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Family Restoration

Melerine

[Mhayes]

Lurch, I can't wait til I too can say: "In the old days, I would have . . ."   
Now you have done it--I have to have it!

Margie

[VBrestorer]

I took the plunge and ordered the CS5 upgrade last night.

Buying Tips:

Adobe's CS5 upgrade price is $199 (US).  Although I was a CS5 Prerelease Tester, I couldn't get a "deal".  (In Adobe's defense, no "deal" was promised when I signed on to be a tester, and I would do another test for Adobe if I were to be invited again to participate -- it was fun.)

Members of NAPP receive a 15% discount for the Photoshop CS5 family of products. For an upgrade, you'll save $29.85.  You can join NAPP for less than $100 per year and, in addition to getting the discount for CS5 purchases, you'll get access to NAPP's website and will receive their PhotoShop User magazine which is very high quality and chocked full of hints, tips, and tutorials.  I believe you get 12 issues per year.  You'll also be eligible for discounts on other Photoshop-related products if you are a NAPP member.

Adobe will ship for free until May 31.

I whined until they threw me a bone and offered to FedEx my order to me for free.  (I can't promise they'll offer anyone else extra goodies, but if you talk with "Patricia" at x2026, she seems helpful in trying to get you the best deal possible.

One thing more -- if you are going to purchase a Wacom graphics tablet, purchase it first (before CS5).  Then you'll be eligible for their "Privileges" program that will allow you to upgrade from the software packages included with the tablet.  For example, a full version of PhotoShop Elements will be included on a CD that comes with the tablet.  Through the Privileges program you can get a special price on upgrading Elements to CS5.

Disclaimer:  I know the information above applies to buyers within the US because I fit that category.  I don't know if citizens of other countries will see the same deals; maybe yours will be even better.

Larry

[Marydh]

Hi Larry,
I'm so glad you wrote about the upgrade.  I was under
the impression that it was about $600 (obviously did not
do enough research).   Now it seems more feasible.
Mary

[weewood]

I got Photoshop CS5 Extended Upgrade at 20% (NAPP Discount) off via the Adobe store. Just call them up and give them your NAPP membership number. They originally quoted me 15% but I had read the NAPP forums and everyone was getting 20%, so I got it as well. I beta tested this package, just as Larry did, so I had to have it. I also have to say that I'm stuck on the Extended version. 3D has become something I can't do without.

Regards, David   

p.s. Mary, the full (no upgrade) Photoshop CS5 Extended version is $699, I believe.

[david_gr]

I finally bit the bullet and got Photoshop CS5.  I like it a lot.  I purchased Scott Kelby's Photoshop CS5 for photographers with the upgrade.  Upon initial review, it does not look to have much in it for restorations. 

I want to get a book on CS5 restorations because I do better with a book in hand than using a tutorial.

I was looking in Books A Million and found Adobe Photoshop CS5 Restoration and Retouching for Digital Photographers Only (Paperback) by Mark Fitzgerald.  (It's odd that the ebook version is $45 and the paperback version is $31. Go figure.  )  Has anybody used this book or other books on restorations by Mark Fitzgerald?   Any comments or advice?

David Gr 

[kiska]

The "Bible":

http://www.digitalretouch.org/

[glennab]

David-GR, I just got the Mark Fitzgerald book as well, but I haven't gotten too far into it.  I also upgraded to the newest restoration book by Ctein, because along with Katrin Eismann's, I think his first book was top notch.  He covered the process from scan to print, but there were a lot of interesting fixes for really bad problems (for instance, a half tone from a newspaper restored to a pretty decent image).  I'll be interested in your opinion of the Fitzgerald book if you finish it first.

I bit the bullet and upgraded to the CS5 Design Suite as well, and with my upgrade, since I got the whole suite, I received a free month of tutorials from lynda.com.  That was great, as I went through several very long tutorials, especially on the new features. I agree that the application of content aware on large areas isn't all that useful for our restorations, but the healing brush or patch tool with content aware on are incredible.  The brush must be just a bit larger than the area being repaired, but it pretty consistently blends the area beautifully.  I'm very happy with the Suite.  I love having the web software to experiment with.  Since I'm signed up for Kelby Training, I'm hoping to get more into web creation. (You know, to promote my new photo restoration business now that I'm unemployed/retired/poor!)

GK