Photoshop CS4, Buy or Die

Submitted by deke on 23 September 2008 - 12:46am.

dekePod Episode 006: We're barely three months into dekePod, and suddenly, the whole paradigm shifts. By which I mean, we are once again confronted by an upgrade. Five or six years ago, I would have written an 8-page Preview article for one of the trade magazines. Today, I'm trying something new: a real-time, lightning-fast, video-based demo and product review. Here's the official marketing description:

September 23 marks the announcement of Adobe's Creative Suite 4. And that means a new version of the company's flagship image editor, Photoshop. Coming just 18 months after its predecessor, is Photoshop CS4 any good? Enter dekePod, Deke McClelland's irreverent and uncensored video series. Day and date with Adobe's announcement, Deke will provide a third-party, impartial, and highly opinionated review of the new software. Titled "Photoshop CS4: Buy or Die," this episode promises to show you all facets of the program -- complete with commentary -- without interrupting your busy day. In just five minutes, youíll know whether you want to upgrade or not. Either you buy or it dies, it's as simple as that.

If you'd like to download the video (you know, to share with the grandkids when computers and everything else we know have been rendered obsolete by electro-cosmetic bioplasmics), try one of these links:

  • For a high-quality QuickTime movie, right-click here and choose Save Target or Download Link or the equivalent.
     
  • For an M4V file that you can play on an iPod, right-click here and choose one of those same commands.
     
  • Or you can subscribe to dekePod via RSS or iTunes.

You can also check out the page at my book publisher O'Reilly Media.

Hungry for still more movies? Consult my Photoshop CS4 New Features series for lynda.com, which currently includes just two movies. Both free, they explain the new tabbed-window interface and content-aware scaling.

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Comments

Its worth an upgrade. Adobe

Submitted by misterjim on 14 May 2012 - 2:53pm.

Its worth an upgrade. Adobe photoshop keeps evolving and the upgrade only marks the dedication of people out there to make the software better and better.

customer satisfaction

Submitted by sohaib2649 on 15 January 2012 - 9:29pm.

Guy.. Excellent.. Amazing.. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also... I am satisfied customer satisfaction

What is a great easy website

Submitted by david007 on 11 May 2010 - 5:00am.

What is a great easy website builder application for designing a small social network site ?

I’m impressed!

Submitted by annie12 on 2 February 2010 - 1:12am.

You know what you’re talking about!

Copy and paste

Submitted by david0000456 on 17 December 2009 - 6:45am.

Hi,

How to transfer or copy and paste the graphic image of photoshop to coreldraw 12 without disturbing the image?

Can anyone give....?

Submitted by merna on 7 July 2009 - 1:29am.
Can anyone give me a link to download a full version of photoshop CS4?

download

Submitted by sisu on 17 December 2009 - 7:43am.

Hi,

You can find it from here

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

InDesign CS4 Videos - Can't Wait!

Submitted by paula@ohioeyesu... on 10 April 2009 - 11:48pm.
I spend a lot of time on Lynda.Com after a long day of work. Love the training there, but so many instructors are far too monotone and it tends to put even the most motivated learner to sleep. However, I never have that problem when it's you. Counting the days till you do InDesign CS4 as most everything I do design-wise involves a text/layout component. I know you hear it a lot, but you really do have a special gift for conveying information in an enjoyable way. Refreshing! Thanks for all you do.

Thanks for your kind comments! But . . .

Submitted by deke on 11 April 2009 - 9:05pm.
I probably won't be doing a full series on InDesign CS4. It's just too late in the cycle and I have too much other stuff on my plate. That said, two notes: First, I do have a book called Adobe InDesign CS4 One-on-One that includes not one, not two, but four hours of video as well as hundreds of high-quality pages full of top-notch information. Second, let's say I did a short video series on InDesign CS4. What topic would interest you? Last time around (for CS3), I did a series on style sheets. But there are lots of other areas to explore.

Photoshop CS4 one-on-0ne

Submitted by Billie Cosby on 20 December 2008 - 2:50am.
Hello Deke, I'm back again, this time at page 6 Lesson 1: Open and Oraganize. I have located the folder called "Lesson Files-PsCS4-1on1. I opened it to find a "No Items to Display" sign. My lessons files are in my Desktop Folder, as well as on the desktop! Your lessons are all there, but I cannot launch them from Bridge, which would be really convenient! What have I done wrong? Thanks, in advance. Billie

PS CS4 transparency at start up?

Submitted by Lil B on 19 December 2008 - 3:27pm.
I've been playing around with PS Cs4,I was going to start up a new Drawing,When I opened the new document It opened with a Black Background...I thought Oops I accidentally,had "Background Contents" set to Foreground color So I closed it,and started another one...It was set to Transparent,but Opened up as Black in the Preview window,but transparent in the Layers Palette.Did I accidentally change a setting somewhere while exploring CS4? I was just doing a Bert thing,Exploring and Playing....Any help would be appreciated thanks....Lil B PiC.LEECH.iT - FREE iMAGE HOSTiNG

I'm seeing nothing in this sreenshot

Submitted by deke on 19 December 2008 - 9:45pm.
To explain why the image window is black. You appear to have set the pasteboard to a bright turquoise, and your transparency grid is likewise colorful. But you have an empty layer and no other settings of consequence that I can see. You're using a PC -- have you updated your video drivers? Have you tried restarting? Have you tried launching with Ctrl+Shift+Alt down to rest prefs? You were trying a Bert [Monroy, I assume] export and play thing -- any specifics on that?

That did it...

Submitted by Lil B on 19 December 2008 - 11:02pm.
Thank you Deke, I used the Ctrl+Shift+Alt,and that seems to have cleared it up....I was almost to the point of reinstalling,The only thing,I could imagine was something I copied and pasted from ilustrator....Yep,Bert Monroy,Deke Taught me the nuts and bolts how,why,and Bert opened my eyes and imagination of what could be done with it...Now Morty has opened the world of illustrator to me....Thank you,again and Happy Holidays....

Ummm.... that's Mordy

Submitted by MACinTUTOR on 19 December 2008 - 11:54pm.
Ummm... that's Mordy as in "Mordechai" not "Morty" :-) Mordy Golding is his name and Illustrator is most definitely his game. Glad to see another Illustrator user here. As someone who teaches Illustrator classes, I agree... Mordy's Illustrator stuff is hot. Deke's Illustrator stuff is also hot and we should see a new Illustrator book from Deke before too long that will really "shake things up"... gotta cover that base... (I'm not a witch, Deke!) "todah rabah Mordy veDeke" Thanks a lot for some great illustrator teaching Mordy and Deke, Thomas Thomas Benner The Art Institute of Austin

My Apologizes

Submitted by Lil B on 20 December 2008 - 10:18am.
In my excitement,and rush to get back to my idea,I missed typed...I'm Sorry Mordy...I do enjoy reading his blog Realworld illustrator....Have a great day Lil B

Mac or PC for CS4?

Submitted by curious art on 19 December 2008 - 12:35pm.
Okay, I've decided to buy the Photoshop CS4 upgrade (can't wait for the natural rotating while painting!) & it's also time for a new computer. My question is this: I've always used a PC, but since this computer will be dedicated mainly to my work (no games which were one of the reasons we chose PC back in the day) I can get whatever I like. (Under $5000 or so.) Should I stick with PC or make the move to Mac? I'm used to the PC after using it for years, but so many people tell me that Mac is hugely better, fewer crashes, &c. &c. I'm a professional freelance illustrator & use Photoshop extensively, both to tweak scanned paintings & to create fully-digital art. My files tend to be large & many-layered, & I often have two or more open at any time. I've heard there may actually be speed advantages to the PC for CS4, but it seems most of the digital art folks I know prefer Mac. Is this just a vestige of previous advantages, or is there still a real reason to go Mac? I know you possess the wisdom of the ages + up-to-the-millisecond info on all things Photoshop, so I beg of you, please advise me-- what should I get? Many thanks, Leah

Age Old Question

Submitted by androsine on 19 December 2008 - 5:26pm.
I know you heard this before, but it's a personal choice between Mac and PC. The Mac is a stable tested machine that adheres to Apple's strict code of quality. What this means is that you will get a product that will work out of the box with little fuss. Now with a PC, it's more of a customizers dream. You can write your own coded programs, tweak the drivers, overclock the processors and much more. Also included is MS XML support which adds some advantages to CS4. I'm not much into the specs and I'm sure someone will follow up with more details. Also, most artists don't want to bother learning how to be a minor PC tech and would rather jump into their work. Mac machines take out the troublesome guess work. If you know how to work in an out of a PC then I see no reason to switch. Up to you.

Thanks for the input, androsine!

Submitted by curious art on 19 December 2008 - 6:04pm.
My natural lazy inclination is to stick with PC, since it's what I'm used to-- won't have to re-memorize all those keyboard shortcuts so I can use my limited brainpower to learn new tricks from Deke instead! Also the PC's cheaper for the speed, at least on paper. As you can guess from the above, I'm definitely not techy, so the customizing factor is minimal (though I do have friends & family who could do some tweaking for me). I've been told that Adobe started out affiliated with Apple, thus PS "runs smoother" on a Mac. Was that true? Is it still? What about the virus issue? I keep up with updates & run Norton & Spybot regularly, & I won't be downloading dubious stuff, so is there really still a Mac advantage there? Thanks again, Leah

Viruses

Submitted by androsine on 19 December 2008 - 8:53pm.
Well, Mac has the strength there because Apple is more of a US product. The majority of spam and viruses are made for PC because of vast availability of PC products around the world. For that reason alone I was tempted to buy a Mac. But if you stay away from unknown websites and never open unwelcomed attachments PC would be fine. If your looking for good computer deals, check and see if the Circuit City near you is closing. My brother in Law picked up high end computers for 1100 bucks. Not bad at all!

Great idea!

Submitted by curious art on 19 December 2008 - 10:49pm.
Hadn't thought about that, but there is one near here.Thanks again!

Quick Question about OpenGL support....

Submitted by Kalen_Johnson on 15 October 2008 - 4:19pm.
First off, great podcasts Deke, I just found them after going through some of your Photoshop One-on-One lessons from Lynda.com Quick question though, and I'm pretty sure that it'll work on most modern video cards, but I want to make sure it's not going to be the OpenGL specific-type video cards that are the only ones supported, such as the FireGL or QuadroFX video cards, but the standard ones as well (for reference, I own a Gateway laptop with an 8800m GTS video card). I'm pretty sure that Photoshop will support it, but I thought I'd ask just in case...

I think every nVidia card

Submitted by deke on 15 October 2008 - 6:45pm.
Supports OpenGL. I haven't tested the 8800m GTS, but according to the nVidia site, it cottons to OpenGL, so you should be just fine. The advantage of the higher end cards is not that they support OpenGL better, but rather that they have higher memory capacities. Which means you'll be able to open more images simultaneously and access the OpenGL features for all of them. I have one machine where OpenGL shuts down after four images; my MacBook Pro goes as high as ten. After that, you lose the new abilities for the fifth and eleventh images, respectively. To the solution is to close an image and you're back in business for all open images.

That's what I figured, I was

Submitted by Kalen_Johnson on 15 October 2008 - 7:50pm.
That's what I figured, I was just making sure you didn't need one of the specialized video cards. Mine has 512mb of video ram, so I would guess that will be good for at least 5-10 pictures. Planning on buying CS4 anyways on Friday, so we'll see. Thanks Deke!

Souls for sale!?

Submitted by lara Gylfadottir on 29 September 2008 - 1:22pm.
Love your podcasts - thank god I´m an atheist! Lara

Edumacation

Submitted by SM on 28 September 2008 - 3:59pm.
Little off topic but I was wondering, if any that is, where Deke got his education from. I am looking to start a Masters program (personal goal more than anything else) in the NJ, NY area. If anyone has any suggestions, or Deke, please let me know. Ideally, I would like to learn more about how and why programs like these function and not just how to design with them (although I guess they go hand in hand at some level). Great job on the Pod Deke! SM

more

Submitted by fadattf on 26 September 2008 - 2:26am.
>>Hungry for still more movies?
Yes,definitely! I've waited so long for that new podcast - I/We need more of them (I'm sure some would sell their soul, I would!). I really like your Lynda Videos, but the podcasts are on top of everything else! They make my day every time I watch them. So keep up doing that great stuff.

Actions in CS4

Submitted by soniak on 25 September 2008 - 12:47pm.
Yes, but what about the cloddy menu in Actions? Have they improved the Actions menu? Pls tell me they have. I'll buy CS4 if they have.

Same Actions menu

Submitted by deke on 25 September 2008 - 7:04pm.
Everything about the palette is the same. But they resolved a few action bugs. Like now if you run an action that pastes an image from the Clipboard into a new document, the New dialog box doesn't hang. Minor but helpful fixes like that.

More Photoshop

Submitted by PhotoandMac on 24 September 2008 - 12:17pm.
Deke, Excellent work on the new dekePod 6 on PS CS4 or should I say CS$. I'm glad you decided to come back to the Photoshop side. I'm a photographer, I can't draw and will never use Adobe Illustrator. We photographers use a different side of the brain. We can even shoot movies now. Have you seen the new Canon 5D MarkII? That camera does amazing stuff. Hey, isn't it almost time for a dekePod on making video. Keep up the good work, Robert www.PhotographyAndTheMac.com

Good Stuff

Submitted by ciggytoo on 24 September 2008 - 10:42am.
Great podcast, Deke!
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