I've been playing with it for a few days now, and and IMHO it was completely worth it. I should tell you that I'm running it on a Windows Vista 64-bit system, a triple-core processor and 4GB ram (soon to be upgraded to 8). I recently did some upgrades on my computer, so the speed comparison is against my old one which was a Pentium 4 running Windows XP, and while it had 4GB of ram, only 3GB was usable, and it was the 32-bit version.\
Although I've been hesitant to make the move to Vista (being a PC guy), I am very happy that I went 64-bit. Now, I can expand that RAM up to 128GB (if I wanted to), and the OS and applications can take advantage of it, unlike my XP 32-bit system.
All that being said, CS4 screams on this machine with 64-bit and the GPU enhancements. WOW! The large file performance, which in my world is anything above 200MB, is awesome. I'd say that the large files are being handled as fast as 20MB files would have before.
ACR 5.0 has some really nice improvements with the localized exposure control, GND tool and other little tweaks.
I really like the new pannels interface. It makes working with various adjustment layers much faster and easier. I especially like the feature where you can make adjustments by moving your cursor up and down (or left or right, depending on the adjustment) over the area of the photo you want to change. For example, in curves, you hover over the dark area, click and roll up or down and only that area of the curve is adjusted. Move it to a highlight, move up or down, and only the highlights on that part of the curve are adjusted. You can do the same thing when adusting specific colors, etc. They've made many little improvements like that that eliminate extra mouse clicks or key strokes. While the pannels look different, I found it very easy to learn.
I like the fact that you can see the sharpness of your image at any zoom level (if PS can use a compatible video card to access the GPU). You no longer have to look at an image at 25, 50, 75 or 100%. There are no more "jaggies".
When you zoom in to the greatest magnification, you can clearly see each pixel, seperated by a little border that makes it very easy to make pin point adjustments if you want.
The ability to combine photos of the same image at differnt focus points to creat extream depth of field is very cool. I feel that photo-merge is even better.
I haven't messed around to much with content aware scaling. For it to work very well, you have to have the right elements in the photograph to keep things looking right. It's not a gimme. You aren't going to be able to squeeze all your photographs into a 4x5 ratio from full frame, but you might be able to do that when the situation and scene is right. It is a pretty cool tool though. I'm sure it will evoke some conversations regarding the extent of image manipulation.
Another nice thing. The clone tool. You can now see exactly what you are cloning before you commit. For example, say you are going to clone something with a defined line, and you want that line to match up perfectly in the spot you are going to clone, well, inside your clone brush is a preview of exactly what it will look like. You then can get it lined up just perfectly and then click and hold to clone, and everything on that line is perfectly aligned. Pretty sweet.
Oh yeah, did I mention its very fast (on a comparable machine as mine)?
There are more little things here and there. If you've been thinking of whether the upgrade is worth it or not, I'd say if you don't already have CS3, you should definately do the upgrade. If you are using CS3, I wouldn't say it is critical, especially if you aren't running a video card that PS can use the GPU from, or if you aren't running a 64-bit operating system (the 64-bit advantage is only available on Windows machins at this time). Personally, the updates to ACR, some new functions in PS and the new panels interface in PS made it worth while to me. It's probably not critical for people using Lightroom 2.0 either, but I would recommend the upgrade to anyone.
*Important - If you are going to load the 64-bit version, keep in mind that your 32-bit plug-ins will probably not work. Many 3rd party developers are making 64-bit versions, and I think most will offer them for free to licensed users, but if you have a plug-in you can't live without, you'll want to wait to upgrade to 64-bit.
Posted by Bill Chambers on October 21, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Thanks Ryan, lots of good info.
Posted by John Mumaw on October 21, 2008 at 7:30 PM
Great review, Ryan!
I also upgraded my old computer to Vista 64 bit with some hesitation, but it's worked out very, very well for me.
I should be receiving my copy of CS4 any day now, so this is great news. Not so great about the plug-ins, but I'll take that as it comes.
Thanks again for taking the time and effort to write this!
Posted by Kelly Rowe on October 22, 2008 at 5:56 AM
I'm on CS3 now and will wait for CS5 for Mac 64-bit support. Then only after my critical plugins are upgraded.
Posted by Greg Barteluk on October 22, 2008 at 7:12 AM
You can have your cake and eat it to a certain extent with plugins. Any plugins that won't work in the CS4 64 bit can be installed in the CS4 32 bit version, and when you need to sharpen, noise reduce, or whatever, just switch between versions. Not a perfect solution, but it does work.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 29, 2008 at 2:21 PM
I use a Mac Pro for my primary photo editing. It's a dual quad-core at 3.0 GHz, with 4 GB of RAM (I do software development work as well). I'm trying to talk myself into buying CS4. Is there someone with a Mac who can chime in with their experiences with PS CS4? Does it break Noise Ninja? Are the user interface improvements worth the price? Are there new features? Improved photo processing?
Discussion
5 repliesAlthough I've been hesitant to make the move to Vista (being a PC guy), I am very happy that I went 64-bit. Now, I can expand that RAM up to 128GB (if I wanted to), and the OS and applications can take advantage of it, unlike my XP 32-bit system.
All that being said, CS4 screams on this machine with 64-bit and the GPU enhancements. WOW! The large file performance, which in my world is anything above 200MB, is awesome. I'd say that the large files are being handled as fast as 20MB files would have before.
ACR 5.0 has some really nice improvements with the localized exposure control, GND tool and other little tweaks.
I really like the new pannels interface. It makes working with various adjustment layers much faster and easier. I especially like the feature where you can make adjustments by moving your cursor up and down (or left or right, depending on the adjustment) over the area of the photo you want to change. For example, in curves, you hover over the dark area, click and roll up or down and only that area of the curve is adjusted. Move it to a highlight, move up or down, and only the highlights on that part of the curve are adjusted. You can do the same thing when adusting specific colors, etc. They've made many little improvements like that that eliminate extra mouse clicks or key strokes. While the pannels look different, I found it very easy to learn.
I like the fact that you can see the sharpness of your image at any zoom level (if PS can use a compatible video card to access the GPU). You no longer have to look at an image at 25, 50, 75 or 100%. There are no more "jaggies".
When you zoom in to the greatest magnification, you can clearly see each pixel, seperated by a little border that makes it very easy to make pin point adjustments if you want.
The ability to combine photos of the same image at differnt focus points to creat extream depth of field is very cool. I feel that photo-merge is even better.
I haven't messed around to much with content aware scaling. For it to work very well, you have to have the right elements in the photograph to keep things looking right. It's not a gimme. You aren't going to be able to squeeze all your photographs into a 4x5 ratio from full frame, but you might be able to do that when the situation and scene is right. It is a pretty cool tool though. I'm sure it will evoke some conversations regarding the extent of image manipulation.
Another nice thing. The clone tool. You can now see exactly what you are cloning before you commit. For example, say you are going to clone something with a defined line, and you want that line to match up perfectly in the spot you are going to clone, well, inside your clone brush is a preview of exactly what it will look like. You then can get it lined up just perfectly and then click and hold to clone, and everything on that line is perfectly aligned. Pretty sweet.
Oh yeah, did I mention its very fast (on a comparable machine as mine)?
There are more little things here and there. If you've been thinking of whether the upgrade is worth it or not, I'd say if you don't already have CS3, you should definately do the upgrade. If you are using CS3, I wouldn't say it is critical, especially if you aren't running a video card that PS can use the GPU from, or if you aren't running a 64-bit operating system (the 64-bit advantage is only available on Windows machins at this time). Personally, the updates to ACR, some new functions in PS and the new panels interface in PS made it worth while to me. It's probably not critical for people using Lightroom 2.0 either, but I would recommend the upgrade to anyone.
*Important - If you are going to load the 64-bit version, keep in mind that your 32-bit plug-ins will probably not work. Many 3rd party developers are making 64-bit versions, and I think most will offer them for free to licensed users, but if you have a plug-in you can't live without, you'll want to wait to upgrade to 64-bit.
I also upgraded my old computer to Vista 64 bit with some hesitation, but it's worked out very, very well for me.
I should be receiving my copy of CS4 any day now, so this is great news. Not so great about the plug-ins, but I'll take that as it comes.
Thanks again for taking the time and effort to write this!