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 Another version of Photoshop is out already? Yeah, we know, Adobe releases a new version nearly every year and a half like clockwork. Last year’s Photoshop CS (Creative Suite) was so fine-tuned, what more could they add?
Photographers love it when Adobe adds features that make our lives easier, and some of the new tools in the newest version, CS2 (upgrade: $149 from any version of Photoshop; full: $599), do just that. Smart Sharpen, one of the few good alternatives to Unsharp Mask, lets you remove Gaussian, lens, or motion blur separately, as well as sharpen shadows and highlights on their own. The Reduce Noise filter preserves details and suppresses color noise, and lets you apply it to individual channels. That’s handy, since noise is often much worse on one channel than the others. The Optical Lens Correction filter helps fix inherent lens flaws such as distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration—similar to up-and-comer DxO Labs’ Optics Pro software (reviewed September 2004). But Adobe’s version requires a bit of work on your part, whereas DxO uses EXIF data to make similar corrections automatically.
In a strange reversal, CS2 borrows the no-sampling-necessary Spot Healing Brush, and a dedicated redeye removal tool from Elements 3. Power users will love that the RAW converter can address multiple images simultaneously and process them in the background.
But the most advanced new features may be of little use to most photographers. Photoshop is inching toward 32-bit capability; this huge bit depth would provide astounding tonal range. But since no device can yet capture in 32-bit, CS2 lets you combine bracketed images of a scene shot with a tripod-mounted camera. That’ll be a boon for studio shooters of high-contrast still-lifes.
Then there’s Smart Objects, which lets you nest whole image files in their own layers—awesome for web designers and serious retouchers. And the new Vanishing Point lets you build a virtual grid to help you clone relative to perspective.
Adobe is getting into the royalty-free stock photo business, and the vehicle for its new service is Adobe Bridge. You’ll notice Bridge when you click the File Browser icon in CS2. Instead of getting the streamlined browser you’re used to, your computer opens a separate program. That’s because Adobe extracted the File Browser—one of Photoshop’s best features—and enhanced it to include graphic formats from the entire Creative Suite product line and provide access to Adobe’s Stock Photos service.
Browser was a great way to find pictures and check metadata quickly, a critical part of many users’ workflows. Bridge is great for Art Directors. But if you don’t buy images because you’ve got thousands of your own, and you rely on the File Browser, the new features may not be enough to warrant an upgrade.
If you never moved up from Photoshop 7 and you depend on the File Browser, try to get your hands on a copy of CS before it leaves the shelves. But if the new features meet your specific needs, get CS2. It works great. And there’s always the hope that they’ll bring back the Browser in CS3.
For info: www.adobe.com; 800-833-6687.
What’s Hot
New tools speed up common retouching tasks. Support for 32-bit images, new “Smart Objects” are cool features.
What’s Not
File Browser turned into separate program. Adobe Bridge and stock photo access not aimed at photographers.
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