|
|
MAY 01, 2002 Adobe Photoshop 7.0
In the above example, I've used the water in our scene as the source for eliminating a protrusion from the roof of our church. At first, you see the water being painted onto the roof. But then, as if by magic (or just extremely good programming), the water disappears, leaving our roof without the extrusion, as if I had simply painted the extrusion away. The Healing Brush simply took certain elements of the source area--in this case the texture--and moved them to the target area, leaving other important parameters, such as color and lighting, alone. Related to the Healing Brush is the new Patch tool. It behaves in much the same way as the Healing Brush except that instead of brushing, you're using a source selection and dragging it onto your destination area. It allows for a little more precision where precision is needed. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Performance & stability Aside from the chaotic install of the scripting additions for Photoshop, I've encountered no instability in the program whatsoever--not bad for the program's first OS X release. In terms of performance, it behaves about the same as Photoshop 6. Of course, if you've been running Photoshop 6 in Classic mode on top of Mac OS X, you'll be much happier with a native application. The interface works much more smoothly, and there are no screen redraw issues. In terms of everything else, including rendering speeds, there's too small a difference between Photoshop 6 and Photoshop 7 to take note of. I work on a dual 1 GHz G4, and I have to generate some pretty massive files before I even begin to see progress bars when applying filters. For everyday operations--transformations, pasting and the like--there's no speed issue at all. Disappointments With every software release, I try to find something negative to say, no matter how much I like the program. But, as you're well aware, Photoshop is a mature application, one that's pretty much the standard for all other applications to follow. Its interface is the most familiar of any program in the world, and its functionality is superb. If somebody put a gun to my head and said, "find a flaw in Photoshop 7.0," all I'd really be able to say is, "More." That is to say, I want more of everything Photoshop already offers--more paint options, more AppleScript functionality, etc. That's it. If you can figure out some other flaws, please let me know. I just hate to let any software package get by without some negative comments! The bottom line As the single, central application common to all creative disciplines, Photoshop 7.0 qualifies as a must buy. As the premiere image editor, it also qualifies for a must buy rating. And for its new features--in other words, as an upgrade in and of itself--it deserves a must buy rating. Photoshop 7.0 becomes only the fifth application to receive our must buy recommendation. This rating means that this software is the best in its class; that it is in its own right a sophisticated, well designed piece of software; that it is an important, major piece of software; and that it belongs at the core of the workflow in its particular class. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 is available now for $609 and, for a limited time, includes a "Best of Photoshop 7.0" training CD. Upgrades run $149. Photoshop 7 is also available in various Adobe bundles. (Prices vary.) To check for the retailer offering the best price using Digital Media Shopper's price comparison technology, click here. For more information, visit http://www.adobe.com. Contact the author: Dave Nagel is the producer of Creative Mac and Digital Media Designer; host of several World Wide User Groups, including Synthetik Studio Artist, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe LiveMotion, Creative Mac and Digital Media Designer; and executive producer of the Digital Media Net family of publications. You can reach him at dnagel@digitalmedianet.com/. Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Related sites: • AV Video • Broadcast Newsroom • Corporate Media News • Creative Mac • Digital Media Designer • Digital Post Production • Digital Producer • Digital Video Editing • Film and Video Magazine • Film Imaging • Hollywood Industry • Presentation Master • The WWUG Related forums: [an error occurred while processing this directive] 
|