[B0b]

any1 played with it yet?

worth getting?

[Ian Jones]

Well, ppl seem to be saying that its really only an essential update for photographers. That seems to be the general feeling amongst most reviewers. Can't speak from experience though.

[spooge demon]

my thought on upgrades is do it, or you will have a much bigger set of adjustment problems when you finally do have to upgrade. Do it as it comes and the headaches stay... smaller.

[CwStone]

photoshop cs?
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[Al Ian]

Question, why upgrade? I have been using 5.0 since I learned about photoshop and have never upgraded. A friend has PS 7.5, while it does have some very cool features. If all you do is paint whats the difference?
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[B0b]

[spooge demon]

Lessee, I started with PS 2 in 94? Running on Mac system 7 on a 33mhz machine with 32 MB RAM... I guess I could still be working with that? Not really practical, so you have to upgrade sooner or later. You might find a setup that works for you, but hardware breaks, and you can't get replacements, have to upgrade, no choice. Do it all along, it is easier in the long run.

Upgrading back then was required as hardware speed was such a limiting factor. Besides the hardware aspect, features will pop up that you will find really useful, like layers or even adjustment layers. The pop-up brush palette in PS6 took a while to get used to. Each iteration might not have improvements enough to warrant upgrading, but maybe every other integer release? I think that is the way most companies do it, every other major software upgrade release.

On a related note, or maybe related because it contradicts what I just said above, but I hate Flash, I don't want it on my system. I go to a flash-infected site, and it wants to run the installer. Not once, but every time you navigate anywhere. OK, so I turn of the "prompt to install" switch so the installer is simply denied. So now it gives me a dialog telling me that the page will not be displayed correctly because I had the bad taste to not allow the flash install. I have to smash the enter key to continue.

Not so irritating, but small things repeated many times get you after a while. Any ideas?

[Chthonic Divinity]

i have it.
as spooge said, its really only different for photo adjustments (and boy is it ever!)
i played around with some of my B&W photos and areas of pure white became full of detail and texture. was pretty amazing.

oh also, the wacom losing pressure sensitivity if another program/window took focus while photoshop was loading is gone. i am impatient and open a million things at once so i'd never have my sensitivity, but now it works great.

[Tomasis]

It is always worth upgrade Photoshop. it is just excellent app.. I did look at preview of CS and found that is very good upgrade for photo-enthusiasts as me and probably you, Bob?

Spooge, you must accept Flash as other things in the world if you dont want be irritated Anyway, didnt you find a option "dont remind me at next time"? I dont know because I accepted Flash and other so called irritaring objects already and I think life is wonderful!

[Alan]

Spooge: I too loathe flash, and found this way to disable it:


Prevent Internet Explorer from prompting you to install Flash:

a. Click Start, then Run, and enter this command:

notepad %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

A Notepad window should appear with a file in which most of the lines
begin with "#".
b. At the bottom of the file, add the following line:

0.0.0.0 download.macromedia.com activex.microsoft.com active.macromedia.com

c. Close the Notepad window and click Yes to save changes.

This last step will prevent your computer from ever accessing the Internet
addresses where the Flash plugin is normally found. If you later find that
you need to access one of those addresses, just remove it from the hosts
file.

You may also want to add www.macromedia.com to the line in the hosts file if
you are still being prompted to download Flash.

hope this helps. this works for me, no problems

you might have to re-enable the "prompt to install" switch, though.


as for upgrading.. it seems to be the curse/blessing of digital art. The tools tend to get better, but you must constantly change and $pend to be up to date.

-Alan

[henrik]

Question; is the 16-bit support working properly? I've heard bad things about it.
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[AliasMoze]

I plan to upgrade, but I'm a little annoyed with Adobe's new validation scheme, which requires online or phone registration and limits the install to (I think) two machines. I usually install it on more than that, and I'm not too keen on buying it twice. I guess Adobe is looking to expand its crackz market.

The 16-bit support is supposed to be broader in CS, but I get the feeling Photoshop is still not 100% 16-bit compatible. So some things will work, like some adjustment layers, while other things, including probably most of the filters, won't.

I agree about Flash. I actually like the Flash program, but I hate flash sites. And I mean HATE. Flash invariably means that the site has no content.

[Ian Jones]

Bah... whats with all the people bashing flash sites. The net would be a boring place if we didnt have some cool bells and whistles. Admittedly there is a lot of crap out there, but the same goes for html.

[B0b]

flash rox some really cleaver stuff out there done in flash, just wish i had the time to master it..

anyway back on topic..

having looked into the details of PS CS over on adobe's website and a photography forum i frequent it looks like they've made leaps and bounds with the digital photography front..

i'll no longer have to use the RAW plug-in crack for my Canon and the RAW support is much better

decision time, 2nd monitor or Photoshop CS..

[Slimjimer]

wow you guys are behind the times, i'm running photoshop 9.51 right now, except they replaced all the tools w/ diff tools for making lense flares....

[Pat]

I'm a firm believer staying in current. But there's a practical cost to living on the edge as compared to within walking distance of it. Photoshop CS benchmarking 17-18% slower than 7.1.

-Pat

[B0b]

yeah but those are Mac figures - what about PC?

[Spectra]

Ok, so if i want to send a copy of my portfolio to Spoogy ill make an html version (current work in progress)

There is 97% of the internet users that have the flash plug-in, once its installed it wont give any problem... there is so many cool things that are "flash-infested", what do Alan and Spooge dislike about it? You can always close a flash site if you don't want to wait. Why declare open war upon the flash installer?

[lalPOOO]

because its simply a pain in the ass to deal with that installer popping up all the time, especcialy after you've already installed flash.

[Socar MYLES]

It seems like I just shelled out hundreds of dollars for the damn 7.0.1 upgrade, and now they want another, what, $900?

No way. I'm going back to traditional art if this keeps up.

(Seriously, though, unless this thing does something amazing that my current installation doesn't do, I'm going to pass on it and wait for the next major upgrade. I can't be throwing money at this every year or so.)
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[B0b]

socar dont u write your tools off against tax?

[ceenda]

Bob: Yeah, my flatmate is self employed and can claim alot of expenses off tax, though I think it's a UK only thing. I'm not sure if it's the same elsewhere.

[henrik]

It's the same everywhere. But for that, you pretty much need an accountant, unless you enjoy doing it in your free time. The whole thing just takes a lot of time and who's got time for that?
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[Socar MYLES]

Well, in Canada anyhow, when you write off a business expense, it does not necessarily mean you don't have to pay ANY of it. You only get to write off a certain amount.

Not to mention which, the fact that I could write it off doesn't necessarily mean that I've got $900 to spare in the first place. One doesn't just walk into a store, after all, and say "Yeah, I'm writing this off my taxes," and then the government pays up.

I don't even have any socks, let alone nine hundred dollars.
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Dignity isn't important. It's everything.

www.gorblimey.com - art

[B0b]

ahh i c..

yeah over here, everything that is PC/computer based is 100% claimable against earnings vs tax.. so if i go over my tax bracket i can claim back hardware/software to bring me back under the bracket.. ie my new camera

[spooge demon]

I think skipping even number upgrades is a good plan.

What will the next version of PS be called? We are all creative professionals doing creative things with other creative people and isn�t it great being so creative and enlightened?

If I could be so bold to say to all you artists out there who plan on a career in art, please take the business side seriously. Reps, galleries, purchasers of art, all have their way with artists and they can because of the lack of interest and knowledge on the part of artists. When I was starting out and eating ground up cardboard boxes, and loving it, this was not a concern. But it is now, and because most of you are 10-15 years younger than me, you might all say it is none of your concern as well.

I have seen too many artists screw themselves really badly because they don�t want to be bothered. I don�t want to be bothered either, but like that smurf caught between your teeth, you�d better take care of it. In the 15 years I have been doing this stuff, I have pretty much seen it all. I would say I have lost close to $50-60,000 due to theft, negligence on my part, general ignorance.

I know of an artist that had a really hot style that sold like hotcakes in the late 80�s (not Drew). He spent it all as it came in, thinking that the demand would always be there. It dried up as his hip style became dated. Along came a divorce and alimony and no means of making ends meet. He is not a happy fellow. Having financial pressure makes you do some very unpleasant things and gives others a tremendous advantage over you in many, many ways.

The other aspect that drives one to spend every dime as it comes in is the feeling that one day you will be making a lot of money so it will be OK to spend it now, as you can be responsible later when you have to. This might work, might not. But the conservative route, guaranteed to work, is to save a little bit always from early in your career. Then you don�t need to think about it. If your ship comes in, retire early. If not, you are still OK.

This includes being smart with taxes. Consider this: I pay a lot of taxes- if I can write off something it is basically free to me. The money either goes to a business item or it goes to the government. One or the other, the money will be gone.

Live within your means, save 10% starting right NOW, go with index funds. If you are very young, you could get away with 5%. And learn all you can about taxes, investments, copyright issues, negotiations, etc.

Sorry bout the sermon. Might help someone, but feel free to disregard

[Socar MYLES]

My mother got me a copy of "The Wealthy Barber" when I first moved out on my own. It was very helpful. I'm not sure if your remarks there were directed at me, spooge, but it's not that I don't care about the business side of things. I do. I've got a guy who does my taxes, and everything. I put as much as I can every year in RRSPs (retirement saving funds). The fact that I can't afford the latest PS upgrade has nothing to do with my money management skills and everything to do with the fact that I don't get paid very much to begin with. I never had a hot style yet. I can't spend what I never had. I've tried every trick I could think of to earn more money, but there must be a recession on, or something, because I seem now to be earning less.

Some years ago, I quit this totally garbage job I had to become an artist, and I thought it worked, but now I think it didn't. Probably, I will get my garbage job back again soon.

Anyway, though, this thread is getting off-topic. DOES this new Photoshop do anything one can't live without?
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Dignity isn't important. It's everything.

www.gorblimey.com - art

[spooge demon]

Uh no Socar, actually I think you are a model for artists at the beginning of their careers. Your promotions are diverse and tasteful. From what I have seen you seem very level headed about the business end of things, I have learned from you how to better promote myself. Just keep at it! You will find a way, like water through gravel.

As far as PSCS, as I said, IMHO, skip it till next time. The 16-bit is mandatory for matte painters, but the rest of it is frills

What brought my rambling forward was Henrik�s comment. Henrik, I see you are at DreamWorks now, that�s great, I can tell you a little how that universe works. The big effects houses, animation, game, etc. need young energetic talented people they can pay peanuts to. They are not evil; it is simply market forces at work. They hire promising talent, usually right out of school. The employee is very pleased to be working for (ILM, Disney, Dreamworks) and they show their gratitude and ambition by long, hard hours. They also get really valuable experience. The rub comes a few years later; it is time for promotion and raises, more responsibility, and an end to 80 hour weeks. Well, the companies would rather get a fresh fish than raise pay or anything rash like that. Can�t blame em. So they part company, the employee has a notch on the belt, some real experience and the company got good cheap work. Everybody�s happy.

Potential problem- Let�s say employee has acquired some �expenses.� Could be a family, mortgage etc. (I knew a guy who got a 20 thousand dollar architectural rendering job just out of school and went right out and slapped it down on a Ferrari. Whatta moron.) Now said employee has little choice but to continue working for low pay, and the hours are enforced rather than voluntary. You are locked in, and the employer usually knows this.

So Henrik, your comment lead me to believe that the business side does not interest you much. If it does and you are aware of all this crap, fine, forgive my intrusion. You are a very talented and young artist, I would hate to see you get derailed and end up at 40 not painting, but in some middle management horror show glorified by the term �art director.� You would be ensnared in a bureaucracy that you could not escape from, and you would have to put up with your artistic inferiors telling you what to do day in and day out.

This leads to another point, and that is freelancing. If you have the idea to freelance, and it is a great way to go, do it as soon as you possibly can. Do not get hooked into a job through acquiring expenses. You are never as free as you will be when you are still living as a student. It is a race against your work being strong enough and your ever rising lifestyle. If the expenses rise too quickly, you will never escape, or it becomes very difficult at least.

Keeping a sensible financial house gives you as much freedom as is possible, but also it limits your exposure to abuse by others.

End of rant, back to photoshop Creeeative Sweeet

[Tomasis]

damn I want earn money quickly enough for whole life then I can paint for myself.. that sweet freedom *eating noddles*

sorry for offtopic

[Prometheus-ANJ]

I'm still using PS 5.5. It works okay for me. I'd like to get my hands on painter 8 though, because of my background with acrylics and natural media. PS 7 has some textured brushes too from what I hear. As for what's new with PS CS, I have no idea, adobes site was very fuzzy about it. The usual "increase productivity!" ramble.

I'm 26 and haven't worked a day of my life, freelancing aside (yeah, still parent leeching). As soon as I have to do something it just gets immensly boring and I end up staring into a wall for hours instead. I'm even too lazy to cash in the checks I get!

I have no idea how I will survive out there when the time comes.
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