Home > Consumer Reviews > Adobe Photoshop 6.0

I've been living with 4.0 for quite a while. The 3.0-to-4.0 upgrade wasn't that big of a deal so I waited through the 4.0-5.0 upgrade for 6.0 to come out. I do run Windows Vista on this PC so this upgrade was mainly to fix some problems that 4.0 had on Vista. After the upgrade to 6.0 and letting the upgrade chew through all photos overnight, I have to say it isn't a ton different than 4.0. Some tools are better, and maybe the smart image selection and panoramic tools are much better (haven't gone that deep into it yet), but the organizer is pretty much the same and runs at approximately the same speed. My photo scrolling is still stalled for 3 seconds every time it comes across a full resolution RAW photo as it was in 4.0. Running a full photo backup still changes the names of all my photos and puts them in a flat directory so I'm 100% locked to Adobe Photoshop Elements if I ever need to restore a backup. I really hate that! I won't use Adobe's internal backup again. It takes 10 seconds to delete a photo just like it did in 4.0. 4.0 would occasionally go to lunch if I scrolled with the wheel on the mouse. 6.0 doesn't seem to have any stability issues.

Overall, I feel suckered by Adobe into paying them to fix their own bugs with version 4.0 running on Vista. I've now paid over $300 for the initial purchase and subsequent upgrades for this package. My next upgrade may be to Google's Picasa where I can depend on it working though I may miss some features.

I'm a former Silicon Valley software nerd who has traded the fast life for a simple life raising a family in Colorado. Money doesn't go as far out here as it did in Silicon Vally. $75 for an upgrade is quite steep! I only do that for software that I love and depend upon. Photoshop Elements has been very important in communicating with the grandparents. Adobe needs to keep this product stable or I'll try something else the next time.

"Adobe Photoshop 6.0" is the way to go for photo editing. There are other options, but all are fundamentally inferior in consistency, comprehensive tools, cross-platform transfer ease.

I'm a writer by training... I'm not a designer, but design frequently in the course of creating websites and brochures for my clients. I was concerned the learning curve would be too much. It wasn't hard to learn Photoshop at all. Sure, there are more features that I've utilized, but I've come through unscathed.

Things I've been able to do:

* Lots of layers. Very handy for multi-element images, especially ones with different effects or text per layer. And I can hide these layers at will, revealling them with any opacity I want.

* Color adjustment. Got a buddy who looks a little green, or has that New Year's ruddy face? No problem. Tweak a few variables and your friend will look as sober as could be.

* Contrast. Useful for those pics you took that somehow seem a bit dark. You know it is all in the picture, and a little contrasting can reveal all.

* Great typographical tools. You can fine tune leading, letterspacing, and a multitude of other details which make an image shine.

If you design, you already know that knowing Photoshop well is the key to your success. Sure, you need Quark and Illustrator as well, but without Photoshop, you'll live among the unemployed.

If you don't design, and feel a bit intimidated by Photoshop professional-level reputation, realize that you might not need the power in this application. If getting the red out of your snapshots is your goal, or you simply want the ability to crop photos for some fun newsletters, this might be overkill. However, if you've already been down that route, using the software which came with your scanner or digital camera, but want to step up... step all the way up to "Adobe Photoshop 6.0."

I fully recommend "Adobe Photoshop 6.0."

Anthony Trendl

Photoshop 6 is it!
After getting it from my neighbor, new worlds have opened!!

Most of you reading this have heard of, or are using a version of Photoshop. That alone attests to its popularity. And you know the basics. The single most powerful raster graphics program around, made more powerful and flexible by the number of plug-ins available.

What's new:
"Vector shapes" - a little misleading in its meaning. Indeed they are vector shapes, but when saved, they are rasterized. Maybe future versions will integrate the fundamentals of Illustrator (or Freehand - both the best vector graphics programs available) a little better. But the shapes feature is quite useful for logos, and small icons.

Editable text effects - Not quite "text on a path," but a very welcome feature. After skewing the text with this feature, you are still able to alter font styles/sizes/colors with no problem.

Dockable Palettes - a great feature, if you have a large enough monitor (17" w/high-resolution setting, 19" w/mid-res setting), in order to see the dock. Allows you to place heavily used palettes in the upper right hand section, without having to move them around.

It has quite a few more feature, but those I've mentioned are my favorites. Coming from 5.0 to 5.5 was fairly unimpressive, but the jump to 6.0 has made it a worthwhile upgrade.

I have been using Photoshop since version 3. With each subsequent version, Adobe continues to add more and more features and functionality. These continued additions are what makes the program both wonderful and a monster all at the same moment. Photoshop is undeniably the number one tool for photographic and other image maniputlation. If you are looking to get into professional design this is the tool to learn. It is highly appropriate for both print and electronic design. There is little you can imagine that it cannot do. If however you are a beginner who simply wants to use a graphics package to make images for a personal website or edit family photographs, then buy something else. (I suggest Photoshop Elements.)

Photoshop is overkill for the non-professional user. Some might argue that buying a toolbox that contains every imaginable tool is best. I'd argue that you may break from the weight of all that it requires you to learn. If you buy this software realize it can take months and years to master. While the effort is truly worth it, decide first if you really want to invest not just the considerable purchase price, but also the personal cost of time to learn and master it.