Firstly, you can save about £[] and get a full version of Photoshop CS5
if you qualify for the student/teacher version, instead of just an upgrade.
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== VERSIONS ==
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There was 64bit support in CS4, but only for Windows. It's now included for Macs too.
This review was based on my Photoshop CS5 64bit version, the program now comes
in the 2 different versions (32bit and 64bit) as people move gradually to 64bit systems.
If you've no idea what i am talking about then 32bit should be fine. Both are on the disc.
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== INTERFACE ==
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Very small change but the icons have been redrawn and look slightly different. Not a big
change but i noticed it, and was pleased with it :D
Overall interface is very familiar, the workspace switch menu is always displayed at the
top instead of being hidden in the Window menu. If you make a change to your workplace, and
then switch to another workspace, the changes made to the first will remain intact.
The Mini-Bridge is a window which allows complete access to your image files via Bridge,
without leaving Photoshop. Just like the full Bridge you can choose display options, if you
need the full features of Bridge just click the icon at the top of the screen.
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== PERFORMANCE ==
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The system requirements state at least a Pentium 4 or Athlon 64 processor and 1GB RAM and
disk space. Everyone should have more than enough, but your monitor's resolution should
ideally be at least 1280x800 which not everybody will have. Might be time for a new display.
On my i7 2.8ghz 6GB RAM it performed very smoothly, and i noticed it managed to complete tasks
quite a lot faster than when using it on an old core 2 duo machine with 2GB RAM. Although there
were no problems on that either, its simply a more powerful system provides faster results. I read
somewhere that 64bit with 8GB RAM gave a 40% performance increase, make of that what you will, but
i think its clear that if you want to get the most out of this the 64bit version is needed.
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== CONTENT-AWARE FILL ==
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This new feature gets its own section, because its pretty incredible. It's in the spot healing brush
section. The spot healing brush is great for removing odd blemishes, bits and bobs, but it struggled
with larger objects. Content-Aware fill makes much more intelligent decisions about what to fill
the area with. It's not perfect, but it worked spectacularly in all my photos providing realistic
results. Without this, you'd have to do lengthy manual cloning techniques.
You use it by selecting an area of the background layer and pressing delete. Instead of replacing the area
with a colour block, it fills it in by cloning various parts of the image. Your results will depend on
what type of content you are working with, for natural environments its amazingly effective, it does a good
job for straight lines too, but i found it struggled with some man made objects. All in all, it's a great
time saving feature, works most of the time, but you may need to follow up with the spot heal brush sometimes.
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== NEW FEATURES ==
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= One word, RAW. The noise reduction has increased greatly.
= Lens correction has automatic correction by referencing photo's EXIF data against SLR lens profiles
(the current database of lens' was small, but it will grow with time no doubt). You can also create
your own profiles using Adobe's free Lens Profile creator.
= New mixer brush, a hybrid between painting and smudging, emulates natural brush strokes very well.
Control over bristles, wet/dry brush and canvas' makes everything much more interesting
= Edge Detection and Decontaminate Colours (in refine edges box) constructed sharp lines & soft edges
as needed, they even picked out hair strands with great accuracy.
= Smarter & Easier Masking
= Puppet Warp tool imposes a wire-frame mesh onto objects, this can be stretched/skewed by adding and
dragging pins. I tried it with a wooden doll like in the adverts and it worked really well.
= HDR Pro - CS4 had this, but CS5 takes it further with sliders to control Vibrance, Saturation,
Exposure, Detail, and more. This allows you to create very personalized results which could be subtle or dramatic.
If you only have 1 image, HDR toning emulates the results.
= SAVE AS option remembers last folder you navigated to now!
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== PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS & EXTENDED ==
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I don't think some of the better features such as Content-Aware fill will be making it into the Photoshop Elements
version. It sounds right as the program is aimed it beginners. The next Photoshop Elements will probably be lacking in the
features that make Photoshop CS5 a worthwhile upgrade. If you are deciding on which one to buy, just keep that in mind.
The Extended version has 3D support, and from what i have seen of it you can go from 2D to 3D with a few clicks. Could
be great for logos and icons, or to use in print and video projects. This standard version does not have 3D support so keep
this in mind.
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== CONCLUSION ==
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Filled with small tweaks and enhancements. They do add up and provide a smoother work-flow experience, there is a lot
more convenience now, and if you do this for a living, the creative potential has increased dramatically. If your main
tasks are with masks and cloning, or you deal with low light photography, or are into painting, then the time/effort saving,
RAW 6 availability and new Mixer Brush on CS5 could be a worthwhile upgrade for you. For CS3 users the upgrade should be very
appealing, i say go for it. For everyone else on CS4, it's not a necessary upgrade.
As usual though, read up on everything, see what is available, and make an informed decision to see if upgrading to CS5 would/could
benefit you. There are lots of versions, which will suit different people. If you use a couple of Adobe programs, it might be worth
getting the Creative 5 Suite rather than buying each application seperatley.