I've been using Photoshop 7 for a while. But I see Photoshop CS also. What exactly is the difference between them? Are they basically the same thing or is one better than the other? Anyway I would appreciate some insight on that. Thanks

Same thing. Different version. Stupid naming convention. CS is more recent.

Ahh I see. Ok thanks for the info.

For me the biggest benefit of CS over 7 is that you can put layer sets inside of layer sets, which is great for keeping organized when I do textures with many many layers. There are also some other nice efficiency improvements in other palettes and the handling of type effects, shape layers and pdfs are now much more of a substitute for Illustrator than before. The latest version is now CS2 I think.

Scott

I HIGHLY recommend upgrading photoshop and most adobe products when they become available (as opposed to 3d modelling apps or the like, which are dependant upon plugins and scripts which can become obsolete). Sometimes, such as when going from Premiere 6 to Premiere Pro, there are fundamental shifts in the program, but Photoshop has gotten nothing but more powerful, more intuitive, faster, and better.

Before you upgrade ask yourself a few questions. First, can what you have do what you need it to do? Are you using it to its' full potential?

Just because there is a newer version does not mean it is going to make you better. Only time and practice can do that. I could drive a ferrari but would either kill myself in it or never get out of 2nd gear. I use PS 7 and have come nowhere close to pushing its limits.

Photoshop has gotten more powerful, but not faster... I certainly never did like the bridge, but Photoshop CS 2 has a more powerful brush engine than any previous version (with Photoshop 7 it was new and now it has advanced and expanded by leaps and bounds), so if you like painting/erasing/cloning stuff with you Wacom tablet... absolutely chuck Photoshop 7!

If the layer sets are new with CS, then it's worth it for that alone. Dozens of layers get really, really confusing, and layer sets (as well as language sets and other related features) are amazingly useful for quickly toggling between different parts of images, text, or even entire documents. Or, you can just use them as organizational labes, which is also amazing.

Cool thanks for all the info. I think I will be upgrading even though I don't think I have pushed photoshop 7 anywhere near its limits.