PSE 4 for Mac announced

Adobe unveils Photoshop Elements 4.0

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/26/elements/index.php

First Look: Adobe Photoshop Elements 4

http://www.macworld.com/2006/02/firstlooks/elements4/index.php

Ken

Ken Leonard said:

Adobe unveils Photoshop Elements 4.0

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/26/elements/index.php

First Look: Adobe Photoshop Elements 4

http://www.macworld.com/2006/02/firstlooks/elements4/index.php

Click to expand...

I had thought Adobe's brilliant master plan was to release PSE4 as a stop-gap Universal Binary to placate Photoshop users.

Sadly I was mistaken, I just asked an Elements rep at PMA today if Elements 4 would be UB, and he said no. Who knows when the Mac will see a Universal Elements now.

Odd that Adobe Mac support would falter so badly just as the Mac is making a major resurgence.

--
---> Kendall
http://InsideAperture.com
http://www.pbase.com/kgelner
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/user_home

Kendall

Please understand that PSE is not Adbobe's professional software. It is obviously aimed at the casual user.

Ken

Kendall Helmstetter Gelner said:

Ken Leonard said:

Adobe unveils Photoshop Elements 4.0

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/26/elements/index.php

First Look: Adobe Photoshop Elements 4

http://www.macworld.com/2006/02/firstlooks/elements4/index.php

Click to expand...

I had thought Adobe's brilliant master plan was to release PSE4 as
a stop-gap Universal Binary to placate Photoshop users.

Sadly I was mistaken, I just asked an Elements rep at PMA today if
Elements 4 would be UB, and he said no. Who knows when the Mac
will see a Universal Elements now.

Odd that Adobe Mac support would falter so badly just as the Mac is
making a major resurgence.

--
---> Kendall
http://InsideAperture.com
http://www.pbase.com/kgelner
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/user_home

Click to expand...

Kendall Helmstetter Gelner said:

Odd that Adobe Mac support would falter so badly just as the Mac is making a major resurgence.

Click to expand...

? Elements is just a hack of the code of the current version of PS. That means, in this case CS2. Adobe is not about to recode CS just to give PE users a leg ahead of PS users. I expect we'll see a universal version of PE after PS goes universal, which means after CS 3 appears.

Personally, I am really surprised that Adobe released a version of Photoshop Elements 4.0 for the Macintosh. We all know that everyone that purchases an Intel based Mac is going to ask WHEN a universal binary will be released. Since Adobe made it clear that Photoshop CS2 wouldn't be upgraded to universal binary, me thinks that if you own or purchase an Intel based Mac you are going to be waiting quite a while for a Intel native version of any form of Photoshop!

Do you think this may just be Adobe's way of telling US the Mac users that it is Apple's fault. Since Apple developed iMovie, Final Cut, Final Cut Express, and Final Cut Pro they (Adobe) dropped support for Adobe Premiere for the Mac. Apple delivered iPhoto and Adobe never did make a version of Photoshop Album for the Macintosh.

Now Apple delivers Aperture and Adobe did counter with a quick release of Lightroom. Maybe Adobe sensed another lost shot and fired back quickly.

Hopefully Apple will consider making Aperture a Photoshop KILLER instead of dancing around saying it is a compliment to Photoshop. If Aperture becomes for Photo Editing what Final Cut Pro has become for Video Editing we Mac users may not have to ask when the Universal Binary of Photoshop Anything is coming. We may not have to care!
--
Joe

yawn, I won't be buying it.
bought a copy of this for PC about three months ago, 30$ AR, good deal

won't pay the high 90$ price for the exact same thing on the mac, and CERTAINLY not without UB support since I have a new intel imac

I wonder why they wouldn't just wait a month or 45 days and get out a version for UB?

No, I don't think any of those things. I think that the number of people who currently have intel macs is not worth the tremendous effort and extra time it would have taken to have a version that would only benefit a currently small percentage of their target user base. PS is a different story.

Photoshop Elements 4 is just version 3 with a few enhancements, plus Bridge.

It took Adobe 6 months to take some features out of Bridge and merge it into Elements? Impossible, unless they only have one part-time developer on the project or something. Or maybe they planned to kill off the Mac version of Elements and only brought it back after they got whiff of Aperture?

And how does Bridge mesh with Organizer or, for that matter, Lightroom? If a user moves from Windows [Organizer] to Mac [Bridge] (or vice versa) all their organization goes out the window. If a user goes from Elements [Bridge or Organizer] to Lightroom[open source database], all their organization goes out the window.

I would've thought that, if anything, Elements 4 (or 5) would have Lightroom Lite--pretty much what's in the beta now (no versions, but organization, printing, & keywording).

Is the Organizer dead? Will the Windows version move to Bridge or Lightroom's database or keep the Microsoft Access format? Why would Adobe keep 3 different database formats?

Like I said, none of this makes any sense. It's so illogical. Please tell me I'm missing something.

Kendall Helmstetter Gelner said:

I had thought Adobe's brilliant master plan was to release PSE4 as
a stop-gap Universal Binary to placate Photoshop users.

Click to expand...

Unlikely; PSE 4 for Mac development would have begun some time before Apple announce their intent to transition to intel, and before announcing universal binaries.

Adobe really doesn't like making major changes to product internals in midstream, judging from their previous history.

Not to mention that they very likely prefer to release the first major universal application as one ore more of their high-end pro applications.

Kendall Helmstetter Gelner said:

Sadly I was mistaken, I just asked an Elements rep at PMA today if
Elements 4 would be UB, and he said no. Who knows when the Mac
will see a Universal Elements now.

Click to expand...

At the next major revision of PSE, likely 12-18 months from now.

Well, This was really lame. But it does give some insight into things.

Sounds like Elements is not Cocoa based, otherwise there is zero reason for it not to be a UB. So just like PS, we will have to wait.

I think this makes the timeline for the next Elements to use the new look/interface of Lightroom a lot easier.

---

Overall it sounds really weak, since they didn't do anything about the interface. My big gripe with PSE3 is its like other evil OSX apps that hijack your menu bar and in general take over your screen. Thats where adobe has got things right with Lightroom, its just a single window, the way apps should be. Again, My hope/belive is that Lightroom is a sign of the future for them and they will re-use that on the new Cocoa versions of apps as they come out.

I really doubt people will run out for this update, sure its cheap, but looks like unless you are dying for Bridge, its not much use. Looks like something destined to be packaged with canon scanners and digi cams, and sold cheap everywhere. If you don't have PSE3, then probably a nice thing.

I do see a blurb about added 16bit support, thats good, but I think Most who care will just go with lightroom.

that is why they have lightroom,

I think, they were working on PSE4, thinking we have a huge base, THEN they started lightroom in a parallel track to compete a bit with Aperture. THEN apple came out with Intel macs early requiring UB support so they decided to get PSE4 out the door NOW and try to gen SOME revenue before lightroom and Aperture UB come out.

My question is, HOW did they get Lightroom to UB so fast? Supposedly, even ADOBE - nobody had any idea that Apple was going to Intel that fast and even Adobe was in the dark. But, a week after MW 2006, Lightroom BETA is in UB format working JUST FINE!

tivoboy said:

My question is, HOW did they get Lightroom to UB so fast?
Supposedly, even ADOBE - nobody had any idea that Apple was going
to Intel that fast and even Adobe was in the dark. But, a week
after MW 2006, Lightroom BETA is in UB format working JUST FINE!

Click to expand...

Because, all of Adobe's protestations aside, they clearly didn't start writing Lightroom until after Apple announced the Intel switch. If they really started writing Lightroom in 2002 or 2003, how could it possibly be so far behind Aperture? I mean, Lightroom is basically ACR with a pretty face; there's no concept of versions or anything. It'll have that eventually, of course, but it's not done yet.

They have been working on Lightroom long before the intel announcement or Aperture. The difference all comes down to codebase and the API.

Lightroom is Cocoa, PS, and not apparently PSE is not, its carbon. Adobe started making Lightroom Cocoa since it was a ground up interface, anyone writing an app for mac would be doing this, only legacy ports are Carbon. Thus they can make lightroom a UB with a few clicks. You can't do that with carbon apps, it's pretty much a do over. And still, thats assuming they are carbon, they could even be Metroworks which would make life even harder for them. Apple has been hinting heavily for developers to move to Xcode an cocoa for a long time.

Thats why the newest app is already UB, it doesn't need to be ported.

Based on what we are seeing, I think Adobe was planning to maybe even be able to go to PSE 5 for mac to come out a bit after intel macs came out. Or maybe they shifted gears and PSE is cocoa, they just decided the heck with it and to toss out a basic PSE 4 update, and give them more time for a whole new app.

tivoboy said:

that is why they have lightroom,

I think, they were working on PSE4, thinking we have a huge base,
THEN they started lightroom in a parallel track to compete a bit
with Aperture. THEN apple came out with Intel macs early requiring
UB support so they decided to get PSE4 out the door NOW and try to
gen SOME revenue before lightroom and Aperture UB come out.

My question is, HOW did they get Lightroom to UB so fast?
Supposedly, even ADOBE - nobody had any idea that Apple was going
to Intel that fast and even Adobe was in the dark. But, a week
after MW 2006, Lightroom BETA is in UB format working JUST FINE!

Click to expand...