PHOTOSHOP CS NEW FEATURES OVERVIEW

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1 PHOTOSHOP CS NEW FEATURES OVERVIEW by Ken Storch Well, it s another 18 months since the last release of Photoshop, and now there is Photoshop CS (Creative Suite), the latest version of the most powerful image- editing software available. CS denotes Adobe s integration of Photoshop and ImageReady CS with their other imaging software: Illustrator CS, InDesign CS, and the new Version Cue, all in the Standard edition of the Adobe Creative Suite. The Professional edition adds GoLive CS, and Acrobat 6.0. The Photoshop CS upgrade is available separately or included in the Creative Suite. As professional photographers, we are likely to ask the eternal upgrade questions: Will it improve my workflow and quality?, Is this worth it to me?, and Should I do it now? Well the answers are: Yes!, Yes!, and of course, Yes! While the whole Adobe Creative Suite offers benefits, we ll concentrate on those in Photoshop CS with an eye toward photographic production improvements. (As it is, there are too many to cover here, let alone in any detail!) Remember, this is a just a simplified overview. Look for more detailed information in the future. 16 bit Layers We now have the ability to use 16 bit images to full advantage, bringing out otherwise hidden shadow and highlight details, while retaining all of the original image data. The use of Layers, Adjustment Layers, most Filters, and Selection tools in 16 bit is worth the upgrade cost for most commercial users. made these choices at the time of shooting. Think of it like being able to change the type of lighting, or adding a filter, after the fact, and being able to correct for other problems as well. Adobe Camera RAW Now included, instead of the $99 standalone, this plug-in is also worth the upgrade for shooters whose cameras are supported. Photoshop CS will automatically launch its Adobe Camera RAW dialog when you drag and drop a camera RAW file into it from any folder or your desktop. Alternatively, you can use the menu, (File>Open), and navigate to the file s location. Adjustments to White Balance, Temperature, Shadows, Contrast, Saturation, Color Noise Reduction, Lens Vignetting, and Chromatic Aberration are just some of the options available without having to have Nikon Coolpix 5000 NEF format preview of Custom settings in Adobe Camera RAW dialog Shadow/Highlight Correction This one is amazing! The dialog window gives many options to bring out detail and contrast in the shadows and/or highlights without mangling the rest of the image appearance. CS looks at pixels in the affected tonalities to determine how much adjustment to apply. The range of image tonality, the amount of effect, and how many pixels wide CS looks, are all editable. This is a vast improvement, and timesaver, over hand manipulating Curves, and is more exacting in the affected tonal areas. Nikon Coolpix 5000 NEF format as it appears when opening in Adobe Camera RAW dialog Image Interpolation (Resampling) Added here are Bicubic Smoother for improved upsampling (reportedly better than step methods), Bicu- VIEW CAMERA 1

2 Dark Scan before applying Shadow/Highlight corrections. Shadow/Highlight dialog. After application of selected Shadow/ Highlight corrections. bic Sharper for crisper down-sampled or web images, and even a newly improved Bicubic with more exacting math. Nested Layer Sets At last we can put Layer Sets inside other Layer Sets for easier management. Combined with the next feature, many organizational variations are possible. Layer Comps This allows users to have one file with multiple setups (combinations of visible Layers, Styles, Blending Modes, etc.) to show clients how each interpretation will look, and to go back to a previous state of the file. Unlike History States, these are saved with the file for future use. Large Documents CS now supports files up to 300,000 pixels in both dimensions, up from 30,000 in the past. Photoshop CS is the only existing software that can save and open files in this.psb format. Anyone making huge and high resolution prints will appreciate this format. Histogram The Histogram can be placed as a palette within the workspace or docked to the Palette Well. Options include expanded views with channels showing in color, or my favorite, Colors view that shows all channels, in color, on top of each other in alignment (See Histogram image on page 3). Match Zoom and Location Along with Tile, these options allow for close comparisons of multiple open files. If I ve got several headshots and need to select the most flattering one, I ll go to Window>Arrange>Tile, then zoom and position one window to show the facial details. Then I ll go to Window>Arrange>Match Zoom and Location, and Voila!, all the images are easy to compare. This is a great timesaver (See Match Zoom image on page 3). Layer Palette showing Photo Filters Layer Set nested within the Starfish Extracted Layer Set 2 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003

3 Histogram Palette showing Channels in Color View, with Statistics Match Color Got a bunch of similar shots that differ slightly in color, luminance, or intensity, perhaps from outdoor shooting on a partially cloudy day? Have no (or little) fear! CS can match files, in several parameters, to a designated source file, thereby making them look more similar. When it works, it s a wonder. Photo Filters Need a warming filter, 81 or 85, or a cooling 80 or 82? Now you can add these and others as Adjustment Layers to mimic the effect of these same filters on-camera. Note: Photo Filters appear in the Image>Adjustments or Layer>New Adjustment Layer menu drop-downs, but not under Filters. Detail of image prior to adding a Photo Filter Adjustment Layer Comparing the composition of 4 files using Tile, and Match Zoom and Location Healing to a Layer CS now allows healing to a Layer instead of only being able to heal the Background Layer. All of you who do retouching, need I say more? (See Healing Coast Before/After images on page 4, top). Lens Blur Lens Blur, yes, this is under the Filter menu, Filter>Blur>Lens Blur, and is best applied to a duplicated Layer to imitate depth of field unsharpness. Controls include the aperture iris shape, the blade curvature, the brightness of specular highlights, as well as the amount and distribution of noise. In effect, we now have more control over localized image softening than can be done with a Gaussian Blur. Keyboard Customization There is an expansive dialog box (Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts) for assigning and modifying keystrokes to invoke almost all menu functions. Why, the dialog box even has its own shortcut! This is a much asked for feature and will undoubtedly speed up any workflow where similar operations are performed repeatedly. Additionally, it will save out a lengthy htm file of all the settings, which will open in your default browser (See Keyboard Shortcut images on page 4, bottom). Detail of image after adding a Photo Filter Adjustment Layer text continued on page 5 VIEW CAMERA 3

4 Detail of scanned film showing dirt from the lab s processing The Healing has been applied to a separate Layer allowing for later refinement Detail of the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog Detail of the Keyboard Shortcut Summary.htm file 4 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003

5 Type on a Path This is another highly requested (some might say, demanded) feature that has been noticeably absent in Photoshop, while appearing in other, and sometimes lesser, software. It does the obvious: create a path using the standard tools, go to the Character Palette, select the font attributes, and then type. The type will travel in the direction that you created the path; if you drew from left to right, the type appears as expected; if you drew from right to left, the type will appear upside down. File Browser There are additions and refinements to the File Browser that will benefit some users, especially those who use metadata for cataloging and sorting files, and those who want to add additional notations to the file data through its new, and rather deep dialog boxes. Many general file handling operations can now be done through the File Browser, without having to go outside Photoshop to use the OS s tools (Mac). Photomerge The ability to automate stitching of panoramic images had previously been left to owners of Adobe s Photoshop Elements, the limited function, and casual user program, often bundled with scanners. Photoshop afficionados would drag Elements plug-in into their full Photoshop to get these features. Such shenanigans are no longer necessary, as it s now included, and appears under File>Automate>Photomerge. In the past I would just create a big canvas and drag in the files as Layers, positioning them with the Move Tool, using Blend Modes to assist in the process. With a group of full resolution, high quality jpegs taken sequentially from my digital camera, Photomerge takes its sweet time deciding whether it can line things up. Occasionally, it ll return a notice saying that it can t, and I still have to do it manually, within the Photomerge preview window. While it s possible that some will find the additional Perspective option of Photomerge helpful, I m still doing this the hands-on way. Filter Gallery Many of the previously existing artistic kind of filters have been added to the new Filter Gallery which gives a preview of the filter s effects, allows adjustments, and amazingly, lets you see what a sequence of filter operations will look like. This is more likely to be of use to fine artists and graphic/commercial artists than to most photographers. Help Files While not specifically a new feature, I m finding this version s Help files to be more informational and easier to search. Conclusion There are so many advantages for a professional photographer, and superior tools for image editing, that I highly recommend the upgrade to anyone who uses Photoshop often, say, several hours per week. While working on the Adobe Pre-Release Team, I ve become addicted to the Shadow/Highlight feature, 16 bit Layers, Adobe Camera RAW functions, the new Histogram, Layer Comps, the new Bicubic interpolation methods, Large Document Format, and Healing to a Layer. For me, working with anything less than this version would feel limiting. To truly answer the questions at the head of this article, Photoshop CS will likely improve any imaging professional s workflow, it will save time and therefore money, and you should pre-order now. Adobe expects to be shipping in late November, and just a few days into the new version will convince you of its long-term value. Ken Storch is a self-taught digital and traditional artist, college educator, digital and film photographer, and technical writer, currently living in Arizona. He can be contacted at Adobe requested Ken s participation on the Photoshop/Image ReadyPre-Release Team, and he s already hooked on the new features. VIEW CAMERA 5