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			Is this still the best image program going? Look further	Photoshop CS 2
			Photoshop CS 2 looks more or less the same, but look a little closer and you discover the "hidden" and not so hidden treasures of the program that keeps on going and is still the premier photo image manipulation and design program of the PC and Mac. For the longest time Photoshop has been in need of two major features, a better image browser accessible within Photoshop and font preview. Those much longed for features are now part of the program in what has to be a major reworking of the program.	Wednesday, July 13, 2005 Photoshop CS 2 By Kurt von Behrmann Pricing Stand alone: $ 599 Windows or Mac Part of Creative Suite CS 2 Standard Edition $ 899 Mac of Windows Part of Creative Suite CS 2 Premium Edition $ 1,199 Mac or Windows Upgrade, and see Adobe for details $ 149 Requirements Windows 2000 with service Pack 4 and Windows XP 320 MB Ram 650 MB Hard Drive Space CD Rom Drive Internet Access for activation Mac Power PC G 3 G 4 G 5 OSX 10.2.8. to 10.4 750 MB of Hard Drive Space 320 MB of Ram CD rom Internet access for activation Photoshop has evolved from being an image editing program into being much more. Over time it has still retained the role of being an image manipulation program, but it has added significant design functions and web page layout to its new found capabilities. Simply because of the format of the program, and its over all power and ease of use, it has become a foundation for program for those in creative realms. For graphic designers and other creative professionals, Adobe’s Photoshop remains the premier program. While others have tried to claim the crown, Photoshop is the undisputed Champ for the serious pro. Evolving slowly many versions, we are not up to nine, the program has carefully, almost judiciously, added new features while still remaining amazingly true to its roots. In fact the last major revision of the program came with the transition from version 5 to 6. Now into Photosphop 9, or rather C.S. Two – Adobe has stopped formally titling the application after Photoshop CS--, on the surface the program has not radically altered from version 8, aka Photoshop CS. Where the real changes come are after you look under the hood. For those like myself that have long craved for an improved file browser and the ability to preview text in Photoshop, those all so important features are now present. Like a blessing from above, Photoshop CS 2 now allows preview of fonts prior to using them. You no longer need to open another application to see what they look like. Just as amazing is the new and much improved image browser. Now an independent application titled “ Bridge,” it is far more intuitive than previous versions. While these are not huge feature changes, if you are on a deadline and Photoshop is your proverbial bread and butter, these alterations can shave some time off of a project and perhaps put a few more dollars in your pocket. In the every present world of design where deadlines are a way of life and revisions constant, every little bit that hastens the work flow becomes practical. As befitting a professional application, the new improvements with Photoshop CS 2 are clearly geared towards the high end user, or more appropriately the design and/or creative professional. With new found “Bridge” application as a much improved file viewer, Photoshop is well on its way toward making every designer’s day a little easier. Another big change with CS 2 is that now multiple layers can be selected. You can actually multiple select them. Again, this is a feature that for pros may, or may not, save time. I can see its application, but much depends on the way you work. Again, if this a feature you really wanted, it has finally arrived. For those that have wished for, it has come true. Several new feature incorporated into CS have to pertain with changing lines, perspectives and actually warping images. The warp image filter allows you to easily and readily wrap and warp an image around any shape imagined. What was once the area of plug ins, photoshop CS 2 has moved forward and made them part of the package. Issues with distortion of lines and perspective have also been addressed. The depth of fine tuning detail is enhanced much like filters specifically designed for that function. While the image browser built into Photoshop CS 2 has been liberated from the application, the independent Image Ready is still something of a quasi plug in as well as an independent application. I am still curious as to why it has not been simply made a part of photoshop CS 2, but none the less it is there. Regarding the actual interface of Photoshop CS 2, not too much has changed. The floating tools palette is intact. The alterations are mainly cosmetic refinements. Detailed shadows and other visual niceties are now part of the interface giving the program a more updated appearance. Help menus are now tied into web access and an entire reworking of the help system has been put in place. As with previous versions, there are instructional videos and links to online resources. Summation Every new iteration of Photoshop CS 2 brings about anticipation. This version is not an exception. For those that want the latest and greatest, there are enough improvements to merit an upgrade. For pros, having the latest means a savings in time, money and frustration. For non-professionals and those that do not require the depth of features Photoshop CS 2 offers, it is a real judgment call. For those that live and die by Photoshop, upgrading is not a question. The real issue is for those using Photoshop and are content with what they have and the plug-ins they have acquired. Bridge, the new preview font feature and the slew of other improvements is enticing. What is more enticing is that if you want to purchase more than one Adobe product, you may want to consider the suite. If all you want is Photoshop CS 2, there is enough here to make that a clear cut choice. But should you desire Illustrator CS 2 and Indesign for CS 2, you may as well just bite the bullet and go for the package. If you pocket book is deep enough, and you don’t have Acrobat Professional, the premium creative suite is a solid deal. As much improved as Photoshop CS 2 is, the program, although nearly essential for serious web and fine art creation is not inexpensive. Although there are alternatives, and some of the very good, the bottom line for right now is Photoshop CS 2. For me, the new features included are those that I have personal felt should have been in places earlier and are long over due. Then again, lately it seems every new version of Photoshop includes at least a few “I really need” feature sets. One thing that is for certain is that that Adobe still retains the crown for image editing, and CS 2 continues that tradition. Details on Photoshop CS 2 Adobe Bridge—Taking the File Browser to a new level, Adobe Bridge quickly ﬁnds the ﬁles you need now from a sea of thousands, and lets you batch process them faster than ever, while simultaneously continuing your editing in Photoshop CS2. Adobe Bridge brings maximum eﬃciency to your creative life. Preview all Creative Suite graphic formats—including the new Digital Negative speciﬁcation (DNG)—with scalable thumbnails, full metadata, and custom keywords. Sort, rank, and ﬁlter your images with a complete set of labels and ratings. Compare images in separate Adobe Bridge windows, ﬁlmstrip mode, or full-screen slideshows. Customize thumbnails and resize, hide, display and regroup palettes at will. Enjoy task-based presets, and save your own settings to custom workspaces for convenient recall at any time. Or switch to ﬂoating compact mode for easy Adobe Bridge access in all Adobe Creative Suite 2.0 applications. Process multiple digital Camera Raw images while simultaneously organizing others and editing in Photoshop CS2. Choose from hundreds of thousands of professional images from the time-saving Adobe Stock Photos service. Order professional quality prints, large-format output, and more, from the built-in Adobe Photoshop Services. Vanishing Point—Nothing less than revolutionary, Vanishing Point lets you eﬀortlessly clone, paint and transform with tools that automatically adjust to the visual perspective of your images. Cutting hours oﬀ precision design and photo retouching tasks, one use and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. Image Warp—Fold, stretch, pull, twist and wrap any image into shape, as easily as selecting an on-demand preset or dragging custom control points. Quickly and precisely create products and packages that exist only in your mind’s eye, and in Photoshop CS2. Advanced Noise Reduction—High ISO digital camera shots can be breeding grounds for ugly color noise. Reduce Noise gives you advanced enhancement of problem images, including special handling for JPEG artifact reduction, and even discrete correction of individual color channels, all while preserving edge details. 32-bit High Dynamic Range (HDR)—Step into the future, with the creation and editing of 32-bit color, High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, ideal for 3D rendering, advanced compositing and professional photography. With advanced technology that adapts to the full spectrum and range of visible light in the same way as the human eye, HDR ensures your ﬁnal images will display your creative vision to the last detail, with the most richly detailed shadows and highlights at your command. Let the new Merge to HDR take you beyond the state-of-the-art, by automatically combining bracketed digital exposures into a single 32-bit HDR image, creating breathtaking images that are otherwise impossible to capture with traditional cameras. Spot Healing Brush—Eﬀortless, one-click retouching is yours with the advanced power of the new Spot Healing Brush in Photoshop CS2. Click or paint ﬂaws away, remove entire objects, and heal across all layers with your choice of blending and sample modes—even in 16-bit, CMYK images. One-Click Red-Eye Correction—With advanced controls for pupil size and darkening when you need them, the new Red Eye tool eradicates this common ﬂash-created photo ﬂaw with a single click. Optical Lens Correction—Fine tune your photos for truer images from edge to edge. Easily counteract barrel, pincushion and perspective distortion, and quickly correct chromatic aberration and vignetting, in any photo. Graphics in Motion—Easily create and edit animated Web graphics with the new Animation palette and Layers palette enhancements in Photoshop CS2. Smart Sharpen—Intelligently counteract common types of photo blurring, without aﬀecting the areas of your image that don’t need adjustment. With ﬁne control of shadow and highlight areas and discrete sharpening of lens, motion and gaussian blurs, Smart Sharpen is a cut above the standard unsharp mask. Shadow/Highlight—The popular and easy-to-use adjustment for shadows, highlights and midtone contrast is now available for images in CMYK mode as well as RGB. Enhanced 16-bit Editing—Even more ﬁlters, such as Liquify, are now available for use in 16-bit images. Acceleration = Exhilaration Speed your way from ﬁrst concept to ﬁnal creation, with eﬃciency enhancements that bring momentum to your workﬂow and a smile to your face. Enjoy non-destructive editing, ﬁnd the fonts you want visually, and precisely process your digital photography projects in a fraction of the time. Smart Objects—Quality without compromise. Smart Objects let you scale and transform images as much as you choose, with no loss of image quality...integrate and preserve the quality and editability of Illustrator CS2 vector graphics...and create linked duplicates of embedded graphics so you can edit once and update many, simultaneously. Smart Objects lend ﬂexibility, quality and eﬃciency to every Photoshop CS2 image. Multiple Layer Control—Keep your eyes on the image! Drag or Shift-select multiple layers on the canvas, without resorting to the Layers palette. Enjoy Smart Guides that automatically appear to help you align your graphic objects on the ﬂy. Work with all your Photoshop CS2 designs in a smoother, more intuitive way. Multi-Image Camera Raw—Maximum muscle for all your heavy image lifting—Process a photo shoot in a fraction of the time, and keep editing in Photoshop CS2 simultaneously! Save ﬁles directly to a range of formats, including the new Digital Negative speciﬁcation (DNG). Crop and straighten images with no loss of quality. Enjoy automatic adjustments to exposure, brightness and contrast, and precise curve and color settings. It’s simply the best and most versatile Camera Raw yet. Video Preview—Ideal for any image or animation destined for the video screen, you can now easily preview your work in Photoshop CS2 on a television monitor, by direct export through FireWire (i.LINK/IEEE 1394). WYSIWYG Font Menu—What’s in a name? Choose fonts by appearance instead, with samples of each typeface right inside the menu, and icons to instantly diﬀerentiate between PostScript, TrueType and OpenType fonts. Printing Enhancements—New options in the Photoshop CS2 print dialog make it even easier to conﬁgure your local printer for great results and consistent color on all your printing jobs. All-New PDF Engine—Comprehensive, customizable PDF presets let you take advantage of the new PDF engine in Photoshop CS2, including PDF 1.6/Acrobat 7.0 compatibility. Enhanced Memory Use—Photoshop CS2 features memory management enhancement that breaks through the 2 GB RAM barrier. Now, devote up to approximately 3.5 Gigabytes of RAM to every Photoshop CS2 session. Powerful Design Process Management and Collaboration—Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Bridge feature the new Version Cue® CS2, for easier versioning and collaboration in all your design projects. Integrated Adobe Online Services—Access and download professional Adobe Stock Photos, and share and print online with Adobe Photoshop Services.