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DECEMBER 22, 2003 Adobe Photoshop CS
Though simple, this one has actually come in handy for me on a few occasions, especially for creating source textures for brushes, as well as light rays. Obviously it can also be used to create textures for fabrics as well. So play around with it, and you'll find some uses. Finally, most of the effects filters in Photoshop CS receive one major overhaul in the area of workflow: the all-new Filter Gallery. This function groups together many of the filters in the categories of Artistic, Brush Strokes, Distort, Sketch, Stylize and Texture and allows you to preview the results of each individual filter or combination of filters. It provides previews of each of the individual filters and shows the results of the filters on the image in the main preview window. It also provides direct controls for each of the supported filters and allows you to apply multiple filters (or multiple instances of filters) in one central location. Plus, it allows you to rearrange the order in which the filters are applied.[an error occurred while processing this directive]  Filter Gallery can be accessed directly through the Filter menu, or it pops up automatically anytime you select one of the supported filters. I find this feature to be an excellent addition to Photoshop's effects capabilities, and I have only two negative things to say about it. FIrst, it doesn't work in 16-bit color mode (since none of the filters in the Filter Gallery support 16-bit color). And, second, it doesn't work with all of Photoshop's filters. These are, most likely, temporary problems though, and I can foresee an expanded version of this Filter Gallery in a future Photoshop release. Text enhancements In the category of text, Photoshop receives three critical improvements, one of them indirectly. This first indirect one comes in the form of text integration with Adobe Illustrator CS. For those of you who own both applications, you can now share documents much more easily, retaining not only the format of the text, but editability as well. And this applies for both copying text to and from the Clipboard and to opening complete Illustrator documents that have been saved in the Photoshop format. I've covered this feature fairly extensively in my review of Illustrator CS, which you can read here, if you'd like more information about it. The more direct new improvements to text are at least equally critical. The first of these is a feature that users have been waiting for so long that it's almost a surprise that it finally happened. I refer, of course, to text on a path. Yes, text on a path is at long last here. In Photoshop CS, this feature is implemented much the same as you would find in other graphics programs. You can apply text to both shapes and paths, whether freeform or not. Text on a path is oriented in the direction in which you draw the path, and its direction can be reversed. It can also be aligned parallel or perpendicular to the path, using either the horizontal or vertical text tools. And, in the case of text on shapes, it can be placed on the inside or outside of the shape.  Unlike text on a path in Illustrator CS, you can't link paths to continue your text onto multiple shapes. But you can position the text freely along the path, and you can also lengthen the path after the fact if your text is overset. Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next Related sites: • Animation Artist • AV Video • Content Mastering • Creative Mac • Digital Animators • Digital Game Developer • Digital Media Designer • Digital Post Production • Digital Producer • Digital Video Editing • DV Format • DVD Creation • Film and Video Magazine • The WWUG Related forums: [an error occurred while processing this directive] 
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