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Photoshop is an expensive title aimed at professional designers and photographers. However, it dominates the image editing market to such an extent that many non-professionals buy it simply because it's recognised as one of the best photo editing programs.
This latest version has disappointed some reviewers as it doesn't have a vast range of new creative tools or special effects. There are a few nice additions, but this upgrade concentrates on time-saving productivity tools.
The number one improvement here is the new Heal tool. Anyone who has spent a lot of time trying to remove scratches or other marks from old photos will hand over the upgrade fee as soon as they see this.
The Heal tool allows you to select an unblemished area of a photo and then paint a copy of that area over scratches or marks on another part of the photo. It can also be used to remove other types of marks, such as wrinkles on a person's face.
There are a number of image editing programs, including previous versions of Photoshop itself, that provide a similar option, known as a 'cloning' tool. A cloning tool doesn't always work properly, though, as the lighting and texture of the different areas on the image may not match exactly.
However, the Heal tool somehow manages to match lighting and texture so that the result is a seamless, unblemished image. It's also a lot less fiddly and faster to use than an ordinary clone tool, saving lots of time during editing.
Another clever trick Adobe has pulled off is the ability to quickly add transparency effects to web graphics. There are two main options here.
You can use a 'dithering' effect to make the outline of an object appear transparent, allowing you to superimpose that object over any type of background image.
You can also select a particular colour within the main body of an image and make it transparent so that the underlying background image shows through.
Again, these are effects that can be achieved in other programs with a little effort, but Photoshop's achievement is to make the process much quicker and easier.
Photoshop also comes with a companion program called ImageReady, a more specialised program for creating web graphics. This has been upgraded and includes a number of new features, such as improved tools for creating rollover buttons and navigation controls.
However, the marriage between Photoshop and ImageReady seems rather uneasy. There's a lot of overlap between the two and you can sometimes find yourself wondering which is the best one to use.
For the most part, though, this upgrade does a good job of saving time and streamlining the image editing process. The new File Browser allows you to organise and preview multiple images within Photoshop, and you also have the ability to sort image files by name, size, resolution, or by other user-defined 'rankings'.
There are new options for automatic colour correction and some handy new printing options, such as the ability to print multiple image files on a single page, and to add labels and captions to printed images.
Photoshop users looking for amazing new special effects and eye-catching features may initially be disappointed by this latest release. It's still a worthwhile upgrade, though, and will earn its keep through sheer time-saving efficiency.
Price: £525 (inc VAT)
Specifications:
- Bitmap image editing program
- File browser for managing and previewing image files
- Heal tool for retouching damaged photos
- New transparency options for web graphics
- Bundled ImageReady software for web graphics design
- Prints multiple images on a single page
- New automatic colour correction tools
Minimum requirements: Pentium 300MHz PC; Windows 98; 128Mb Ram.
Contact: Adobe Systems 020 8606 4000
www.adobe.co.uk
See also:
This edition of Photoshop 'Lite' offers home users exceptional value for money. 27 Aug 2002
A combination of vector and bitmap tools make this a unique solution for web graphics design. 31 Jul 2002Manipulating photos for the web is even easier with this upgrade. 26 Jul 2002
Focuses on refinements to the program's existing image-editing tools. 17 Apr 2002
Image-editing software that not only lets you manage, correct and enhance photos, but also allows you to create and publish many types of images. 11 Apr 2002Impressive update with new file handling abilities, extensive palette and 'healing' brush. 26 Mar 2002
All Image Editing & Management
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