Adobe Photoshop CS2 [OLD VERSION]

by Adobe

Product Features

• Revolutionary Vanishing Point technology lets you clone, paint, and paste elements that automatically match the perspective of the surrounding image area
• Smart Objects perform nondestructive scaling, rotating, and warping of raster and vector graphics with Smart Objects
• Multi-image Digital Camera raw file Processing - process multiple images simultaneously, adjusting exposure, shadows, and brightness and contrast -- all while you continue working
• Image Warp creates packaging mock-ups by wrapping an image around any shape or stretching, curling, and bending an image
• Multiple layer control for selecting, moving, grouping and transforming objects intuitievly

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00081I76A
• Item model number: 23102149
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,185 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #9 in Software > Video & Music > Digital Video > Compositing & Effects

Product Description

Amazon.com

It's hard to imagine that Adobe can make Photoshop any better than this. Long considered the professional image-editing standard among graphic digital artists worldwide, CS2 is certain to cement that reputation even further with its array of new features. Artists, creative professionals, photographers, and industry professionals will find that the workflow and image customization enhancements will be worth far more than the price of the upgrade.

Achieve amazing results in a fraction of the time with the groundbreaking Vanishing Point tool, which lets you clone, paint, and paste elements that automatically match the perspective of the surrounding image area.

Adobe Bridge (formerly File Browser)
Adobe Bridge software is the new-generation File Browser--a navigational control center that allows you to browse, organize, label, and preview graphics and files quickly and efficiently. Adobe Bridge takes File Browser a step further by providing centralized access to your suite project files, applications, and settings. With Adobe Bridge, you can process multiple camera raw images at once; resize, rate and label thumbnails; review images in slide show mode; and more. With file organization and sharing, plus Adobe Stock Photos at your fingertips all the time, you simply search for the files you want to place using metadata--such as key words, colors or image resolution--and seamlessly drag and drop your files into Photoshop. You can even page through an entire Adobe PDF file right in the preview panel of Adobe Bridge. And with Adobe Bridge, you can also browse, search and purchase royalty-free images from leading stock photo agencies without ever leaving InDesign CS2. It's as simple as that.

Revolutionary Vanishing Point and Image Warp
Photographers especially will be amazed at the effects that Vanishing Point can bring to a project. Clone, paint, and paste elements that automatically match the perspective of the surrounding image area in a fraction of the time that it currently takes. With Image Warp, you can easily create packaging mock-ups or other dimensional effects by wrapping an image around any shape. Place your client's logo around a coffee cup, or stretch, curl or bend an image across the hood of a car or around the Space Shuttle, for that matter. The effects you can create with Image Warp will be limited only by your imagination.

Accelerate your raw file workflow with simultaneous processing of multiple images while you continue working.

Digital Camera Raw File Support
Accelerate your raw file workflow with simultaneous processing of multiple images while you continue working. You can import images into your choice of formats, including Digital Negative (DNG); enjoy automatic adjustments to exposure, shadows, and brightness and contrast; and much more. This exciting new enhancement provides fast and easy access to the "raw" image formats produced by many leading professional and mid-range digital cameras. The Camera Raw plug-in--now available as part of Photoshop CS2--has been updated to support more cameras and include more features.

Spot Healing Brush and One-Click Red-eye Correction
Never have touch ups been so easy. With the Spot Healing Brush, you can effortlessly retouch photos--including 16-bit images--in a single click. Red-eye Correction lets you instantly neutralize red eyes and also lets you set pupil size and darkening level.

Effective red-eye reduction is only a few clicks away.

Use the new multilayer select feature to more intuitively edit and control your work.

Other New Features
Exciting new features designed to help artists and creative professionals in all fields stretch their imagination and increase their work and creative efficiencies:

• Smart Objects: Perform nondestructive scaling, rotating, and warping of raster and vector graphics with Smart Objects. Even preserve the editability of high-resolution vector data from Adobe Illustrator software.
• Multiple Layer Control: Select and move, group, transform, and warp objects more intuitively by clicking and dragging directly on the canvas. Easily align objects with Smart Guides.
• Nondestructive Image Correction: Improve the color, contrast, and dynamic range of any image using a comprehensive set of professional correction tools and nondestructive adjustment layers, which display corrections while preserving the original.
• Full 16-bit and New 32-bit Image Support: Work with absolute precision thanks to support for 16-bit images in all channels and layers. Create and edit 32-bit images, and take advantage of High Dynamic Range, 32-bit support.
• Advanced Noise Reduction: Reduce noise and remove JPEG artifacts for cleaner images.
• Customizable Workspaces and Menus: Get easier access to the tools you need with task-based presets, highlight new or commonly used menu items, and even set up and save custom menus and workspaces.
• Web Animations: Quickly create dynamic GIF animations directly within Photoshop CS2 by taking advantage of the new Animations palette and layer palette animation options.

Product Description

The camera raw functionality in Adobe Photoshop software provides fast and easy access within Photoshop to the raw image formats produced by many leading professional and midrange digital cameras. By working with these digital negatives, you can achieve the results you want with greater artistic control and flexibility while still maintaining the original raw files. This powerful plug-in has been updated to support more cameras and include more features, and is available as part of Adobe Photoshop CS2. With Photoshop CS2 you get not only the latest camera raw plug-in, but also the full range of exciting new features that are part of this release. Features: Timesaving file handling with Adobe Bridge Revolutionary Vanishing Point Multiple layer control Smart Objects Multi-image digital camera raw file processing Image Warp Advanced noise reduction 32-bit High Dynamic Range (HDR) support Customizable workspaces and menus Spot Healing Brush One-click red-eye correction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

217 of 239 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Features but Still a Flawed License Manager, May 6, 2005

By 

D. Pritchard (Fort Worth, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adobe Photoshop CS2 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

My experience with Photoshop CS2 has been limited thus far, but it does appear to offer some nice new features, particularly to the enhancement in Adobe Camera Raw, the Spot Healing Tool, and possibly Adobe Bridge as I explore it more. A major drawback to me personally, is that changes have been made in the user interface that conflict with the old Extensis PhotoTools plug-in, namely in that the PhotoBars component which provides a customizable toolbar ehancement will no longer work. Although Extensis no longer supports PhotoTools and deleted the PhotoTools component when Photoshop 6 was issued, I have been involved in maintaining PhotoBars so that it would work on the PC platform in Photoshop versions 6, 7, and CS. The customizable toolbars added a wonderful extension of usability to the Photoshop interface, and the loss of that capability due to changes made in Photoshop CS2 is very unfortunate.

Of great interest to me was to see how Adobe has changed License Management, i.e., product activation in Photoshop CS2. While the license manager does appear greatly improved in terms of not being as likely to have errant reactivations arise due to use of the System Restore utility in Windows XP, hardware changes, etc., it still manifests the same critical flaw as existed in Photoshop CS. Namely, Adobe has not provided any grace period at all for the instances when reactivation is prompted. So, if you are someone perhaps travelling with a laptop computer and are ever at a remote location where telephone or internet access is not readily available, you are at risk of fully losing use of Photoshop CS2 in the event of an errant reactivation prompt arising. The odds of this occurring do appear greatly reduced due to changes made in the triggers affecting a reactivation, but the risk is there nonetheless. Adobe should have implemented a short-term grace period of continued use following a prompt for reactivation, so that a user would not unexpectedly be faced with denied access at a critical time. The only alternative in this situation is to have a backup copy of an earlier version of Photoshop installed for use until Photoshop CS2 can be reactivated or, to employ the use of software hacks that defeat the license manager. The preferred solution would be for Adobe to provide an update that incorporates a reactivation grace period, but they seem to be ignoring the problem. I had hoped that the new Transfer Activation process in Photoshop CS2 might allow a user to export activation state data to removable media which, if an errant reactivation prompt arose, could be used to re-establish the valid activation state on the PC. Unfortunately, the Tranfer Activation process requires an internet connection and thus is again useless if one is at a remote location.

With regard to the 1st review posted here, installation of Photoshop CS2 is permitted to two computers under the normal single-user license. The only restriction defined in the license is that these 2 installations cannot be used concurrently. The license specifically reads as follows:

"2.4 Portable or Home Computer Use. The primary user of the Computer on which the Software is installed may install a second copy of the Software for his or her exclusive use on either a portable Computer or a Computer located at his or her home, provided the Software on the portable or home Computer is not used at the same time as the Software on the primary Computer."

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars comments by a long-time, professional user, August 30, 2006

By 

Brad773 (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adobe Photoshop CS2 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I won't include my website URL here, but I'm a professional photographer, who displays and sells his work at juried exhibitions. I've been using Photoshop since version 5.0, roughly 6-7 years.

Frankly, I'm surprised to see how many negative reviews there are here of Photoshop CS2, and that overall the product only gets three stars. I understand all the frustration, though. Even on a top-of-the-line machine, "PS CS2" can be slow at times. However, in my case, that's because I'm working on incredibly large files.

For example, my camera / scanner combination typically produces 50 megapixel images. By the time multiple layers are added in PS, one image file can be 500 MB - 1 GB in size. This is exactly why I have a dual-Opteron system with 4 GB of RAM: so I can work on these monster files in Photoshop!

For me, Photoshop is a must-have. There are *no* alternative programs for me to consider that can handle my files and do what I want to get done. I don't even want to mention all the advanced features that I use on a daily basis, frankly because that's part of my edge as a professional. I've spent over five years working in PS everyday, and have carefully studied several advanced books on PS. The learning curve is long, but the rewards are great if you have high goals and high standards.

Yeah, Adobe's got some major improvements to make, along the lines that other reviewers have mentioned. For me, the only real problem is poor and often wasteful use of system memory. And I would agree with other reviewers here that for most people, the full Photoshop CS2 is probably a waste of money. Photoshop Elements is probably a better way to go, though I haven't used it personally. I know a good web designer who uses Paint Shop Pro, and who seems to be happy.

IMHO, some people are probably drawn to Photoshop the way others are drawn to AutoCad or Solidworks or 3D Studio Max. All these programs are incredibly powerful tools that can support an entire career if one puts in the time and effort to become a true expert user. You can't make a career out of PS Elements, or Paint Shop Pro, or GIMP, or whatever else other reviewers may mention. PS CS2 is "the standard" for image manipulation.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Strong technology, lousy support, May 16, 2005

By 

P. Feldman (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adobe Photoshop CS2 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

Considering how much talent Adobe puts into product development, it amazes me how user-hostile their service is. I bought CS2 last week and cannot get Adobe Bridge to start. This is a critical problem since Canon RAW files (.CR2) from my 20D are not visible in the File/Open box. My fiancee spent three hours on the phone to Seattle today to try to get help, and when she finally got through, they wouldn't deal with her since she was not the registered user, even though she had the licence information. There is no information on Adobe's site regarding Bridge bugs. I don't know if this is also a problem on the Mac, but if you are an XP user, HOLD OFF ON CS2 until Adobe fixes the production bugs in its Bridge software, and gets a better handle on both its arrogance and quality control.