Workflow enhancements
By far the most significant addition to Photoshop's workflow is the addition of scripting support--especially AppleScript, but also JavaScript and, on Windows, VBScript. At the time of this writing, scripting support is not installed with the primary Photoshop installer. Rather, users have to download the free scripting support addition from Adobe's Web site and install it separately. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Installing the scripting support for the first time caused my otherwise flawless Mac OS X to spiral into my very first kernel panic, from which the only option was to force restart the computer. With the second round, it installed fine.

Now, Photoshop's AppleScript library is not the most extensive library I've ever seen. For some, it may not yet be an adequate replacement for Main Event Software's PhotoScripter. However, the scripting extensions in PhotoShop can't be used in conjunction with PhotoScripter, so you'll have to remove that software in order to run Adobe's.



I have yet to find any functions in Adobe's AppleScript support that can't be duplicated with Photoshop Actions, although, admittedly, I'm not an AppleScript guru, and I haven't been trying for all that long. (Scripting support has only been available for a couple of weeks.) However, the benefit of AppleScript, of course, is that you can make Photoshop interact with other applications automatically, rather than working entirely inside Photoshop itself.

Those of you familiar with AppleScript will release right away the benefits of a scriptable Photoshop. For those of you not familiar, here are some examples of what you could do:

• Convert Photoshop files to DCS plates and automatically upload them to your service bureau's FTP site (assuming you have a scriptable FTP client).
• Create data-driven graphics for repetitive layout work.
• Compress Web images and upload them to your site.

Well, of course, the possibilities are endless, and I don't propose to give you the full rundown here for all of Photoshop's scripting functions. (Photoshop's AppleScript guide is 91 pages long, and the JavaScript guides total another 87 pages.)

Another major boon to productivity in Photoshop is the addition of a spell checker. There's not much I can say about it. Accessed from the Edit menu, the spell checker functions just like any other, including the ability to add unknown words to the spelling dictionary. And it provides the option of checking all layers or just the current layer.





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