5 replies to this topic

[pfyfield]

Just curious if anybody has had a look at Illustrator or Photoshop CS 5.5. We are currently still using Illustrator 5 and Photoshop 3- we were told we could upgrade when the federal budget was settled (I work for a federal agency), that happens, then the next day Adobe comes out with a new version. Anything interesting about 5.5 cartographically?

[Adam Wilbert]

Wait, when did the federal budget get settled?

There actually is no Photoshop or Illustrator CS 5.5. They're not being updated with the "5.5" update, and will remain at version CS5. There are updates to InDesign, Flash... maybe some other ancillary programs. But nothing that is particularly interesting... unless you're making an atlas for the Kindle with InDesign. That said, not sure if you mean you're on Illy CS5 and Photoshop CS3 or literally version 5 and 3. If you're upgrading from Illustrator 5 (1993) and Photoshop 3 (1994, introduced layers!)... whoa! Not sure where to even start with everything that has changed since then!

[Andrew Patterson]

There actually is no Photoshop or Illustrator CS 5.5. They're not being updated with the "5.5" update, and will remain at version CS5. There are updates to InDesign, Flash... maybe some other ancillary programs. But nothing that is particularly interesting... unless you're making an atlas for the Kindle with InDesign. That said, not sure if you mean you're on Illy CS5 and Photoshop CS3 or literally version 5 and 3. If you're upgrading from Illustrator 5 (1993) and Photoshop 3 (1994, introduced layers!)... whoa! Not sure where to even start with everything that has changed since then!

Actually, both Illustrator & Photoshop are 5.1 in CS5.5. There seem to be some bug fixes in both releases, enough frankly that it caused us some (minor) grief with Geographic Imager (No problems that we can see with MAPublisher). If you have CS5 already, I'm don't think there's anything for you worth upgrading to in CS5.5, at least if Illustrator & Photoshop are your only interests. I'm not sure what else in the Creative Suite is updated but presumably there are more significant updates in there somewhere to make it worth their time.

[Adam Wilbert]

Actually, both Illustrator & Photoshop are 5.1 in CS5.5.

That's interesting. Everything I've seen from Adobe says there aren't any feature updates, so I would hope that if 5.1 really is just bug fixes, that they would be made available to everyone.

[Andrew Patterson]

That's interesting. Everything I've seen from Adobe says there aren't any feature updates, so I would hope that if 5.1 really is just bug fixes, that they would be made available to everyone.

We tried to get a straight answer out of them about that but it was a little tough. Not because they were being intentionally opaque, but because we couldn't seem to get a hold of a person who had an authoritative answer. I kind of assumed that any bug fixes in 5.1 would be pushed in some form to CS5 users, but it doesn't sound like that's the case. Seems odd to me, since there is no other difference (i.e. no additional features), so it might just be a lack of understanding (ours or the person we talked to).

[pfyfield]

Thanks for the info- actually what I meant to say is that we are currently using Illustrator CS4 and Photoshop CS3. I can't think after 2:00 PM.