Home > Consumer Reviews > Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]

Photoshop is a really good piece of software. Only thing is - don't expect anything like reason from Adobe. EG - If you have a disk crash and must reinstall Photoshop you cannot install 7 upgrade (just supplying disk from previous version as proof of ownership). First you must completely install older version, THEN install upgrade on top. Lots more time and effort because ? - because it's the way Adobe wants it. Fortunately ther's plenty of free support around the net - all kinds of resources- tutorials, brushes, actions, fills, etc.

I AM A FREELANCE PHOTOG, 90% 0F MY STUFF IS WITH REUTERS. IN PHOTOSHOP 7.0 WHICH I OWN, THERE IS A PROBLEM IN THE CATAGORY SECTION IN FILE INFO. THE SUPPLMENTIAL CATS. DONT SHOW UP ON THE DESKS PICTURES IM SENDING TO THEM??? I OPEN THE PICTURE IN PHOTOSHOP, GO TO FILE INFO, THEN TO CATAGORYS AND THE SUPPS ARE THERE BUT THE DESK IS SAYING THEY ARENT???? GUYS USING PHOTOSHOP 6.0 ARE NOT HAVING ANY PROBLEMS AT ALL.I WAS TOLD TO GO TO SIX OR IS THERE AN UPGRADE FOR THE 7.0 I BOUGHT AND IT MIGHT GET RID OF THE PROBLEM?? NOW I HAVE TO SPEND $119.00 TO BUY 6.0 TO GET RID OF THE PROBLEM. HAVE YOU HEARD OF ANY GLITCHES ON 7.0?
H E L P, JON WAY

Photoshop remains my favorite painting program. I'm a Photoshop 6.0 veteran, been using it since it came out, and I've learned my way around pretty well.

As an upgrade, I give 7.0 four stars. Why? There's just not that much more for that extra star. I was expecting a jump in features like the one between versions 5.5 and 6.0. Pretty much, they give you a new tool for repairing photos (this is great and worth it if you're interested in digital photography, of course: but for a web designer, it's useless), a few upgrades, and a prettier interface. As a web designer, I didn't find a whole lot more that's useful, so for the fellow web designers out there, it might not be worth it at all. But for the digital photographer with the extra money, grab it. That brush will probably be very useful to you.

As a new program, without a previous installation of Photoshop, FIVE STARS. GET IT NOW. I can't stress this enough. Photoshop will be worth it if you're looking to do this professionally; it is THE graphic design program out there right now. If you're just a home user that wants to fix up a photo or two, I don't think it's worth the $600+ just for that.

Although this update is not as big as the one from 5.5 to 6.0, it is still worth buying. Actually the healing brush/healing patch tool itself is worth the price of the upgrade. When you think of it, how many of us digital photographers would gladly pay that price for a plug-in that helps us fix blemishes, scratches and wrinkles in a couple seconds?

Another nice addition is the file browser. See all your pictures at a glance, rotate them, classify them, rate them, etc. You can also view all the metadata (data added by your digital camera), such as date taken, exposure, color profile, and others.

Adobe also reworked (OK... fixed) Contact Sheet, Web Gallery, and Picture Package. Those actually work now, and they'll do exactly what you want them to. I agree it should have been done right in the first place, but I'm just too happy they are usable now.

Photoshop 7.0 also lets you save your workspace. You can now place all your tabs and windows just the way you like them, and save the positions. I have 3 or 4 different workspaces I toggle through, depending on what I'm working on. This is a huge time saver. Once again, this could have been done before, but I'm glad it finally found its way to Photoshop.

Conclusion: the healing tool itself is worth the price. Think of the rest as a bonus. :)

For the past 3 years, I have been using Adobe Photoshop 2- which I must say, gave me a lot of satisfaction. Very simple to use, of course, but also provides the user with rapid results. The essential functions are there and if you use them properly many aspects of writing a page are taken care of.
With Photoshop 7, new dimensions are achieved. If you already know Adobe 2.0, it is very easy to become familiar with 7.0. Also, the precision and accuracy of the various functions reach a higher level and the additional possibilities leave more flexibility to individual creativity. This powerful software is becoming for me a must in all digital works and I cannot give it less than five stars. Michel Doret