I have Photoshop 5. I want to know why I should upgrade to Photoshop 6 or 7. Or if should upgrade. Any huge improvements? New features? Thanks.
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Dunno, take a long, hard look at your skill base, cross reference that to your actual need of the two features, then compare to the money in your bank account 
I like to keep my software up-to-date, using OS X has been pretty easy so far, not too many paid upgrades have come along. Also depends on what OS you are using, if you are using OS X, I'd say upgrade, nothing like not having to wait on classic.
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If you are going to upgrade your OS anyway, I'd definately suggest the upgrade
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If anyone here has actually used both version 5 and later versions extensively enough to be able to compare 'n' contrast, I'd appreciate this too. I'm still running 5.5 within Classic, and have seen no compelling reason to upgrade, though I've not tried any newer versions.
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i use photoshop alot. yeah. anyway for me personally there were only two resaons to upgrade from 5 to 6. one was the way photoshop handled txt. instead of doing it in that self contained txt windown that pops up in 5 it does it live on your picture in 6. pretty nice if you do alot of playing with txt for site design or logos etc. 2nd, i think this was exclusive to 6 for the 1st time, when you have many layers, 6 allows you to create a folder in your layers and put layers in it. so that way if im coloring a soldier right? i have 5 layers for his face, another three for his legs, 5 for his arms etc, i can put these layers within thier own folders and better organize where things are without scrolling around alot or searching. other than these two things i would still be using 5.5. ive used 7 at my friends extensively and so far am not impressed with its considerable bulk above which 6 had and how much slower it runs especially in osx. not if you have a 800 mhz g4 but generally you can feel the speed difference in the 400-600mhz range. id only upgrade to 7 if i was a ameatur photo toucher upper therefore could use the "healing wand". the only other real reason i see for using 7 at all is maybe down the orad when i buy a new mac that cant run os9 so i have to run osx with ps7. basically i barely saw a reason to upgrade from 4 to 5.5 in the 1st place. 5.5 to six was just really me hating the way txt was handled and the folders in layers ability was a bonus when some of my files have 100layers plus.
im my humble opinion photoshop 5.5 coupled with 8.6 is one hell of a package. my only prob with 8.6 is compatability with latest games etc or media that "demanded 9.1". that is really the only resaon i switched. one thing i learned when i didnt have the money for the 1st time to mass witch to OSX. i sat down and compared and used the new upgrades on my firends machine and for the 1st time ever saw i really didnt need upgrades, its just that my student discount made them look good. with that in mind i tested ps7, went back to 6. i had illsutrator 9, went back to 7. i find that unless your in the area of xtreme webdesign or high res printing that the newer photoshop dont offer you anything new or even easier to do. ill be using 6 for a long time to come.
so after 8 years and using photoshop 3 through 7, i have to say 5.5 is the best streamlined photoshop version with must have features. unforeteanatly i got picky then lazy and ended up using the beefier 6 for other reasons. for making out and out killer graphics FOR ALL TIME 5.5 is the perfect version.
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I wouldnt say the PERFECT vs... newer is almost always better, even thought 6 wasnt really worth the upgrade cost going straight from 5.5 to 7 is a good thing. Though there is nothing wrong with 5.5 i find 7 to be even more streamlined and yes, i do notice a speed increase on OS X 10.5.2
My mom is still using 5.5, never installed it after she bought it, go fig...When im on her machine i keep telling myself that i need to upgade her 'cause she never will, in other words, i miss 7 when using 5.5. Then again she is still on 9.2. Still struggling with the whole idea of upgrading the system, guess she never will 'till she has something that NEEDS it.
Anyway, point is u may not need it but if the money is there then get it because it is simply a better version. But dont go to 6, either go to 7 or not at all, i dont consider 6 to offer enough to bother with spending money on it and 5.5 is getting a bit old now that we have OS X, so get 7 when u can.
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Le fou prince de mort et de violence ne sait pas de limite ŕ sa cruauté. "Il n'y a rien si cruel comme un enfant."
