Photoshop CS3 - Worth It?

For those folks who have moved to Adobe Photoshop CS3 - is the upgrade worth it for photographers? Are there improvments to, say, sharpening and contrast tools? Any feedback or reviewes would be appreciated.

Thanks

To me it's worth it. The Quick Selection tool is very nice, B&W conversion is easier and quicker, and the newer Curves (with histogram) is great. Adobe Bridge is nicer, and ACR is MUCH nicer (it gives C1 some competition now). Plus, it's just nice to stay abreast of the latest edition too IMO.

In a word, yes.

The print dialog now includes color management controls for much better colorspace workflow.
Smart Filters add non-destructive editing capability.
ACR is vastly improved. It can handle NEF relatively well now with the out-of-the-box settings, and includes a refined variation of the shadow/highlight tool.
Bridge is much nicer (given my current workflow, I would consider using Bridge now instead...).
Healing brush has a new "auto" mode which works well on many images.

I've been told stitching and merging are better, too, though I haven't tried it.

In all honesty I probably would not upgrade from CS2 if I stayed on a PC. For the Intel Macs though, CS3 is a huge performance boost. The new features are "cool" but not anything that would make groundbreaking improvements in my work. Then again, once you make the initial purchase the $199 for the upgrade is not a bad deal.

Guy

Photo merge has significantly improved in its automatic blending capabilities.
Along with the other improvements mentioned in ACR and Bridge, CS3 was worth the upgrade for me.

I guess I should mention I already own AutoPano Pro so the improvements in PhotoMerge are not as important to me. If I didn't, it would definitely be a factor.

Guy

Yes its worth the upgrade. Professional photographers, believe it or not, don’t always upgrade every time there is a new version of Photoshop. Adobe, of course, say that all versions of Photoshop have been important revisions in the history of the software, as they don’t ‘slack off’ during any single developmental period.

New features include:
New User Interface (UI)
1. Auto-Align Layers and Auto-Blend Layers
2. Brightness/Contrast (IMPROVED)
3. Curves (IMPROVED)
4. Device Central (NEW)
5. Black & White (NEW)
6. Smart Filters (NEW)
7. Quick Selection and Refine Edge (NEW)
8. Clone Source and ‘Ignore adjustment layers’ option (NEW)
9. Vanishing Point (IMPROVED)

Photomerge, Curves, Black & White and Smart Filters are the new features that will impact most on my own workflow. These features herald increased efficiency and flexibility.

If you use RAW, camera RAW is much more flexible. Many shots I couldn't properly manage in CS2 (limited PS skills), have found a new lease of life with CS3 due to the new RAW options.