Upgrade a must for serious Photoshop
jockeys
by Alan Zisman (c) 2002 First published
in Business in Vancouver
, Issue #659 dJune 11-17, 2002: High Tech Office
column
A few computer programs have their market niches
locked down,
and define an entire industry. Perhaps the best example is
Adobe Photoshop. Whole industries have sprung into existence
just to cater to
the needs of Photoshop jockeys.
So a new version of Photoshop is news to anyone who
works with
graphics, Web design, or print publishing. Like most other Adobe
products,
the new Photoshop 7.0 (about $1,000, upgrade about $250) has equivalent
versions for Windows and Mac users, but the big news is a vote of
confidence in
Apple 's year-old operating system: Mac OS X. By rewriting the
Mac version to
run natively under OS X, Adobe is telling graphics and publishing
professionals that it's OK to migrate to the new operating system.
Adobe has done a good job with its OS X version;
unlike some
ports to the new operating system, the new OS X Photoshop holds its own
in
any speed contests. While not delivering any OS-X-only features,
Photoshop
takes advantage of the operating system's improved stability, memory
management,
and multitasking.
However, it's not yet all smooth sailing for OS
X-wannabes;
Photoshop 6-compatible plug-ins will have to run in OS X's Classic
mode,
and plug-ins that control scanners using the Small Computer System
Interface
standard, printers, or other hardware, may not work at all under OS X.
Plug-in
creators, such as Alien Skin
, makers of the popular Eye Candy series, are rushing updated versions
to
market. Of course, that means having to buy more upgrades!
(Photoshop 7 continues to support older Macs running
OS 9.1
or later, along with Windows systems running Windows 98 or later. Of
course,
all users will benefit from a powerful processor and lots of RAM).
But while the new OS X support will be welcomed by
Apple's management
team, the product's new features, while worthwhile, are not as
dramatic.
Among the new features:
The ability to customize and tidy up Photoshop's
multitude of
palettes into savable Workspaces.
The ability to save Tool Presets
A file browser, carried across from Adobe's low-price
(but highly useful) Photoshop Elements, letting users search for
graphics by name or date
or by key word.
A greatly revised Brushes palette includes features
to approximate
real-world painting, reminiscent of (though still a pale imitation of)
Corel
/Procreate Painter.
Two new tools, Healing Brush and Patch Tool that work
magic in
erasing wrinkles and other minor flaws.
Auto Color adjustment, which simplifies correcting
colour casts
in scans or digital photos.
A spell-checker. You won't use Photoshop to replace
your word
processor, but now you'll have no excuse for spelling mistakes when
adding
text to images.
Photoshop's Web graphics companion program,
ImageReady, also
benefits from minor makeovers such as improvements in its Rollovers
palette
and more options when creating transparent GIF files for Web use. I'm
disappointed Adobe still hasn't managed to integrate all of
ImageReady's features into the Photoshop core. This is the third
version of Photoshop that instead packages both programs together,
forcing users to bounce between the two while working on a single
image.
Photoshop 7.0 is a must-have for Mac users who have
moved to
OS X or are considering migrating. Other Photoshop users can probably
take
their time deciding whether the new features justify the time and
expense.
Corel/Procreate Painter is a better choice if you're
creating
digital art from scratch; while Macromedia
Fireworks deserves consideration if you're making graphics for the Web.
Adobe's own Photoshop Elements is a powerful and cheaper ($149)
alternative for the non-professional.
But despite all this, Photoshop 7.0 offers enough new
and powerful
features to keep the Photoshop jockeys happy.
