It's the Industry Standard for a Reason
May 22, 2014
It's the Industry Standard for a Reason
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
CC
Overall Satisfaction with Adobe Photoshop
Photoshop is an integral part of my everyday life. I use it for photo editing, graphic creation and website prototyping. It's a platform for both getting my creative ideas started and honing them for presentation to clients. I've been consistently using and upgrading Photoshop since 1996.
Pros
- The tools for photo editing have been improved over the years. You really can achieve just about any type design goal.
- For website design and prototyping, Photoshop is the old standby. Some prefer other platforms for this, but it's still a great tool for this purpose. Adobe has added numerous features with web designers in mind.
- Typography is way better than it used to be, and it integrates well with other Adobe products like Illustrator and Acrobat.
- Special effects can often be achieved without the use of 3rd party filters and plugins (although I always keep a copy of EyeCandy around).
Cons
- As with just about all Adobe CC software I'm using, there is something it just does not like about my AMD CPU/GPU combo. Compatibility problems keep me from overclocking my system.
- Photoshop has always been a slow memory hog of a program, even if you have some fairly advanced hardware to run it. I actually had to upgrade to a solid state drive (SSD) to get rid of frequent hanging by the program.
- The software is expensive, and unfortunately the full version is no longer available as a physically boxed product. If I cancel my Creative Cloud subscription, that means I have to go back to CS6, which doesn't seem right.
- Over the years, Photoshop has added some features (such as Actions) that really take the pain out of repetitive tasks.
- I love to complain about Adobe's pricing/subscription structure, but I have to admit that Photoshop is a tool I use to make money. It helps bring my creative ideas to life.
- I find that, even after so many years of using Photoshop, there can still be a learning curve. The software is just so vast, and occasionally it can take extra time to figure some things out.
- Paint Shop Pro,GIMP
There are other photo editors out there that cost much less than Photoshop. Some are even free. But what keeps me coming back to Photoshop is the depth of features and the fact that they do usually have at least one new killer feature added with each upgrade. It's a professional level tool - simple as that.
Adobe Photoshop Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Good followup Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required | Difficult to get immediate help Slow Initial Response |
No - If there is a feature I don't know how to use, there are a whole host of tutorials out there to help. Often times, I find Adobe's website a little difficult to navigate. That's why I generally rely on outside sources to get the help I need. Searching the Adobe forums can sometimes help with getting answers to functionality problems. For that reason, I see no reason to pay for premium support.
Yes - Several years ago, there was a well known typography issue that it seemed like Adobe simply ignored. I wrote in to ask if they were going to come out with a fix, and they simply told me to buy an upgrade to the new version. I found that to be a bad way to treat a longtime paying customer.
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