009

I used Photoshop Elements 6 until I recently switched to Lightroom 2...I'm loving Lightroom 2.

Big Mike · Feb 9, 2009

I just upgraded to CS4 from CS2. While there are a few new features I have yet to use a single one

CS4 uses more hardware acceleration which is said to make is faster...I bet you've used that feature

sultan · Feb 9, 2009

I like Photoshop CS4. Its expensive but it can do almost anything you can think of. And its faster than CS3 too. If you're poor, PS Elements does most of the important stuff. The GIMP is also fairly good, and is FREE. It does have an unusual interface though...

bevin · Feb 9, 2009

What sort of PP do you want to do? I think that's the big question. I've downloaded the free trial of Lightroom 2 and I'm really enjoying it. A friend recommended it to me along with the Seth Resnick (?) book. It's been so intuitive to use so far I've not checked out any tutorials or the book though I will soon.

Anyway, I'd recommend downloading the free trial from the Adobe website, see if that meets your needs, if it doesn't then you can step up to CS3 or CS4. Just my $0.02 as a noob