Upgrade Photoshop |
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Should you Upgrade Photoshop? |
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Adobe is a prolific company - they create and maintain a lot of software titles, many of which are complex
market-leading programs. Increasingly however, there is a trend towards very frequent releases of their
key titles, which can leave you wondering whether a Photoshop Upgrade is worth your money. Here
are a few guidelines to help you avoid frustration. |
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Know the Update Schedule If you're aware of the general pattern which updates to Adobe software follow, you'll be able to get some idea of how that fits with your needs. As far as Photoshop goes, these are good approximations:
The trend has been for this gap to remain remarkably constant. The Photoshop CS2 Upgrade was followed by a longer gap of 24 months, but apart from that all the CS releases have been exactly 18 months apart. Unlike with Photoshop Elements, generally the Photoshop upgrade for Mac is released at exactly the same time as the Windows update. If you want to see a more complete history of Photoshop Upgrades, take a look at my Photoshop Upgrade History. When is the next Photoshop Upgrade Coming? Having seen how often updates are released, now check when the next update is due. Adobe might have issued a release date, but even if they haven't, the updates are regular enough that you can probably predict the next one to within a month or two.
Obviously if you think an upgrade is due in a month or two, that's a good sign that now is NOT the month to upgrade. Count the Cost Adobe give upgrade discounts on Photoshop products ranging between around 70% off and 20% off. The Photoshop CS versions generally qualify for much better discounts than Photoshop Elements, because the initial outlay is greater. (Please note that all prices on this page are in US dollars, and are subject to change. The Adobe website will give the most up-to-date price). Currently, you can upgrade to Photoshop CS4 if you have any version of Photoshop CS, CS2 or CS3. The upgrade version will cost you just $199, instead of $699 for the full version, which is a massive 70%+ off. That compares to 20% discounts for Elements customers. You can also get an Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrade edition if you own a copy of Photoshop Elements. If you've already bought Photoshop Elements 4, 5, 6, or 7 for Windows, or Photoshop Elements 3, 4, or 6 for Mac, you can buy Photoshop CS4 Upgrade edition for $599 instead of $699, which is roughly a 15% discount. Not as big a saving initially, but of course afterwards you'll be eligible for much better discounts when upgrading to future versions. There are other upgrades available if you're thinking of upgrading to Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended version, but from what I can see, Photoshop CS4 Extended is really intended to be bought as part of a Creative Suite Bundle, and it's not necessarily cost effective to buy it on its own. These prices may have changed slightly, or there may be special offers on - Check Adobe's special offer hot-page. If you're thinking of upgrading to Photoshop from Photoshop Elements, check out my comparison page which explains more about Photoshop vs Elements. My Advice For Photoshop CS users, especially those using Photoshop in their profession, I don't have any issue with recommending that you upgrade Photoshop as Adobe releases new versions, and stick with the latest software. Adobe add a lot of value in each new release of their Creative Studio, and so the cost is quite often justified. If you bought CS as a hobby user, you might be happy to stick a few versions behind. For Photoshop Elements users however, I couldn't honestly recommend that you upgrade Photoshop Elements every year. In my opinion, annual version releases are just too frequent, and there isn't enough added in each version to warrant upgrading each time for all but the most committed Elements users. I recommend you upgrade roughly once for every two versions that Adobe releases. |
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Kind Regards
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A page about Adobe Photoshop Upgrades
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