Thanks, Jerry. I hadn't realized the Bigger Tiles plugin was still something I'd have to enable manually. I've done that with prior versions, but the releases come just infrequently enough that I forget the tweaks.
"Important: Do not move plug-ins from previous versions of Photoshop, or third party plug-ins that have not been updated, into the Photoshop CS4 > Plug-Ins folder, or set the Photoshop CS3 (or earlier) > Plug-In folder as the Additional Plug-Ins Folder in Photoshop > Preferences. If you are running the 64-bit Edition of your operating system, all third party plug-ins must be updated for 64-bit operating systems before you install them into the 64-bit version of Photoshop."
Jerry,ffice:office" /> Overall is CS4 more advantageous to photographers then CS3? Will the user notice the difference between the new 64 bit system versus the previous system? Are there any suggestions that you might have for installation/use? Regards, Marc
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Overall is CS4 more advantageous to photographers then CS3?
Will the user notice the difference between the new 64 bit system versus the previous system?
Are there any suggestions that you might have for installation/use?
Marc
I see Photoshop upgrades as a necessary part of doing business.
I like the new adjustments panel that automatically creates new layers and layer masks for you and the intuitive way it allows you to edit directly on the image. The new version also utilizes the graphic card processor more providing smoother transitions and screen updates.
The Windows only 64bit version is listed as providing up to 12% more processing power but also requires new plug-ins as stated in previous post. I have Adobe Creative Suite CS4 Design Premium installed on my MacPro and MacBook Pro, both running OSX 10.5.5
Installation on my Mac was very smooth. Make sure your system meets the listed hardware requirements.
1. To me, CS4 looks like more "Window dressing" changes than anything else. We see numerous "look and feel" updates to the UI, and not all of them are positive! The Curves dialog in the Adjustments palette used for manipulating adjustment layers has lost some functionality over the main Curves dialog that was used before, for example. Also, the tools in the tools palette have been moved around. Why do that? Do people really like "tabbed views" better than multiple windows (thankfully with some config tweaks that can be changed)? However, CS4 is enough like its predecessor that there won't be a steep re-learning curve.
1a. I tried out the graphics accelerator enhancements for a little while - then my graphics card failed (new one on the way). While using them the enhanced interactivity seemed nice, though I think it's more fluff than anything. CS4 is still quite functional without the GPU enhancements, and feels very much like CS3 when run that way. This feature alone is not really worth the price of upgrading by itself.
2. The new "Content Aware" scaling feature is neat, but I've yet to find an actual use for it yet.
3. There are some subtle improvements not obvious at first. For example the PhotoMerge automation filter has gotten a little smarter, offering several more options (like "Remove Vignetting"), and thus produces slightly better results. Camera Raw seems to produce better color right out of the box and may be capable of better sharpness (these are subjective comments at this point; I need to do more objective testing).
4. So far I haven't been able to sense a speed difference between the 32 and 64 bit versions. Adobe installs both a 32 and 64 bit version side by side, so you can have access to your 32 bit plugins, and I've been using them both. Nothing's particularly slow anyway - I think perhaps they've improved efficiency even in the 32 bit version a bit - and I really haven't edited a huge image for a long time yet. Perhaps that's where the 32/64 bit difference will really be felt.
4a. One irritation I have is that SOME of the settings used by the 32 bit version apply to the 64 bit version, and many don't. So if you like to set your Photoshop up "just so", and you plan to switch back and forth between 32 and 64 bit flavors, you'll find you have to configure many things twice. It would have been nice if they'd have had both versions run off the same config settings. Better yet offer an option: same/separate.
5. Actions made for earlier versions seem to be compatible with both 32 and 64 bit versions. That's happy news to me as I don't have to rush a release of my commercial sets.
I'm interested in why you feel the curves adjustment has lost functionality.
The adjustment panel automates layering and masking which in my opinion speeds workflow. There is a tutorial included in the disk set that ships with Photoshop CS4 covering the new adjustment panel. It is well worth watching and gave me a new appreciation for the foreign looking adjustment panel.
Linear Mode
