Forum Moderators: not2easy
The only thing more frightening than that logo bill was the sticker shock for Photoshop. CS/2 is not an option at the price it sells for. 7.0 appears to be going for quite a hefty sum as well.
So I got to wondering, what are the major differences in 6.0, 7.0, and CS/2? Are they minor things that only a professional would get use out of?
Part of the reason I'm convinced I need Photoshop is because the drawing pad I've had my eye on (Intuos3) has some cool sounding features that only work with PS. I believe the pad ships with PS Elements 3. Is this going to basically do most of the cool stuff from the full version? I assume it supports the pressure sensitivity but I couldn't find a definitive answer.
I have an Intuos3 A5 graphics tablet (bought on a whim). Build quality is excellent, and the drivers can be customized for each piece of software you use. Price is... high. I'd tend to shy away from shelling out for something as large as an A5 tablet unless you've actually got artistic talent -- with my level of skill, my tablet is a rather expensive toy :-)
Tablets help a lot with subtle colouring and blending -- anywhere where a pressure sensitive tool is useful. They aren't so hot for precision pixel art, because it's harder to hold the pen absolutely still than it is to control a mouse.
Highly recommended :-)
Mods: this is a free GNU GPL program, obvs. not self-promotion :-)
CS has something called Shadows and Highlights I think. It is very hard to use.
I understand that you're asking about PS, but have you considered Paint Shop Pro? It does most of the things non-professionals would require --and it has a 30-day evaluation version, so you can easily check if anything essential is missing...
I actually used PSP for several years, and really got the hang of it. Unfortunately they only make Windows compatible versions :( I've never used Photoshop at all, but ever since "photoshopping" entered the lexicon I just assumed there was some kind of magic to it that I was missing out on.
I'd tend to shy away from shelling out for something as large as an A5 tablet unless you've actually got artistic talent -- with my level of skill, my tablet is a rather expensive toy :-)
Believe me, I know for a fact that the second I get one I'm going to have officially burned a large wad of cash. I just have this fantasy that if I get something that expensive it's got to give my skills a much-needed boost. Right now I just grab onto the mouse so tightly when I'm trying to draw that I end up with a sore wrist and jagged lines.
It looks like the A5 is a Europe-only version, but if my metric-to-American is correct I think the one I was looking at has the same dimensions. Most of the reviews I've read suggest that that size is just right -- while the smaller ones are too cramped and the larger ones are a bit of overkill.
They aren't so hot for precision pixel art, because it's harder to hold the pen absolutely still than it is to control a mouse.
Do you find they are good for freehand drawing? I like to doodle in my free time, and I think it'd be kind of cool to do it digitally. Mind you that doesn't justify the cost, but hopefully I can get some use out of it on the business end as well for touching up graphics and such.
The GIMPHighly recommended :-)
That's what I'm using! The price was right and I can tell it has a lot of power, but for whatever reason I just can't get my graphics to come out as clean as I could with PSP and other programs. Mabye I just need to work with it more?
I wonder if it supports the pressure sensitivity.. I'll have to look around.
I downloaded the GIMP and the rest is history. Love it.
If you are basic web based then pehaps there is not a need, but any design company you may work with will expect you to know it..
A good option is fireworks ...
Drawing tablets actually can take quite a while to get used to so be ready to spend some time learning how to select menus as well as how to draw lines. Most tablets are pressure sensitive so it's not just like transferring your mouse skills so be prepared to practice a lot before it works well for you.
Elements is a good program and probably will do most of what you want, but be aware that it does still have a Photoshop-ish learning curve in some areas. The product also doesn't have some of the fancy features that are the fun part of working in Photoshop CS, but it does have some non-PSCS features that are great for working with digital photographs (like a special RAW tool).
In terms of the differences between older and new versions...the CS version of Photoshop got rid of some annoying instability issues and added some nice integration features with the other items in the CS family (Illustrator and InDesign). Just because of the stability of the software I recommend paying for CS versions (not older versions) if you decide to get the full thing instead of just Pshop Elements. I wouldn't get the new CS2 version though -- there's a lot of frustration about bugs being voiced on one of the design lists I frequent.
I think CreativePro.Com still has articles on the website about what the exact differences are between versions so you might want to poke around there. You might also want to think about spending $99 and joining the National Association of Photoshop Professionals just to have access to all the online tutorials and reviews for a year -- membership includes a print subscription to Photoshop User magazine as well.
BTW, if you're paying less than the cost of Pshop CS for a logo you're getting a good price. I'd tell you what I charge but I don't want to give you a heart attack (LOL).
I highly recommend in your case NOT getting it, however. 90% of its ultra powerful features you will likely never learn to use--unless you plan to go to a digital media school... or take a two-day expensive workshop might get you started.
It is not an intuitive program, and even if you are proficient with MS programs, you will find yourself lost in some case. Photoshop requires a lot of Cntrl+delete's Alt+deletes, and..uhh that's not even the beginning of it really..
I also have Photoshop Elements on one of my systems, which I think is a much better investment for you from what you have just described. It is about 1/2 of what Photoshop is(possibly more..dunno), but it CAN drive PS Pro's crazy: I notice things like the magnetic lasso tool, various adjustments, and other features working much better in 7, plus things like Quick mask mode and guides dont exist in Elements, which furstrates me--but, again, in your case, so what?
However, I think that Elements could even be a little more user friendly in my opinion than it is. It's not the best proggy on the market for a beginner ,imho.
I suggest thinking about PSP, perhaps. It's realtively cheap and is readily available on the shelves at most computer stores. I used Paint Shop Pro a long time ago, so I dont know how it compares to Elements, per se, but I think you will have better luck with it than any Adobe product. My 2 cents--dont buy Photoshop--and that's coming from a PS Junky!
If you have Adobe go to [any of the Photoshop tutorial sites] and follow some of the tutorials - you will reliase you can do anything
[edited by: tedster at 8:30 pm (utc) on Aug. 16, 2005]
If you're looking to only do logos, you may want to look at Adobe's Illustrator product, which is vector art software. More often than not, this is where logos are created due to the scalability of vector art.
Do a Google search for adobe software + wholesale and you can find PhotoShop CS and 7.0 for as little as $49!
...which is vector art software.
Since graphic design is not part of your job, you're better off with PaintshopPro or Fireworks for basic Web integration.
Photoshop is a bitmap program. Think of the small colour dots on a magazine that make up a large image.
Illustrator is a vector graphics program. It uses mathematical curves to calculate the distance between each points.
Nowadays, each program has elements of the other ones, but for some specific tasks, pros usually prefer to stick with the real thing.
As for designing a logo in Photoshop, I suggest that you fire your designer and hire another one whon knows that logos are designed with a vector program, to give you as much flexibility as possible.
Intuos is also not useful for working with vector art. It's for industrial designers, graphic designers and paint artists who wish to work more efficiently without the limits of real paper, pen and brushes.
photoshop will also allow you to create a vector shape to manipulate, but is not a true vector art program. you wont be able to save the file as vector.
photoshop and illustatrator have inherent differences in how they save files. as another poster mentioned, photoshop is bitmap, which means it literally saves each pixel in the graphic*. when you try to enlarge a bitmap file, interpolation occurs.. meaning, the software has to create pixels which were not there before, and in effect guess what they should be by comparing adjacent pixels. The results are often blurry images when you enlarge.
illustrator saves points and uses math for distances etc. for example, illustrator would save a square simply as 4 points and fill it in with a color. to enlarge it, the software simply changes the equation for distance between points. this is why illustrator is hands down a better choice for logos... you can expand to the size of a billboard if you need to without sacrificing quality of the image.
* The slight exception to this rule is a .gif. This file format will save pixels, but will string together like pixels. For example, where a .jpg may see something as "blue, red, red, red", a .gif will see "blue, red x3"
and
If you are doing lots of website graphics I recommend using Macromedia Fireworks. It's much cheaper then photoshop and has everything you need for the web. Plus it optimizes JPG's better.
Plus it optimizes JPG's better.
How does it? im interested in this cos ive allways relied on PS for optimization - you get control over the level of optimization for JPG (% bar) I allways thought this would give me as much control as the other graphics software.
beagle,
photoshop will also allow you to create a vector shape to manipulate, but is not a true vector art program. you wont be able to save the file as vector.
I'm not a pro, and am basically self-taught, but if you have specific, not-too-technical questions on Paint Shop, I can try to help. I'm still struggling a bit with layers and masks. The Corel website has tutorials, etc., which might give you some ideas. (Don't ask me anything about Macromedia, though!)
But back to one of the original questions, what would be the main differences between the PS versions? Presumably CS2 does everything that PS6 does, but just with more bells and whistles?
Myself I use Photoshop Elements 3 mainly for editing pictures from my digital camera, as a part of the digital darkroom.
I use RealDraw Pro to design web graphics, logo's and other stuff. Much easier to use than PS in my opinion, although in the end everything can be done in PS as well.
Enjoy!
well i guess i'm like you, running a small operation with no graphics specialist here!
i think photoshop is fantastic i know how it works, i find the tools easy enough to use and i've learnt to do the things that i need to do - which is basic logos, manipulating photos, and the odd web graphic (sure i know it's not a vector program but it works well enough for me)
... i got a full version of 5.0 which came free with a scanner, it seems to do all i need. i'd agree with the advice above, you can pick up an old/out of date version very cheaply which will be just fine.
The CS2 version of Photoshop is much improved for digital Photographers. But if I was just producing webgraphics I could get by using Fireworks 3, for the most part :)
