[mbc72]

I got an email from Adobe today with an offer to upgrade from PSE 10 to CS6 for either $299 or $29/monthly subscription rate. I am just not sure it is worth the upgrade. I am fairly comfortable in PSE and honestly somewhat intimidated by the learning curve of Photoshop.

What are some of your favorite CS features? Are those of you that have upgraded happy with it? Does anyone do the subscription as opposed to the full upgrade-this isn't the full cloud subscription, that is much more expensive.

Thanks for your input.

[A-M]

I do not have CS6 yet, but have been using CS3 since 2009 and moved to it from PSE6.
The thing I like the most is not having to mess about installing Styles and Actions... you just load them when you want to.
Also there is more flexibility with adjusting the styles added to your paper/text/embellishment.

[April Showers]

My favorite CS6 feature is auto back-up and recovery.
It also lets you use a mini bridge like a photo bin.
And when I drop in files from windows explorer into my layouts they open as smart objects-- with the file name as the layer name. Huge time saver for me.

[jenrou]

While the subject is going on, I'm also interested-what about pc size/memory for Photoshop vs PSE 10?I know April has a new fast pc already.

[A-M]

jenrou, on 20 August 2012 - 05:54 PM, said:

While the subject is going on, I'm also interested-what about pc size/memory for Photoshop vs PSE 10?I know April has a new fast pc already.

You do need lots of memory on your computer as Photoshop eats it up. PSE does use less.

On Adobe' site the tech requirements for CS6 is at least 1GB RAM and 1GB Hardrive space for installation.
Intel Pentium 4
I was talking to a computer technician yesterday as I am planning on getting a new desktop with Windows 7 and he said that he feels Photoshop needs more RAM and Hardrive space than that. The computer setup he is recommending I get has 2 x 8GB RAM

[BarbaraC1977]

PS was harder to learn than PSE. That said, I like being able to load styles, brushes, actions & patterns by just dragging them to the workspace.

I LOVE being able to record repeatable, one-click actions for myself, just as "95%, 90%, 75%, 66%, 50%," or "draw guidelines 150 px (1/2") in from all edges to remind me to be careful about text in the outer areas. I've made others actions, too.

In PS, I dislike that I have to hold the SHIFT key to resize in proportion (the opposite of PSE); that's one reason why I made the resize actions above; one-handed is better than two-handed. I dislike that the triangular "grab area" of controls is so tiny in PS, even with tools set to large; clicking the tiny triangles is tiring to my hands and elbows. PSE is better on these two (although still could improve.)

On both products, compared to Corel Photo-Paint (not to PSP,) I wish I could customize the toolbox the way Corel lets you; if I'm using the ruler a lot, why should I have to keep clicking the triangle on the eyedropper to select it (or I, shift + I, shift + I)? In Corel, I can show the ruler all the time if I want it. I also dislike that to see the size of an object in PS and PSE, I have to CTRL + click its thumbnail, (and then deselect after looking up the info); in Corel it's part of info.

I use PS & PSE because I love SG styles. If I ever figure out how to purchase the styles, and then translate to Corel Photo-Paint reasonably quickly, I'll go back in a heartbeat. I should try that now, since I can examine the properties in PS. Photo-Paint is a great product, and far more affordable than PS.

All that said, PS can do wonderful things, and if you want to learn, THIS is the place to learn it. If you can afford it, I'd go for it.

[A-M]

April Showers, on 20 August 2012 - 05:24 PM, said:

My favorite CS6 feature is auto back-up and recovery.
It also lets you use a mini bridge like a photo bin.
And when I drop in files from windows explorer into my layouts they open as smart objects-- with the file name as the layer name. Huge time saver for me.

April, can I ask you something... I have noticed you mention dropping in files from Windows Explorer before and wonder what files it is.

[tiza126]

Amazon just sent me a coupon code for $400 off (making the final cost about $250) Photoshop CS6. not sure if I'm ready to upgrade though... even with the significant savings! I'm happy with PSE9 and don't want to have a learning curve all over again.

[mbc72]

I feel the same way Tiza, and I didn't even consider the memory requirements. I am so glad you brought that up Jean.

[BarbaraC1977]

I have 8GB RAM on my Windows 7 machines, and PS CS4 works great with that.

[April Showers]

A-M, on 20 August 2012 - 06:22 PM, said:

April Showers, on 20 August 2012 - 05:24 PM, said:

My favorite CS6 feature is auto back-up and recovery.
It also lets you use a mini bridge like a photo bin.
And when I drop in files from windows explorer into my layouts they open as smart objects-- with the file name as the layer name. Huge time saver for me.

April, can I ask you something... I have noticed you mention dropping in files from Windows Explorer before and wonder what files it is.

I'm talking about papers and embellishments. Sorry I was so vague!

[April Showers]

I read that CS6 was optimized for a 64 bit system, so it will run faster on it.
I found the biggest performance increase by booting from a solid state drive.
I did that on my 32 bit xp system and it made photoshop run about 4 times faster.

[tiza126]

I know my laptop does not have the system requirements for CS6 (it can barely run PSE)...so I'd have to install it on my desktop only. I do the majority of my scrapping on my desktop anyway. It just means I won't have it for meetups.

[tiza126]

April Showers, on 21 August 2012 - 08:56 AM, said:

I read that CS6 was optimized for a 64 bit system, so it will run faster on it.
I found the biggest performance increase by booting from a solid state drive.
I did that on my 32 bit xp system and it made photoshop run about 4 times faster.

solid state drive?

[JenniferZ]

I think a solid-state drive is one which has no moving parts. Most drives (I think) have spinning discs inside. SSD's are supposed to be way more stable and safe. Though they are a bit more pricey. HTH!

[April Showers]

JenniferZ, on 21 August 2012 - 10:45 AM, said:

I think a solid-state drive is one which has no moving parts. Most drives (I think) have spinning discs inside. SSD's are supposed to be way more stable and safe. Though they are a bit more pricey. HTH!

A solid state drive uses flash memory, the same type of memory as a camera card. A regular hard drive spins and has to sync up before it can access the data. A solid state drive doesn't need to do that. Depending on the drive, your board and the type of connection, a SSD runs 2- 4 times faster.
That said, I only use the SSD for my boot drive, not for storage. I back it up just like I would any drive. Also, the cells of an SSD drive can wear out over time - especially if you are writing to the same spot over and over. For that reason, I have the scratch disk (which would use the same area over and over) in Photoshop set to my standard storage drive rather than the SSD. I run all the programs from the SSD. Without fonts and styles installed, I can launch Photoshop CS6 in under 1 second. Of course I have lots and lots of fonts and other things installed, so it takes longer now.