Adobe Photoshop CS6

[Y@]

I was wondering if any of you guys use CS6, and if so, what your thoughts are on the program. I started college today and two of my classes are Photography and Photo Editing. In Photo Editing, the standard program is CS6. I've been looking to upgrade my photoshop for awhile now since I'm using an ancient style. I figure the best option is to buy the same program I'll be using at school. The only difference will be that we use PC at school, and I use Mac at home.

Any help is appreciated!

[GreatLakesRailfan]

Congrats Y@. School is lots of "fun".

The company I work for relies quite heavily on Adobe' Creative Suite software. At this point we use CS5.5, although (as you point out) CS6 is the current standard. From what I understand, the newer versions of Photoshop have some really cool features, but they may be a little more advanced than what you'll need for your (basic) photo classes. On the other hand, way back when I was in college, I had a different version of Photoshop on my personal computer than the school had in the Art department and it was a little difficult going back and forth between the two. As long as you can purchase a Student license, I would recommend purchasing the newest edition.

Depending on what your major is/will be, you may be farther ahead to purchase a student license for one of the creative suits, rather than just the Photoshop license. It's more expensive right now, but it will save you some money later if you need to learn programs like Illustrator, InDesign or Flash.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about the difference between the PC and your MAC. I tend to prefer using PCs. At work, we actually have one PC and one MAC with the Adobe software, and although they have two different versions of the software, I've found that the hardest thing about using the software on the MAC (aside from the MAC to PC transition) is that I'm not familiar with the current version of the software. If you don't have a problem switching between the two different styles of operating systems, you shouldn't have any real problem using one at home and one at school.

[conrailmike]

Y@, while Photoshop is a great editing tool don't forget about Adobe Lightroom. If you have to use PS for school then use it but I'm telling you now that about 95% of anything I need done, gets done in LR. Photoshop can do the stuff like cloning and such but don't underestimate what Lightroom can do. The best thing about Lightroom? It's a hell of a lot cheaper than PS.

Lightroom really shines in the area of keeping all of your work cataloged, backed up, and being able to find it right when you need it.

In all reality, both PS and LR were designed to work together.

[bdconrail29]

I'm with Mike on this one. If you are primarily doing photography only, and shoot in RAW, I would simply work in Lightroom. You can do a lot if you know how to use all of the features. However, I also own Bridge and CS6, because I have to do some heavy editing, and CS6 is way, way more powerful than I'll probably ever realize. My workflow is LR first, then heavier editing in PS if need be. I edit my RAW file in LR, save as TIF, then work with it in PS, if I need to. For wedding photography typically I'd use ACR/PS combo or LR/PS combo. For railfanning, which I hardly ever spend much time editing RAW's there, I use LR/PS combo, quickly.

[redside20]

Your not doing an online school like Mike Fair are you? Or are you attending a community college? good luck on your classes

[conrailmike]

I'm with Mike on this one. If you are primarily doing photography only, and shoot in RAW, I would simply work in Lightroom. You can do a lot if you know how to use all of the features. However, I also own Bridge and CS6, because I have to do some heavy editing, and CS6 is way, way more powerful than I'll probably ever realize. My workflow is LR first, then heavier editing in PS if need be. I edit my RAW file in LR, save as TIF, then work with it in PS, if I need to. For wedding photography typically I'd use ACR/PS combo or LR/PS combo. For railfanning, which I hardly ever spend much time editing RAW's there, I use LR/PS combo, quickly.

When you import your images, copying and working them as DNG and backing up as DNG saves room and gives you the same latitude as a RAW file does. In case you didn't know

[bdconrail29]

I'm with Mike on this one. If you are primarily doing photography only, and shoot in RAW, I would simply work in Lightroom. You can do a lot if you know how to use all of the features. However, I also own Bridge and CS6, because I have to do some heavy editing, and CS6 is way, way more powerful than I'll probably ever realize. My workflow is LR first, then heavier editing in PS if need be. I edit my RAW file in LR, save as TIF, then work with it in PS, if I need to. For wedding photography typically I'd use ACR/PS combo or LR/PS combo. For railfanning, which I hardly ever spend much time editing RAW's there, I use LR/PS combo, quickly.

When you import your images, copying and working them as DNG and backing up as DNG saves room and gives you the same latitude as a RAW file does. In case you didn't know

True that!

I guess I get stuck in my ways. You're absolutely right though, some of those TIFS can get 100MB!!

[LSRC]

I needed an upgrade and got CS6 for my Mac. I haven't had a chance to do a whole lot of exploration, but so far so good.

[bdconrail29]

I bought Martin Evening's Adobe Photoshop CS6 for Photographers. THAT is an awesome book, not because I didn't know how to use PS on a general level, but because this book teaches you to take advantage of all of the features of the program, which, are far more than you'd ever imagine. I think if you are only doing photography for a hobby though, this program is not worth the price premium. Get LR and Elements for that, which is a really good combo. I know a few photographers who only have LR as well. All very good programs.

[conrailmike]

The books that Scott Kelby has written on both Photoshop and Lightroom are excellent as well.

[J T]

I guess I get stuck in my ways. You're absolutely right though, some of those TIFS can get 100MB!!

Only 100?? I get 200-300 meg photoshop files while working on 300dpi JPG images!

I bought Martin Evening's Adobe Photoshop CS6 for Photographers. THAT is an awesome book, not because I didn't know how to use PS on a general level, but because this book teaches you to take advantage of all of the features of the program, which, are far more than you'd ever imagine.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a $25 gift card from Barnes & Noble last Christmas that I haven't used yet. Sounds like a good reason to use it now.

[bdconrail29]

I guess I get stuck in my ways. You're absolutely right though, some of those TIFS can get 100MB!!

Only 100?? I get 200-300 meg photoshop files while working on 300dpi JPG images!

I bought Martin Evening's Adobe Photoshop CS6 for Photographers. THAT is an awesome book, not because I didn't know how to use PS on a general level, but because this book teaches you to take advantage of all of the features of the program, which, are far more than you'd ever imagine.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a $25 gift card from Barnes & Noble last Christmas that I haven't used yet. Sounds like a good reason to use it now.

200-300 MB??? Holy crap! I think if you do get the book you'll like it. I was considering PS6 for Dummies because well, but then I had to convince myself that I wasn't really a dummy, until I read Evening's book and that thought was quickly turned around

[J T]

200-300 MB??? Holy crap!

Using layers builds up the file size quickly! I often have 5-10 layers created when processing images.

[bdconrail29]

200-300 MB??? Holy crap!

Using layers builds up the file size quickly! I often have 5-10 layers created when processing images.

Oh ok, I understand now.

[conrailmike]

One other nice feature of LR is the ability to publish right from Lightroom to such places as Flickr, SmugMug, 500px, and Facebook.