Adobe Photoshop Extended CS4 Student Edition

PhotoShop CS4 Extended has an improved interface focused on more productivity and ease of use. Photoshop CS4 Extended has no competition. I love it and would recommend it to anyone in digital photography.
Rating: 5 / 5

This was the one thing I asked for as a christmas present, as I am going into Design. I am very satisfied with the product, though I confess to having suffered a week of waiting for activation. No, I’m not impatient- I had read all of the horror stories about Adobe being non-responsive, and jumped to the conclusion that they had discarded my information and denied me of my serial code. This was *not* the case- it simply takes them a while to respond.

About Activation:

When I got my program, I sent the following documentations to Adobe to receive my serial (activation key) code:

-(scan) Driver’s License

-(scan) Community College ID (it did *not* have a date of issue on it)

-(digital document) Copy of my upcoming class schedule (which also had a summary of costs on the bottom).

-(digital document) Unofficial college transcript.

I might have sent in far more documentation than I truly needed to. However, I am the type to go with excess over lack, especially when it involves a product that was relatively expensive.

I sent my documents in for the serial code a day or two following Christmas day, and I got my code e-mailed to me within a week or so (a little more or less). Make sure to follow the serial code application process on the website, *DO NOT* simply e-mail or fax someone your scans and documents without going through the application process. I assume that more than a few people didn’t apply properly, because I can’t imagine the company turning down those who would apply properly with higher forms of documentation than I submitted.

The online application process involves manually uploading however many proofs of enrollment/identity that you want, the filling out of different fields, etc. It is very easy if you have ever registered for anything online before.

After the application is complete and submitted, you should get an e-mail confirming the submission that will also say that you should receive a code shortly if you have been approved. Adobe typically won’t send status update emails or even contact you for any reason between the time you receive the confirmation e-mail and the e-mail containing your serial code. Also, they probably won’t respond to question e-mails you send them (they seemed to have ignored the three I sent). Just finish your application, and wait a little while. If you don’t hear anything from them for more than a couple of weeks, contact them ***by phone***.

Oh, and you *have* to open the product to get the product code that you send in. It is in a small booklet inside of the box.

About the Product:

I had used Cs3 for about a year before trying Cs4. I upgraded because I wanted to have the mode up-to-date version in preparation for college courses that use it. I understand that people might dislike long, tangent reviews, so here is a pro and con list:

Pro’s:

-The new 3D feature seems cool, though I haven’t used it.

-The new interface is easy on the eyes and very professional. The only thing that’s wierd is that, by default, the layers are hidden. To bring them up, simply click on the layers tab on the bottom right of the program window twice or so (unless your cursor settings are customized to double-click on a single click).

-I don’t know if this is a legitimate statement, but I have noticed that the colors are a bit clearer. Also, there is a new Vibrancy setting that is very nice for creating powerful shades and tones.

-There are surely other things that I have not yet discovered (I haven’t had the chance to use the program much since I got it).

Con’s:

-Lag, lag, lag. This program uses (seemingly) much more RAM than its predecessors. Make sure you have atleast 2 or 3 GB of RAM and preferrably a 64-bit version of Windows installed. More layers tend to create more lag, so flatten the groups of layers that you are done with if you run a slower computer.

-Glitches. I’ve noticed some glitches in this program that had not existed in the previous versions. The most memorable one was in using the pen tool…the cursor was making paths spaz out (spinning and stuff) without me doing anything to cause it. At first, I thought the mouse was the problem- so I plugged my sister’s mouse in, and the same thing happened. This problem, along with other glitches, can easily be fixed my simply restarting the program. Make sure to save and work before you do this.

-Unfortunately most of the bad things about the previous programs (I had used Cs3 and Photoshop 7 prior to this)still exist in some way or another in this program.

I love this product, but I am not impressed at how unresponsibe the company behind it is.

I fail to see how this is terribly better than Cs3 or even Cs4. The best thing to do before purchasing this product is to consider how and why you will be using it. If you are a recreational digital artist, and won’t be taking classes, then you should hold on to your Cs3 or previous versions. If you are a student like me, on the other hand, or a professional, then this is the right choice.

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Rating: 5 / 5