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Photoshop CS5 Upgrade Q&A

cs5up

Hi everybody. :)

After three days of doing two live Photoshop CS5 seminars a day with the NAPP crew, and fielding thousands of questions from viewers, I wanted to address a few of them here, but I also wanted to address one upgrade topic in particular, that’s starting to wear on me a bit. Here goes:

Q. I just got Photoshop CS4—-how can Adobe already be bringing out CS5?
A. Adobe released Photoshop CS4 back in September of 2008. It’s April of 2010.

Q. Yeah, but I just bought it recently.
A. Why’d you wait so long?

Q. I dunno.
A. Neither do I. I know you want to blame Adobe, but the fact that you waited this long isn’t Adobe’s fault.

Q. I know. But it seems like CS4 just came out.
A. That’s because you waited so long to upgrade. But I have a question; How long do you think Adobe should wait between upgrades? Two years? Three years? Personally, I don’t want to wait two years to get the new features I want. In fact, I want them now (if they had more frequent updates, I’d be all over it, because I can always choose not to upgrade, right?).

Q. Well, since I just got it, do I have to pay for the CS5 upgrade now, too?
A. That depends on your definition of “just got it.” Does that mean you “just got it” last week? Last month? Three months ago? If you really just bought it (in the past 30 days), I can tell what I’d do. I’d call Adobe Customer Service and ask them if they’ll move you up to CS5. You never know what they might do for you until you ask. Maybe you fall under some “internal grandfather clause,” that’s not publicly stated because of the broad definition of “just.” (Wink Wink).

Q. Well, what if I have Photoshop CS2. Can I upgrade all the way to CS5?
A. Yup.

Q. Are you sure?
A. No. But I do believe Adobe’s policy is that you can upgrade from three versions back.

Q. Why aren’t you sure?
A. I don’t work in Adobe’s Customer Service Dept.

Q. Are they sure?
A. I’m not sure.

Q. Can we change the topic?
A. No.

Q. I have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Can I upgrade to Photoshop CS5?
A. No.

Q. I have Microsoft Office. Can I upgrade to CS5?
A. I believe Adobe does let you upgrade from MS Office to Photoshop CS5.

Q. Really?
A. No.

Q. Rats! You had me there for a minute.
A. I know.

Q. I saw that the upgrade costs $199 for a standard Photoshop CS5 upgrade. Why so much?
A. Adobe has the right to charge whatever it wants for its upgrades just like we have the right to buy them or not. By the way, how would you feel if people told you that you should charge less/make less per hour/job, etc.? You’d probably tell ’em “Hey, this is what my work is worth. If you don’t want it, try someone else with a lesser skills.”

Q. So, do you think the Photoshop CS5 upgrade is worth it?
A. Absolutely!!!! I think it’s the most important upgrade Adobe has released in years, and because so much of it either makes you faster, helps you get your work done easier, or replaces a load of expensive plug-ins that we’d normally have to buy, I think it’s worth every penny and then some.

Q. Do NAPP members get a discount?
A. Yup. 15% off individual upgrades, full suite upgrades, and apply even if you’re buying the full product from scratch.

Q. Yeah, but what if I’m not in the U.S.?
A. This time we were able to get a number of International discounts on Adobe upgrades as well, so it’s not just the US (which we’re really thrilled about).

Q. Yeah, but I just bought CS4!
A. Oh boy. Here we go again. ;-)

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Scott Kelby Author
Scott is a Photographer, bestselling Author, Host of "The Grid" weekly photography show; Editor of Photoshop User magazine; Lightroom Guy; KelbyOne.com CEO; struggling guitarist. Loves Classic Rock and his arch-enemy is Cilantro. Devoted husband, dad to two super awesome kids, and pro-level babysitter to two crazy doggos.
126 comments

    1. Hi Terry,

      I believe that Adobe offered a special price last time if you upgraded both Photoshop and Lightroom together. Is it worth waiting for Lightroom 3–will there be a better combined price?

      Thanks for any guidance.

      Jim

      1. There may be similar bundles again once LR3 ships, but I’ve not heard of anything specifically so I can’t promise you that it will happen again.

    2. I have a regular stationary computer and a laptop. Do I need two licenses of Photoshop, one for each computer or could I use the same license on both computers if I don´t use them at the same time?

      2. But what about running a Windows desktop and a Mac laptop?? :(
        If I remember correctly, Adobe doesn’t support that with PS like they do with LR? (LR shipped with both versions unlike PS shipping platform specific??)

  5. Hey Scott! On the NAPP member discounts page I noticed a warning about incorrect Adobe stores linked to the discount link. I clicked on the link anyway and went to what really looked like Adobe’s site. A small popup offered to connect me with a customer service rep. He explained that if I bought the upgrade to CS4 between the launch date and the software release date, I could call customer service to get a free upgrade to CS5 when it was released. Do you think I was at a counterfeit site, or is this a legitimate offer from Adobe? Thanks!

    2. Marc-
      For a couple of days (before the launch) the NAPP site generated a Belgium code for some North American users. This has been corrected, but some who got the Belgium code keep getting an Adobe Belgium link instead of the worldwide Adobe page that lets you pick your location.

      We NEVER sent people to a fake Adobe site from the NAPP members discount pages.

  8. Q. I have Microsoft Office. Can I upgrade to CS5?
    A. I believe Adobe does let you upgrade from MS Office to Photoshop CS5.

    About fell out of my chair and almost spilled my Red Bull! Knowing the nature of things – someone is bound to take that seriously and call Adobe…

    “But Scott Kelby told me on his blog that I could upgrade from Office 97 to Photoshop CS5!”

    ;)

  9. Here’s a question that a lot are asking and nobody has answered. Why is Photoshop CS5 50% more expensive in Australia than the US (even with the download edition)?

    2. Sam, if its any consolation to you, its the same here in Norway. And if I want the box it is twice the price! At least there is a comfort in knowing that if you buy it in UK, it is actually more expensive to download it than to get the physical box sent to you!

      I know that Apple is big and they can pretty much do what they want, but in todays day an age I find this kind of pricing, for a software that you download over the internet, outrages.

  10. Nice q&a I am still laughing, but one you didn’t answer.

    Will adobe still charge massive prices in Australia even though the US dollar and aussie dollar are almost the same?
    Yes

  12. I have a regular stationary computer and a laptop. Do I need two licenses of Photoshop for each computer or could I use the same license on both computers if I don´t use them at the same time?

      1. Terry, I heard that if I was to switch to Mac that Apple will get me a new license ( no joke) and all I have to do is call Apple. Have you heard this?

      2. I just bought a Dell laptop and as Terry has mentioned, Adobe allows you to install on your desktop and laptop. The problem is that I have an iMac. They are willing as they were in the past when I got my Mac to have me sign a letter of Software Destruction and give me a new license for the new platform. They were very good to work with!!

        I just can not use it on cross platform like I can with Lightroom… Major :( I have to buy another full copy.

      3. Ken > Yes, moving from Pc to Mac lets you make an upgrade with a new FULL CSx BOX … I have done this three years ago coming from a CS1 (XP) to a CS3 (Mac) … The DVD inside contains the full CS3 products, not just upraded versions.

        BUT … the serial number of the new Adobe product is attached to the licence of the full product considering the full price. It lets you make the up-grades with reduced prices until the three other version coming next, (even if the serial number is not the same).

        For example, My serial number of my CS1 for PC, bought in 2003 as a full product, and moved to CS3 for Mac in 2007 lets me make upgrades through CS4 Mac or PC, and i can ask for new moving version 4 more times.

    1. Jon-
      The downloadable version is not available yet either. I have heard from several folks who claim that they purchased it online and Adobe said that it will be downloadable by April 29th. We can’t confirm this but it does seem to be the case with at least several individuals.

  14. In all fairness, I think Adobe should consider a grace period: If you bought the software 30 days or less before the anouncement you get a free upgrade to CS5. Not every Photoshop user knows about the average 18 months PLC (which I think is redicilous for a piece of software that costs €849 excl. VAT..)

    But like you said, you don’t have to buy Photoshop. (Lightroom and Nik Complete Edition is enough for me)

    Speaking of which, where’s my Lightroom 3! -;)

    1. I have always found Adobe Customer Service to be fair. If you “just” bought CS4 and you ask nicely, they might give you a free upgrade to CS5. (as Scott said – Wink Wink – depending on what you mean by “just”)

  15. Q: Is upgrading Photoshop easy?

    A: No. you will have to manually copy or re create all your presets, brushes, gradients, workspaces, keyboard shortcuts, color profiles, scripts, plugins, actions, swatches to CS5’s folder structure, which most likely be exactly the same CS4’s.

    Q: Why?

    A: Because adobe would rather spend their time developing gimmicky new tools to sell a new version than spend time improving their current software.

    Q: Why do a lot of the tools that I use often in CS4 look and function the same as they did in Photoshop 5?

    A: Same answer as above.

    .

    1. I love being a NAPP member. Dave Cross did a video tutorial on how to copy all of your CS4 presets and where to put them so CS5 can use them. Upgrading is a breeze and took him just 6:19.

      But I bet you most people could do it in under five minutes because you don’t have to create a video tutorial about how to do it and explain it as you go, like Dave Cross did. ;)

      NAPP members, here’s the link:
      http://www.photoshopuser.com/members/?page=view&id=moving-actions-into-cs5

      1. Im awesome, just like David Cross. David Cross jumped off a bridge, sprouted wings and flew off into the sunset. I bet I would sprout JET engines and fly to Mars, just like David Cross probably could. David Cross!

  16. I’m one of those folks who “just” bought CS4 Collection (mid-Feb.). I’m not so upset that they’ve upgraded to CS5 as I am that when I was thinking of buying CS4 I actually tried to research to see when CS5 was coming out. No one could tell me. The company I was buying from couldn’t say and people on the web were only predicting a release in Sept. Maybe if I had contacted Adobe directly they might have told me the April/May release date. But then they like to keep these things a secret for the big unveiling. Anyway, CS4 is new to me so I will enjoy the new features I have with my version. Looking forward to CS6!

  17. I don’t know how this in handled in the US, but in Europe you will get a free upgrade to CS5 if you purchased the CS4 since monday (the official announcement).

    Beside that, it was absolutley obvious that a new version would be released this year, so most people who waited so long for the upgrade to CS4, why didn’t they wait so months longer?

    1. Becase not everyone checks and reads every little article about photoshop.. It’s unfair to assume they do, that’s just bad customer service in my opinion.

      I mean, almost every software company has a grace period, so why not Adobe? Bt as stated above, just call Adobe customer service.

    2. I agree. Unlike most companies, Adobe has been very good at being consistent and giving an idea of when the next release will be.

      Mark it on the Calendar. CS6 will be Fall of 2011.

  18. I am sure that very shortly we’ll be discussing the merits and cost of Lightroom 3, which brings me to the following: I suspect most of us own both Photoshop and Lightroom with multiple redundant features and image processing algorithms. We buy books with segments telling us how to move images back and forth between the two. Photoshop has features indispensible for serious image editing (e.g. layers), but has huge capabilities most of us never use. Lightroom is a joy to use, does things elegantly and very efficiently and and Scott and Matt have said, I believe, it is sufficient for more than 50% of their images.
    So – why doesn’t Adobe produce ONE program (Photoroom?) that does all of what most photographers want? I suppose they think they’ll make more money selling 2 programs to most of us, but the combined program could be priced to be revenue neutral, and it would make life easier for all of us.
    I’m sure you must have had this conversation with Adobe, no?

    1. Because (right or wrong) for many photographers, the reason they bought Lightroom, it was all “they” needed. For example, I rarely have to go to Photoshop for my landscape photography as Lightroom does all that I need in that case. Having one tool that combined both would solve a problem for many, but not all. That’s the reason LR was created in the first place. It was designed to be the tool for photographers to manage their images and do the most common adjustments. Again, right or wrong, that’s the way it came to be.

      1. Yep … I agree with that … In addition there’s a marketing way to see it. Lightroom is for photographers and photoshop matches with a larger market with photographers, disigners, architects etc …

    2. forgot the last part. Not every Photoshop user needs what LR offers. You’re only thinking about it from a Photographer’s standpoint. There are graphic designers, architects, video people, etc. that wouldn’t “need” those features in Photoshop so now we’d be pilling on yet another layer of complexity onto an already complex app.

      1. Agreed. Photoshop does not need a database.

        and besides, Photoshop is $200 and Lightroom is $100. If they were combined as one product, it would probably sell for $300 anyway.

        Having the choice to buy less is better. ie: Photoshop Standard vs Extended.

      2. I AM thinking about it from a Photographers standpoint: I am a photographer. I think that’s who reads this blog. I’m not suggesting getting rid of PS or LR – I’m suggesting a hybrid product. Photoshop already comes in 2 flavors (Extended and not) and in various Suites of programs. Adobe can slice, dice, and package its products however they want. “Photoroom for Photographers” would give us what we need, and graphic designers could still buy Photoshop, and those not needing Photoshop’s goodies for photographers could buy Lightroom. I just think there are many photographers out there (here!) who own and use both programs, and one super-duper software program for photographers would make more sense.
        PS: This is a wonderful blog!!! Thank you!!!

  19. I love those question and answer sessions between Scott and his alter ego,
    can I call him Claude.
    I did notice that on Scott’s NBA photo shoot he was the only one
    with is legs extended out.
    But nice chair

    1. Frank, he is lucky he can crouch down in that chair! I have had the old hips replaced and squatting down is almost impossible. I do concert photos so now I have to break that one rule and for 3 songs I just piss off a couple of folks in the front row (they will get over it). I did STYX last night (can be seen by clicking my name above). Who is Claude?

  20. Just wanted to relay my experiences this week with Adobe. On Monday night I placed my order for the Photoshop CS5 upgrade with Adobe. Most questions that I’ve seen asked are answered by checking the info on Adobe’s site. What didn’t get answered, I covered with a chat representative who was very helpful. Needless to say, I saw Scott’s blog on Tuesday which told of the NAPP discount. Well, back online to a chat representative who again was very helpful. They canceled my original order and I then called Adobe CS and place my order using my NAPP discount. Very painless and well under $199 even with shipping added in. Ship date given? on or around April 30th.
    Scott – love the blog and have recommended it to others. Would watch the live seminars but can’t get them to stream here at work so I wait until I get home at night and relax and enjoy! Thanks to the entire TEAM!

  21. Interesting that although you are an “information portal” for CS5 features, information and classes, you are perceived to be the “all knowing on everything Adobe”. Why should you be expected to know the customer service policies for Adobe when you don’t even work for them? Perhaps we need a chat abreviation: “TACS” – Talk to Adobe Custormer Service ;>)

  23. I’ve already decided to upgrade when it comes out, additionally I’ll probably upgrade my suite to include Premiere Pro and After Effects. I’m spending the next month computer shopping since the new versions will require 64 bit OS. I’d love to see a blog or tutorial on what to consider in video cards, processors and ram, etc., since I doubt I’m the only one looking to upgrade to the 64 bit OS platform.

    1. I got a note one time from John Nack about this, Check his blog and search it.

      If you use win, as I do, John suggested you get a better performance in an 64 bit windows 7 and 4 gigs of ram than a compatible apple. I am not a gear head, so I cannot “prove this”.

      Video cards range from $1,400 to about $400 bucks. I am going to get a nivinda something with 512, I am told that is more than ample for CS5

      Ken
      brainless in KY

      1. I upgraded to a Quadro CX card and it runs great. I was luck because my computor guy got one free with a big system they installed and he sold it to me cheap, he didn’t need it in that system (he found out afterwards they cost about 1800.00).

  24. ROTFLMAO! Sounds like a lot of my discussions with internal corporate folks that I work with.

    For those like me that have the current Windows version of CS4 and are considering switching to a Mac, you’ll definitely qualify for the upgrade price (and they did advise that NAPP members get a 20% discount). Definitely order over the phone with Adobe to make sure that you get the right version and such.

  26. What happens if you go to Adobe’s site to pre-order your upgrade to CS5 and you loose power while ordering. It happened to me just the other day. Does Adobe have a special program for victims of a power failure……. :)

    Great post Scott. You crack me up as you usually do!

      1. If you upgrade to CS5, john got it wrong, you get two weeks paid vacation to Waddy, Ky, if you wait 3 more weeks, you get 6 weeks paid vacation

        Ken
        brainless in KY

  28. My belief is no one forces anyone to upgrade or buy anything. There’s a difference between a want and a need. It’s the wants that will always affect one’s pocket book without thinking first . How’s that for some spending wisdom?

    You’re too funny Scott!

    :)

  30. It’s a good thing I’m a NAPP member and get the inside scoop or I may have bought that CS4 thing last week.

    Yes, that sounds like a plug, but sheesh. Pay attention people! :)

    Great way to start my day. Very funny post, Scott. Thank you!

  32. What a completely useless commentary. This vaguely reminds me of your iPad rant/commentary that basically followed the same script.

    Lesson learned, folks. If you don’t agree with Mr. Kelby’s purchases, he’s going to shame you for not buying what he has, and make fun of you throughout the process. Weee! :)

      2. I wouldn’t call it a burn; probably more ironic than anything else. :)

        My useless commentary added no more than your useless faux Q&A commentary so neither of us are adding any value. It seems two wrongs still don’t make a right!

      3. Here’s the thing…

        It’s Scott’s blog.. If you don’t agree with Kelby’s purchases.. theres always a “Back” button.. or a cancel button..

        (or a red dot on the left.. depending on the Mac folk)

        RC

      5. Understood. But if Mr. Kelby didn’t want feedback and comments on his posts, he would disable comments and no allow open discussions with everyone.

        I’m afraid it’s a two way steet and you have to take the good with the bad.

      8. I agree with RC, JD, (that sounds funny), If you don’t like what Scott says just turn the station. You know what, yea I have bought a lot of stuff watching Scott’s blog but you look at my photography 3 years ago (before Kelby) and then now and I can say it has improved 100%. (please do not actually compare it). Now this isn’t just inter office fun is it?

      9. OMG, JD, it’s a BLOG. Not freakin 60 Minutes! Besides, all work and no play would make Scott a dull boy and none of us would want that! ;-)

      10. Seems like JD would provide a good script for the next one of these you do Scott. He sounds like the kind of person who would best represent the troll’s point of view :)

      11. i was just reading this comments. its awful people talk like that on YOUR blog. they shouldn’t read it if they don’t want to. I’m sorry they talk to you that way.

  34. Hi – I have CS4 (student edition). Is their an update to CS5 with this edition instead of buying the entire suite? The most important thing to me is to have the full new photoshop CS5 but I would prefer to have the whole suite on version 5 too.

    If there is a simple upgrade (as most software has) how much is it in the UK?

    Cheers

    Jenk

    1. Hi Jenk,

      If you have a suite you will have to upgrade the whole thing. To update just photoshop, I am afraid you will have to Photoshop as a stand alone software. I started out that way with CS3 Wed Premium Suite. When CS4 Came out, I went and bought just Photoshop. To get the student discount you will have to prove you are still in school or an educator.

      I would go to the UK Adobe site for pricing information. Or you could look on the Amazon UK site. They might have prices up already. I know the American one does.

      1. In the US you can upgrade academic licenses. Afterwards, your license is considered a commercial license. For me personally, I upgraded from Macromedia Studio MX to CS3 Web Premium, and then to CS4 Design Premium. Here is the text from the Adobe website:

        “An important note about upgrading your software: Your personal investment in Adobe products may continue to be valuable, even if you no longer meet the qualifications for Adobe education pricing. Contact the online Adobe Store or your local reseller for information about upgrades to commercial versions of your products.”

  36. OK, I am laughing so hard right now. I wish all of that was really a joke, but I know, I JUST KNOW, that some people really think that upgrade from whatever and get it for cheap.

    That was so funny, I am going back to re-read it now.

      1. How so? Perhaps by region there are limitations, but in the US it is not an issue. FYI, this policy changed when CS3 was released. Academic licenses then become able to be upgraded.

  38. Some people do have a legitimate reason for buying CS4 “late”. I’m a graphic designer, and I have CS4 on my mac at home. But, I recently started a new job at an office, so, I had to go ahead and buy CS4 at work, knowing that CS5 would be coming sometime soon. I couldn’t wait for CS5 to come out, because there was no in-house designer before me, so I had absolutely no software.

    It would be nice if Adobe had a 30-day grace period, but I’m not upset if they don’t. It’s their product, I’m sure they work hard to develop it, and they’re allowed to sell it however they wish. And even if they did have a grace period of 30 days, they’d still have people who bought it 31 days prior pissed off at them.

  39. Serious question I’ve not understood the underpinnings to.

    If I upgrade LR 3, I understand it has the develop module that is the newer image processing in Camera Raw… if I open and edit files in LR, and push them to CS4 – what is the functional interaction ? Do I lose anything ? I’m asking because I know LR is non-destructive and the difference in detail from my d70 and d700 in LR 3 beta is noticeably better than LR2 or CS4 (Camera Raw) from my experience. If I don’t need to upgrade 2 things at once, my son can stay in college. ;)

    Anyone ? Will upgrading to LR 3 bring the CR that comes with CS5 ??? and if so will that CS5-CR component play well with CS4 ?

    1. The Lightroom develop engine is very close to the camera raw engine. You can test your theory right now by downloading the Lightroom 3 Public beta 2 and seeing if it works with your photoshop cs4 workflow.

  40. I just bought an iPad. I love it but Adobe Flash doesn’t work on it. If I upgrade Photoshop CS4 to Photoshop CS5, will my iPad have multi-tasking, a video camera, and not look like just a big iPhone? I have friends in Europe and they’re really angry about the delay in having the iPad update Flash to CS5.

    Things were so much easier when there was just MacWrite and MacPaint.

    Scott, thanks for bringing a chuckle to tax day.

  41. Thanks for all your kind and great info Scott !! as always you rock

    Just one thing for anyone who can help me. If I am learning from CS4, I have a bunch of Tutorials, would they still apply in CS5 or should I just scrap the CS4 tutorials and wait for the new ones to come out? What do you guys suggest

    Thanks again

  42. Hi Scott, I’m the guy that was at the London NAPP seminar in March 2003 and pointed out how to put Custom Preset Sizes for Photographers at the top of the New Document Sizes list in PS7 (something that you’d already had published as not being possible in your book at the time – sorry ’bout that, Scott), the solution was printed in the June 2003 issue of PSU. Remember?

    Well, I gave you guys (and gals in Admin) a bit of a hard time regarding the different ways in which NAPP members in the USA and the rest of the world were treated with regard to discounts. This resulted in Larry just returning my membership fee – fair enough, I was getting quite cutting in my correspondence if I remember, and I really would have persisted in kicking NAPP’s butt about the issue.

    However, in this I’ve noticed (and deep down I knew that it would only be a matter time), that the upgrade discount to PSC5 is at last available to NAPP members outside of the USA and I wanted to congratulate you and the team for finally getting some common ground for all International members of NAPP. Great work Scott, sincerely, I genuinely see this as a groundbreaking event.

    That said I really just want to encourage anyone that has been hesitating in taking out a NAPP membership to take the leap, asde from the lack of International discounts 7 years ago, the resources, personal help, forum, PSU mag, everything really were great value for money. Now that there’s the discounts, for people resident in the US I say, what on earth are you waiting for and, for anyone outside of the US I say, well, definitely, what on earth are you waiting for? Join NAPP, you know you spend more in the bar at the weekend. ;-)

    Best wishes.

    1. The “rest of the world” unfortunately only includes (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK).

      If you are from anywhere else then the NAPP website gives the message “There are no more codes available in your location”. The NAPP support basically told me to contact my local Adobe office…

      It would be nice when NAPP recognise that they actually have customers in “other” parts of the world. How about including at least one country from some pretty big places like Africa, Asia, Australia and South America…

  45. Hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but that was probably your best post in a while. Also quick question, do you know what the student discount will be, I am a junior in high school and how much will be the student discount be? You probably wont know but if anybody part of Adobe is reading it would be a big help to know.

  46. Unfortunately the problem that a lot of people have is that Photoshop is damn expensive program. Especially if you are an amateur. And when you need to buy it every 18 months if you want to stay up-to-date (and of course you really want to)….

    Anyway, I decided that it was just too much and I didn’t want to go the illegal way like so many do so I settled for Photoshop Elements which surprisingly has a lot of the same features.

    So if you don’t want to put all that money down, just skip the upgrade and maybe that must have feature will be available in an upcoming version of PSE.

  48. Scott – Nice hypothetical but I see a major problem with it. I do not believe anyone would seriously ask you for upgrade advice because of the conflict of interest – you need people to upgrade so they can buy your next book on how to use the upgrade :) Ok, I admit it, I still read what you have to say about the latest upgrades.

    1. Wow really? You show up as “TOM” with no link to a blog or website and attack the credibility of Scott Kelby in his own house? Sorry man but that’s just in bad taste. You may not agree with Kelby on everything or even like him. But you can’t attack the man’s credibility. He’s demonstrated it over and over and he’s done more to help this community than just about anyone online. If you plan to attack someone else’s credibility, you should at least be willing to identify yourself. It wouldn’t bother me a bit if comments like “TOM’s” never saw the light of day.

  49. One thing I wanted to point out on the cost issue is you can register for a class at your local community college and get the educational price – which is half off retail.

  51. I will wait to purchase until I find out if there is a bundle discount for LR3/CS5. I ended up buying them seperate last cycle and paying extra because I bought each the moment it became available. If there isn’t a bundle in a reasonable amount of time them I will just update CS as Lightroom gets very little use by me.

  52. You can’t lose on this one – upgrade to 5 and enjoy its full life cycle, or stick with 4 and make sure you know the basics and more. If the latest and greatest is important to you personally or to your business, then definitely upgrade. If not then pause, enjoy 4, and watch what’s happening with 5 before taking the jump.

    As always, thanks to the folks at Adobe for this program, regardless of the version, and to Scott for his shared insights into this miracle of programming.

  54. I “just got” PSCS4 … in late 2008! :D

    Truth is, I’ve only started to “get into it” lately. The new features in CS5 are exciting and upgrading as soon as it is released is tempting, but I can’t help but feel the need to get my head wrapped around CS4 better, and use it more fully without relying so much on plugins, is more essential at this particular time.

    When the time to upgrade does come up, my question would be more like … should I upgrade to the Extended version? Do I / Am I … someone who would need the extended version? Who is the extended version for?

  55. “By the way, how would you feel if people told you that you should charge less/make less per hour/job, etc.?” As an auto worker this is exactly what I was just recently told.

  57. “But I do believe Adobe’s policy is that you can upgrade from three versions back.”

    Yes, I believe this is correct as well – although right now we’re in the “post-announce upgrade policy” period whereby you may be able to achieve up to four steps back (for the price of one less)…

    It’s a nice deal if you’re currently on CS3 or prior – but if you’re considering doing this, there’s probably not too much time left (before CS5 ships)… Just wrote a blog post about it if you need more info.

  58. Hi I just think CS5 is Great specially for the new HDR feature, but I have Photomatix Pro which make great job, and other point is the Mini Bridge is cool, but since I have CS4 I’ve never used bridge, I use Lightroom I don’t know if I doing wrong, but my question is: If I should upgrade to CS5 ?

  59. To Juan- I would only upgrade if you think you are going to use the features, it’s the only program that’ll do what you’re trying to do, or it will bring down your production and processing time so that it will more than pay for itself. If you’re an artist- I say go for it with the new paint tools. If you use mostly Lightroom, and just use Photoshop for relatively simple tasks- and/or you have other software that’ll do the same, then I don’t see the point in ugrading. CS4 is pretty powerful. Unless you need it don’t get CS5. When I started using Lightroom regularly myself I seldom ended up using Photoshop- and I was an expert who taught it and consulted for, and set it up for other Pros!

    I also think that they’re upgrade prices are getting ridiculous, especially for CS5 extended, no matter what Scott says. Unless I can REALLY use the new features-often- or I need to be up to date if I start teaching again- I usually upgrade every second or third cycle.

  60. Wow, is it my imagination or does CS5 have tools that do pretty much the same thing as LightRoom now? So far, I LOVE IT. It took wayyy too long to come out IMO (I’m upgrading from CS2 LOL) It is user friendly, and brilliant at the same time. When is your CS5 book for photographers coming out, Mr Kelby? I’ll feel handicapped until it does but stabbing around having a blast anyway!

  61. Still the same primitive old print dialog. No rotate to fit or scale to fill yet so every print has to be manually set for correct orientation. This is why I use a $700 super advanced software package, so that I can do simple mindless tasks manually instead of having the computer take care of it for me (Lightroom does actually get this right too).

    The output package from Bridge is pretty much unchanged and still incapable of doing what the print package in CS3 could do, and still painfully slow and with a clumsy interface.

    I’d have to say unless you’re into impressing friends and family with some of the new whiz-bang features like content-aware-fill (which work great on their test images, not quite so great on your own images), $199 is a lot to pay for an upgrade that doesn’t seem to have changed significantly from CS4.

    About the only reason for me to upgrade is the hope that they may have fixed the print-from-action bug that caused print actions embedded in macros to either crash Photoshop or print images that looked like negatives. This was something that worked in CS3 but got broken (and never fixed) in CS4, let’s hope that $199 at least buys us some useful bug fixes.

    1. Never mind, CS5 is even more broken than CS4. The print from action bug is fixed but they’ve introduced another bug where number of prints is one no what you specify in the print dialog. Every time I needed multiple copies of a print I had to open it from Bridge and print it, once for each copy.

      Sigh … maybe CS6 will be able to do what CS3 could … I’m not holding my breath!

  63. hi scott, because I’ve had mixed response to this question, I’m turning to you!!! Can I upgrade to cs5 from cs2 which is my student edition???

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