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Adobe
Photoshop CS With Adobe Image Ready CS Reviewed by Maureen Shannon,
NJPCUG
Unfortunately
this is the second time I am reviewing it. Somehow between the new and old
computers and the transferal of files, I managed to lose the original. However
the good news is that in the meantime I have discovered things I never mentioned
in the other review and if I was impressed back then, I am in awe now. So I
start again from a new perspective. We
all now about the tools that come with Photoshop. It has the most outstanding amount of tools that
you will find anywhere and the most complete set of tools you will ever find or
might desire. From color adjustments, to
layer control, selections, text manipulation, keyboard shortcuts, and palettes
that make your work flow a dream, Photoshop has the answer to all of your needs.
If you have the slightest inclination to graphic creativity, it will be
increased tenfold when you work with Photoshop. The further good news about
Photoshop CS is that it’s very easy to work with. The last several versions
have made great strides in making the product easier for all levels of users to
work with and this one has surpassed that goal. Anyone with a desire to learn
can produce amazing results using Photoshop CS.
Brushes, layers, image adjustment features,
selection tools, and palette use have been covered in my previous review of
Photoshop 7 and they remain basically the same but I want to point out one nifty
new tool….the Color Replacement Tool. It appears as a brush with an eye on the
Healing Brush flyout. When you hover over this tool with your mouse cursor, the
eye turns red. This gives you an idea of one possibility it can be used for. It
makes quick and very simple repairs to red eye as well as replacing color in
other parts of an image. . See
images of tool examples at the end of the review. I
have to take a moment here, again, to mention that in order to learn as much as
you can about this tremendously full-featured image editing application you
should invest in the outstanding assortment of books (and DVD’s) that are
written about it. Adobe Press, New Riders, RealWorld, Sams, O’Reilly, and
others have books written by an exceptional group of Photoshop guru’s who will
teach you how to do everything you want to learn about Photoshop and it secrets.
They will show you techniques that will astound you and then teach you how to do
them. There is no possible way you could use one of these books and not come
away a more informed user. Authors
such as Scott Kelby, Bert Monroy, Deke McClelland, Gary David Boulton, and a
host of other experts write books that make us mere mortals smarter, more
creative, give us a deeper understanding of Photoshop and offer us a wealth of
design techniques to inspire us. These books cover all levels of expertise and
elevate those with the most basic understanding to a higher user level. All of
these books are available to us at single or groups discounts from their
publishing houses. I strongly recommend anyone who seriously wants to improve
their skills to look at these books. Teachers, SIG Leaders, designers,
photographers, and anyone who wants to learn more will benefit from using these
tools. I swear by them and use them constantly to increase my knowledge and
demonstrate techniques to our SIG members that will show them how to do
professional design work with their photos. I do get carried away with my
enthusiasm about these books but I promise you they are so fantastic that you
would almost swear you could put one under you pillow and absorb the knowledge
as you sleep….they are that great! Back
to business…….We know that Photoshop has tools that will edit, enhance,
correct, manipulate, composit, and create every type of image you can think of.
It has so many tools and such levels of adjustments, that I will probably never
learn half of what it’s capable of but I continue to try and learn as much as
I can. Each time I learn how to make a photo more beautiful and something that
is worthy of adding to an album, I can’t wait to share what I have learned. Could
this version have added more? Yes, it did. It has helped speed up the way we
work and improved things that make working with photos so much easier. These
improvements are not just in the photography area… It breaks its improvements
down into categories: All Users, Photographers, Graphic Designers, Video and
Filmmakers, and Image Ready for Web Professionals. This covers a lot of
territory! Advances
for All Users include: better management of files with the enhanced file
browser; customizable keyboard shortcuts; search, edit, and customize metadata;
the ability to organize images in the on-screen lightbox; sharing and
collaborating easier and more quickly; track your edits; work with multiple
filters simultaneously; enhanced scripting; easier color management; the ability
to get started faster with features on the new Welcome Screen and the enhanced
Help menu. The
new browser is outstanding. It’s no longer a dockable palette but a real, full
blown browser with a multitude of enhancements to help you work more efficiently
and quickly. The thumbnails can be increased to any size you like without lost
of resolutions. It will maintain high resolution throughout size adjustments.
You can edit the metadata for the photos quickly and easily ( such as add
copyright & important file
information). The information side can be closed and the thumbnail section
expanded to become “the lightbox” layout…easily making viewing the photos
a snap. Batch processing is also available.
You
perform “scrubbing” with it. This little feature might go unnoticed if you
didn’t spot it. It will adjust almost any numerical setting in Photoshop CS.
Just take your cursor and move it left to decrease and right to increase when
you see the Scrubber appear. If you like using your mouse and don’t want to
stop to type in numerical changes, just use the new scrubbing tool to change the
setting. For
Photographers: (This is worth the price of admission alone!) You can
match color across layers and images; 16 bit editing; control over raw camera
data – there are constant updates to the latest cameras available on Adobe’s
web site; you can view the histogram at anytime; crop and straighten images
automatically; correct shadows and highlights with ease; create lens blur
effects instantly; photomerge for automatic panoramas; photo filters; quickly
replace colors; and create interactive web galleries. Couple these features with
the improved browser/lightbox features and you have a clear winner on your
hands. Matching
the color: if you have an image that has the exact color you want and another
where the coloration may be off, you can match the good color and replace it in
the one that is too dark or off-color. The Highlight and Shadow tool is amazing.
In the past, photos that were too dark and the subject was difficult to make
out, needed a lot of correction to fix it. Now it can now be corrected easily.
This tool returns the needed light and the subject can be seen again…( and
it’s texture and depth) without the hassle of the multiple steps it took in
the past to fix the darkness. Exposure problems are now easier to fix! The
Filter Gallery allows you to improves how view the filter effects
and enables you to stack and apply several filter effects at cone. (I
wish I had the space to expand these features capabilities but then this would
go on for too many pages and George, our beloved editor,
would go into cardiac arrest trying to make it fit into the newsletter. I
have to have some mercy on him!)
Graphic Designers: For those who dabble or make a living at graphic design, the new features
include capturing multiple design variations as individual “Layer Comps” (a
snapshot of a state of the Layers palette); nested layer sets; placing text on a
path or in a shape with the new text tool; work with very large image canvases
up to 300,000 by 300,000 with up to 56 channels per file! The
new text manipulation feature is such a welcome and needed addition to this
version. Now you no longer have to switch to Illustrator to do the fabulous text
work that make designs pop. For
Video and Filmmakers: If you design with DVD, video, or film, new
features here are the ability to create and edit with non-square pixels, 16-bit
support for images, choose from
presets with automatic guides for video documents; and the ability to export the
layers to files. It also adds pixel aspect ratio correction…..I don’t work
in this area and have no information of value to add and I hope I have correctly
written the information for those who are do this type of work. Finally
for Web Professionals: Image Ready CS – has easier to use interface;
you now can export to Macromedia flash (SWF) in as little as two steps; the
ability to directly define and edit variables
and data sets; export layers to files; and output enhanced HTML.
www.njpcug.org/graphics/reviews.htm) Professional
photographers or anyone who works with digital images and needs to show (or
share) their photos in a presentation format, Photoshop CS will now create a PDF
slideshow that will permit the photographer or designer to completely protect
their work. If your client wants to see the work you are doing and you know that
giving them your photo designs is an invitation to letting them print out or
keep your work without your getting paid for it…..use the security settings in
the PDF slideshow feature to prevent any kind of unauthorized printing or
reproduction of your work. The
slideshow has all the features that show off your work at its best such as
transitions between the frames. This is addition is one more fabulous
enhancement that makes your work go faster and allows you to do all the work
inside one application. You can also go to full screen mode and do a manual
slide show of the photos. This change is fantastic. All the steps you take to
present your work can now be done right here inside Photoshop CS. For
some time now, the focus of our Graphics SIG has been on working with digital
images and using Photoshop and Photoshop compatible plug-ins to repair or
enhance the photos. I have learned through using Photoshop CS and various books
and DVD’s that anyone with the desire to learn how can do professional photo
editing with fantastic results. You don’t have to be a wedding photographer or
any type of professional photographer to want to create outstanding photos for
your personal albums. Parents and grandparents, hobbyist photographers, anyone
with a camera and a collection of photos will love Photoshop CS. I have gone
from cowering at the mere sight of Photoshop years ago to embracing it as one of
my all time favorite products. Adobe has done an outstanding job of making
Photoshop easier to understand and use without sacrificing it’s power. Now we
can all edit photos and design albums that will have a professional touch and
create memories that will last a lifetime using the most sophisticated tools
available.
Screenshots & Adobe's images showing examples of their tools: Red Eye Removal:
Healing Brush : Filter:
Blur
Levels Adjustment:
Layers Palette
Text Tool:
Web Focus - Image Ready
Image Ready Flash:
Selection Tool:
Panorama:
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