Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta

Photoshop CS3, the high end image editing software, comes packed with new features in addition to modifying existing tools, to make image editors' task easier

Sunday, February 04, 2007

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Adobe has launched the beta version of their famous image editing software, Photoshop CS3. It can be downloaded from http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/photoshopcs3. The file size is 687 MB for Mac users and 337 MB for PC users. The trial period is 2 days only but existing CS2 users can try it for up to 30 days. For this you need the Photoshop CS3 serial number which can be obtained from http://tinyurl.com/39zn5m, after you enter your CS2 serial number.

The minimum requirement for running this beta version is: for MAC - OS 10.4.8, 320 MB RAM, 1.5 GB hard disk; and for PC - Windows XP, 320 MB RAM and 650 MB hard disk. Photoshop CS3 is supported on Apple's Intel based machines also.

Tool bar and Palettes
When you open CS3, you are immediately awestruck by its new interface. The tool box on the left has become single column, to create more space for working with the images more efficiently. But if you think single column is a pain, CS3 lets you convert it to a double column tool bar.

Here, you can see a single column tool bar and palettes that are neatly placed one after the other	Black bars on sides represent hidden tool bar and palettes. For a quick view, hover the mouse cursor over them

The software has a nice way of placing open palettes. Whenever you open one, it is placed at the right end of the screen. The next palette is placed automatically at the bottom of the first palette. At the top of each palette, there is a double arrow icon. Clicking on that arrow, docks the palette without completely closing it. When you open many palettes at the same time, your image gets covered with these.

This is in addition to the area already hidden by the tool bar. This is uncomfortable for the user and so we need to hide them. But in case of need, how do you bring them back? In CS3, the hidden templates can be brought back on screen temporarily. After they have been hidden, you'll notice thin black bars at the left and right sides of the screen. Moving the cursor on top of either brings them back on screen.

Another new feature is 'Maximized Screen' mode in which images can automatically be made to collapse and come back to normal size when palettes are shown on screen or hidden respectively. This allows you to scroll through the complete image without having to hide palettes again and again.

Look at the new RGB and CMYK curves. You can see colored curves and histogram representing different color components	Left: Normal grayscale mode change. Right: You can adjust the darkness according to color intensity

New features in Curves
For color correction of scanned or digital camera images, the best way is to use Levels or Curves. In Curves window you have tools such as Channel Overlays, Histogram, Baseline and Intersection Lines. The Curves window has colored curves representing different color components, referenced against a baseline. Using these tools, you can get an idea as to what color needs to be increased or decreased. Whenever you pull the color curve up and down, a 90 degree angle line-Intersecting line-which shows you the input and output levels.

There's also a Smart Filter feature that allows you to apply filters non-destructively. This means that even after applying a filter to an image, you can go back and make changes. You can edit the filter settings as many times as you want. We'll talk more about Smart Filters in the next issue.

Black & White effect
Another new feature is the Black & White Command. This allows you take a color image and quickly convert it to a black & white photograph. In older versions, an image was changed to black & white, as per the Photoshop formula. You can customize your image with the help of sliders that control the conversion of each color.

You can also change the intensity of black according to original colors. For example, suppose you want to increase the intensity of lipstick in the resultant black image; increase the RED slider value. Here we can also change the Hue & Saturation levels and the image to duotone, tritone or Quadtone.

Bottom Line: With the new interface and added features, CS 3 not only looks wonderful but is also more useful.

Jose PM

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