When Adobe announced the release of the new Adobe Photoshop CS4 on 23 September 2008, I felt that familiar sinking feeling. Much the same way everyone felt when a disastrous never-to-be-named operating system hit the market a few years ago, I was worried that things could turn out poorly to say the least. With trepidation, I spent the last few weeks sing my old Adobe Photoshop while wondering whether anyone would even notice if I just stubbornly refused to grow with the times.

Every one knows the feeling you get when the software you have grown to love is about to become obsolete. After months or even years of living with and growing to love the program that you use every day, the powers that be are going to change it again. Forgetting the fact that you felt the same way when your current software love interest replaced its outdated predecessor, this is a scary time. Will all the features I like in the current version still come with Adobe Photoshop CS4? Will my current skills even be applicable in the new world, or will I have to start over from scratch? Why can’t they leave well enough alone?

I am here to say that after all my worrying, or perhaps in spite of it, Adobe Photoshop CS4 is outstanding. The best outcome you can hope for when a new software version comes out is that the programmers kept all the things you loved and fixed all the things you hated. This is along the lines of trading your spouse for a younger, more caring model that is still the same person you fell in love with. This is exactly what Adobe Has done with this new release. Everything you loved about Photoshop CS3 is present and the things that slowed you down are gone.

I am so in love with this new release that I am hesitant to point out the one flaw in Adobe Photoshop CS4 that I can find, in fear that Adobe will immediately start writing a new and completely different version in response to my criticism. I miss the extract tool. I know it is a small thing, but they could have at least replaced it with something. I guess that, if during a complete re-working of a program, this is the only thing I have to complain about I should count myself lucky. I call Adobe Photoshop CS4 all good… almost.

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