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The mother of all photo editors,
Photoshop CS4 will, undoubtedly, meet all your photo editing/desktop publishing needs. But is it worth a whopping $699 to you? I hate to say it – in fear of die-hard Photoshop fans hunting me down – but chances are, a cheaper photo editor will probably meet your requirements. Photoshop CS4 does give you the most control over your image editing, but again, probably more than you realistically need.
Compared to other photo editors, Photoshop offers some advanced text formatting for the typographer nuts out there. Another useful and time-saving feature that Photoshop CS4 offers is their Automating Tasks features. With the data-driven graphics feature, you can create a project template, and then very easily design numerous versions of the project using different text and/or images. Another automated feature allows you to record a series of edits you make to a particular image and have Photoshop remember it so that you can apply the same sequence of steps to batches of other images. When told, Photoshop CS4 will get to work and edit as many images as you want it to, all while you’re sitting in the break room drinking your coffee.
Another plus to Photoshop CS4 is that Bright Hub offers several free tutorials on how to perform desktop publishing-related tasks, perfect for the novice and professional.
As I mentioned above, Photoshop might not be worth your money, depending on what features you’re looking for in a photo editor. However, if you already own an older version of Photoshop, upgrading may be worth it. There are benefits to sticking to a familiar photo editor, especially if your employees are already Photoshop veterans. Upgrading only costs $199 which, compared to the photo editors mentioned below, is only about $100 more. Because there will be minimal time lost on learning how to use a new program, it could be more cost-effective to take this route, rather than lose money on wages paid for training.
