 |
1. The new user interface
Anytime Adobe (or anybody for that matter) messes with the interface for a product, it sends chills down
the spine of many users. However, in CS3 the changes can be as minor or major as you want because
this is probably the most customizable interface for Photoshop yet.
The first thing you’ll probably notice is the single-column toolbar. It freaked me out a little the first time I
saw it, but once I learned that you can return to the familiar two-column toolbar with just one click (right
above the toolbar on the far left), then I felt right at home. Once my fears were gone, I started using the
single-column toolbar and now I feel right at home with it. Best of all, it takes up less space on screen
(which means more room for my images).
The other big interface change is the palette scheme, which (once again) is designed to put your images
center stage by better managing your palettes (and the loads of space they used to occupy). Again, you
can go back to the old method of “floating palettes everywhere”, but if you take a few days to get used to
these new “get out of the way fast” palettes, I doubt you’ll want to go back. My favorite change in this
area is the new “Maximize Screen Mode” view, which adjusts your window size automatically as you add
and collapse palettes.
2. Huge improvements to Camera Raw
Camera Raw has really matured. The new version built into CS3 brings a wealth of new features, and (get
this) the ability to use the Camera Raw dialog to edit both JPEG and TIFF images, as well as raw images.
This changes everything!!!!
Among the main improvements is a Fill Light slider (kind of like the Shadow slider from Photoshop’s
Shadow/Highlight command, but without the “milky” side effect that comes from using that control with its
default settings). There’s also a brilliant slider named Recovery, which lets you pull back some of the
highlights (to avoid clipping the highlights) without having to lower the Exposure, which affects more than
just those blown-out highlights. This just rocks. Also new is the Vibrance slider, which does a much better
job of increasing the saturation of any under-saturated areas in your photo without overly-affecting colors
that are already well-saturated. This will probably put the regular Saturation slider out of business
because it’s just that much better. Besides these improvements, there are also a lot of handy interface
tweaks, including color-coded bars to help you know which way to move the sliders to achieve the color or
brightness you’re looking for.
They’ve also added a wonderfully designed, intuitive Parametric Curve adjustment that makes it easy to
adjust your image, and will even help users who don’t understand Photoshop’s regular Curves function
get a better grasp of how to unlock its power. This definitely shares “Star of the show” status with the
Recovery slider and Fill Light sliders.
Split Toning, the popular feature from Adobe Lightroom, has made its way over to Camera Raw in CS3.
Honestly, I like the easy implementation of it here better than in Lightroom. Couple that with the new
ability to save custom presets of your favorite Camera Raw settings and you’ve got one kick-butt new
version of Camera Raw that makes previous versions obsolete
3. The Quick Select tool
OK, this tool is probably the best selection tool since Extract because it’s incredibly easy to use, and best
of all, it really works. However, as as this tool is, in my opinion, the bigger feature is the Refine Edges
floating palette, which gives you unprecedented control over selections; not just with this tool, but with
ALL of Photoshop CS3’s selection tools. You will be amazed at how much easier selections (especially
tricky selections) have gotten with these two new “must-have” tools
4. Mo Better Curves
Adobe has stayed away from the Curves dialog for a year, and with good reason—it’s just about perfect.
The key words there are “just about” because they’ve added some options and made the tool more
flexible without changing (i.e. messing up) the basic operation of this “pro’s color tool of choice”. They’ve
done this through an Options area that lets you choose which options you want to display, including the
long-awaited Clipping Warnings and in-dialog Histogram. So, you’ve got a better Curves dialog with more
visual feedback, without messing anything up. Well done, Adobe!
Black-and-White Conversion Control
Not only did Adobe add a better tool for converting from color to black & white, not only did they give you
built-in presets, not only did they give you built-in tinting and the ability to leave the dialog box and click-
and-drag within an area of your photo that corresponds with the color sliders in the Black-and-White
control, bless Adobe’s little pixel-lovin’ heart; they made it an Adjustment Layer. Life just got better.
Auto Align and Auto Blend
Think of the magic that Photomerge uses to put a panorama together: aligning elements within your
sections of photos, then blending the colors seamlessly. Now imagine you’re not stitching together a
pano, but you have those same controls (and then some). That’s Auto Align (which automatically aligns to
related photos), and Auto Blend (which blends color seamlessly). These are some of those tools that look
like real magic. Pretty darn brilliant.
New and Improved Bridge
I would have thought that Adobe Camera Raw would win my award for most-improved player, but once I
saw the new Bridge, I knew we had a winner. This is a HUGE step forward for the Bridge, adding features
such as a built-in Loupe tool for magnifying specific areas without zooming in on the entire image. It’s very
well implemented. Also, the ability to compare photos side-by-side is just huge. There are tweaks and
improvements all over, including easier access to information, much faster drawing thumbnails thanks to
new smart-thinking view options, and improved Slideshow capabilities. I’m just scratching the surface, but
I can safely say that if this CS3 version had been Bridge 1.0, it sure would have made a lot of converts.
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar