Anyone update to CS4 from CS3?

Just wondering if there are any conflicts or issues? OSX user here. $900 for an update is pretty steep.

Hi Drew,

Until recently I have been using CS and upgraded (using my son's student licence...) to CS3 as I also upgraded my PC to a core 2 duo. Unfortunately, CS3 would not load despite disabling firewalls and anti virus measures and employing Adobe's rather complex 'workaround' advice. As my new hardware more that met the performance criteria for CS3 I made a constructive complaint to Adobe customer services who addressed the problem with a gratis copy of CS4.

I do not have any experience of CS3 due to the installation issues but I find CS4 very intuative and a dream to work with to the extent that I am now reprossessing all my images, achieving far better rersults and at a speed I wouldn't have believed.

HTH, Tim

Just wondering if there are any conflicts or issues? OSX

user here. $900 for an update is pretty steep.

Will lt you know, I have it but not have put it through any real paces yet. I am going to install it on the Octo Core 10.5.4 and perhaps a laptop - is there a combo that you are looking at (processor/OS) and any particular app you would like me to hammer a bit for you?

AE,Acrobat and PS are my main programs. I just don't want any nasty surprises like a wiped out server or something.

AE,Acrobat and PS are my main programs. I just don't want any nasty surprises like a wiped out server or something.

Started playing with it today since the earlier post. So far so good no major issues, and have been playing mostly with PS today

PS seems to be working well. Very fast on the Octo tower, was opening and closing and throwing things (rotations, filters, etc.) at some 12 Gig RAW files from the G9 since those are the largest RAWs I have and it was impressive. Stable, no unexpected quits or things like that, very snappy. Also installed the new RAW update that Adobe had via their Auto Updater. Will be using PS alot more in the next couple of days on this machine and can let you know how it goes.

Had AE open for a little bit to see how that worked but did not do anything heavy in it. Have not popped open Acrobat yet. Also FWIW opened Encore just to see what that is about, had not bothered before even though I had CS3, was curious to see how exporting to DVD, Flash and blu-ray would work out and also checking out the pop-up menus on the blu-ray (though it seems you need to burn a disc to actually see if it works, but I am still poking through the documentation on that one.) Also opened Premiere for S&Gs. Everything seemed to be working, though Encore quit once and it may have been user error there.

One thing to note is that I did an install on my machine which did not have a prior version of CS on it, was waiting for CS4 to load it on that one. Not sure if there are conflicts or not if the is done over a prior install...I will be putting my CS4 Design Collection on the laptop which does have the CS3 Design collection and can let you know how that goes if you like.

I installed it a few weeks ago. No problems so far, but I also haven't seen the kind of upgraded tools we see from LR 1 to 2. If the upgrade is $900, I'd wait. I think my upgrade from 3 to 4 was $299.

I installed it a few weeks ago. No problems so far, but I also haven't seen the kind of upgraded tools we see from LR 1 to 2. If the upgrade is $900, I'd wait. I think my upgrade from 3 to 4 was $299.

Think is depends on from what to what. I think the lowest for the Master Collection (which includes AE) was $899 and the Design Premium (for now) was $599.

I most highly recommend CS4 over CS3, adjustment layers palette is a dream to use. Running it under V64 on a Quad Core machine....zooom!

I am only running PS CS4 (non-extended). $ 169.15 (NAPP Member discount). upgraded from CS3 no problems.

Stu

Hi Drew,

 

Until recently I have been using CS and upgraded (using my son's student licence...) to CS3 as I also upgraded my PC to a core 2 duo. Unfortunately, CS3 would not load despite disabling firewalls and anti virus measures and employing Adobe's rather complex 'workaround' advice. As my new hardware more that met the performance criteria for CS3 I made a constructive complaint to Adobe customer services who addressed the problem with a gratis copy of CS4.

 

I do not have any experience of CS3 due to the installation issues but I find CS4 very intuative and a dream to work with to the extent that I am now reprossessing all my images, achieving far better rersults and at a speed I wouldn't have believed.

 

HTH, Tim

I am trying to up grade from CS2 to CS4 via a down load. The CS4 install will not accept the CS2 serial number (actually Creative Suite 2 Premium). I have that anoying on wait music in my blue tooth ear as I write. From the recorde msg, uping grading to CS4 from a perious version seems to be a common problem.

By contrast, LR 1 to LR2.1 -> 2.2 was a breeze. May be LR + Elements will be enough; CS maintainance is tedious.

Before my forehead hits the keyboard, any tips on the pervious license problem?

Regards,

Bob

Are you using the CS2 SN ? CS4 (when you purchase it) will have it's own unique SN, it verifies your update by asking for the CS2 Serial Number.

s.

I am trying to up grade from CS2 to CS4 via a down load. The CS4 install will not accept the CS2 serial number (actually Creative Suite 2 Premium). I have that anoying on wait music in my blue tooth ear as I write. From the recorde msg, uping grading to CS4 from a perious version seems to be a common problem.

By contrast, LR 1 to LR2.1 -> 2.2 was a breeze. May be LR + Elements will be enough; CS maintainance is tedious.

Before my forehead hits the keyboard, any tips on the pervious license problem?

Regards,

Bob

Running it under V64 on a Quad Core machine....zooom!

I'm also running LR 2.2 and CS4 on Vista 64bit OS and I am THRILLED with the performance gains.

Lightroom is significantly snappier and many time-consuming tasks in CS are much less so.

I have both CS3 and CS4 installed on another 32 bit machine and they seem to co-exist just fine.

Are you using the CS2 SN ? CS4 (when you purchase it) will have it's own unique SN, it verifies your update by asking for the CS2 Serial Number.

 

s.

Thanks for the response. Yes, I downloaded CS4 upgrade, ran setup, enter the CS4 SN (OK) and then enter the Creative Suite Premium (contains) PS CS2. The installation program would not accept the CS2 SN. Opened CS2 and verified that I had entered the correct SN for PS CS2. OBTW - running Vista Home Premium 32 bit - $4 less that Jeremy's V64. <-- green with envy???

I will gird my loins and try again this PM.

Regards,

Bob

CS4's raw converter is a significant improvement over cs3.

cs4 no longer provides the ability to do contact sheets.

cs4 seems quicker to load and process than cs3.

Deep6,

You may need to check with Adobe for the upgrade path, on their website it says "Products within a Suite cannot be upgraded individually"

So you may need a different product path to upgrade to CS4 only.

cs4 no longer provides the ability to do contact sheets.

Actually, it does. You have to install it as a plugin from the Goodies folder. Here is the info.

To continue using the legacy Web Photos Gallery plug-in (WebContactSheetII), please follow these steps: 1. From the Photoshop CS4 install disc, drop the ///Goodies/Optional plug- Ins/Automate/WebContactSheetII plug-in into the //Adobe Photoshop CS4/Plugins/ Automate folder 2. From the Photoshop CS4 install disc, drop the ///Goodies/Presets/Web Photo Gallery folder into the //Adobe Photoshop CS4/Presets folder and then restart Photoshop NOTES: * On Vista make sure you are an admin * Exact locations in the Goodies folder seem to vary a little from Adobe's notes, so you may have to look around.

Cheers,

Marli

CS4 Photoshop has the Content aware scaling which is very cool. It's not 100% with many subjects but quite fun to play with.

Premiere Pro... Red native at 4K... Will be trying that next week.