I'm thrilled about Photoshop 6...I've used it on a Mac and a PC, and there isn't too much of a difference.

If you are new to web design or, not new, and can't afford many programs...Photoshop 6 and a basic HTML editor are all thats needed to make a beautiful site. (And a little creativity).

I also have used Illustrator a bit, and to be honest- now that I have Photoshop, I see no use for Illustrator...The tool that Illustrator did have that I missed in Photoshop before is the pen tool, which is now available. There are many more tools in version 6, most tools having additional tools underneath.

The program didn't take long to learn, and seems much more user intuitive than in previous versions. Though, if you're used to an older version, you may have to get used to finding your way around, they've completely switched some locations.

One of the big pluses is that ImageReady 3.0 comes with Photoshop 6.0. You can easily and quickly design a page and slice it with this program. From your design on Photoshop, you click an icon on the toolbar which jumps you over to ImageReady, and imports the image you are working on, guides and all. Since this topic is not on ImageReady, but on Photoshop, I won't get too into detail on IR.I can get a beautiful page out in an hour, partly due to the fact that I don't need to waste time going back and forth from my slicing program to my design program. And if you're in ImageReady, and you've sliced it and made your rollovers and everything, all you do is again push the icon on the toolbar, and your image is imported back to Photoshop in a second. You fix what you need to fix, and jump back...

I'm actually not sure if former versions of Photoshop included the slice tool, but this version does. I guess the purpose for that is if you choose not to use ImageReady.

All in all, I have to say that I can produce beautiful work in 6.0- and I'm rarely left wishing there were more tools like I used to. Just when I start wishing, I discover a new combination of features. I can't see what Adobe can add to their next version that could possibly make me want more. I think that though this is expensive, its worth the money, because I don't think I'll feel this program is inadequate for a long time. Thats important in this world of passing fancy programs.

Recommended: Yes