R.I.P. CS2 ImageReady, but is there an alternative to Fireworks CS3?

[.macstiled]

So, until now I'd use ImageReady to quickly slice up comps into websites, so Photoshop CS2 was all I needed. But I recently switched to Macs, though, and now I need to decide between buying Photoshop CS2 or CS3. For CS3, I'd also need to buy Fireworks CS3 just to get back that specific bit of ImageReady functionality that I used in CS2, but for an additional $300. Monopolies suck.

I'm weary of Photoshop CS2 for Macs, though. I've read in many places that it isn't written for Macs, and the performance is dreadful compared to CS3. Is this true? If so, is there a more economical solution to regaining that ImageReady functionality in a different program? Or if you have any other suggestions... Thank you.

 

[Lovesong]

CS2 was written for macs. Otherwise it wouldn't work on the system.

The problem was that CS2 was written natively for a PPC chip (G5 and earlier), and the newer Intel machines needed to virtualize the software by using Rosetta, which slowed the performance somewhat.

To answer your question- it really depends on the machine that you're using. I'm assuming that it's a newer Intel mac, and I'm going to go out on a limb here, and assume that you aren't working with a supped-up MacPro. In that case, CS3 is the way to go, as it will be incrementally faster than CS2.

Now, if you're working on either a G5 or a beefy MacPro, then CS2 might be your answer. CS2 was written for the PPC, so it will run natively on the G5. With a MacPro, your hardware performance increase negates any non-native emulation that might occur, so CS2 will be about as fast as it would be if it were running natively.

 

[wheezy]

I had this same issue as well when I had to move up to CS3, I used Imageready for slicing, and for rollovers etc. I think x-ing Imageready for Fireworks was a BAD move.

However, Ps does have the slice tool, and there is still the 'Save for Web & Devices' menu option, which brings up an interface that lets you export the slices and HTML. Not quite Imageready (although until a recent update, it actually said 'Imageready' in the top bar) but it will still export out the HTML for you.

I haven't tried rollovers in that though, as I've moved to using CSS for that.

 

[seenew]

I used ImageReady for animated gifs... now what?

 

[wheezy]

I used ImageReady for animated gifs... now what?

You can do that in CS3 still, just open up the 'Animation' Window and do it just like you did in Imageready, then do the Save for Web Optimized.