[CJ Swartz]

So -- what do you think about the changes to Photoshop?
Excited! Baffled? Bored. What do YOU think?! (I'm thinking that I might upgrade from PShop 7)

Doug's thread (link below) list some sites that explain, review, and offer downloads for the newest version of Photoshop from Adobe -- if you have CS2, you can use your serial number from that on CS3 so that it will work until the final production version ships early next year. If you're like me and haven't upgraded, in years, the beta version will only work for a few days. (haven't tried it yet to see if my PShop V7.01 serial number will work at all).

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/sof...blic-beta.html

As I look at the video and written tutorials, I'm seeing some exciting tools and other improvements --


"A vast performance boost from previous versions."

New interface -- palettes can be docked, minimized into icons or dragged out of the panes as needed. The new interface appears to maximize screen real estate and keeps more of the application tools out of your way while you work -- without buying a second monitor.

non destructive filters (most of the Photoshop CS3 filters can now be applied in a similar way to Adjustment layers. Apply the filters and they can be removed or reedited at any time)

Click and drag with the Quick Selection tool to see areas of your image magically selected, click on another section and like magic the selection grows to encompass this area too.

Auto-Align Layers -- photographers could find this to be a time saver.

Vanishing Point -- improvements that will appeal to graphic artists -- the video review showing the CD packaging being easily aligned to the image is amazing to me!

Auto-blend layers: This command will figure out the smoothest way to blend multiple images together. When the Auto-Blend command has finished, Layer masks will be created to manage the seamless integration and as such you can manually tweak the Layers if you desire.

There's more, there's more!! Curves, blend modes, B/W, HDR -- but I've got to go read and view the info to know what Adobe's done to improve them.

[Doug Nelson]

I've been working with CS3 for...a while , and I'd be happy to address any questions (but best is just go get it and play with it yourself).

[Doug Nelson]

No one asked, but I'll list my favorite new features anyway:

Quick Select - it works! I scoffed at first, but once you get used to it you'll start all your selections with this

Clone Palette - this is a bit cumbersome to get used to, but once it clicks in your head about how it works you'll wonder how you ever managed without it

Auto Align - I can't believe how easy this makes tasks I've spent hours on

Refine Edge - stupid name, but this alone is worth the upgrade

A good (but not great) feature is Smart Filters - it sounds terrific, but you run up against some pretty solid limitations right away (one mask, won't work with all current 3rd-party filters)

And my opinion of the new UI: meh
And my opinion of the new logo: hateit hateit hateit hateit hateit

[Doug Nelson]

My take on upgrading:

If you're using a MacTel machine: yes, definitely, no room for discussion. Might even be worth upgrading your machine
If you're using Photoshop CS or earlier: probably, unless you're stuck at less than 1gb of RAM or a sub-2ghz machine (even then, maybe)
If you're using Photoshop CS2: definitely if you're using Photoshop to make money (even a little money)

[CJ Swartz]

Has anyone else downloaded the program? It wasn't available early today, but when I checked this afternoon, it was ready. It took quite a while to extract the files and then to go thru setup, but there weren't any glitches. I did have to tell Zone Alarm that it was ok to let different parts of the setup access the "trusted zone" (Bonjour "something" asked for permission and I had to google it, but Castlecops said it was a legitimate program so I let it have access). I don't have CS2, so I can only use the Beta version for 2 days before it disappears in a puff of smoke. I'm working on some photo calendars for Xmas, so I'll just use it to do some of my work.

First thing I noticed is that I could find most things I use in Photoshop 7 right away. I have been using the Lightroom Beta, so I'm a bit more used to the new layout of CS3 than if I hadn't seen Lightroom. I have a small 15" screen, so I appreciate being able to minimize the tools and palettes more than I can on Photoshop 7.

I tried a couple of the smart filters -- had viewed a couple of video tutorials, so I knew where to look to convert the image to a smart object and then apply a couple of filters and play with making changes. This will take some practice for me to make the most of it, but at least I was able to click and make the boxes pop up and make the adjustments.

Then I decided to try the Quick Select (selections are still a pain for me even with channel masks) -- it took a few times to figure out what to do when it went off to far, but it worked very well and I love the refine edges box that lets you view your selection against white/black backgrounds and shows it as a quick mask, a mask, and a selection with the "marching ants". I haven't tried it on "wispy hair", and I imagine it wasn't intended for that job, but for subjects with decent amounts of contrast between them and the background, it works very well. My subject was in black/white, and wearing a light suit with patches of sunlight and shade on his clothes, and it still worked well with "some help" from me.

I'm running a Windows box running XP Home Edition with SP2, 512 megs of RAM and Intel Pentium 4 processor 2.60 gigahertz. Photoshop 7 gets slow on me when I'm on the net and have been working on larger files; CS3 is certainly not moving like a gazelle for me, but it's working as fast as I do, and doesn't seem to be slower (so far) than my Photoshop 7. I imagine that getting a new computer with a faster processor, or at least adding RAM (I've been needing to do this anyway) would really help, but I'm kinda surprised that my system didn't just crash when I opened CS3 -- one reason that I haven't upgraded to either CS or CS2 was that I thought the programs would be a strain on my current machine.

Well, hope someone else is giving the Beta a try -- ask Doug a question, or give your opinions.

[cricket1961]

As has Doug, I have worked with CS3 for quite a long time. And I would love to help anyone out in any way.

The UI takes a while to get used to, but when you do I believe it is great. Quite an improvement, but a long way to go as it IS still beta.

I am rather fond of the smart filters. Since I do all my sharpening with the custom filter it saves me some time and memory! Shame about the one mask deal though. Just have to stack your smart objects!

Getting used to the cloning tool overlay still. Quite disconcerting at first.
Almost not worth it.

LOVE the speed and other performance enhancements, even without the Intel chip. But it does make we want to use my G5 tower as a meager server and attach the monitor and scratch disks and tablet to my Dual Core 2 Macbookpro as my main retouching station.

Cheers

Chris

[creeduk]

Can I ask how long Doug and Chris have had access to CS3? Just curious.

I grabbed it but so far not got round to installing. I know things like Web galleries are not working right now and I am busy editing so will be staying on CS2 until I find time to just play. Beta needs a bit of both play and work, work will really find the bugs but is frustrating because..well you are working

[Doug Nelson]

We're both under a nondisclosure agreement, so no details about how long, etc.

[DWThomp]

I've downloaded CS3, but haven't installed it yet. I know this is probably a dumb question but once CS3 installed do I still have the capability to work in CS2?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Xaran]

I would appreciate if anyone else can try renaming a file in the CS3 Bridge, batch rename works fine but it would not let me rename normally.

Other than that what I've seen so far I like.

Christine

[mistermonday]

Dennis, yes CS2 will still work fine.
Regards, Murray

[DWThomp]

Originally Posted by mistermonday

Dennis, yes CS2 will still work fine.
Regards, Murray

Thanks Murray, I thought it would. I went ahead and installed CS3 and have looked around a little. One problem is the Info and Histogram pallettes aren't visible on my 2nd monitor. I think I'm gonna like the B&W adjustments!

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by Xaran

I would appreciate if anyone else can try renaming a file in the CS3 Bridge, batch rename works fine but it would not let me rename normally.

Other than that what I've seen so far I like.Christine

Christine -- I had "trouble" renaming a file, but it finally took. Once I was told that the "process was denied because the file was in use elsewhere", and on two others it just took a few tries to make the new name stick. I had better luck just clicking on the name and renaming rather than using the "rename" choice in my right-click menu, but even then it didn't always work. It worked best when I renamed it, then clicked out of the name box rather than hitting "Return".

Let's see if Doug or Chris have had any problem with this function...

[cricket1961]

As Doug say's, under agreements.

But I have been using it exclusively in a working environment, I find it that stable and useable. IT helps that I am a closed setting and don't have to worry about others picking up my files. But as long as you take into consideration that others MIGHT be working on your files further it is easy to avoid conflicts.

Chris

Originally Posted by creeduk

Can I ask how long Doug and Chris have had access to CS3? Just curious.

I grabbed it but so far not got round to installing. I know things like Web galleries are not working right now and I am busy editing so will be staying on CS2 until I find time to just play. Beta needs a bit of both play and work, work will really find the bugs but is frustrating because..well you are working

[denschneider]

I have downloaded and tried to install cs3 but when I try to launch the program I gat an error message"the procedure entry point AttachConsole Could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNAL 32.DLL Any thoughts on this?