Over the weekend we ran the Photoshop CS3 beta through a series of speed benchmarks. The initial results have been encouraging. Overall we are seeing speed increases of 40% to 55% in most Photoshop features compared to Photoshop CS2 on the same Mac Pro system.

We downloaded several test images and actions from a variety of Photoshop benchmark websites. Our results can be compared to other types of computer configurations on those same sites.

Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed Test

The Photoshop mavens at RetouchArtists.com have developed a Photoshop test they believe reflects typical real world functions performed by Photographers. In our tests, Photoshop CS3 was 46% faster than CS2 using this test.

Driver Heaven Photoshop Benchmark

DriverHeaven.com has a test suite that runs Photoshop through 12 standard filters and color conversions. In our tests, Photoshop CS3 was 42% faster than CS2 using this test.

DIY Photoshop Torture Test

We found this test on Jason O’Grady’s Apple blog. It was originally written to test Photoshop speeds on laptops. Photoshop CS3 was 60% faster in the first test, and 46% faster in the second test.

Note: All these benchmarks were run on an Apple Mac Pro 3GHz, with 4GB of RAM. Photoshop was set to take full use of available RAM, and History States set to 1.

Source: We’d like to give a special thanks to Business Consultant Aaron Peabody at the University Village Apple Store who met Creativetechs’ Craig Swanson early Sunday morning to finish additional speed benchmarks on a new 3GHz Mac Pro.