by Victoria Maciulski

I’ve been getting a lot of questions at the Digital Photo SIG about whether or not Photoshop CS is worth the upgrade. People want to know what worthwhile features are there. Here’s a partial list of reasons why I recommend the upgrade.

Match Color

Adobe has incorporated a “Match Color” command into this version. It allows you to match colors between multiple images, between multiple layers, or between multiple color selections. It also lets you adjust the colors in an image by changing the luminance, the color range, and neutralize a color cast. (The Match Color command only works in RGB mode.) Let’s say you have a few photos and one of them has the warm hues of sunset that you would like to have in the whole batch. It’s easy with this command.

Imitate Lens Filters


The new Photo Filter command enables you to put a virtual colored filter in front of the camera lens to adjust the color balance and color temperature of the light transmitted through the lens and exposing the film. The Photo Filter command also lets you choose a color preset to apply a hue adjustment to an image. If you want to apply a custom color adjustment, the Photo Filter command lets you specify a color using the Adobe Color Picker.

Great New Lens Blur Filter

The Lens Blur filter adds blur to an image to give the effect of a narrower depth of field so that some objects in the image stay in focus while others areas become blurred. A simple selection can be used to determine which areas become blurred, or you can provide a separate alpha channel depth map to describe exactly how you want the blur added. The Lens Blur filter lets you easily produce the effect of highlights taking on the shape of the camera lens aperture. Lens Blur can be applied to an entire image or selection, or it can use an alpha channel as a depth map.

Huge Document Support

Create and work with images up to 300,000 by 300,000 pixels, with up to 56 channels per file. That’s an astounding (and wonderful) leap in size! Now you can create a billboard or an image to be used in an HD or IMAX film

Better Exposure Correction

The Shadow/Highlight command lets you correct photos with silhouetted images against strong backlighting or correct subjects that have been slightly washed out because they were too close to the flash. The adjustment is also useful for brightening up areas of shadow in an otherwise well-lit image. The Shadow/Highlight command does not just lighten or darken an image, it lightens or darkens based on the surrounding pixels (local neighborhood) in the shadows or highlights. This enables separate controls of the shadows and the highlights. The defaults are set to fix images suffering from backlighting problems. The Shadow/Highlight command also has a Midtone Contrast slider, Black Clip option, and White Clip option for adjusting the overall contrast of the image.

Better Control of “Raw Camera”

The new generation Camera Raw plug-in is incorporated directly into Photoshop CS, allowing direct manipulation of raw camera data, for the ultimate control over image preprocessing. Camera Raw features new color calibration controls, batch processing through the File Browser, and support for most major digital camera models.

Better Video/DVD Support

You can now create non-square pixel documents! Work with different aspect ratios without the distortion caused by viewing non-square images on a computer monitor, seeing them exactly as they will appear when viewed on a standards-compliant external monitor

Layer Comps

Now you can create alternate designs in a single image! Capture multiple design variations as individual Layer Comps in a single file; then quickly output them to provide alternates for client review.

Place Editable Text On A Path And In A Shape

Create and manipulate fully editable text on any path, or inside any shape, for eye-catching typographic designs.

Improved PDF Presentations

More options when creating a PDF Presentation. (File––>Automate-–>PDF Presentation) You may have seen one of the PDF presos that I have created for our monthly Digital Photo SIG. I now have more choices for transitions and setting the duration of the “slides.”

Customizable Picture Package

The Picture Package window now allows you to interactively edit existing layouts, making it easy to precisely control image position and spacing. Picture Package gives you a variety of ways to easily combine multiple images, or multiple instances of one image, in a single print. You can choose from a variety of size and placement options to customize your package layout.

Better File Browser

In Adobe Photoshop CS, the File Browser comes into its own as your digital imaging hub. With flags, keywords, and editable metadata, you can now use the File Browser to quickly organize and locate the image assets you need. And, you can perform batch procedures on groups of images without having to first open the image files in Photoshop.

Includes ImageReady CS

A lot of people forget that Photoshop ships with a whole other application designed to make your images sing on the Web. ImageReady has some brand new features and improved versions of classic features.

Export to Flash (SWF)

Export directly to Flash (SWF), with preserved vectors and dynamic text including embedded fonts. Export each layer to its own SWF file, allowing each file to be opened in Flash as its own symbol on its own layer.

Conditional Actions

Enjoy enhanced automation with conditional actions! (This is a feature not yet available in Photoshop.) Using the Insert a Step button in the Actions palette, conditional logic can now be inserted in ImageReady CS actions. With conditional logic, ImageReady CS will scan for certain image characteristics (aspect ratio, dimensions, filename, etc.) and perform a step only if the characteristics match the setting in the step.

Create Complex Web Graphics

You can use the Web Content palette, in conjunction with the Layers palette, to add Rollover Effects to an image. When you save the image as a Web page, ImageReady writes JavaScript code to the resulting HTML file to specify rollover states.

With the Animation palette, Layers palette and Web Content palette, you can Create Animation Frames from an original, multilayer image. Basically, you turn layers on and off per each animation frame to animate the data on those layers. You can assign a delay time to each frame, use the Tween command to generate new frames, and specify looping for the animation. The number of frames you can create is limited only by the amount of memory available to ImageReady on your system.

System Requirements

• PowerPC® G3, G4, or G5 processor
• Mac OS X v.10.2 through v.10.3
• 192MB of RAM (256MB recommended)
• 320MB of available hard-disk space
• Color monitor with 16-bit color or greater video card
• 1,024x768 or greater monitor resolution
• CD-ROM drive

The full version is a pricey US $649, but the upgrade is US $169. I’ve seen it at discount websites for less. If you qualify for the educational price, it’s a good deal on a great application.

For more info, visit: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/main.html

(c) copyright 2004 Victoria Maciulski Conejo Ventura Mac User Group (CVMUG) Ventura, CA Re-printed by permission