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

I *just* got my upgrade a few days ago. I was a little worried about installing the upgrade, because sometimes they aren't real stable right away. But this one installed like a breeze, and seems to be very stable.

I am on a 500 MHz G3 iMac, with 768 megs of RAM, OS 9.2.1. (I have OS X, but don't use it much yet.) Photoshop 7 installed GREAT. No problems at all. And none of that irritating "CD-swapping" nonsense that was present in the upgrade for Photoshop 6. A very easy upgrade process.

As far as Photoshop 7 goes - what's there not to like? The "heal" brush is very cool, and I LOVE (love love love) the "browse" function. I have WAY too many graphic files, digital camera files, etc., and it's always been time-consuming to wade through them all to find the picture I want. The browse function makes this so much easier. This, (to me) was a major reason to upgrade. I know there are a lot of other additions that I haven't noticed yet (I've only had it a few days) but so far, I am most pleased.

I like the enhanced filter window. Now, FINALLY, we can see how the filter is going to affect the picture, because the preview window is big enough! There are a lot of other additions and tweaks that I really like.

One that elates me is the ability to re-name a layer without having to deal with a window that pops up. Now, you just double-click on the title text that you want to change on the layer palette, change the layer name RIGHT THERE, and then press "return" to set the changes! FINALLY a decent way to change layer names!

The new "brush engine" is very fabulous too. I haven't worked with it much, but so far, I like!

There are a lot of great tweaks, enhancements and adjustments that I am noticing. Very nice. Very happy. Works well with my little iMac. It does need a lot of RAM, though - but so did version 6. Throw as much RAM as you can at it.

I like the "heal" brush, but this upgrade isn't necessary in order to achieve the same results without it. I noticed several glitches when using the Rubber Stamp tool when you are working close to the edge of the document...it doesn't clone from the precise spot you indicate sometimes and this is VERY annoying (Photoshop 5 is more reliable in this area). I like the larger previews in the Filter windows (they are over twice as large as in Photoshop 5.) The brushes are nice and are easier to select sizes, etc. than previous versions. Overall, the added features are nice, but they aren't necessary and don't justify the upgrade cost. It seems like software is updated now just for the heck of it and the extra money they generate. Adobe should wait until they have something major to add before releasing another upgrade to this program.

Reviewer: A software user from Berkshire, United Kingdom
At first glance this upgrade may look like it offers little new other than the healing brush, but a little closer inspection shows that there are a multitude of new tools including the Healing Brush, the Patch tool, the new brush options, the ability to create your own new tool presets and workspaces, enhancements to the liquify tools, the introduction of the pattern maker, the new auto-colour command, support for JavaScript, AppleScript and Visual Basic scripting, and numerous other introductions and enhancements. Granted not every enhancement or new feature is relevant to everyone's workflow especially because both print and web designers use the application - but to dismiss it out of hand as a meagre upgrade is shortsighted. Maybe it just takes a little time and patience to find all of those new features.

Another reviewer mentioned "An annoying feature is the lack of being able to switch to multiple open document windows via the Windows menu" - this feature is there, just use Windows > Document and all the open documents are listed.

Just by having a look at the table of contents for the Photoshop 7 Upgrade Essentials book - the TOC is on the Amazon.com site - you'll get a better idea of all those features. Then you can consider for yourself whether to invest in the latest release!

Adobe has grown up in many respects... and this is living proof. Photoshop is far from being perfect, but this comes very close.

The healing brush alone is worth the upgrade. When I heard it advertised, I thought it was just another name for the clone tool... wrong. You must see it demonstrated to appreciate how fantastic it is. The patch tool is similar, but works better on fabrics and backdrops rather than skin.

The new docking palette well is a great add-on feature, especially for those who are trying to conserve precious screen real estate.

The character palette from Illustrator now joins Photoshop and the two programs talk to each other more than in previous versions. Illustrator 10, InDesign 2 and Photoshop 7 now can communicate to each other via an XML layer in which you can connect 3 different types of documents to a single Excel spreadsheet... so if (for example), you're designing a menu, you can instantly change prices, currency (Yen, Dollar, Euro, etc.) and other data without having to go back in and change currency symbols or alter figures in typesetting.

An annoying feature is the lack of being able to switch to multiple open document windows via the Windows menu... and the arrow on the layer's palette has a "dock to palette well" selection on the top of the contextual menu, so if you've been used to creating a new layer from this menu since version 3.0, you're going to accidentally dock the layers palette instead the first dozen (or so) times out of habit, since the "New Layer" selection has moved down a notch.

Some tools have been juggled and moved around... it took me 10 minutes to find the "Invert" option just yesterday... but the command-i short-cut still works as it used to.

Another awesome feature is the ability to save a workspace in a certain formation. This allows multiple users on the same computer have their own settings as to what palette sits on what location on what monitor, etc.

I know that by the time I really start feeling comfortable in 7.0, 7.5 or 8.0 will be shipping... it takes so long to get your feet wet w/ these new versions - but this upgrade is worth every penny.

While it will work fine in OS 9.1 and higher, it really excels in OS X. Adobe created Photoshop 7 to run natively in OS X and it takes advantage of the open GL graphics layer in OS X. Photoshop 7 also allows you to save your documents as a Photoshop PDF... this is not the same as previous versions when you just saved to a PDF... it's a Photoshop PDF. This means you can save to PDF, send it to colleagues who can then add comments, etc. When you get the document back w/ comments, you can open the PDF up in Photoshop and have the original document w/ all the layers, text, effects, etc. and the newly added comments on another layer. Applause to Adobe. This product rocks!

Photoshop 7 ranks as the best version upgrade for a long time. having been using for a couple of weeks, on occasions where i have had to go back to 6 ive missed the features ive already come to depend on in 7, which speaks volumes in itself.
Firstly the interface has been improved and streamlined, the context sensitive options bar speeds up workflow enormously, and finally after all these versions the ability to save custome tool settings, if you constantly find yourself retyping cropping tool settings et all, then youll appreciate what an advancement this is.
More layer blending modes to play with, improvements to most of the workhorse image adjustment areas, curves has had a major overhaul, and has become much more user friendly, not least with the ability to expand the size of the dialogue box.
The new tools are in fact great, the healing brush has that real wow factor, and is a great accomplice to the rubber stamp.
Even the texture generator seems to have some applications for creating original artwork.
The file browser is welcome, although for anyone who used to use Corel Photopaint, its merely something which has been missing from Photoshop for a long time.
Despite intitial scepticism, i think this is the best upgrade to Photoshop in a long time, although most of the enhancements should have materialised a couple of years ago, at least they have finally been incorporated.