Prepare for Installing the Upgrade

Before installing the upgrade to Photoshop CS2, you'll want to do some preparation, particularly if you have created any custom presets such as brushes or swatches, and/or if you have any actions, scripts, etc. It will make things much easier if you create a folder outside of the Photoshop CS application folder in which you can save all your customized files, using the steps I'll discuss below. Then you can easily load all these settings back into Photoshop CS2 after you've upgraded. For the sake of ease, let's assume that I started by creating a folder on my desktop called "Custom Stuff." ( Note: Although the steps described are intended for an upgrade from Photoshop CS to CS2, to some degree they apply to an upgrade from Photoshop 7 to CS2 as well.)

Remove or Not to Remove

The first question many people ask is whether they need to uninstall or remove Photoshop CS before installing the new version. You don't have to, and many people leave the "old" version on their machine until they feel 100% confident that the new version is working for themthen they remove the older version.