The bottom line: Photoshop CS5 greatly expands the toolset that Adobe offers in its flagship product, charting new ways to make image manipulation easier while making older tools work better than before. Don't worry about the lack of a new interface; the new ways to get your project done make this version a must.
Learn how you can take your photography further with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom with this Adobe demo video.
Photoshop has been in the English lexicon as a term to edit images for a long time, but the latest version of Adobe's flagship program stretches the canvas of manipulation much further than ever before. The look of the program has changed so little from Photoshop CS4 that users of that version should be instantly comfortable with this major update, but Photoshop Creative Suite 5 Extended gives photographers, artists, designers, and LOLcats obsessives a stunning array of new tools. Among the new features in Adobe's flagship image-editing software are automatic lens corrections, High Dynamic Range toning, automated editing tools, and significant improvements to creating 3D images.
Enjoy the entire collection of our creative desktop and mobile tools, like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe Premiere Pro, and more with Adobe Creative Cloud. Get a free trial of Adobe Photoshop Elements. Automatically organize photos, make quick edits, add artistic touches, and easily share your memories. Download now. Adobe Photoshop products organize, edit, and create images. Take a look at all of the Photoshop products to decide which one is right for you. Download a free trial today. Photoshop Free Trial. The easiest way to get Adobe Photoshop for free, and maintain its full capabilities is a trial version. It is not permanent and lasts only 7 days after the registration. According to Adobe’s statement they provide all 30 days of free use BUT users’ feedback says differently.
Use Adobe Photoshop to create your own artwork, edit photos and do much more with the images you take and find. Known as one of the top photo editing programs of all time, Adobe Photoshop is popular with experts and beginners alike.
Installation and setup
Photoshop installation is straightforward, although it does require an Adobe account. Users can choose to purchase a license key immediately, which you will receive by e-mail, or try out the program for 30 days. When you receive your key, you can copy and paste the entire string directly from your e-mail into the first dialog box, and the other boxes will automatically populate. Both Photoshop CS 5 and the Extended come from the same 980MB installer for Windows, or 1.1GB on a Mac.
Depending on your Internet connection, Adobe says that users can expect download times of anywhere from 14 minutes on a corporate LAN to nearly 90 minutes on slower connections. On a Windows 7 computer with 2GB of RAM and a 2GHz processor on a T1, the download took around 40 minutes.
The Adobe installation process doesn't play well with Mozilla programs such as Firefox and Thunderbird, so those must be shut down before the installation can be finished. You can use other programs while installing, but CPU slowdowns are likely on many computers.
Adobe still refuses to have a Windows installation process that's respectful of standard program installation behavior. Associated program icons do not install into an Adobe folder in your Start menu, but are rather unceremoniously dumped into your Start menu's All Programs pane. First-time upgraders should note that Adobe will not override your previous installation of Photoshop, so you'll have to remove it manually. This may be annoying to some, but it's actually reasonable behavior given the cost of the program and the desire of many users to fully explore the trial. It would be nice if Photoshop came with a utility for removing previous versions, instead of having to go through the imperfect Windows uninstallation tool.
The installation and uninstallation frustrations aren't deal-breakers, obviously, but a little bit more attention here from Photoshop would result in a smoother process.
Interface
Unlike the dramatic interface overhaul that accompanied its predecessor, there's so little new to the look and feel of Photoshop CS5 that it's barely worth mentioning.
The Workspace switcher has been modified so that you can drag it out of the drop-down menu across the menubar. Doing so can push the menubar itself down to a second level, which might take up too much screen space for some people. Pre-existing workspaces can be deleted, custom ones added, and generally the workspace concept has gotten a bit more user-friendly.
Toolbox icons have been redrawn with a softer touch. This has the unfortunate effect of making them look mushy and out-of-focus against their gray background. At least the iconography is the same, so the spot healing brush tool still looks like a band-aid, but this was not a welcome change.
Despite lacking the aesthetic sensibility of its cousin Lightroom 3 (Windows|Mac), the overall layout of Photoshop remains consistent. It's not easy to use, nor is it hard to get used to the modular layout of adjustable panels. Further optional improvements can be made courtesy Adobe Labs' Configurator, for customizing some parts of the navigation. Although the CS4 interface improvements were appreciated, the UI is essentially mundane and in desperate need of refinement. It's sadly ironic that the premiere image editor looks like a cockpit.
Features and support
The new features in Photoshop CS5 completely sell the program. It's a bit hard to fathom that a program that's been around for 20 years continues to innovate and improve as much as Photoshop has, but this version of Photoshop, officially v12, doesn't just stretch itself here. It expands the limits of editing achievement, simplifying previously complex tasks and introducing new ones. It's not reinventing the wrench as much as it's making it do new things that everybody can immediately understand. Get inkscape for os x. This review won't cover all the new features and enhancements since there are more than three dozen feature changes alone, but we'll look at some of the best and most important.
The new Mini Bridge should directly affect every user's workflow. It opens a functional version of Adobe Bridge in a panel, speeding up processing by cutting down how often users have to jump out of the main Photoshop interface. Mini Bridge can be launched from the top of the interface to the right of the menubar, from the MB icon. As with any of Photoshop's panels, the Mini Bridge can be resized and moved around the window as needed.
On first launch, the Mini Bridge took longer than expected to read files before it could be used. After that initial sluggishness, it loaded smoothly, even after rebooting the computer. It was noticeably faster to launch images from either Bridge or Mini Bridge into Photoshop compared with the previous version, but sticking Bridge access directly into Photoshop is a long-overdue innovation.
Automatic Lens Correction automates a task that previously could be completed by hand only. As CNET has noted elsewhere, Adobe based the tool on close measurements of multiple camera bodies and lenses so that Photoshop can take over the time-consuming effort of removing barrel and pincushion distortion, darkened corners from vignetting, and colored fringe on the edge of images from chromatic aberration.
You can tell that Adobe expects this feature to be a big selling point because it's one of the few new features that comes bound to a hot key. Ctrl+Shift+R will bring up the lens correction panel, also accessible from the Filter menu. You can toggle on or off vignetting, chromatic aberration, and lens distortion correction, which are the three major fixes that the filter looks for; adjust how the filter affects the edge of the image; edit camera and lens profile search criteria; or create custom profiles. The camera profiles seemed to be limited in our testing to more-recent models. For example, the tool lacked profiles for Canon bodies older than the 50D.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing debuted back in CS2, but it's been greatly enhanced for this version. A new feature in the Merge to HDR panel called Remove Ghost will tidy up any minor alignment issues between your three HDR source images, and you can select which of the three images to base the final image on. The new HDR toning under Adjustments lets you fake that trendy HDR look without having to merge multiple images. This works fairly decently, but expect best results on images that have tricky lighting situations or are underexposed.
Content Aware Fill improves Photoshop's ability to intelligently replace part of an image with pixels derived from other, nearby colors, noise, and tone. The feature can be used as part of the spot healing brush tool for fine replacements, or lassoed selections to replace large or unusually shaped chunks from an image.
The feature introduces a redone method of resampling from the image. Cooking dash download crack. The differences between how the tool performs here versus in CS4 are not readily apparent since the changes in pixelation and accuracy depend too greatly on the situation. Tests with the spot healing brush revealed no differences to its CS4 predecessor, but that doesn't mean its not working. In general, it felt like there was less of a problem with incorrect sampling, but this wasn't really quantifiable, as it still occurred in some cases.
One of the most difficult Photoshop tricks has just gotten strikingly easier thanks to what Adobe calls 'intelligent selection.' It allows users to define a selected area, and then gently refine using the Refine option under the Select menu to more accurately include challenging selection areas such as fur, clouds, and feathers. It worked extremely well with hair, and slightly less so with the more discernible echidna spikes.
It sounds simple, but the introduction of the Smart Radius and Decontaminate colors functions in intelligent selection provides a stunning breadth of control during image masking. Following the tutorials for this is essential, because learning to do it right can impressively enhance your image control while cutting down on your workflow from CS4.
Puppet Warp sounds like it could be a filter to Muppetize people in your photo. It's actually a localized warping tool that gives you the ability to accurately recompose selected aspects of an image, such as changing a straight leg to bent. It can't add content where it hasn't existed, so it works best when used on a subject shot in profile, but the tool itself worked well.
Once you've created a selection, choose Puppet Warp from the Edit menu and apply pins where you want to create pivot points in the image. Playing around with them, you can stretch a selected area between two pins. Download tiktok for mac book. Unlike the complicated intelligent selection, Puppet Warp took seconds to learn. Of all the new tools, this is probably the most fun to use. The tool may not appear to have much practical use, but it can easily lend itself to basic but creative 3D implementation without having to upgrade to Photoshop Extended.
Photoshop is not the best digital painting program around, but the new Mixer Brush and Bristle Tips features give it a much stronger easel to stand on. Briefly, the Mixer Brush lets you add multiple colors to a single brush tip and then blend them to whatever colors already exist on your canvas. Users can define how wet the canvas is, how fast paint gets re-added to the tip, the mix rate between brush and canvas colors, and whether the brush is refilled, cleaned, or both after each paint stroke. Bristle Tips provides similarly fine-tuned control over the brush tip, including shape, length, stiffness, thickness, angle, and spacing.
Although some photographers might swear otherwise, it's not necessary to use a tablet for photo editing. This was not the case with the new painting tools, where a standard mouse did not provide the kind of detailed control required to manipulate the tools properly. Still, by building out the painting options, Adobe's clearly trying to keep Photoshop competitive across all major disciplines.
Enhanced 3D tools remain the clearest difference between regular Photoshop and Photoshop CS5 Extended. If you don't need them, don't get the more expensive version. If you do, though, there are several notable new features. Adobe Repousse streamlines the process for converting 2D artwork into 3D, then provides a bucketload of options for altering the design. There's nothing revolutionary here except a reasonable, solid effort at reducing workflow. It's effective, and it's hard to argue with less than six steps to creating a 3D letterform.
Photoshop Extended users will get an equally quick workflow for adding realistic textures to 3D models. The program comes with a stack of textures, which users can edit and save as their own, as well as create custom textures from scratch and download new ones off the Web. There's also new options for introducing image-based lights for dynamic light sourcing on complex models, shadow capturing, and improved ray tracing. Much like the painting tools, the 3D options are not a full-on replacement for a 3D renderer, but they will do quite admirably for users looking to regularly add 3D pop to their art without having to shell out for a modeling suite.
Other changes include tweaks to everything from the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in to tool menus. Raw processing has earned itself some better tools for reducing noise, and adding vignettes and grain to give stills a more filmlike quality. The Raw tool in general also feels less jittery than its CS4 predecessor, and it now will automatically downsample your 16- or 32-bit raw image down to 8-bit JPEG when you save it. The relatively complicated process of straightening images has been replaced by a Straighten button in the Ruler tool. Throw in the Alt or Option key and you'll straighten without cropping. (Note that to fully undo the straighten, you have to go back through your Actions panel. Ctrl/Cmd+Z won't work.)
When cropping, you can add an overlay grid after you set your crop boundaries. You can now prevent the Sharpen tool from creating artifacts by using the Protect Detail option, copy colors as a hex number, and gain a modicum of collaborative tools via the deeper hooks to Adobe's online CS Review. This crosses over tightly with Illustrator (Windows|Mac), Premiere (Windows|Mac), and InDesign (Windows|Mac).
You can now change the opacity of more than one layer at a time, create layer masks from transparent layers, and use lens correction profiles when stitching using Auto-Align in Layers. Layer settings will also remember your previous settings.
Mac users will see some specific improvements for their computers. A 64-bit Photoshop is no longer a pipe dream, with a 32GB RAM ceiling. The Finder-to-Photoshop workflow finally supports drag-and-drop, and the Cmd+H hot key will ask you whether you want to hide Photoshop or hide Extras the first time you use it. Trackpad gestures can be disabled, too.
There's no doubt that the major features changes create a strong framework for CS5, but its the addition of these detail-oriented fixes that sell the picture of CS5 as an upgrade worth getting.
Photoshop support is available on several levels. There are the free Adobe-sponsored forums, FAQs, and knowledge base articles. Given Photoshop's popularity, these should be sufficient for individual users. However, Adobe also offers per-incident support that can range in cost from $29 to $249. Technical phone support is available Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. To 7 p.m. PST, and customer service phone support is available seven days a week during the same hours.
Though this may seem stingy, Photoshop's complexity is best-suited for users who don't mind learning stuff on their own or from a forum. The Help menu also comes with a direct link to Adobe's Photoshop Support Center, which provides an Adobe AIR-based interface for accessing Adobe's collection of how-tos and community advice.
Performance
For users who didn't make the jump to CS4, the new version of Photoshop will feel like it's got jet boots on. It opens faster, opens complex raw, PSD, and TIFF images faster, and processes faster. There are still noticeable lags during resource-intensive tasks, but without a doubt it feels like a better-performing version.
As noted above, CS5 is fully compatible with Mac x64, although it won't run on legacy PowerPC computers or any version of OS X older than 10.5.7. Windows XP users should have Service Pack 3, whereas Vista users are recommended to use at least Service Pack 1. Of course, Photoshop is compatible with Windows 7 as well. The minimum requirements for basic Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended are fairly rigorous, so if you've got an older computer it's recommended that you make sure it's compatible before purchasing.
Benchmarks from CNET Labs will be added to the review when they become available.
Conclusion
Because of its position as the industry standard for professional image-editing and the use of its name as a colloquialism for all kinds of image manipulation, many users mistakenly believe that Photoshop is a must-have program. It's needed for professional work, but contains far too many tools, far too much power, and is far too complicated for casual use. Not convinced? Hopefully the $699 price tag ($199 for upgrades) will scare you off. There are effective alternatives to Photoshop, including Adobe's own Photoshop Elements (Windows|Mac), as well as a multitude of freeware.
That said, some photographers might not want to wait for the upcoming Lightroom 3. For them and others considering upgrading or buying new, there's simply no reason not to get it. The comprehensive range of improvements to Photoshop CS5 makes this version compelling and nearly impossible to ignore.
What do you need to know about free software?
Explore Further
Photoshop has been in the English lexicon as a term to edit images for a long time, but the latest version of Adobe's flagship program stretches the canvas of manipulation much further than ever before. The look of the program has changed so little from Photoshop CS4 that users of that version should be instantly comfortable with this major update, but Photoshop Creative Suite 5 Extended gives photographers, artists, designers, and LOLcats obsessives a stunning array of new tools. Among the new features in Adobe's flagship image-editing software are automatic lens corrections, High Dynamic Range toning, automated editing tools, and significant improvements to creating 3D images.
Installation and setup
Photoshop installation is straightforward, although it does require an Adobe account. Users can choose to purchase a license key immediately, which you will receive by e-mail, or try out the program for 30 days. When you receive your key, you can copy and paste the entire string directly from your e-mail into the first dialog box, and the other boxes will automatically populate. Both Photoshop CS 5 and the Extended come from the same 980MB installer for Windows, or 1.1GB on a Mac.
Depending on your Internet connection, Adobe says that users can expect download times of anywhere from 14 minutes on a corporate LAN to nearly 90 minutes on slower connections. On a Windows 7 computer with 2GB of RAM and a 2GHz processor on a T1, the download took around 40 minutes.
The Adobe installation process doesn't play well with Mozilla programs such as Firefox and Thunderbird, so those must be shut down before the installation can be finished. You can use other programs while installing, but CPU slowdowns are likely on many computers.
Adobe still refuses to have a Windows installation process that's respectful of standard program installation behavior. Associated program icons do not install into an Adobe folder in your Start menu, but are rather unceremoniously dumped into your Start menu's All Programs pane. First-time upgraders should note that Adobe will not override your previous installation of Photoshop, so you'll have to remove it manually. This may be annoying to some, but it's actually reasonable behavior given the cost of the program and the desire of many users to fully explore the trial. It would be nice if Photoshop came with a utility for removing previous versions, instead of having to go through the imperfect Windows uninstallation tool.
The installation and uninstallation frustrations aren't deal-breakers, obviously, but a little bit more attention here from Photoshop would result in a smoother process.
Interface
Unlike the dramatic interface overhaul that accompanied its predecessor, there's so little new to the look and feel of Photoshop CS5 that it's barely worth mentioning.
The Workspace switcher has been modified so that you can drag it out of the drop-down menu across the menubar. Doing so can push the menubar itself down to a second level, which might take up too much screen space for some people. Pre-existing workspaces can be deleted, custom ones added, and generally the workspace concept has gotten a bit more user-friendly.
Toolbox icons have been redrawn with a softer touch. This has the unfortunate effect of making them look mushy and out-of-focus against their gray background. At least the iconography is the same, so the spot healing brush tool still looks like a band-aid, but this was not a welcome change.
Despite lacking the aesthetic sensibility of its cousin Lightroom 3 (Windows|Mac), the overall layout of Photoshop remains consistent. It's not easy to use, nor is it hard to get used to the modular layout of adjustable panels. Further optional improvements can be made courtesy Adobe Labs' Configurator, for customizing some parts of the navigation. Although the CS4 interface improvements were appreciated, the UI is essentially mundane and in desperate need of refinement. It's sadly ironic that the premiere image editor looks like a cockpit.
Features and support
The new features in Photoshop CS5 completely sell the program. It's a bit hard to fathom that a program that's been around for 20 years continues to innovate and improve as much as Photoshop has, but this version of Photoshop, officially v12, doesn't just stretch itself here. It expands the limits of editing achievement, simplifying previously complex tasks and introducing new ones. It's not reinventing the wrench as much as it's making it do new things that everybody can immediately understand. This review won't cover all the new features and enhancements since there are more than three dozen feature changes alone, but we'll look at some of the best and most important.
The new Mini Bridge should directly affect every user's workflow. It opens a functional version of Adobe Bridge in a panel, speeding up processing by cutting down how often users have to jump out of the main Photoshop interface. Mini Bridge can be launched from the top of the interface to the right of the menubar, from the MB icon. As with any of Photoshop's panels, the Mini Bridge can be resized and moved around the window as needed.
On first launch, the Mini Bridge took longer than expected to read files before it could be used. After that initial sluggishness, it loaded smoothly, even after rebooting the computer. It was noticeably faster to launch images from either Bridge or Mini Bridge into Photoshop compared with the previous version, but sticking Bridge access directly into Photoshop is a long-overdue innovation.
Automatic Lens Correction automates a task that previously could be completed by hand only. As CNET has noted elsewhere, Adobe based the tool on close measurements of multiple camera bodies and lenses so that Photoshop can take over the time-consuming effort of removing barrel and pincushion distortion, darkened corners from vignetting, and colored fringe on the edge of images from chromatic aberration.
You can tell that Adobe expects this feature to be a big selling point because it's one of the few new features that comes bound to a hot key. Ctrl+Shift+R will bring up the lens correction panel, also accessible from the Filter menu. You can toggle on or off vignetting, chromatic aberration, and lens distortion correction, which are the three major fixes that the filter looks for; adjust how the filter affects the edge of the image; edit camera and lens profile search criteria; or create custom profiles. The camera profiles seemed to be limited in our testing to more-recent models. For example, the tool lacked profiles for Canon bodies older than the 50D.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing debuted back in CS2, but it's been greatly enhanced for this version. A new feature in the Merge to HDR panel called Remove Ghost will tidy up any minor alignment issues between your three HDR source images, and you can select which of the three images to base the final image on. The new HDR toning under Adjustments lets you fake that trendy HDR look without having to merge multiple images. This works fairly decently, but expect best results on images that have tricky lighting situations or are underexposed.
Content Aware Fill improves Photoshop's ability to intelligently replace part of an image with pixels derived from other, nearby colors, noise, and tone. The feature can be used as part of the spot healing brush tool for fine replacements, or lassoed selections to replace large or unusually shaped chunks from an image.
The feature introduces a redone method of resampling from the image. The differences between how the tool performs here versus in CS4 are not readily apparent since the changes in pixelation and accuracy depend too greatly on the situation. Tests with the spot healing brush revealed no differences to its CS4 predecessor, but that doesn't mean its not working. In general, it felt like there was less of a problem with incorrect sampling, but this wasn't really quantifiable, as it still occurred in some cases.
One of the most difficult Photoshop tricks has just gotten strikingly easier thanks to what Adobe calls 'intelligent selection.' It allows users to define a selected area, and then gently refine using the Refine option under the Select menu to more accurately include challenging selection areas such as fur, clouds, and feathers. It worked extremely well with hair, and slightly less so with the more discernible echidna spikes.
It sounds simple, but the introduction of the Smart Radius and Decontaminate colors functions in intelligent selection provides a stunning breadth of control during image masking. Following the tutorials for this is essential, because learning to do it right can impressively enhance your image control while cutting down on your workflow from CS4.
Puppet Warp sounds like it could be a filter to Muppetize people in your photo. It's actually a localized warping tool that gives you the ability to accurately recompose selected aspects of an image, such as changing a straight leg to bent. It can't add content where it hasn't existed, so it works best when used on a subject shot in profile, but the tool itself worked well.
Once you've created a selection, choose Puppet Warp from the Edit menu and apply pins where you want to create pivot points in the image. Playing around with them, you can stretch a selected area between two pins. Unlike the complicated intelligent selection, Puppet Warp took seconds to learn. Of all the new tools, this is probably the most fun to use. The tool may not appear to have much practical use, but it can easily lend itself to basic but creative 3D implementation without having to upgrade to Photoshop Extended.
Photoshop is not the best digital painting program around, but the new Mixer Brush and Bristle Tips features give it a much stronger easel to stand on. Briefly, the Mixer Brush lets you add multiple colors to a single brush tip and then blend them to whatever colors already exist on your canvas. Users can define how wet the canvas is, how fast paint gets re-added to the tip, the mix rate between brush and canvas colors, and whether the brush is refilled, cleaned, or both after each paint stroke. Bristle Tips provides similarly fine-tuned control over the brush tip, including shape, length, stiffness, thickness, angle, and spacing.
Although some photographers might swear otherwise, it's not necessary to use a tablet for photo editing. This was not the case with the new painting tools, where a standard mouse did not provide the kind of detailed control required to manipulate the tools properly. Still, by building out the painting options, Adobe's clearly trying to keep Photoshop competitive across all major disciplines.
Enhanced 3D tools remain the clearest difference between regular Photoshop and Photoshop CS5 Extended. If you don't need them, don't get the more expensive version. If you do, though, there are several notable new features. Adobe Repousse streamlines the process for converting 2D artwork into 3D, then provides a bucketload of options for altering the design. There's nothing revolutionary here except a reasonable, solid effort at reducing workflow. It's effective, and it's hard to argue with less than six steps to creating a 3D letterform.
Photoshop Extended users will get an equally quick workflow for adding realistic textures to 3D models. The program comes with a stack of textures, which users can edit and save as their own, as well as create custom textures from scratch and download new ones off the Web. There's also new options for introducing image-based lights for dynamic light sourcing on complex models, shadow capturing, and improved ray tracing. Much like the painting tools, the 3D options are not a full-on replacement for a 3D renderer, but they will do quite admirably for users looking to regularly add 3D pop to their art without having to shell out for a modeling suite.
Other changes include tweaks to everything from the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in to tool menus. Raw processing has earned itself some better tools for reducing noise, and adding vignettes and grain to give stills a more filmlike quality. The Raw tool in general also feels less jittery than its CS4 predecessor, and it now will automatically downsample your 16- or 32-bit raw image down to 8-bit JPEG when you save it. The relatively complicated process of straightening images has been replaced by a Straighten button in the Ruler tool. Throw in the Alt or Option key and you'll straighten without cropping. (Note that to fully undo the straighten, you have to go back through your Actions panel. Ctrl/Cmd+Z won't work.)
When cropping, you can add an overlay grid after you set your crop boundaries. You can now prevent the Sharpen tool from creating artifacts by using the Protect Detail option, copy colors as a hex number, and gain a modicum of collaborative tools via the deeper hooks to Adobe's online CS Review. This crosses over tightly with Illustrator (Windows|Mac), Premiere (Windows|Mac), and InDesign (Windows|Mac).
You can now change the opacity of more than one layer at a time, create layer masks from transparent layers, and use lens correction profiles when stitching using Auto-Align in Layers. Layer settings will also remember your previous settings.
Mac users will see some specific improvements for their computers. A 64-bit Photoshop is no longer a pipe dream, with a 32GB RAM ceiling. The Finder-to-Photoshop workflow finally supports drag-and-drop, and the Cmd+H hot key will ask you whether you want to hide Photoshop or hide Extras the first time you use it. Trackpad gestures can be disabled, too.
There's no doubt that the major features changes create a strong framework for CS5, but its the addition of these detail-oriented fixes that sell the picture of CS5 as an upgrade worth getting.
Photoshop support is available on several levels. There are the free Adobe-sponsored forums, FAQs, and knowledge base articles. Given Photoshop's popularity, these should be sufficient for individual users. However, Adobe also offers per-incident support that can range in cost from $29 to $249. Technical phone support is available Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. To 7 p.m. PST, and customer service phone support is available seven days a week during the same hours.
Though this may seem stingy, Photoshop's complexity is best-suited for users who don't mind learning stuff on their own or from a forum. The Help menu also comes with a direct link to Adobe's Photoshop Support Center, which provides an Adobe AIR-based interface for accessing Adobe's collection of how-tos and community advice.
Performance
For users who didn't make the jump to CS4, the new version of Photoshop will feel like it's got jet boots on. It opens faster, opens complex raw, PSD, and TIFF images faster, and processes faster. There are still noticeable lags during resource-intensive tasks, but without a doubt it feels like a better-performing version.
As noted above, CS5 is fully compatible with Mac x64, although it won't run on legacy PowerPC computers or any version of OS X older than 10.5.7. Windows XP users should have Service Pack 3, whereas Vista users are recommended to use at least Service Pack 1. Of course, Photoshop is compatible with Windows 7 as well. The minimum requirements for basic Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended are fairly rigorous, so if you've got an older computer it's recommended that you make sure it's compatible before purchasing.
Benchmarks from CNET Labs will be added to the review when they become available.
Conclusion
Because of its position as the industry standard for professional image-editing and the use of its name as a colloquialism for all kinds of image manipulation, many users mistakenly believe that Photoshop is a must-have program. It's needed for professional work, but contains far too many tools, far too much power, and is far too complicated for casual use. Not convinced? Hopefully the $699 price tag ($199 for upgrades) will scare you off. There are effective alternatives to Photoshop, including Adobe's own Photoshop Elements (Windows|Mac), as well as a multitude of freeware.
That said, some photographers might not want to wait for the upcoming Lightroom 3. For them and others considering upgrading or buying new, there's simply no reason not to get it. The comprehensive range of improvements to Photoshop CS5 makes this version compelling and nearly impossible to ignore.
In this article, I want to tell you how to get Photoshop for free safe. You’ll learn 4 legal ways to get free Photoshop software for professional photo editing, main disadvantages and dangers of piracy and an overview of the best free alternatives to Photoshop CC.
Content:
4 Ways to Use Adobe Photoshop Free1. Photoshop Free Trial
The easiest way to get Adobe Photoshop for free, and maintain its full capabilities is a trial version. It is not permanent and lasts only 7 days after the registration. According to Adobe’s statement they provide all 30 days of free use BUT users’ feedback says differently. The trial period will allow you to understand exactly whether you need Photoshop or not, and whether you will use all its functions.
What are the Advantages of Using Photoshop Free Trial?
The main benefit of the Adobe Photoshop free trial is that you get the opportunity to review the program during the week for free and legally. If you are taking photography or photo retouching, Photoshop is the most popular program for this. (learn more about how to get Lightroom for free). Due to this, it has thousands of fans around the world, which means that there is a lot of literature, free lessons from the best photo retouchers, as well as courses in each country. Thanks to the built-in Camera RAW, you can perform the main color correction of your images, both basic and deep image retouching, or even change the image completely beyond all recognition. Photoshop supports all image formats and works with raw files best of all. You can download free Photoshop actions, free Photoshop overlays, free Photoshop textures, and free Photoshop brushes to make your photo retouching faster and professional.
Adobe Photoshop CC is also popular among artists for a number of reasons. Except for a huge selection of tools, the main advantage is the support of all Wacom graphics tablets, as well as other manufacturers, and you will not have any failures or various problems in your work. The trial version provides you with 2GB of storage in the Creative cloud for free and allows you to transfer your photos between all of the Creative Cloud programs quickly, anywhere, and on any device.
Free Trial FAQ:
How can I get a trial version of Photoshop CC?
Download and register for your account in Creative Cloud, and after that, you can download a Photoshop free trial version and other free and paid apps.
Can you like songs on spotify free. Will the program be deleted after the trial period?
No. You will be asked to prolong your subscription by purchasing one of several paid subscriptions - Creative Cloud All Apps or Single App. After your buy it, Photoshop will be automatically licensed upon relaunch.
Is it a full version of the program?
Yes, this is a fully-fledged Photoshop software with all the features that are available for a paid subscription.
Can I officially get the full free version of Photoshop?
At the moment, you can only get the CS2 version of a decade ago for free, Photoshop CC is only available in trial mode or by subscription. You can pay attention to the mobile apps from Adobe.
Is it necessary to register with Creative Cloud?
Yes, it is. Now all Adobe products are available only through Creative Cloud. Their separate work is impossible, and you need to register even on mobile devices. 2. Photoshop CS2 Free
Not many people know, but Adobe gives away all CS2 programs, as well as Adobe Acrobat 7 for free. But do not be so happy that you now have a “slightly” old version of a popular photo editing software. This version is over 10 years old, and accordingly all the problems that have been eliminated in the next versions remained here. There is no support for new formats, and, accordingly, there is no work with the Creative Cloud. One of the problems is Adobe's disclaimer, so the company will not assist you in correcting any malfunctions, i.e., there is no support from Adobe
The very first versions of Photoshop allowed you to do only elementary actions, such as cropping, formatting, and basic photo editing. Subsequent versions opened up more and more opportunities for the user to work. The latest CC version practically does not contain any failures in work, and it has a very wide range of capabilities, which we talked about above. A lot of people were pleased with the news that Adobe completely released its CS2 series of free Adobe Photoshop programs and now you have a chance to download the CS2 version absolutely free and legally. In order to get Adobe Photoshop CS2 for free you need:
Adobe Photoshop Trial Version Download
1. Register the Adobe ID
If you do not have an Adobe ID account yet, then you need to register it. Follow the link above and enter your data for registration, and click “Create” at the bottom of the page.
2. Go to the download page of the CS2 package
I’m sure that not everyone will be able to find the CS2 download page, maybe just by accident. It will be much more convenient to follow the direct link we provided below.
Clicking on the link you need to accept the terms of the agreement where it is stated that Adobe does not bear the responsibility for the functioning of such programs, then select the program language and go to Photoshop CS2 with links to download the installation files, and with the serial code.
Be careful, because the CS2 was released at the time of the existence of such operating systems:
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And it stably works only with them. With newer versions of the OS, such as Windows 10 and macOS Mojave, there may be some delays or your OS will refuse to install the free Photoshop at all.
Even if this program is old, it still remains one of the most powerful tools for drawing and photo editing free. This is the only way to get a full-fledged Photoshop software forever and for free. https://heavenlyideas311.weebly.com/free-unlock-code-for-zte-z798bl.html.
3. Photoshop Elements Trial
For those who have never met this program, it may become something new. This program was created for those people who do not need all wide opportunities of Photoshop, but only its basic functions so that nothing could prevent their use. It is a little more than Instagram or VSCO, but less than Photoshop.
You can download a 30-day Photoshop Elements free trial version clocking on the button above because you will not find it in the product lists on the Adobe website. It is not in Creative Cloud as well, and I do not really understand why.
The program contains many elements of Photoshop, including a full-fledged Camera RAW for the color correction. In general, this free Photoshop alternative is enough to work with the primary image editing - trimming, color correction, basic retouching. You can't do anything more, but if you don't need it, the Photoshop Elements is a great choice.
4. Photoshop Express MobileAdobe Photoshop Trial Download Free
If you often work on mobile devices or a tablet, then you have an absolutely free and official version of Photoshop – Adobe Photoshop Express. It is not limited in time and works with Creative Cloud and, moreover, it has its own cloud. However, there is no function of convenient and full-fledged retouching. You will be able only to edit skin imperfections, and some more, otherwise there is the color correction and applying the filters. The program is more like Photoshop Express, not a full-fledged Photoshop, but it is free, and this is an advantage.
What Сan You Do with the Mobile Version?
Adobe Photoshop Trial Cs4
1. Open RAW Photos + Use Dozens of Effects
That’s extremely rare for mobile applications, even for Photoshop alternatives free, but in Photoshop Express you can work with RAW. The number of effects is really just huge. I also like that you can adjust the degree of their intensity.
2. The Possibility of High-Quality Color Correction + Basic Retouching
As in Lightroom Mobile, you can do really a lot of things with color. There is an Auto color correction that works just as well. With the help of the healing brush tool, you can correct some skin imperfections. There is also an automatic red-eye removal.
3. Continue to Work at Creative Cloud
If you are editing on the road, you can send your photo to your library or to the cloud in order to continue working with it or send it to your computer after that. You can also send a photo to Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.
Why Shouldn’t You Use the Pirated Version of Photoshop?
Many beginners, as well as amateurs, are tempted to use Photoshop CC illegally, as it saves their money. Although I consider that $ 9.99/month, that is, $ 120/year is just ridiculous for such a powerful program as Photoshop, especially you will get two additional versions Lightroom and 20GB of cloud storage.
Many photographers are convinced that the subscription system is wrong, and that earlier it used to be better when you just purchased it and forgot. But Photoshop CS6 now costs more than $600, and it means that you can pay 5 years for the Photoshop CC. For this time, you will earn ten times more. People pay the same amount for Netflix or Apple Music with pleasure, but this doesn’t affect their careers at all, it’s just entertainment. But paying for something that helps you make money every day isn’t, no, why?
Using Pirated Software is Illegal
If you want to continue your business for several years, and not pay a fine of $1,500 for using illegal programs, it makes sense to pay $10 for Photoshop monthly subscription.
You are Professional Enough to Be Serious about Your Business
No one will work professionally with a photographer who uses illegal software, and if your career is really important to you, do not use pirated software.
Help from the Photo Communities and Producers that will Support You
If you facе any issue in the program, you can always turn to Adobe support, where you get some help in solving your problems. In the pirated version, this function is unavailable for you.
Pirated Copies are Invalid and do not Always Work as Planned
Due to the absence of any updates and fixing the problems in the work, errors and failures will haunt you more and more, so it is better to resist the temptation of getting a Photoshop free download.
Forget about the Creative Cloud and Cloud Services
A huge advantage of working with the Photoshop CC license is cloud software, as well as quick transition from Photoshop to Lightroom.
Best Free Photoshop Alternatives
It’s very difficult to find a completely free Photoshop alternative, because this software is the most powerful photo editing program, and it has a very low price in comparison with its paid analogues. But if using Adobe programs is not a matter of principle for you, and you want a full-fledged program for free, then you can use programs like Photoshop.
Professional photo retouching for beginning and professional photographers from $5 per photo. Let FixThePhoto team edit your portrait, baby, wedding, product, real estate, street or landscape photography fast, affordable, and secure!
GIMP
If you want to have an almost as powerful and functional product like Adobe Photoshop, GIMP is considered to be one of the best alternatives. It is not only free, but it also has open source software, which allows a huge number of users to work on its improvement. Thanks to this, many plug-ins and add-ons are written for GIMP, and it can also work with plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop. Another advantage of GIMP image editing software is that it appeared in the mid-90s, and over the years, a huge number of free courses and instructions for working with it have accumulated on the web.
Paint.NET
Paint.NET is an old project created as an alternative to Microsoft Paint, but over time, it turned into a powerful and at the same time simple editor, which is able to solve the majority of amateur and semi-professional tasks.
Paint.NET supports working with layers, but it is necessary to connect a separate plugin for masks. The application has a large selection of filters and all sorts of tools, but not as wide as that of the GIMP free Photoshop analogue. Paint.NET has a simple and comprehensible interface, and the photo editor works quickly even on quite weak computers.
Pixlr
Sometimes photos you have to edit the photos on a computer where you simply do not have permission to install programs, or you need a program that you can run at any time on any computer with Internet access. Then the Pixlr Editor is a great choice. This is a web application, and it means that it works directly in the browser. Pixlr Editor supports much of what other free photo editors have. The only thing missing is the automation of routine tasks, and the ability to create macros. Nevertheless, this free Photoshop online analogue can perform the operations on several images simultaneously, and it works perfectly with RAW.
PhotoScape
The interface of another Adobe Photoshop free alternative will be comprehensible and convenient at the same time for both beginners and advanced users. Photo Pos Pro supports not only layers but also free Photoshop actions analogues for quick work with common tasks.
Previously, the program was shareware, allowing you to save images only in the resolution of a small format. But more recently, Photo Pos Pro can be used for free without restrictions, and if you wish, you can support the project with a donation. Unfortunately, it works only with Windows.
Krita
Krita isn’t very popular free Photoshop editor analogue. I like that its interface resembles Photoshop - the toolbars are situated in a very similar manner. By default, it has a dark theme (however you may customize it if you’d like to have different) and the tools themselves are very similar to Adobe. There’s support for tools, and you may also open multiple tabs, like in Photoshop. It's completely free, but there’s a paid version available for everyone who would like to support developers.
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