Show Notes for Digital Photography Life #3: Everything You Wanted to Know About Adobe Photoshop CS4

We learn all about Adobe Photoshop CS4 this week, as we are joined by Bryan O’Neil Hughes from Adobe. He tells us about some of the coolest new features in CS4, whether or not it truly is a more user-friendly program, and why it costs so darn much.

But one lucky listener will get the full version for free, just by entering this week's contest. It's the biggest prize we've ever offered on Digital Photography Life (or on any other podcast, for that matter). It come to you courtesy of the good folks at Adobe, and we greatly appreciate their generosity. Just answer the question on the show, and send your response to us at digitalphotographylife@gmail.com. We'll pick a correct answer at random on January 1, 2009.

We also appreciate the support of Digital Photography Life's inaugural sponsor, SmugMug. SmugMug is our favorite site for sharing and - should you chose to accept this assignment - selling your photos. SmugMug has two fantastic offers just for our listeners:

• 50% off your SmugMug service at any level (enter code "Flickr" at checkout). This is a fantastic discount and you should take advantage of it in time to share your holiday photos!
• A free camera strap to any listener of Digital Photography Life: This one is just crazy. A high-quality camera strap that replaces the neck-slicing piece of canvas that your camera's manufacturer condescended to include with your DSLR. Get your freebie here.

As usual, Michael and I also go over the digital photography new of the day, including these earth-shaking stories:

• Red's very interesting approach to high-end, modular cameras.
  Canon's rebate-less rebates (thanks CanonBlogger!)
  DXOMark's sensor rating and review page
  Popular Photography's positive review of Sony's new A900 and their groundbreaking 12MP camera phone
  And, most importantly, the sad tale of Susan and her cheatin' husband's magic iPhone.

Comments

[Jason]

Hey, thanks for the shout outs! Can't wait to listen to the new show today on the way home... :)

[Sean in Chicago]

At first I was that you had the guts to ask Bryan why Adobe Photoshop costs so much money. However, when you failed to pressure him further after his non-answer answer I was very disappointed. I'm just curious what their profit margin is compared to other similar programs because I have to think that it is quite large.

[Tony]

Hey, 3 shows, it looks like you guys are doing it... I wasn't sure you would. Great work. I hope you get as much out of it as I do. Thanks

[Rob Libby]

Another great show. Love the info on new techs that are out there. CS4 is a dream, but great to hear about the items in the software.
I would love to hear you talk to someone about Photoshop Elements.
Thanks again for the show.

Cheers,
Rob Libby

[Scott Sherman]

Thanks for the nice comments, Tony, Rob and Jason. Michael and I are having a lot of fun with the new show.

Sean, I did ask Brian why PS costs so much, and he answered me as gracefully as he could. I couldn't badger the guy. Believe me, I was nervous about bringing it up!

One thing you do have to give Adobe credit for, though, is having a consumer-level version, PS Elements, available for a lot less. And as Brian explained, there is an upgrade path from Elements to PS. I thought his answer was helpful. And he was an awfully nice guy.

[Sebastian]

Hey Scott and Michael,
great show once again. Way to keep the format from the old show. Btw, I never heard the URL for the Adobe page that has the motto where we should look to enter the contest to win the CS4. Any way you can post it here or on the blog. I tried to look for it but couldn't find it.

Thanks and keep up the great work,
Sebastian

[Carter]

Great show, both of you hosts sounded relaxed and like you were having fun with the" banter" The interview with Adobe rep. was very interesting. I listened to it twice. THanks for getting them to offer such a terrific prize. We each love to win it.
Way to go Scott and Michael!!!

[Bibbl]

Scott,

Your show is extremely long-winded. I know a lot of your listeners enjoy the banters but I find it very annoying. You make Scott Kelby boring to listen to!

Also, it seems that Michael is the only one who knows what's he's talking about when it comes to camera technologies.

Lastly, your show (this one and the previous) isn't really about photography anymore. It's now more about the camera technology. Noise, focus speeds, sensor sizes, blah blah blah

Sorry for the harsh review, I was a big fan once.

[Scott Sherman]

Thanks, Sebastian and Carter. Feedback like yours really makes our day!

Bibbl, sorry we're not your cup of tea anymore. Most of our listeners tell us they like our "banter." Different strokes for different folks and all that.

I don't agree that I'm THAT annoying, but I do agree with you that our news section has been a little tech-heavy lately. I was just thinking the same thing!

We're planning on fixing that by adding more photography advice as we move forward. Thanks for writing, and please take another listen in a couple of weeks and let us know if you like the mix more. We'd drive ourselves - and you - crazy if we were constantly changing ourselves and the show to please everyone, but we do take your constructive advice to heart.

I just wrote a separate post about it, but in case you don't read it, have a great Thanksgiving everyone.

[Arthur]

Scott-I would love to hear a segment maybe about the history, product positioning, and current features of the recently introduced Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. A lot of listeners simply can't afford the "fullblown" Photoshop CS4. I have recently upgraded to Elements 7, and am able to get a lot out of it, despite the general lack of instruction and information out there supporting it.

[Joseph Hoetzl]

Is it dplife or digitalphotographylife @ google's mail?

This page says digitalphotographylife but you said dplife in the show.

Thanks!

[David Pascoe]

Actually I think the question over the pricing of photoshop was well handled by both of you. You will never be able to badger a company into reducing its pricing - remember that a company is firstly about making a profit for its shareholders. It is clear that Adobe hears that its users don't like the pricing of PS - but you have a choice not to use it if you don't need it.

My only additional comment is that I have paid far more for for LR1 + upgrade to v2 than I have paid in licenses (legit of course) to microsoft for 2 versions XP and Vista - which does seem to suggest that there is a premium in Adobe pricing.

davidp.

p.s. I would love to actually own a full copy of PS one day, but in the mean time I try to make do with LR2, Paint.NET, SnagIt, Picasa 3 etc.

[David Harding]

I'm enjoying the new show. I don't mind the length and like to think of it as a deeper dive into the subject. The banter makes it entertaining, too.

If I were to look for improvement, it would be great if you can get some guests that deal with the creative aspects of photography...how to visualize, capture, and produce better images. It's a hard subject! But, it would be enjoyable.

Keep up the good work. I look forward to more!

[Mark]

Thanks Scott for asking about why Photoshop is sooo expensive. I live in Australia and with the current exchange rate CS4 will cost me A$1,148 to buy the full version. I think I'll be sticking with Photoshop Elements for quite some time. Keep up the great work guys!

[Glenn N]

Where is that link to the ADOBE site for the contest?? I must be missing it. Also, I like the show as it is.

Glenn

[Scott Sherman]

Glenn, you're not the first person to ask that question, so here's a (very strong) hint - visit this site: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/family/.

Mark, I under the concept of "rate of exchange," but I have to say - $1,148 seems like a lot - it breaks that "over a thousand bucks" psychological barrier (assuming they even call dollars "bucks" in Austraila). I feel your pain. What's the upgrade price from Elements to full PS there?

[Mark]

Scott the upgrade price from elements is A$1,249. The full version is A$1,415. It has either increased in price since I looked last or (more than likely) I just read the wrong amount. So I think I'll still stick with elements. Keep up the great work guys. Luv the show.