Expert: LizaL - 12/10/2004

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Hi, Liza!

This may be a ridiculous question - but I am going to ask anyway.  I have Photoshop version 3.0 (yes, that old!) and am thinking of upgrading to the CS version on my windows 98SE based system. Is the CS upgrade retroactive to a version as old as mine, or am I stuck with incurring the full CS version price?

Thanks in advance -
Rick
Answer -
Hey Rick!

Well, there's no such thing as a ridiculous question -- but wow, that sure is an *amazing* question, LOL! Photoshop 3! That brings back memories of when I learned Photoshop, with version 2. Sigh . . . :-)

Anyway, to answer your perfectly valid question, I did some research among users online, and found the general consensus to be that you need at least version 5.0 in order to upgrade from CS. I think that's right, too, because that's when they introduced the History palette, for one thing, and that's naturally included in CS.

It also looks like the minimum requirement in terms of computing power is a Pentium III. You didn't mention your computer's specs, aside from the OS, but this might be something else to consider.

If you do have at least a Pentium III, and you want to do the upgrade, you could always go to eBay and get a copy of 5, then upgrade from there.

I also found this information on the amazon.com site:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000DBOBZ/104-1939246-0186329?v=g

They don't say anything about the prior version, though, only the computer's specs.

However -- on the Adobe site, all it says is that the CS upgrade requires "a prior version" of Photoshop, and Windows XP or 2000.

Now, I did see a couple of message boards where people had complained -- and rightly so -- that Adobe's site is misleading, because they had tried to install the upgrade with apparently the incorrect prior version, and were unsuccessful. Check out this page, and make sure you read the full reviews for the last two posts:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=32-105-221&DEPA=0

So I think the bottom line here is for you to contact Adobe before you shell out big bucks, or any bucks, for that matter. Here's their main support page, if you want to do some knowledgbase searches:
http://www.adobe.com/support/products/photoshop.html

And you can contact them in various ways through this page:
http://www.adobe.com/misc/comments.html

(I'd certainly try the knowledgebase and email questions before I'd pay for tech support!)

I have Elements on my PC, and CS on my Mac, so I can't give you a definitive answer, and I'm sorry for that. But my gut tells me that you won't be able to upgrade from 3 to CS without some step in between, and it makes logical sense to me that that step would be version 5.

But I hope this helps you some! Holler if you get stuck and I'll do some more in-depth searching.

Lisa

FOLLOW UP QUESTION -


Lisa -

You are terrific!

I rated you the highest of any expert I have had the experience of posing a question to on this site - and I use it all the time! Thanks so much for all the extra work you went to to research additional sources for me.  Your efforts have not been in vain. I have read ALL of it.  One other question I have is - how about the PS Elements you mentioned?  I am a serious amateur photographer, and use my 3.0 version to make minor corrections - i.e., levels, curves, saturation, color correction and sharpness.  I am intrigued by CS because of the 16 bit quality, and ability to handle digital RAW files; however, those features may be available in Elements, which I would imagine would be far cheaper and may not require me to also upgrade from Windows 98SE to Windows 2000.

Thanks for your help -
Rick

Answer
Wow, Rick, you are TOO kind! Thank you so much for your praise. I do appreciate it.

Now, then! You asked about Photoshop Elements, and you know, that is a great program. It might be especially good for you, since you're experienced with Photoshop, but not quite wanting to make the leap to CS just yet.

And check this out: Photoshop Elements version 3.0 has support for camera RAW, and also 16-bit, can you believe it?! Go to this page and download the 'Photoshop Elements what's new' PDF to learn more:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/indepth.html

There also appear to be a whole lot of refinements to some of the existing features.

This might be just what you need. It's $99, at least through the Adobe store, and you might find street prices are a shade cheaper.

Now the only thing I'm seeing here is that with Elements version 3.0, it looks like you need Windows 2000. I would definitely contact Adobe, or a knowledgeable Adobe reseller, and make for certain this is true.

If it is, and you don't want to upgrade to Win2000 yet, you might try and get a copy of Photoshop Elements 2.0. Although 3.0 is the newest version, I'll bet you could get a copy through eBay or amazon.com. However, the bad news here is that I don't think v.2 supports camera RAW or 16-bit.

But bottom line is, I think you do have some options.

At any rate, let me know what you do, and how it turns out! I'm glad I was able to help you, and again, thanks!

Lisa