[Mag]

Ordered Photoshop CS5, should be here in a day or two. The price is not what bothers me, its following through on learning and using it. I tend to have great motivation on past projects and don't have the mental discipline to keep at it.

Anyway I'm wondering if I should have a dedicated computer for CS5, if so I should have got the Mac version? Will the software conflict with other photo editing software installed on computer.

The computer I'm presently using is pretty fast with Duo Core processor. 2.1Ghz speed, 3.25 gb of ram.

[jvc]

It shouldn't conflict with any other software.
No, it doesn't need a dedicated computer for it. It's on my computer with lots of other stuff. I even had to add an external drive, because the two drives in my tower were getting too full.

If you don't know it at all, it's got a pretty steep learning curve to it, especially if you're going to learn more than the basic photo editing. If that's all you want it for, you should just get Photo Elements. It's a lot cheaper. If you're going to get deeper into it, I'd check your local community college and see if they offer any courses in it. You can also check into KelbyTraining.com for help. It's not free, but it's worth every penny. They do offer a free trial, I think. There's also a book that's very good called "Classroom In A Book" for CS5. There's been one for each version, I think. You'll be amazed with what you can do with it.
Good luck!

Kelby Training:
http://kelbytraining.com/

Classroom in a Book for CS5:
http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Photoshop-CS5-Classroom-Book/dp/0321701763/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316922298&sr=1-1
Get the real book instead of the Kindle version. You'll want to see and work with the colors, if you decide to try that.

[nathanm]

Have you used Photoshop before?  If not, you'll definitely be jumping into the deep end.  I'm eager to get into CS5 myself, but it doesn't look like we're gonna get new Mac Pros until Dec\Jan.    With any major software package some training tutorials are very helpful.  I was struggling with Lightroom before I got a tutorial for it, same thing with Final Cut.  Very helpful to get you over the hump. 

There's no conflict with other software, but you may see a change in your default file type associations.

[Mag]

Thank You for the replies! You've answered some of my questions, I also found out that is will work on my 32-bit computer with Windows Vista. That was my real concern that I needed a newer 64-bit computer.

Yep, I'm jumping in the deep end. I want to learn in case I can't drive anymore. My eye sight is already starting to go and I need a back up plan for employment. I figure I'd be wasting my time with the other editing software. I'll give that to my girlfriend with my spare computer.

I know its not Pagemaker but I used that program when I worked with graphics in a print shop. I really liked that program though I probably can't remember how to use it. I figure CS5 will work much the same.

Also taking pictures in HD or near HD quality 18 mega pixels. I wanted a program that is compatible.

[jvc]

I've worked with Pagemaker in the past too. Photoshop and Pagemaker are nothing alike. Photoshop and Illustrator would be more alike, and they're not either really. There's a few similarities since they're both made by Adobe, but Photoshop is a much stronger program.

I started with Photoshop when it was version 3.5. The full version came with a scanner we bought. Several brands of scanners used to include it with the purchase. They quit doing that not long after we got our's. We took a night class at the community college, and did ok with it. Even though my wife used it everyday at work, the class still helped her. Her job even paid for the class.

Since I have some history with Photoshop, I find it easier to use than Lightroom. Now, my wife has worked with it for 25+ years, so if I have a question, I ask her. Her job hasn't upgraded to CS5 yet though, but if she tries, she can usually figure out the problem. I was hoping to learn Lightroom at KelbyTraining.com, but the the guy that teaches it (Matt Kloskowski), really gets on my nerves. I'm gonna try, but not sure if I can get through it or not. I have really enjoyed Joe McNally's lessons on lighting and using a flash.

There's a site where you can get tips and how-tos on Photoshop and other stuff, that I didn't mention before. It's free, but it's not whole courses like KelbyTraining.com. Check out: http://kelbytv.com/kelby-tv-episodes/ One of their channels is Photoshop User TV. You can pick up some good stuff there.

[navi]

CS5 is great i'm using it on my MacPro. I'm not sure how it handles on a windows machine but I know windows users and they haven't bitched about anything yet.

I could happily live with CS3 but know I have 5 it has been good. Doesn't crash like 3.

[srb]

Although the more memory the better, Photoshop still requires and uses a paging file, no matter how much memory is installed.  Best performance can be realized if the disk where the paging file resides is first defragmented, then a fixed size paging file created (as opposed to the Windows dynamically allocated paging file option).
 
Steve

[bunnyma357]

If anyone needs more than just Photoshop the CS5 Production Premium bundle is on sale for 50% off through Oct 31 with Promo Code SWITCH - so for an extra $150 over just Photoshop you get:

Adobe Premiere® Pro CS5.5
After Effects® CS5.5
Photoshop® CS5 Extended
Adobe Audition® CS5.5
Flash® Catalyst® CS5.5
Flash Professional CS5.5
Illustrator® CS5
Adobe OnLocation™ CS5
Encore® CS5
Device Central CS5.5
Bridge CS5
Media Encoder CS5.5


http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/production.html?promoid=ITKJK


There is a lot of great free training on the internet - I just watched an excellent 4 day free Photoshop course on Creative Live (free when they first air live & overnight re-airs - you have to pay for it after the event). 

http://www.creativelive.com/courses/photoshop-cs5-lesa-snider

Another good source of training depending on how deep you get into things is Lynda.com, which is a subscription service with training on tons of stuff.

You can find a lot of great free tutorials just by Googling.


Jim C

[Mag]

Got CS5 today and installed without a problem. Apparently my laptop MSI CR600 is better than I realized. Having the HD graphics screen with HDMI output I can view pictures on my 46" HDTV. Increased the Ram to 4990 and the computer works a lot faster.

Experimenting with RAW editing I found it quite easy to use. You can see the results of most edit tools quickly in the preview screen, though some like luminence I couldn't tell what it was doing. Still don't understand how a histogram works.

Had problem accessing files after editing. Apparently I was not saving correctly, once I realized what I was doing wrong, no problem.

Didn't come with a manual, probably can download online.
From what I read you only get two registered platforms with the software. So you need to know your computer will work before install so you don't waste a register.

[low.pfile]

Mag.
Congrats on entering the Adobe digital media realm. I am no power user of of CS5, except Illustrator for work, but I recommend looking at the Adobe site (http://tv.adobe.com/) for lots of intro videos that are very well done. I utilized that site as I just entered the world of Adobe Lightroom primary to process my GF2 RAW images--disc arrived today. not loading it until later this week.

DVD training is helpful for many.

Also you might want to check he color profiles that your HDTV has vs. a regular computer display. Ideally the display is calibrated. either for Web standards or any print output. My Sony HDTV doesn't look anything like my iMac or MacBook Pro. This only matters during actual image editing. It is possible that using the HDTV as the display it will be much lighter or darker than others see it on their display....just a heads up.

Take it slow and have fun in Adobe land.

BTW, Lightroom is pretty cool for all you RAW shooters. I have been using ACR or Nikons Capture NX. but LR has both editing and, for me, much needed organization capabilities.