Scott Kelby’s latest in book in his long running series of “Down and Dirty Tricks” is now available, and now for Photoshop CS4. If you’re into Photoshop at all I suggest getting a copy of this book if any of the previous versions are anything to go by. I’ve just ordered my copy anyway !
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Lightroom Vs Aperture: Giving Lightroom another look.
In my previous articles on this subject, I did my best to give you a reasonably objective opinion on the relative merits of each programme, however, I will admit that as I am an Aperture user, and I have preferred Aperture for a long time, I think that I was a little biased in that direction. However, recently I have started to give Lightroom another look for my full workflow, and I have to say, I’m beginning to see that maybe it might be the better choice for me after all.
I had been using Lightroom for its excellent print module but not much else. Lately though, I’ve been using it as my primary workflow tool. It started when I took some landscape pictures and I had some images with some mis-matched exposure between the top of the frame and the bottom. Normally I would have to export the image to Photoshop and then maybe do another version, export that and do a blend between the two. It occurred to me though that the gradient tool in Lightroom would handle the situation perfectly. So just as an experiment I brought my whole set of images into Lightroom.
My Favourite Photoshop CS4 Bugs
I’ve been trying out the trial versions of the various Cs4 Apps for a while trying to determine if it’s worth getting the upgrade and as I approach the end of my trial period I hate to say it, but I really can’t recommend it to anyone, especially Photoshop. In fact, until Adobe addresses some of the major bugs I would go so far as to strongly advise against it. There are some seriously annoying things which have driven me to distraction. My two favorite though have to do with the windowing system.
In CS3 if you dragged a window near the Application bar and tried to drag it under it it would pop back down. In Cs4 however, after you turn off the incredibly annoying tabbed windows (that’s a whole other post) it quite happily lets you drag the window under the application bar, and then you have no way to get the window back. Now, you might think, this is a case of just being more careful, but it’s surprisingly easy to do. As it didn’t do this in CS4 I can only assume that this is a bug, but it’s really really frustrating after you’ve done it for the twentieth time.
Has Photoshop Cs4 jumped the Shark ?
I’ve been playing around with the trial version of CS4 for the last few days, and I have to say, it’s pretty terrible. Sorry Adobe, but I can’t sugar coat it. It’s a terrible upgrade. They moved a bunch of stuff around for no particular reason. They got rid of some things, like twain support. Why? For the love of god why? And then there’s the inertia thing when you’re panning around an image. What the hell is that about? If you’re panning an image and let go of the mouse without bringing your cursor to a complete stop first it will keep going and slowly stop. It’s a complete and utter pain and serves no purpose what so ever other than to show off. And what’s with the drop shadow on the image area? And why do adjustment layers seem to turn on and off when I zoom in or pan around. The list goes on and on. I love Photoshop but CS4 is just crap. It’s no wonder no one is upgrading.
What’s really annoying is that Scott Kelby on his blog a while ago asked readers to send in what they thought should be in the next version of Photoshop and he then compiled a list of top things that people wanted. Adobe then basically blew it off saying that they can envisage stuff that people want before people realize that they want it (I’m paraphrasing). Well, most of the things on that list would have been better than the bloat inducing un-necessary changes that they did do. Shame on you Adobe, Shame.
Lightroom Vs. Aperture: The Continuing Saga
Ever since Adobe Lightroom shipped there has been a long running debate as to which was the better piece of software for managing your photos, Adobe’s Lightroom or Apple’s Aperture. Apple actually started the “Photography Workflow Tool” race with Aperture. While many billed it as a professional version of iPhoto, it was a whole new class of application. Just as Aperture introduced the world to this concept, Adobe jumped into the fray with their own tool, Photoshop Lightroom. Since then the two have been battling it out as the workflow tool of choice for the professional and advanced amateur. Deciding between the two however has not been easy. Both offer distinct advantages and both approach the concept differently. Adobe has the largest market share (more on that later), but Apple has the more mature application. Choosing between these two applications is a struggle that I have raged over back and forth for much time, and I still have difficulty reaching a firm conclusion. What follows then, is not a direct feature for feature comparison of both programs but rather a discussion of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each application.
Random thoughts for Friday
Here’s a couple of thing’s I’ve been pondering all day.
Why have Microsoft been hyping the crap out of their xbox 360 sales numbers over the last couple of weeks. It seems like every other day they’re putting out a press release saying how great they are. Could it be that they know that the price drop on an aging system will only work so long and they want to make the most of it while they can?
And what’s with the need for Microsoft to compete with everything. If you look at the new software upgrade, the so called “new xbox experience” it’s clear they’re targeting nintendo and the wii. Sure the wii is selling like hot cakes but it’s a cheaper product aimed at a different segment of the market. While Microsoft and nintendo go at it it leaves Sony with the high end of the gaming market all to themselves, and Sony have stated repeatedly that they are not interested in the low end casual gaming market.
and another thing…
Just what is going on at Adobe? I’m not talking about the fact that they’re not exhibiting at Macworld expo or that they’re laying off 600 employees. I’m talking about camera raw and Lightroom. It’s been a while now since they upgraded Camera Raw with support for some newer cameras and so far no sign of an update for Lightroom. Considering they both share the same engine and that they are pushing Lightroom as “the” workflow tool for digital photography, surely they would have added support to lightroom first? Could it be that slower sales of CS4 have forced a re-think of priorities? Given that at the moment only CS4 supports new cameras like the 5DMKII are adobe trying to send a message?
Adobe Launches Lightroom 2. Shafts Europeans on Pricing
Adobe screws users in Europe for no reason once again. Lightroom, Electronic Download US $299. In Europe it costs €301 which is $468 roughly. Same product, no shipping, just a serial number. So in Adobe’s world living on one side of the atlantic makes electrons more expensive? And they wonder why there’s rampant piracy?
Why Adobe, Why?
Photoshops UI Future
Adobe’s John Nack shows off some welcome changes to the UI in the next version of Photoshop and tries to offset some potential criticism from diehard apple fans. I don’t think they’ve anything to worry about, most of the changes seem logical and if anything long overdue. It’s good to see Adobe moving away from the “paletosis” that previous versions in the past have suffered from.
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