Why do you use Photoshop? 

Why is Photoshop worth the investment?

I am interested in purchasing...should I get the suite? or just the CS3?

I want to move into more illustration/graphics/3d...and am looking to tool up, I would like to also learn to create 3d symbols, objects, and characters.  I have been involved in residential design for several years...and have used Chief Architect for most work so far, some CAD.

You can see some of my  work at www.erhoff.net

I have ACDsee, Chief Architect VI, Carrara 6 (just learning), DAZ studio, Bryce 5.5, a demo copy of SketchUp ($500 to get Pro), Demo copy of Adobe...(30 days).  I would like some input from those who have used the Adobe on what they would reccomend for Graphic Artist.

I have a 36" HP color printer and would like to possibly do some prints of computer rendered work and some copies of painting originals...

What have you found useful with Adobe/Photoshop or suits...like Design Premium...

Thank you.
Eric

I have Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Painter, Art Rage and Corel Graphics Suite. Why all those? Because they all have different strengths and different things they do well, if similarly. But Photoshop is my main program. I've been using it for years, before I was ever a graphics professional. Everything I do in Photoshop, theoretically I could do just as well in the Corel suite like Photopaint. Or PSP. And i do use all the programs. But the end product is refined and finished in Photoshop, if not started there. I make most of my textures in Photoshop. I have more options for handling and modifying fonts. I have Quark available, but I find myself doing most print layouts in Photoshop because it's easier in some ways, and I really dislike Quark. All website graphics are processed in Photoshop. It's the best. No question about it. If you become a professional graphics person, you'll be expected to have Photoshop and understand how to use it. It's the industry standard. What can i say, it just has more than any other similar program. Sure, there are things various other programs do better than Photoshop, but overall, it's the best.

I'm not a graphics professional, only a developing artist.  I have Photoshop CS2, Painter IX.5, ArtRage, Twisted Brush, Corel Suite, Illustrator, PSP on my Win XP computer.  I have PS CS3 and ArtRage on my Mac Pro laptop.  I am going to by a Mac Pro desktop next month, and I will use PS CS3 and ArtRage on it, maybe Painter X.

I am a painter, and started with Painter, then I added Photoshop.  Hmmmm!  Sweet!  I found myself using PS more and more.  It was easier to create my own custom brushes.  It was easier to adjust my brush controls.  It gave me solid, stable performance.  Painter was not as stable, and crashed alot.   ArtRage has replace Painter for painterly effects.  It is a secondary program for me.  I have used Twisted Brush also and I like it for some things.

You mention an area I'm not interested in...3D, and while I know you can do some 3D work in PS, I have never tried.

My vector needs are accomplished in PS, so Illustrator wasn't necessary for me.  I never use PSP.   I also never  use Corel Suite. 

My primary program has become Photoshop because of the variety of uses, the stability, the ease and flexibility it provides me.   Of all programs, it would be the first I would buy and did for my Mac.  The more I use it, the less I need other programs.   It is fun discovering all it can do.

My only disappointment is the limited plugins that are available for Mac versions.  However, I am finding I am willing to pay for really great quality plugin that do what I want, rather than having hundreds of plugins with single purpose or one that duplicate others in part.  

The one plugin that I will be beta testing asap on my Mac will be Filter Forge.  I already have it on the PC and love that one.  You can create your own filters and the variety of filters are amazing.

If someone told me I could only have one graphics program, I would choose Photoshop, and if I were unable to get it for some reason, I would go through a severe withdrawal.

I use PSP for one main reason. The thumbnail browser is absolutely the best around.

I no longer have a thumb viewing problem on my Mac, but if I get Painter, I expect to have a problem with that one, with their .riff extensions.   That's another reason I don't use Painter.  It is a pain in the neck as far as I'm concerned.  All the little inconveniences take the pleasure out of painting for me.

Bonestructure and Artwithin,

Thank you very much for your valuable input. 

At the moment I am having a bit of "learning curve overload" as I am learning to use Carrara 6, and adjusting to the Chief XI upgrade (my main job), and poking around in photoshop...

I am going to watch some of the tutorials for Photoshop.

Eric

I'm way way too familiar with that learning curve fatigue. My disability affects my memory, and I'm trying to learn a couple programs myself. It's hard when you can't remember too well. If you get Photoshop, try to also get a book I highly recommend called Real world Photoshop
http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Adobe-Photoshop-CS2/dp/0321334116
You can likely find versions to cover everything up to CS2. It covers all the basic stuff you'll need to learn in Photoshop in a real world working situation, and is about the best book on Photoshop there is.

the rumours I heard on the google sketchup pro beta indicated it wasn't worth $500 IMVHO. but it may have improved since then. I'm not certain if the upgrade fee that adobe charges on a regular basis can be justified unless somebody is payin' ya in excess of that for images produced by photoshop or CS3. other alternatives are PSP and gimp.