What’s wrong with Adobe Photoshop Elements 9?
Not much. It’s almost perfect.
I teach Photoshop Elements. I have used every version for Macintosh and Windows from 1 through 9. I am very familiar with this excellent application for editing and enhancing digital images.
Adobe tweaks each incremental upgrade to Photoshop Elements, or PSE, to improve the user experience and to stimulate sales of a software product that was just fine in the previous release. Most of the major features of PSE9 were in place in the landmark version 1, which indicates there is much to applaud about PSE during its entire life cycle.
For its modest price, PSE has exceptional value. Only a tiny percentage of amateurs require the robust professional and costly experience of “real” Photoshop CS, currently in version CS5.
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The MyMac.com Podcast urges all our listeners to please go to iTunes and make a donation to the Red Cross to help with their relief efforts.
JollyJap gives the GMen a couple of weird stories (as our unofficial Twitter Correspondent! Congrats Paul…I think) and Tom Engels from the Explorer’s Podcast has a question or two about iTunes and GarageBand problems that is certain to induce nightmares for Guy. China seems to hate juveniles, and Android beating iOS in web tests goes down in a Blaze! Old timers remember Bungie’s Myth and now it seems to be back! Lastly, Adobe makes a Flash to HTML 5 conversion tool called Wallaby (but apparently doesn’t carry around their employees in a pouch). If Flash is going to win out over Apple’s objections, why do they need it?
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The Adobe Photoshop CS5 Book for Digital Photographers
by Scott Kelby
ISBN:9780321703569
$54.99 US, $65.99 CA
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers
by Scott Kelby
ISBN:9780321700919
$49.99 US, $59.99 CA
Published by New Riders Voices That Matter
When I first began learning Adobe Photoshop many years ago, I was frustrated because most of the literature didn’t address the digital photographer. I spent hours learning and googling information on how to tweak black and white images so they could be close to what I could experience in the darkroom. I remember the first time I purchased one of Scott Kelby’s books, The Adobe Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers. Scott presented the tools within Adobe Photoshop in an articulate manner that a digital photographer was yearning for. Aside from his self-professed corny humor, Scott focused on how digital photographers could quickly fine- tune their images in Adobe Photoshop. He provided his readers with abundant information that enabled a swift fluency with the software. His newest offering, The Adobe Photoshop CS5 Book for Digital Photographers does not disappoint.
Acrobat X Pro
Company: Adobe
Price: $449 (upgrade, $199)
PDF files have been used since 1993 to share documents with the absolute certainty that the recipient will see the same formatting as the sender. Initially at least, PDF files were created using Acrobat, sometimes directly, but more often using Acrobat to convert word processor files into PDF files. At the other end of the chain, the person reading a PDF file had to use Acrobat Reader, a small application that could be used either on its own or as a web browser plug-in.
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Understanding Adobe Photoshop CS5
By Richard Harrington
Peachpit Press
ISBN: 978-0-321-71426-8, 312 pages plus DVD
Price: $49.49
The book Understanding Adobe Photoshop CS5 is described by the author as a book for people who are beginner Photoshop CS5 users, and need a global understanding of the software. As written in the introduction, many Photoshop books are geared towards really basic Photoshop introduction, specific features (such as layers or working with image modes), or new features only. This book is billed as a learning tool for beginners, but it will get you to almost every aspect you need to understand for using Photoshop CS5.
I hate when people remind me that something I predicted came true. Alright, I’m lying. I love it when people tell me something I predicted has come to pass! Like when wrote that the iPod would be a failure once Sony really got behind the whole digital music / MP3 thing! Oh, wait…
Anyway, a few years ago, even before the actual launch of the iTunes App Store, I was spouting on the MyMac Podcast that there should be something similar for Macintosh application. And here were are, January 2011, and we finally have it! The App Store!
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Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learn by Video
Presented by Tim Grey and Mikkel Aaland
Produced by video2brain http://www.video2brain.com
Peachpit Press
$64.99 US, $77.99
As a digital photographer I find I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom almost as often as I use Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is the current version and is a powerful software program for digital photographers. The advantages about using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 are the non-destructive editing features, cataloging and organizing images, slideshow and web gallery options, and the ability to print from the application. I recently reviewed Adobe Photoshop CS5 Learn by Video and was impressed with this well-produced series by video2brain. This handsomely packaged 10 hour instructional DVD and 120 page reference guide is all anyone needs to familiarize themselves with the application and achieve proficiency in a short amount of time.
Adobe Flash Professional CS5
Company: Adobe
Price: New user $699, Upgrade $199
Note: This review is from the artist/animator point of view, which is what I use Flash for (when I use it). I am not a programmer and do not use Flash for web design and do not know programming used in flash and web design. I also do not do complex coding in Flash.
As an artist and teacher who occasionally needs to create a short animation I have always turned to Flash as my go to program. WIth all of the animation programs I have tested and reviewed for MyMac, it has always been one of the easiest to create an animation in, and it still is. Just opening the program presents you with a ton of templates to get you started on your project.
While most of the new features in CS5 are code and programming related (a full description of new features can be found here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/whatsnew/) there are a few features that are for the basic animator. Since I am not a programmer, I am going to focus on the features that more effect my use of Flash.
Photoshop CS5 Extended
Company: Adobe
Price: $999 upgrade $349 (education pricing also available)
It's here! It's here!
I first read about Adobe Photoshop CS5 last spring before it was released, and two things jumped right out at me (well, maybe three). They’re both real and make a difference, so I’ll cut to the chase: if you use Photoshop on an Intel Mac with Snow Leopard and at least a Core 2 Duo processor, you probably want this latest version. I did and still do.
When the official review copy showed up on my doorstep in a plain brown wrapper six months ago, I was ready to rock and roll. Unfortunately, life intervened, so here we are. By now every reviewer on the planet has copied and pasted from PR materials, tested and retested, and had his or her fifteen minutes of fame. For heaven’s sake, Donny Yankellow has a fabulous full review right here at MyMac! (see “Related Posts,” below.) All things considered, the “first look” video I contracted for would be silly at this point, never mind that I’ve produced three of them already using screen-casting software from hell (the one with the 68-page manual). My official reviewer status has gone the way of peace, love, and understanding, and the knee-breakers will soon be hunting me down for the DVD. I’m guilty as sin, with a target on my back! What then can I do for you, our faithful MyMac readers, and the Mac community at large?
Tell you what I really think, that’s what. So here goes:
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Adobe Photoshop CS5 Learn by Video
Presented by Kelly McCathran, Scott Citron, and Ted LoCascio
Produced by video2brain
Peachpit Press
ISBN: 9780321719805
$59.99 US, $71.99 CN
Like many Photoshop users I upgrade to the current version when the need for the newest features becomes too tempting to ignore. The latest version of Adobe Photoshop is CS5. A bevy of extraordinary new improvements such as Content-Aware Fill, Camera Raw 6, Brushes, Puppet Warp, Refine Edge Dialog, amongst others, make this application a creative and more efficient way to process workflow.
A four minute interview with our newest writer, in which Suzé discusses digital photography, Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, iPhonongraphy, book reviews, and video reviews. We hope you like our new audio content. Thanks for listening.
Click on the link below:
Host Tim Robertson has an hour long chat with technologist David Biedny. Honestly, there is really no way to easily write up a “what this episode is about” here, you just have to trust us and check the show out. We go into the Microsoft / Adobe merger rumor, history of technology, and so much more.
Listen to the show here, and subscribe in iTunes here.
Send feedback to tim@mymac.com or skype your audio comments to 1-801-938-5559
Download or listen to the show here, and subscribe in iTunes
Tim Robertson is joined by David Cohen and BeeJay Bhatt to look at the world of Technology. Up first, OWC Radio has continued post-Tim! BeeJay talks Android and his preference for that platform. FaceBook is discussed at length. How Tim is starting to use Social Media at MacSpecialist. And the big topic: the rumors of a Microsoft – Adobe merger!
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Photoshop CS5 Extended
Company: Adobe
Price: $999 upgrade $349 (education pricing also available)
Last week you read (or should have read) part one of my Photoshop CS5 review. This week you get part two which includes more new features discussed and my conclusion. Is it worth the price of upgrading? Read on to find out!
Guest review by Suzé Gilbert
Book Review: The Photoshop CS5 Pocket Guide
By Brie Glyncild
Peachpit Press
$14.99 US, $17.99 CN
I recently upgraded to Photoshop CS5 and came across Brie Glyncild’s new book, The Photoshop CS5 Pocket Guide. The book’s 5” x 7” size makes it convenient to keep near the computer. This volume contains black and white photos and illustrations, and its chapters are interspersed with the author’s quick tips.
Brie Glyncild states “…that this is a pocket guide to Photoshop, not a photography primer,” and her description is apt. She begins with a simplistic and brief explanation of the tools and workspace. Subsequent chapters discuss resolution, layers, masks, resizing, tonal corrections, editing in RAW, painting, effects, preparing images for the web, printing, working in Bridge, and actions. A lot of information is in a very small book.
CS5: Dreamweaver
Company: Adobe
PRICE:
- Dreamweaver CS5: Upgrade: $199, New: $399
- CS5 Web Premium (which includes Dreamweaver): Upgrade: $599, New: $1799
- CS5 Master Collection (which includes Dreamweaver) : Upgrade: from $899, New: $2599
Adobe continues to improve its entire CS suite of products with CS5, and I had the chance to have a quick first look of Dreamweaver CS5′s new features. This is not a simple product, and it was already packed with features. And now there is even more, with a few older features tossed out if they were replaced with even better ones. I will give a brief overview and comments on the new features here.
Upon launching, I have to say, the user interface has not changed drastically from my previous version,
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Photoshop Lightroom 3
Company: Adobe
Price: $299.00 
Product Page
Have you ever had one of those, “game changer moments” when you sat in front of something and just said out loud or to yourself, “Oh My God”? The first time I sat down in front of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 (LR3), was one of those moments for me. There are many ways in which LR3 changes the content management game for photographers of all kinds and skill levels. Read on and discover if the improvements to this third generation of Lightroom are all that, or not.
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Photoshop Elements 8
Company: Adobe
Price: $60 to $80 online
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelmac/
Note: John Nemerovski contributed to this review.
It has been a while since I used Photoshop Elements, and I was anxious to check out the new features in Photoshop Elements 8. For those that don’t know, Photoshop Elements is the “lite” version of Photoshop, but in no way is this a “lite” program.
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Features I like and don’t about Adobe Illustrator CS4
Full version $599 – Upgrade:$199
www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/
Being a graphics professional, there was no question as to whether or not I’d be updating to CS4. No, it’s inevitable. Since I’ve been hearing a number of gripes about having to spend large amounts of money on CS4 when CS3 is only 18 months old, I thought I’d share my thoughts about the new features of Adobe Illustrator (AI) CS4 and let you decide if it is worth getting.
The first thing I have to say about all of the CS4 apps is I love the new tabbed interface. Even if you don’t use tabs in Safari or FireFox, you will quickly appreciate how this new interface cleans up your desktop and makes switching between open files a dream. Moreover, the new interface also provides better support for multiple monitors. In CS3, every time you launch an application you need to reset your custom workspace. No longer. Now all of the Adobe CS4 apps retain their settings. This is something Adobe clearly should have fixed in CS3 but failed to do until now.
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