Dear Debbie. . .

Good Question: Why Are Stacks Are Only in Photoshop CS3 Extended?

Yesterday, commenter Chris Norris wrote:

I was totally okay with the extra Extended version until I read about image stacks and what that will mean for photographers. The line we keep hearing from Adobe is, "CS3 will be great for photographers, Extended is for people doing 3d and super fancy stuff that photographers don't care about." That seemed okay until I read this about stacks…. To me, that indicates that they're just going for the money with the CS3 Extended. Yeah, CS3 is great, but... if you're REALLY SERIOUS about this stuff, you should have Extended, right?

Adobe's John Nack speaks to that question on his blog today:

Now, I'll admit that seeing image stacks this way makes our marketing story a little more challenging.  Didn't we say that "Photoshop Extended" is meant to offer specific capabilities to people who need them, and that we haven't withheld core photographic functionality in order to get every customer wanting/using Extended? We did say that, and it's true.  Image stacks are powerful and (I think) pretty cool, but I'd feel uneasy about overselling them a core photographic tool.  There's both power and potential here, but it's a little more science-fair-ish than we'd like to sell for mainstream photography work.

I'd say there are plenty of arguably "science-fair-ish" features of regular Photoshop that could be characterized as going way beyond mainstream "core photographic tools." HDR anyone? On the other hand, given the number of smart, creative people who use Photoshop, it's not surprising that someone quickly came up with an artistic use for a tool that was engineered for science. What do you think?

Photoshop CS3 Launch News Roundup

Today's the day you've all been waiting for (or maybe, for some of you, dreading): The launch of the newest version of Photoshop and its whole Creative Suite.

• This afternoon I, and some of my fellow RIGs (that's Relatively Important Geeks), will be attending the big CS3 Launch Event in downtown NYC. Interested parties can tune in to the webcast. Scott Kelby is even more excited than me.

• For help answering one of the most confusing questions about CS3 (Which do you need?), check out Adobe's Creative Suite page, and click on the Product Selector. Mind you their Product Selector will not tell you that the software you currently have is fine.

• How much will the "Master Collection" run you? Yep, $2,499!

• Wondering if now's the time to buy stock in Adobe? According to John Loiacono, Adobe's senior vice president of creative solutions, this launch is "kind of like the Super Bowl."

• The Stacks feature is one of the coolest things about the new Photoshop Extended. But will that make it worth the price for the average photographer? Maybe so.

• Every single CS3 press release, for your perusal.

• On Adobe's site: Photoshop CS3 and CS3 Extended, compared.

• USA Today on the big release. Several credible and intelligent sources are quoted.

• Update: John Nack's super-detailed and linked list to the differences between Photoshop CS3 and the Extended Version.

You Didn't Hear it From Me: CS3 Prices Leaked by Amazon.com

In the grand tradition of information being leaked on the internet before the company was good and ready for it to be out, Amazon.com jumped the gun and posted Adobe Creative Suite 3 pricing a day early.

Mac Rumors has the short list, Gizmodo's got all the pretty box photos.

And I'll have more on the gala launch event tomorrow.