Adobe have used the start of the PMA show to officially launch CS3 which goes on sale at the end of the month - available in two versions - regular flavour as it is now and a new superbloated Extended version which incorporates lots of new and potentially useless stuff such as 3D and motion graphics as well as some really useful commercial stuff that they should really have put in the standard version too. more info here.
You can upgrade from any previous version of Photoshop to the latest release for $169 from Adobe directly - I'd imagine the same will be true for CS3. I would avoid E-Bay upgrades unless they are sealed & boxed upgrades. It would also be worth checking out the online retailers who will no doubt have plenty of the boxed CS2 upgrades in stock that they will want to clear once CS3 becomes available.
Alternatively, if you or a member of your family qualifies for an educational purchase - then the software becomes much cheaper - a full version of Photoshop would be $299 whilst the complete premium creative suite would be just $100 more making it the better buy.
From what I have seen - the majority of the CS3 improvements focus around commercial aspects of utilising the software and improved compatibility with 64 bit operating systems. if neither of these apply to your needs you may as well try and get a cheap CS2 upgrade.
Well currently on CS2 I feel at home. Many things were corrected from seven and brought us a clean slate of beauty. Although I love CS2 I look forward to seeing the launch of CS3 just because of the bragging and promotion of how good it is (been there heard that) and to see how well it stands to its glory. I have seen previews but have not downloaded the beta. I think the new window set-up and whole program look alot cleaner to my standards but finding tools isnt worth the xtra money... I will wait to see if it is worth the upgrade or if CS2 is here to stay guess I better try saving some money and proving my studentship :)
from the dept. of "rather than start a new Photoshop thread"
Easter Eggs ...
Adobe's SpaceMonkey
For Windows users, simultaneously press both CTRL+ALT
and hold them down. Still pressing CTRL+ALT, click on the
"Help" menu and select "About Photoshop".
well - on the offchance you ever thought Adove didnt spoil you for choice - here is the list of new CS3 products all being offered at the same time....
• Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium
• Adobe Fireworks CS3
• Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Standard
• Adobe Flash CS3 Professional
• Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection
• Adobe Illustrator CS3
• Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium
• Adobe InDesign CS3
• Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium
• Adobe Photoshop CS3
• Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Standard
• Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended
• Adobe After Effects CS3
• Adobe Premiere Pro CS3
• Adobe Contribute CS3
• Adobe Soundbooth CS3
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS3
PS CS3 upgrade is $199 this time around for an upgrade from any legit version of Photoshop v.7 or newer, more if you are upgrading from an older version than that or from Elements.
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