Rating: 
Summary: Professional Tool - Still the Standard
Review: As a professional web designer, I rely on Photoshop daily to make life easier. If you are expecting to purchase this product for the first time and get immediate results, forget it. It will frustrate you. It takes time to master the tool. It's easy to master if you have the patience to learn. Otherwise, don't waste your time. You'd be better off with a purchase of more user friendly software that is less expensive.Nothing can match the photo enhancement this product has. The tools are easy to use and the filters are still amazing. Adding third party filters is easy and worth the effort. Again, this is a professional tool so only purchase if you know you're willing to sit and learn from either instruction or personal time investment. It is the industry standard and I suspect it will remain the standard for a long time to come!
Rating: 
Summary: Layer Options Great, but Speed of Program is hindrance
Review: Before I get started, just let me say, "I love Adobe Photoshop." I have been a faithful user since the old 1.0 days. It is almost ridiculous how far it has come. As a user who uses a lot of text in my image editing, Adobe Photoshop 6.0 has been a godsend. The new text-editing window is absolutely fabulous, something that I've wished existed as I painstakingly worked with text in version 5. The new layer window which allows you to basically do everything you might ever want to do as far as beveling, shading, stroking, embossing, texturing, shadowing, and even adding silk effects with live previews is a wonderful improvement. However, the program runs unbearably slow compared to Photoshop 5.0. I am running a 600 MHz Pentium 3 with 128 Megs of RAM and at certain times (even when I'm only working on one image) a single function can take over a minute to operate. Mind you that this is not always the case but it seems like the program goes into "funks" as it works in the background. But even despite that the program is worth the ugrade. Oh yeah, the inclusion of a matching copy of Image Ready web-imaging software is a great bonus as well. The verdict? If you extensively utilize the layers in Adobe Photoshop, especially if you use text in your images, upgrade. Upgrade now! However, if you don't use Photoshop a ton or use more specific filters and not the general layer-specific filters (again, shadowing, stroking, shading, texturing, beveling, embossing, etc) then the upgrade might not be worth it. If you're not quite sure, I say go for it. The degradation in speed is worth it for the time you save by using the new features.
Rating:
Summary: Layer Options Great, but Speed of Program is hindrance
Review: Before I get started, just let me say, "I love Adobe Photoshop." I have been a faithful user since the old 1.0 days. It is almost ridiculous how far it has come. As a user who uses a lot of text in my image editing, Adobe Photoshop 6.0 has been a godsend. The new text-editing window is absolutely fabulous, something that I've wished existed as I painstakingly worked with text in version 5. The new layer window which allows you to basically do everything you might ever want to do as far as beveling, shading, stroking, embossing, texturing, shadowing, and even adding silk effects with live previews is a wonderful improvement. However, the program runs unbearably slow compared to Photoshop 5.0. I am running a 600 MHz Pentium 3 with 128 Megs of RAM and at certain times (even when I'm only working on one image) a single function can take over a minute to operate. Mind you that this is not always the case but it seems like the program goes into "funks" as it works in the background. But even despite that the program is worth the ugrade. Oh yeah, the inclusion of a matching copy of Image Ready web-imaging software is a great bonus as well. The verdict? If you extensively utilize the layers in Adobe Photoshop, especially if you use text in your images, upgrade. Upgrade now! However, if you don't use Photoshop a ton or use more specific filters and not the general layer-specific filters (again, shadowing, stroking, shading, texturing, beveling, embossing, etc) then the upgrade might not be worth it. If you're not quite sure, I say go for it. The degradation in speed is worth it for the time you save by using the new features.
Rating:
Summary: Improvements, yes, but have we taken a step back?
Review: I agree with some of the various other reviews. While Photoshop 6 has added some interesting innovations, the speed at which the program runs is ridiculous. It takes way too long to open the layer options menus and many of the other menus, and some things just take too long to find if you're not sure where to look for them. I like the enhancements for the most part, but I too find myself switching back and forth between versions 5.5 and 6.0, using the more than adequate version 5.5 when I require speed and ease of use. I am running version 6.0 on a 500 MHz PIII system with 128 Megs of RAM, and it still runs ridiculously slow. Hopefully Adobe will release an update soon. Still, if you're into graphics and don't mind a bit of waiting for menus to pop up, I recommend this product to anyone who has a system that can handle it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent software, but beware the learning curve!
Review: I have been using Photoshop since version 3. With each subsequent version, Adobe continues to add more and more features and functionality. These continued additions are what makes the program both wonderful and a monster all at the same moment. Photoshop is undeniably the number one tool for photographic and other image maniputlation. If you are looking to get into professional design this is the tool to learn. It is highly appropriate for both print and electronic design. There is little you can imagine that it cannot do. If however you are a beginner who simply wants to use a graphics package to make images for a personal website or edit family photographs, then buy something else. (I suggest Photoshop Elements or Jasc's Paint Shop Pro.) Photoshop is overkill for the non-professional user. Some might argue that buying a toolbox that contains every imaginable tool is best. I'd argue that you may break from the weight of all that it requires you to learn. If you buy this software realize it can take months and years to master. While the effort is truly worth it, decide first if you really want to invest not just the considerable purchase price, but also the personal cost of time to learn and master it.
Rating:
Summary: Photoshop 6.0 Shines Above Other Software
Review: I recently purchased a copy of Adobe Photoshop 6.0, and it blew away all other graphics programs that I have previously tried (most recently JASC Paint Shop Pro). Adobe Photoshop 6 offers you tools that used to be available only to graphics professionals! Using Photoshop, you can easily transform your ordinary pictures into extraordinary works of art using filters, which are simple to use. The program can save in a variety of formats, so you'll never have to be at a loss for file type, and can work with just as many file types. The program is extremely adaptable, and you can add plug-in's that will do everything from add new filters for your use to altering the way you work with documents! I am a novice at graphics work, and I find Photoshop to be one of the easiest programs out there! Bundled with Photoshop, is a handy program called ImageReady which will allow you to work with animated files! Create that GIF file for your webpage that you can't seem to find anywhere else... It is simple with Photoshop! This program does have some flaws in it. The program takes up an INCREDIBLE amount of system resources, so if you are working on a slow system do NOT try this product... If you are going to use this, make sure to get as much memory as you can you will need it. The price is also astronomical, but for the capabilities that you get, it is well worth every penny!
Rating:
Summary: uummmmm??
Review: I thought that this was one of the greatest softwares I had Bought after Photoshop 5. THat was untill photoshop 7 came out. Personally I would skip the savings and go for the good stuff with Photoshop7. Almost the same as 6 except that there is a history function that allows you to go back as many steps as you need. There are an uncountable amount of new features that are so easy to use I was blown away.
Rating:
Summary: Best graphics program I have used
Review: I use Adobe Photoshop 6.0 for mostly all graphics I make. It is by far the best I have used, not the best there is but the best I have used. I am aware Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is out but I have not used that yet. I think I might buy that but I might wait till Adobe Photoshop 8.0 comes out. Right now I like 6.0 because I have been using it for a long time and I am becoming an expert on it. Compared to Paint Shop Pro I think it is twice as better although I don't use that much. It is really easy to make drop shadows, get rid of backgrounds, create new layers, and I think I can do mostly anything with it. I have not come across anything that comes close to match this program, and I would reccomend it to anyone who wants to make advanced graphics....
Rating:
Summary: Great tool
Review: I'm a Fireworks user and I must admit although the two look similar, the transition from Fireworks to Photoshop was a painful one.
Photoshop is worth the time you put into learning it. It has amazing capabilities. If you're not sure, at least go to a bookstore and pick out a book and look through it to find out what sorts of things it allows you to do.
Rating:
Summary: Bigger, better, slower
Review: I've been using Photoshop since the 2.x days, and each revision carries with it similar traits: the program becomes more powerful, menu options are rearranged just enough to be annoying (at first) and the program starts up a lot slower. P6 is no exception. The major features in the 5.5 upgrade were basic automation functions essential for web publishing photos, a bunch of new filters (previously available through third parties like AlienSkin Software), a history mechanism and light integration between ImageReady and Photoshop. The 6.0 version cleans up all of these, and includes a type tool (formerly Adobe WordArt), layers styles, a stronger "history" option and an annotation tool (which is incredibly useful because you can document how to reproduce an effect). Things that are worse: it's much more difficult to draw a simple (straight) line. The text tool, although more powerful, is a bit awkward to use. The Adobe Online (used for product updates) has never worked for me. The major upgrade (5.0 to 6.0) was very much worthwhile, but I cannot say the same for the minor (5.5 to 6.0) upgrade, especially since Adobe does not give you any special deal for point release upgrades. As for PS6 on its own, the learning curve is substantial (there is a tutorial included in the full version), but it will do practically everything you can think of. I would not recommend it to someone who casually wanted to edit images -- there are much simpler and cheaper programs available. However, if you do serious graphics editing, print or production work, it is the Swiss Army-chainsaw of image manipulation.
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