Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta

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